Sequim Homes are selling fast and very fast. I like that title, and forgive me if I could not resist typing it again. As a buyer’s agent, I get clients from around the country contacting me to view homes when they arrive in Sequim. Today a buyer asked to see several homes, including one that appeared to still be available in our local MLS in the Sequim area. When I contacted the listing agent to schedule the showing in two days, she apologized for not changing the status of the listing in the MLS to pending. The home had seven offers and two were accepted, one as a primary and one as a backup offer. The home had been on the market for only 4 days. What does this tell us about the Sequim real estate market? Not necessarily what you think it does, especially if you’re in California, Texas, or Colorado.
Sequim homes are most certainly in a unique real estate market, and here’s how I explain what is happening right now. The best homes in the best areas listed at the best prices are selling if they are at or near the top of the Bell Curve of what retirees want. What do they want? The vast majority of Sequim retirees want a three bedroom, two bath single level home (2 level can work if everything they want is on the main floor), 1,600 to 2,200 square feet, a modern home built within the last 10 to 15 years, an open floor plan, a beautiful kitchen with a large island and quality countertop with the best appliances, hard wood floors (or composite flooring that imitates hard wood and is hardier), a large master bedroom with a gorgeous master bathroom, and a peaceful piece of land that has some kind of view (fields or valley or mountains or water), and with enough land to have a shop and some gardening space.
That my friends is precisely what 98% of retirees moving to Sequim want. So that means you’re competing with many other retirees. How many? My guess is that on any day of the week there are three dozen retirees somewhere in the country all looking at a Sequim MLS site, and guess what? When that home at the top of the Bell Curve shows up, they are all feasting their eyes and scheming about when they can come to see it. The wise ones call me immediately, and many make offers immediately pending their viewing and home inspection.
I was asked recently if the Sequim real estate market is hot. My answer is that it is hot, but it’s only hot because there is virtually no inventory of the homes retirees want, so when one does show up, it sells within days. That sounds like a hot market, but it is hot only for that house that sold. If we had 200 such homes on the market, I dare say the Sequim real estate market would not appear to be hot, but slow and maybe even called a “buyer’s market.” Right now, it’s not necessarily a “seller’s market” as in lots of sellers–it’s more like “that seller’s market,” the one who sold his house in 4 days.
Think of it this way. If you are in a metropolitan market where hundreds of homes sell each week, or a bedroom community outside the metro area where hundreds of homes sell each month, you would have a lot more data to make intelligent conclusions about whether the market is hot, cold, or luke warm. If hundreds of buyers are scooping up hundreds of homes with the homes selling in a matter of days or weeks, and many homes are getting one to three dozen offers, then you would be quite correct in saying the real estate market is hot. But if you have a dozen or two buyers in a market with one to three of the listings they are looking for, then even if those homes sell in a matter of days, you really don’t have the data to call it a hot market. It’s a small market with a limited inventory and a small number of buyers who can skew the statistics with one or two purchases.
I hope that helps you understand the Sequim real estate market a little better. Even with this knowledge, it doesn’t help you find the home of your dreams if it isn’t in the inventory. When “a home sells quickly,” it makes it seem like the market is super hot.
Possibly Related Posts:
- What if I Lose Out On The Perfect Home?
- Home Shortage in Sequim
- Should I Submit a Backup Offer on a Pending Transaction?
- The Sequim Bell Curve: Sequim Homes Hard to Find
- Sequim Water Front Home for Sale
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