What's Happening with the Lafayette Real Estate Market?

Selling your Lafayette home? Click here for a free Home Value Report

Buying a home? Search all Homes for Sale

Today we're here with a quick market update on the third quarter in 2015.

Overall, September's numbers look pretty good. There was a little dip in the number of closed units from 2014 to 2015. Last year we had 289 closed units, and this year we had 266 closed units, which is about an 8% decrease.

On the other hand, the number of pending transactions is up 12% from October of 2014. Last year we had 277 pending transactions, and this October saw 308 pending transactions. This is a good barometer of what our market will look like for the rest of the year.

Listings are also up from 300 new listings in 2014 to 413 new listings this year, which means there are a lot of good options out there for buyers to look at right now.

The average sales price in Lafayette is also up from $221,400 in 2014 to $227,900 this year, which is a good increase in home value.

Overall, our market is very strong. We have 4.2 months of inventory on the market for buyers to look at, and interest rates are still strong at around 4%. Some lenders are even able to get a 3.8% rate on 30 year fixed loans, FHA, VA, and rural development loans. Our preferred partners are very aggressive on getting low interest rates and low closing costs.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

Lending Advice for Home Buyers in Lafayette

Selling your Lafayette home? Click here for a free Home Value Report

Buying a home? Search all Homes for Sale

Today I want to speak about the lending process and some of the best practices that you should be aware of when you work with them.

One of the most important things that you can do is to keep all lines of communication open with your agent and the lender. This will speed up the time of your transaction and make it much less stressful. The quicker you can get documents to your lender, the quicker you can close the transaction.

At a minimum, we speak with our lenders at least once per week, and sometimes we contact them two or more times. We think the determination between a bad lender and a good lender is the way they communicate with us and our clients.

If you would like to hear about some of our preferred lenders, please don't hesitate to contact us. We look forward to speaking with you!

Are Home Inspections Important in Lafayette?

Selling your Lafayette home? Click here for a free Home Value Report

Buying a home? Search all Homes for Sale

Hey there everyone, today's topic is home inspections, and the importance of getting them done. So, we are now currently under contract with a buyer and seller who have agreed to terms and price. The next step is scheduling a home inspection, as well as a termite inspection. 

A general home inspector's job is to look for symptoms to see if a specialist is needed to address a larger problem, whether it's for the roof, plumbing, electrical, or other parts of the home. Once we get bids from all the specialists out there, we submit them to the seller to get them fixed. After this, one of three things will end up happening:

1. The seller will come off the house price
2. We can get cash in lieu of repairs
3. We can get them to fix the problem

Once we submit this to the seller, they have 72 hours to decide if they will do some, all, or none of the repairs. If they agree to do all, we proceed with financing. If they agree to do none or some of the repairs, you then have 72 hours as a buyer to decide whether you want to accept, reject, or counter. This continues until either we can get an agreement, or the contract dies.

If you have any questions for us about home inspections or anything else, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to help you out!

How to Avoid Losing the Lafayette Home of Your Dreams

Selling your Lafayette home? Click here for a free Home Value Report

Buying a home? Search all Homes for Sale

Today, I want share some advice on how to submit a powerful offer in a multiple offer situation.

When you're looking at a home that is getting attention from other buyers, there are a few things we can do to get a leg up on the competition. It's important to remember that not every multiple offer situation results in a bidding war. 

We pride ourselves on staying in touch with the listing agents on the other side to get inside information about what exactly is going on with negotiations. We're also experts at identifying what is most important to the sellers - whether it be price, negotiations, or something else entirely. 

Making yourself known as a buyer is key. Any way you can give the seller some insight into who you are and what your family is like will go a long way. Writing a handwritten note about why you want the home is a great and highly effective way to personalize the offer. We've seen it work in the past and highly recommend giving it a shot. 

If you have any questions about staying ahead of the competition in multiple offer situations, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, don't hesitate to give me a call or shoot me an email. I would love to give you a hand! 

Why Now Is the Ideal Time to Make Your Move in Lafayette

Selling your Lafayette home? Click here for a free Home Value Report

Buying a home? Search all Homes for Sale

The numbers for February are in! Today, we take a look at what they mean for the health of the Lafayette market and what it means for you! 

Sales are about dead-even from where they were last year - we had 222 in February of 2014 and 228 in 2015, for a total increase of 2.7%. The most surprising trend is the appreciation we've seen, as the dollar volume has increased by 9% over this time last year. This is likely because more homes have sold in the $300,000 and above price range. 

We're really not seeing any signs that the market is going to slow down. We've seen a 6.5% increase in pending sales and a 17% increase in resale homes. On the other hand, new construction listings are down 22%, so you'll probably see fewer options out there if that's what you're looking to do.

Rates are still incredibly low, hovering around 4%. This is great news, as we were expecting rates to jump to around 5% by this time. If you have any questions about these ideal market conditions, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We look forward to hearing from you soon!