If you have looked at the economy over time, you will find a buyer’s market in which the buyers get the best prices, and you will find a seller’s market in which the sellers get the best price for their house. Then there are places in between. In a buyer’s market, there are a flood of houses on the market, listed or FSBO, and they will take longer to sell.

To sell a house, the seller will need to let the house sell for a lower price, plus additional incentives such as pay down points or give money for closing costs. If you are a buyer in this type of market, you can take a longer time looking for the house you want and can usually get a pretty good bargain. A buyer’s market is a time when you can’t sell your house fast, and you may have to look to investors. This is especially important if you cannot make the payments and need to prevent foreclosure.

When in a seller’s market, properties aren’t on the market for too long. Actually, they can even sell before a real estate agent lists it. In a seller’s market the market is ‘strong’, and many sellers may decide to sell the house themselves; there will be a lot of “FSBO’s” or for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) houses. It is great for someone to have a property to sell in this market. You will probably not have to worry about needing to sell to a “we buy houses” investor unless you need to sell it faster than the market can produce a qualified buyer. The seller will probably get many offers and not need to give incentives to the buyers. If you are the buyer in this market, you may have to look longer to find a home that you will like and hope to make an offer to the buyer before it is sold…To assure that your offer gets accepted, you need to be ready financially (have a prequalification letter from a lender), and shouldn’t ha ve contingencies such as ‘seller must fix roof’, ‘subject to sale of existing home’.

There are many websites which show current market conditions across the nation. A popular website to visit is ZipRealty.

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