The Insider August 2024 Edition
IT PAYS TO UNDERSTAND ‘DAYS TO OFFER’ AND WHY IT MATTERS TO YOU
On the surface, housing demand looks flat across Northern Colorado. After all, total sales across the region’s six largest markets (Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland, Windsor, Berthoud, Timnath) lagged 1.8 percent behind last year’s totals through the first six months of the year.
But don’t let the slim sales figures fool you. In fact, homebuyers are showing a sizable appetite for real estate in Northern Colorado.
An important metric people do not often understand is Days to Offer, which is the the time when a property goes on the market to when it goes under contract. The pace at which sellers go under contract is often faster than most people perceive, so make sure you pay close attention to Days to Offer.
Why is Days to Offer important to both buyers and sellers in today’s real estate environment?
When buyers start looking at a property, they typically ask two primary questions:
1. What is the price?
2. How long has the property been on the market?
If a would-be buyer hears that the property has been available for longer than the expected timeline, it’s likely the seller is asking too much, and also likely a buyer will want to negotiate for concessions from the seller.
Keeping your property from lingering on the market too long often comes down to getting the price right. And the right price requires a well-thought-out pricing strategy, using a market analysis that weighs both comparative and competitive data.
Remember, the greatest expense is often the money you don’t make. When sellers end up cutting the price or making concessions to a buyer, it’s usually because they don’t understand the comparative or competitive market conditions and have the misguided belief that “well, my property is different.”
There’s a saying in the real estate profession that says, “The market speaks.” Days to Offer is how the market tells you if your pricing strategy has worked. A true real estate professional will use both comparative and competitive analysis to guide you in the process.
