Rising mortgage interest rates are a problem for buyers, there’s just no way to get around it. Amid fears of inflation and even worse fears of recession, first-time buyers are feeling more hesitant than they have in the last five years when it comes to thinking about getting into their first mortgage. Right now, the Federal Reserve rate is between 2.25 and 2.50, which came from a 0.75 rate hike in the federal funds rate of this year. This is a marked shift from the near zero rate that the feds had held onto since 2018, before the pandemic, and while interest rates over this year have increased they will most likely continue to increase in 2023 as well. So, the heydays of low interest rates seem to be over, and it would seem that qualified buyers are going to dry up in response. Could this be the worst time in the last five years to sell a house in Wichita?
There’s another problem that home sellers in Wichita haven’t considered- wages. The base amount that workers have been paid for entry-level positions in America has been flat for almost thirteen years, and hasn’t changed from $7.25 since July 24, 2009. The minimum wage is laughably low, and as far from parallel with increasing inflation. Most entry-level jobs, even in a place as cheap to live in as Wichita, don’t start their workers at minimum wage. The minimum wage has effectively increased, given that it’s hard to find a job, even in the service industry like McDonald’s or Dunkin Donuts, that doesn’t at least start their workers at $10 an hour. But even this isn’t enough to keep up with rising expenses. So, why is this bad for home sellers in Wichita? Because along with mortgage interest rates, sale prices on homes are going up as well, making it harder and harder for first-time buyers to afford a down payment. Things are looking grim for home sellers in Wichita.
But it gets worse, what most homeowners don’t realize is that the process of listing on the traditional market has been complicated and obfuscated in a way that sneaks money out of the pockets of homeowners and into real estate agents pockets. Just read this Medium article describing how real estate agents are unable “to make the purchase and sale of your home predictable, convenient, transparent or cost effective.” A real estate agents incentives are just not aligned with their clients in the way they should be, and oftentimes, sellers end up being burdened with the task of creating a presentable experience to potential buyers in the form of home repairs and remodeling. Doing your own remodeling is time consuming, confusing, frustrating, and expensive.
Real estate agents really are a dying breed, and one of the primary causes of disappearing real estate agents is the rise of professional home buyers. A professional home buyer, sometimes known as a house flipper, is a person or team of people who buy real estate as-is and use a team of trusted contractors to remodel the home and sell at a profit. The best part of professional home buyers is that they always have the capital to pay in cash up front, and since they buy houses as-is, their closing timelines are extremely quick and simple. While selling your house in an as-is condition is certainly going to net a slightly smaller amount of profit, sometimes it is good to ask yourself how much is your time and sanity worth?
If you’re thinking to yourself, “what is the best way to sell my Wichita home?” consider going to a professional home buyer. Harmony Home Buyer is the top rated home buying company in Wichita; just check out these Google reviews. They have built a trusted team of acquisition experts, interior designers and contractors, that make selling your Wichita home as easy as 1-2-3. Our top priority is client satisfaction, we offer same-day quotes, work on your timeline and can close within a week.
On top of that, by selling to Harmony Home Buyer you’re contributing to our mission of renovating the city of Wichita one house at a time. So, if you want to be a part of the beautification of this awesome city, give us a call at (316) 217-9675 or go to our website.
If you’re feeling unsure, about ANYTHING, you can email me personally : jason@harmonyhomebuyer.com for a free consultation.
See how 10 minutes of your time can alleviate months and months of headache.
Hope to hear from you soon! – Harmony Home Buyer team