Keeping in Tune With the Market: Why Sell This Winter?

You may have heard that spring and summer are the best times to sell a house, but today, I’m discussing why this winter is a fantastic time to sell your house.

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Welcome to my new series, ‘Keeping in Tune With the Market.’ We want to use this series to bring valuable and relevant information to home buyers, sellers, and Realtors alike. The question we’re answering today comes from Amy Chen who asks, “I thought it was better to sell my house in the spring, but I’ve been told maybe I should consider selling my house in the winter. What do you recommend?’ There are three points I want you to consider about selling your home in the winter: 1. Prices are at or above what we experienced in 2006. The only difference is that we haven’t experienced a housing bubble like then. In fact, we have a very steady market. That’s because of…

2. Lack of inventory. This means as a seller, you’re going to be able to receive a higher price for your house due to greater competition among buyers, multiple offers, and interest rates.

3. Interest rates are very good right now. Even though rates have ticked up just a bit, buyers are still out there looking. They will continue to be out looking until rates really start to climb. At that point, they’ll have less buying ability due to paying more for a mortgage.

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High prices, low inventory, and low rates make now an optimal time to sell.

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As you can see, due to high prices, low inventory, and low interest rates, putting a home on the market this winter is a great idea because you never know what’s around the corner. An additional bonus point is that you can even gear your moving date to coincide with the timing you originally wanted.  For example, let's say you found a buyer in the late winter or early spring. You might be able to time your sale in a way that allows you to move in the spring or early summer.

We’d like to thank Amy for the question by sending her a $10 Panera gift card! 

If you have a question for me and I answer it in one of my videos, you’ll receive a gift card, too. Just give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

Season's Greetings from the Donovan Team

It may surprise some of you to know that we at the Donovan Team are as passionate about music as we are about real estate! Please check out this year's Singing Christmas Card!

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With the holidays in full swing, we wanted to share something special with you today.

As many of you may know from prior posts - when we aren’t busy helping our clients buy and sell real estate or helping our team members design their dream real estate career, we love writing and performing music!

We are proud to present our 5th Annual Singing Christmas card for your musical entertainment! This year's presentation is entitled: “Memories Are Evergreen”. With guest vocalist Paul Donovan on lead, Joe Donovan, musical producer on harmonica, and Karen Donovan, singer/song writer, on backup vocals. Warning - this video could bring a tear to your eye as you recall happy memories from your past!

Click here to hear the track and see the music video, which is comprised of our home movies from years ago. You may even recognize a few members of the Donovan Brothers Realty team in it!

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Wishing you and your loved ones a Christmas & Holiday Season that is truly Evergreen!

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From all of us at the Donovan Team, we’d like to wish  all of our Clients, Friends, Colleagues & Loved ones a Blessed Holiday and Happy and Healthy New Year and may all your wishes come true!

In the meantime, if we can help you or a Real Estate Colleague you care about with Real Estate endevors 2017 - don't hesitate to give us a call!

How Texting for Dollars Can Grow Your Business

If you want to finish the year strong, I recommend that you start texting for dollars. Texting is a great way to get an immediate response from potential clients.

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If you’re like me, as you approach the end of the year, you might think that you are running out of steam or you’re running out of people in your pipeline. However, you still want to finish the year strong. One way you can still end 2016 on a high note is to incorporate texting for dollars.

I don’t know about you, but if I get an email, I put it in my line of emails that I have to reply to and I might get to it or I might not. If I get a voicemail, the same thing happens. Sometimes my voicemails wait awhile for a response. But what about a text?

A text is immediate. People always have their phones on and people will see it right away. How do you text for dollars? Here is an example of a text you could send out:

“Hi Janet. The market’s really moving and prices are going up, up, up. Are you curious about your home’s value or know someone who needs my help???” Then, hit send! Hopefully, Janet will give me a call.

The fact of the matter is people are curious about their home’s value. Texting for dollars is a great way to get a CMA to someone who might be thinking about making a move this year or next year.

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A text is immediate.

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Who should you text? Anyone in your database who bought a house 10 years ago. Back then, the market was up kind of high, but it went down. Now the market is almost back to where it was, and it might be time for those homeowners to consider selling again because they should have enough equity to do so. 

You should also text people who are thinking about retiring. A lot of people in the older age bracket pride themselves on being able to text, so this is a great opportunity to reach out to them. 


In short, texting for dollars is a great way to finish the year strong. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. Don’t forget to submit your questions for our next video; send me one and you will enter the contest for a $25 gift certificate. I look forward to hearing from you!