January Blog – The Snow Globe Life
Bob Lovik
Northern Den Realty
In Northern Michigan, the cold, snowy months are a good time for us humans to do a bit of hibernation. Not the full-scale “pull the covers up over our heads and wait until Spring” type of hibernation but rather a time to let some things slide. Certain projects around the house can be put on hold guilt-free. It’s ok if the car is a little messier, both inside and out, than it would be during the warmer months. There’s considerably more time spent on the couch with Netflix and, if you are lucky, some happy pets grateful to take endless naps next to you. It’s also a good time to get out and enjoy winter, earning your Netflix time with long snowshoes in the forest or spending some time on the chairlift at your favorite ski resort.
Winter isn’t all sloth, recreation and procrastination though. The quiet, cold months usually provide us with time to prep for the new year, to lay the foundation for what we all hope will be a successful 2021. But this season things are different. The real estate market in the Grand Traverse Region isn’t taking any time off. The seller’s market of 2020 is still going strong, with intense competition for buyers looking to purchase their first home, dream home, investment property or….anything really. The market isn’t going easy on buyers no matter their situation.
Currently, there is little time between a house going on the market, the viewing schedule filling up and that house being purchased. A quality house with all the right attributes will not be available for long which is leading buyer’s to have to make quick decisions. It is frustrating, as an agent, having to tell your client that they only have a couple of hours, sometimes even less than that, to make what is probably the most important financial and meaningful decision of their lives. It can be an agonizing situation where we, as agents, walk the fine line between being supportive, looking out for our clients’ best interests while also stressing that we need to get this offer in today. No one likes to be hurried or feel like they didn’t have sufficient time to think things through. But then again, in a market like this, maybe there’s much to be said by going with that little voice in your gut? Or at least we can tell ourselves that.
But….here are a couple of things to keep in mind if you are faced with this predicament. Buying a home in the Traverse City region is usually a very safe bet. We at Northern Den Realty call our area a Goldilocks’ zone. This area will likely be a desirable place for people to live and visit moving foward…it always has been and now, one of the silver linings of the pandemic, is that many people can now work from home, giving them more geographic freedom when it comes to home buying. In Leelanau County alone, the average worth of a home went up 23% in 2020, a huge jump from the year before. And while growth of that size may not happen every year, no one envisions negative movements. So…if you are faced with a “pull the trigger” moment, know that we are with you every step of the way. At Northern Den Realty, we want nothing but the best for you and we will give it our all to make that happen. Now…put some hot chocolate (or wine…no one is judging here) in a thermos and get outside and live the snow globe life! Warmer days are just around the corner.
