What Homes are Selling in Raleigh/Durham and the Eastern Triad and Why

What’s Selling and Why

There has been a noticeable up tick in some sales within the Raleigh/Durham and eastern Triad real estate markets . To be sure bargin hunters are out and they are looking for deals. They are also not afraid to walk away if a seller isn’t willing to negotiate in hard fashion or offer some sort of incentive to motivate a sale.

I see incentives working across the market. The first incentive which seems to be driving traffic to listings and encouraging offers on those listings is a buyer agent bonus. When possible I am encouraging my seller clients to offer a 1% buyer agent bonus for an acceptable offer. I’ve had success with this tactic many times this year.

The second tactic, usually added in conjunction with a buyer agent bonus is a buyer incentive. When possible sellers should consider offering generous seller paid closing costs to potential buyers. The number that I see working this year is $3,000 or $4000 in seller paid costs. Of course this is negotiable.

When seller paid costs and a buyer agent bonus is attached to a price modification or reduction of price, the result is generally very positive. Showings increase and offers have been tendered. Are the offers just what the seller wanted? Typically not, there have been multiple rounds of counter offering to get a home pending but the happy news is offers are made.

Sellers in the best position are those with equity to play with. Typically home valuation in our region is off some ten to twenty percent or so on average from market highs of 2005 and 2006. This deflation in values depends tremendously on location and type of property.