The Brooklyn New York real estate market has been really picking up over the past two months.

As an example, I want to tell you about a listing appointment I went on several weeks ago. The owner of the house passed away and left the home to her son who lives in Texas. The son called me and invited me over to give them an estimate as to how much the home is worth and to consider hiring me to represent him with the sale of the same.

Upon viewing the house I expressed to them that in my opinion the home was worth between $500,000 to $525,000. When I told him this his jaw dropped and I asked them “why do you have that look on your face?” To which he explained to me the following…

“I had a neighbor approach me as I was cleaning out the house inquiring if I was going to be selling it. I told him I was to which he responded that he would like to buy it. I asked him how much he would pay me and he states $350,000. I thought that was a great offer because in San Antonio Texas those kind of numbers buy you a mansion and my Mom’s house as you can see is small, fully attached and in dire need of major repair work. So I accepted the offer and my lawyer sent contracts to that buyer. Instead of signing the contracts, the buyer started to play games and wanted changes to the contract that my lawyer would not accept. At that point in time my lawyer told me to contact a real estate agent and find another buyer. That’s when I called you.”

Needless to say, that buyer was trying to steal the house. To make a long story short, I listed the house with an asking price of $549,000 and within three days of marketing the house we had a dozen offers on the table and one person came in at $535,000 and we are now in contract. All of this happened within one week of my listing the house!

The moral of the story is…

If you are selling a home that is not your primary residence and/or located in a state other than that of your primary residence, do not guess. Look up the home value online to give you an estimate and then have a professional Realtor® give you a formal estimate (CMA) of the property’s value and protect your best interests.

This story is also a good example of the fact that the real estate market is looking up and there are many motivated buyers out there viewing today’s market as a time of opportunity. This is due to the fact that mortgage rates are still historically low, prices are down, inventory is high plus the government is still offering the $8,000 tax credit to first time buyers who purchase prior to December 1, 2009 (certain restrictions apply, go to www.IRS.gov to find out more).

What are your thoughts about today’s market conditions? Submit a comment to this Blog or contact me!

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