Remember when life was simple? You saw a house you liked, put in an offer, satisfied your conditions....waited a month or two for closing and moved into your new home! Unfortunately those are the idyllic carefree days usually only reserved for first time buyers! The move up buyer know what they want, often with very strict parameters...and they have a house to sell before they can purchase a new one!
Having been on both the buying & selling side of a condition to sell the buyer's property (SBP condition), I will rarely recommend to a selling client to accept that condition in an offer while completely understanding a buyer client who is petrified of offering on something without that condition in the offer! And don't even get me started on a seller who has an SBP offer on a property to buy who receives an SBP offer on the property they're selling! With so many variables to control, rarely are you able to make it all come together when you need it to!
So what's a move up buyer to do? They only want to move if they can get what's on their wishlist but most sellers will not accept an SBP condition on a new listing and what if they sell their home ahead of time to avoid the dreaded SBP condition...and then can't find the right place to move into and have to "settle"?
I've read a number of articles recently that say the move up buyer will be driving the market over the next year (taking over from first time buyers) so perhaps that will change things...however I'd say that this past year the bulk of my business has not been from first timers or move up buyers but from clients looking to downsize, particularly from 2-storey homes into bungalows. I'm surprised to not be hearing more buzz about the so-called "grey" market. I wonder, does this label offend? I've heard it bandied about to describe a certain segment of the population...a topic for a different day though as it's definitely not just retirees who are looking for the bungalow lifestyle!
Have you got your eye on the next rung of the property ladder? What are your thoughts on how to make it all come together the way you want it to?
More to come on this subject but that's it for today!
Until Next Time...
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