Real Estate Trends and Tips……

Bless Our Happy Home Sale

For those of you who may not know, Joseph, the husband of Mary, is considered the patron saint of home and family.  Research shows that when the housing market struggles, some home sellers turn to St. Joseph for help; conversely, when times are good sales of his statues fall.

In honor of St. Joseph’s Day (3/19), Catholic Supply of St. Louis, Inc. was asked to break down sales of St.  Joseph products over the past five years. The data was paired with median sale prices for existing homes compiled by the National Association of Realtors.

According to Lara Traina, director of marketing and web management at Catholic Supply, sales of St. Joseph statues rose when the market soured. From 2009 to 2010 when home prices were stagnant, the number of St. Joseph statues slightly more than doubled. When home-sale prices began to creep up, statue sales dropped.

In case you’re wondering there is a The St. Joseph Home Selling Kit. It comes with a 3.5-inch plastic statue and laminated prayer card and costs $6.95. Here’s how it works: Bury a St. Joseph statue in your yard facing toward the for-sale house. After the house sells, the seller is supposed to dig up the statue and place it in a spot of honor in their new home.  Amen.

Getting Caught in a Timing Conundrum

Great news – your house sold quickly and the buyer is eager to move in. Where do you go? Before getting caught in the squeeze of selling a home before buying another, you might want to ask your real estate agent these questions.

• How long will it take to sell? Using the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) your real estate agent can measure the time it takes for comparable homes to move from initial listing to having a purchase contract accepted to the closing of a sale.
• Is it possible to sell and buy simultaneously? Once your home is on the market, a dose of luck and coordination are needed to close on one sale and purchase another at the same time. To have homes pass among various hands in one day it helps to have the same firm handle the closings.
• Can you ask the buyer for more time? Because selling first and then buying can be problematic, you might want to negotiate a longer time until the closing. For example, if closings are normally out 30 days, ask for 50 days so you have more time.