What are the main things people who are looking to buy a home need to know about the market in McKinney?
They have to come in fully prepared. They have to be pre-approved for a loan, not just pre-qualified they have to be ready to go. Many lenders will fully approve them ... so if you go through the whole system and you get approved, then you can get in there and say, ‘I am as good as your cash buyer,’ because that's where buyers are losing out is the time it takes to close a loan. So if you already show that you've gone through all of the processes and you're fully approved ... you're already putting yourself ahead of the game.
What is the one crucial tip you would give to someone looking to sell their home that they might not think of?
Do not overprice your home, people are now listening at inflated prices. And it's throwing everything out of keel. There's still a market value for your home. Now if someone is willing to come in and pay more, go for it. But if you already market your home above what it's worth, you're going to sell yourself short.
Is there anything about the McKinney real estate market that makes it stand out from other cities?
I think McKinney is being hit the worst with inventory. Our inventory is less than a month. In other areas the frenzy is crazy and so forth but out of all of the different areas in our county, McKinney being down to less than a month’s inventory for the last two, almost three months has really had an impact.
How is the market complicating things for sellers?
We have people who never thought about selling who are throwing their homes on the market because of the price. The problem is, where do you go? Unless you're downsizing, moving out of McKinney or North Texas, the money you make from your house is going to have to go into your next home, which is also inflated. That’s what people are doing, they're moving into their second home, that’s maybe smaller or a little bit further from work or that was their rental, but they're selling and cashing in on the equity that they can now get, and the home market right now.
Has the working from home trend affected floor plans?
I think one, people have better utilized the space that they have. They might have changed that dining room that they never used into a second office area. So I think people have been much more creative. ... So I think people know when they're looking at homes there is much more demand for either a second guest room or a second office.
Are you monitoring any trends that might surprise people?
What we’ve seen a lot of in the past year is people putting pools in, people having kitchen upgrades because they're cooking more at home, and doing a lot of upgrades to their homes. We're seeing homes that have wonderful manicured backyards, because people are at home, and people have expendable money because people didn't go on vacation. Then they had all this extra stimulus money they didn't know what to do with and didn't expect. So we've seen a lot of home improvement.
What else do you think people should know?
In this market, it's so important to work with a realtor that you know love and trust. Because right now, we can define whether you're going to get that house or not. And it's not just that you're able to pay the top dollar. It's often the reputation of a good realtor that they know that they're going to close the deal, and that they understand you and your wants and your needs.
Kelly Rudiger
Realtor
Coldwell Banker Apex Realtors
7920 Virginia Parkway, Ste. 2400, McKinney
858-354-1742
www.kellyrudiger.com
