Why now is the time to list. Hard-to-love homes are now easier to sell
With the inventory remaining low, home buyers can't be so picky about their choices. Search the latest listings at realestate.boston.com.
There are signs that the real estate market has calmed down a bit, at least from its early 2021 hysteria. Buyers still face competition, but less of it; prices are still rising, but more slowly.
But with plenty of buyers still out there and not a lot of homes for sale, it remains a seller’s market — for now. And that, realtors say, presents an opportunity for owners of odd, quirky, or antique homes to sell their harder-to-love properties.
On a given day in November, there were just 3,848 single-family homes for sale statewide, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. That marked a 45.5 percent drop from what was already a tight market in November 2020, when there were 7,058 active listings. In previous Novembers, buyers typically had more than 10,000 single-family homes to choose from. The supply of condos has dwindled as well, from 4,845 in November 2020 to just 2,318 last month — a more than 50 percent drop.
With so few homes for sale, buyers are giving real consideration to properties they would have dismissed in years past, said Dana Bull, a realtor at Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty in Marblehead, including historical properties. “In previous years, antiques would sit on the market for years. And now, there’s just not a lot to choose from, so people are at least considering older houses,’’ Bull said.
It’s not just the closed floor plans or ancient plumbing of old houses that ward off some would-be buyers — often it’s the location, too. “A lot of antique homes are on main streets, because that’s just how the neighborhoods kind of developed around the older parts of town,’’ Bull said. “Five years ago when I was selling real estate, that was the kiss of death — an older property also on a main street? …Those are things that people just couldn’t get over. And now it’s fine.’’
Bull said such a house may still sit on the market for a little longer than a move-in ready home on a quiet side street, but the important thing is that it will sell. “Somebody will come in and see the potential and be able to overlook those factors,’’ she said. “I’m also seeing younger people buying older homes,’’ she added, including “true antiques,’’ disproving the generalization that millennials only want turnkey properties.
Realtor John Petraglia, who specializes in historic homes, listed an antique house this fall —a Greek revival with Victorian details in the Metrowest area — that he had sold a few years prior. Despite some drawbacks typical of the vintage — smaller rooms, low ceilings, and a busy street — it sold quickly, and over the asking price. “Four years ago, it was on the market for probably several months. This time it sold in a weekend,’’ Petraglia said.
Beyond historic houses, Bull said, it’s a good time to list homes with odd layouts, challenging lots, ugly architectural features, and even structural issues. “This year we’ve had properties that have had foundational issues — but if they’re in good neighborhoods, people are open to it,’’ she said.
Corey Morris, team leader at Level Up Group in Quincy, also has noticed a greater willingness among buyers to consider project homes. “We speak with a lot of buyers who are more concerned with being able to secure a home than they are that it’s beautiful and move-in ready on day one,’’ he said. “Many buyers are handy, or have relatives who are, and if they can get the house under agreement, they’re willing to do some of the cosmetic legwork to make it their own.’’
With so little inventory on the market, even developers who target teardowns are getting less picky, said Judy Alexander, a realtor at Barrett Sotheby’s International Realty in Lexington. “In years past, it would have been very hard to sell on a busy street to a builder. Not now,’’ she said. “There are some towns that we cover that have zero listings — which, in my 36 years, I’ve not heard of,’’ Alexander added. “There’s always been something for sale, even at Christmas.’’
That should improve next year, however. Alexander suspects people who postponed retirement moves due to the pandemic may finally list their homes in 2022, unless variants of the virus derail those plans. “Those who, in 2019, were looking to go to assisted living and held off for two years are now most definitely thinking about putting their houses on the market,’’ she said.
While economists and other real estate experts are forecasting another competitive spring for home buyers, they also expect a return toward normalcy later in 2022, as rising interest rates put downward pressure on prices and more inventory hits the market. That could erode some of the advantage that sellers have held for the past two years.
“I kind of see this sort of being the last hurrah for the weird houses,’’ Bull said. “Because it’s not just about the money; it’s about being able to sell the house.’’
Weird doesn’t have to mean bad, Bull stressed — just unique, like a house with an indoor pool. “I wouldn’t necessarily say that that’s a bad thing, but it’s just a unique characteristic that will eliminate a big part of the market,’’ she said, turning off buyers who don’t want to deal with the cost and maintenance. In a different time, Bull said, buyers would ask themselves, “Why would we buy the house with the indoor pool when we can buy this somewhat comparable house two streets over and not have to deal with the pool?’’ But right now, there is no other house for sale; it’s the pool or nothing. “If everything else about the house makes sense for people, they’ll think about it,’’ she said.
An indoor pool, after all, is not forever. With enough money, foundations can be repaired, and layouts can be reconfigured. But other issues, like power lines that run behind a home or a town transfer station nearby, present more permanent problems.
“The advice I’m giving buyers right now is to really focus on the things that you cannot change and decide what those deal-breakers are,’’ Bull said. Compared to a cute, turnkey home that abuts commuter rail tracks, an antique home with a disjointed layout or foundation problem may not seem so bad in the long run. “They’re deciding: ‘If I need to pick my battles, those are things that I can modify if need be. Yes, it’s going to take money, but that is something that I can change, whereas I cannot pick up train tracks and move them to another location.’ ’’
Sellers of unconventional homes, meanwhile, will want to list early in the new year, Bull said. “January is a great time to get those weird houses listed,’’ she said. “There’s going to be a lot of demand from two groups: people who haven’t seen anything new hit in weeks and a surge of buyers hoping to make homeownership part of their New Year’s resolution.’’
While the property market tends to slow to a gentle simmer over the holidays, buyers never really stop shopping, Morris said: They’ve likely been scrolling through houses with family members after a holiday dinner. “People have so much access to information now, and real estate voyeurism has become an American pastime,’’ he said. “It’s better for a seller — in particular, a seller whose home has some challenges or quirks — to get to the market first, and not necessarily when the flowers bloom and birds chirp.’’
“The spring selling season starts January 2,’’ Petraglia agreed. “There’s a little pent-up demand in the wintertime … therefore it’s a great time, if you’ve got something unique, to get it out there.’’
Jon Gorey blogs about homes at HouseandHammer.com. Send comments to [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @jongorey. Subscribe to our free real estate newsletter at pages.email.bostonglobe.com/AddressSignUp.
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