Going into the summer season we should see an increase in the number of Colorado Homes listed for sale here in Colorado. I was sitting down at lunch today with an old friend currently trying to sell his home. Like many other Colorado homes he has had it on the market for some time and has had to drop the price several times. He was discouraged to say the least, a common fact for many Colorado homes currently facing the same dilemma. There are so many different things that you can do to set yourself apart, and before making that next price change, try something different. Colorado homes currently have a set fee for the buying Realtor and the listing Realtor. Typically the total listing fee is 6%, 3% going to the buying Realtor and 3% going to the listing Realtor. My recommendation is to increase the incentive being offered to the Buying Realtor. Instead of 3% increase it to 4% or 5%, before making another pricing decrease on your home. Before showing buyers Colorado homes for sale a Realtor will pull the information off of the MLS. Once the information is pulled the Realtor goes through the data to ensure the Colorado homes meet the minimum criteria set by the buyer. The realtor will also see the incentives being offered to sell that home and the incentive may be high enough to put your home at the top of the list of home to show. Colorado homes will face many challenges this summer and as inventory increases so does the need to set yourself apart. Today’s Financial news ended about the same way it started, in negative territory. Interest rates on Colorado homes increased by .125% by close of business. Several key Federal Reserve members spoke today indicating that they would continue to focus on short term interest rate reductions in order to stimulating the economy. With no end in sight and the worst still to come, investors are forced to react very quickly in the market to avoid any major losses to their portfolio’s. With so much instability going on in the market it would only make sense that Mortgage Backed Securities continue to be a safe bet for investments. The concern facing investors right now will be the impacts of continued interest rate reductions to inflation. The Federal Reserve has already made it clear that rate reductions will be its primary tool to combat recessionary pressures. By lowering short term interest rates, the Federal Reserve increases consumer spending creating inflationary pressures. This will be very bad for mortgage rates and will add to some of the issues Colorado homes are already facing. On a good note for Mortgage Backed Securities, PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) reported about 20% lower then expected today. The PCE report is a good report to measure current inflation expectations. We should have seen a drop in interest rates today based on this information alone, but that was not the case. The remaining economic data; Corporate profits, jobless claims, and GDP all fell in line, giving investors a boost in confidence. This confidence translated into a bullish approach to investing, forcing considerable amounts of money out of the bond market and into the stock market. I would remain cautious on what rates will do, but the economy continues to be the hot topic and with economic numbers all mirroring numbers last reported during recessionary times, I can’t help to think that rates will get better. Recommendation remains as a float, but lets watch what early next week brings us. I hate locking on Friday’s because historically Friday’s rates tend to be higher as activity drops considerably. Best of Luck and God bless
Daniel
