Greenspring	UPDATED: Friday, April 11, 2008
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Spring into the home selling season

Posted on Tuesday, April 01, 2008

By Kelly A. Shue
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

During the first quarter of 2008, the federal government sprang into action in an effort to boost the national economy by helping the sluggish real estate market. Significant interest rate reductions made by the Federal reserve now make it possible for more people to afford housing—and that’s good news for everyone.

By lowering the federal funds rate, it now costs banks less to borrow money, and those savings are passed on to the consumer. This, coupled with the enviable spring selling season, means that more people will be able to sell their homes, while others will be better able to afford the home of their dreams.

Timing is everything
The interest rate reductions couldn’t have come at a better time. Many home sellers and buyers alike wait for spring to begin seriously addressing their housing concerns. Sellers typically jump at the opportunity to sell their houses after a long, cold winter, while buyers look to the summer and the upcoming school year as important reasons to begin their search now.

What’s more, even as the year began, home sales in Washington, D.C. and the vast majority of metropolitan areas experienced modest gains compared with a year earlier, according to the latest quarterly survey by the National Association
of Realtors (NAR).

“I really didn’t know what to expect,” said Thomas Jabine before he put his Washington, D.C. home on the market last year. “However, I was very hopeful. From what I could see, the market was still holding up well in this area.”

Knowledge is key
With the arrival of warm weather, those looking to sell their homes need to cash in on an important commodity—knowledge. By concentrating on what they like best about their neighborhood rather than worrying about the larger market, sellers can connect better with interested buyers.

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“I did everything I read you were supposed to do before you put your house on the market,” says Jabine. “I interviewed three different realtors and picked one, agent Kimberly Cestari, who lived in the area and worked very hard to sell my house. She was wonderful, and in less than two weeks I had an offer.”

Jabine’s personal story highlights an important factor in today’s housing market. Rather than worrying about national housing statistics, sellers need to voncentrate on their own towns, and more importantly, their own neighborhoods.

Richard Gaylord, NAR President, says, “There is no such thing as a national housing market—it doesn’t perform like the equities markets. What’s really important for consumers is to make informed decisions based on individual needs, desires, and timelines in a given area.”

In Jabine’s case, he was ready to move to Riderwood, an Erickson community in Silver Spring, and was unwilling to let housing market horror stories stand in his way. “I put my house on the market, sold it in two weeks, and then had five weeks before closing. I closed on the sale of my house on October 31, 2007 and moved the next day.”

Stories of success
Anthony and Alice Vaitekunas, who live at Greenspring, enjoyed the same luck when it came to selling their house in Annandale, Va. last spring.

“When we put our house on the market because of everything we’d heard, we thought we’d be trying to sell it for a long time,” says Anthony Vaitekunas. “We listed our house on Monday, and by Thursday we were ratifying a contract. It was a very good surprise. In fact, our buyer wanted to occupy the property as soon as possible. So we hired movers to pack up everything we owned. Now we are here at Greenspring, and we love it.”

Living less than two miles from the heart of Washington, D.C., in the Town of Somerset, in Chevy Chase, Md., Nora and Hamilton Morton chose a Realtor who lived in their neighborhood, which proved to be a valuable asset. “We made a great connection with our Realtor,” says Nora Morton. “She knew our house and our community very well, and we became very good friends. I really believe we were lucky; it’s almost too good to believe. We sold our house within a day, as-is, for our asking price.”

Bottom line
Thanks to lower interest rates, a strong employment rate, and continued demand, homes in the Washington, D.C. area are selling for as much as 200% more than they did just 20 years ago. And while selling a house takes careful planning and preparation, familiarity with the local market and the selection of a knowledgeable Realtor with neighborhood experience is the key to beating the odds and enjoying real estate success.