The (Early) Spring Market is Hot.......

Although there are ten inches of snow on the ground right now, and temperatures are well below freezing, the spring market is super hot! But, wait a minute, isn’t it like this every year? Don’t you hear about the shortage of houses every spring from us realtors? Are we trying to fool you, or panic you into making a quick decision, or is there an explanation?

Especially in Oak Park, where houses are expensive, and lots are tiny, there are always people looking to sell their small home and move into a bigger home.

This is partially because the city lots that most Oak Park starter sized homes are on cannot accommodate an addition, and partially because there are always sellers looking to be closer to downtown Oak Park, the middle schools, the high school, the movie theatre, and the green line and Metra stations. We begin with a little house on the edge of town, and then we creep in closer.

It is a tricky proposition, though, because you want to maximize your profit as a seller, and pay as little as possible as a buyer, all while remaining in the same community. It becomes a game of chicken: who has the guts to list their home for sale (when no one else is on the market yet so they are certain to sell quickly for a lot of money) before they find anything to buy? As George Michael sang, “You gotta have faitha, faitha, faithaaaah.”

As in life, timing is everything, but there are some rules that apply especially to this situation. In order to entice one of these cash rich early buyers, your house must be in pristine condition; it has to dazzle the buyer. They need to believe that if they don’t buy it, if they need to take a breath to think about it, then it will be snatched up by another buyer. If the home is likely to be purchased by a first time homebuyer, it must be spotlessly clean, light bright and fresh, free of clutter and totally sparkling. These are not “fixer upper” buyers; they want something that is pretty, that they can post about to all of their friends. “Hey guys, come for a barbecue in our new home!” And, although the house doesn’t come with the furniture, the décor matters. When a young couple is buying their first home, it is much easier for them to imagine themselves in it if the current owners’ furniture is cool. Young, trendy, hip. A little bit industrial, lots of grey with pops of color. It helps them to imagine themselves in the space.

So when you hear realtors talk about a shortage, it isn’t a shortage of all kinds of houses. It is a shortage of move in ready, updated houses. Because until it becomes a smarter financial decision to take on a decorating project yourself, most buyers would rather just buy something gorgeous and pay a bit more in their mortgage every month after someone else has done the work. Because old houses are scary. There’s a reason why when you watch the house flipping shows on HGTV, they are rarely working on homes older than 25 or 30 years, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one where they encounter cloth wiring and a fuse box, like my house had when I bought it two years ago. (My electrician said, “either rewire the whole house or, at least, have a smoke alarm in every room, so that when a fire starts, you will have a good chance of hearing it and getting out of the house alive.” Thanks!)

The bargain hunters come out later in the season, after the initial carnage is over. If you are a handy buyer looking to do some work and put your personal stamp on a home, don’t get dragged into the early spring market. Hang back a bit. Wait for granny’s house to become stagnant on the market, after the excited young couples have toured it, turned up their noses at the two colors and a flower decorating scheme, and moved along. Then you can make your move, and get it for a song…….