How is the East County real estate market? Should you wait to buy or sell in East County? Well, let’s take a look at Brentwood since it’s right in the middle of all. Hi, I’m Krista Mashore, owner-broker of Homes By Krista. We are seeing the market slow down a bit right now. Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. In all of 2019, the average days on market for homes ranging from 750,000 to 850,000 was 29 days. However, if you look how long it’s taking them to sell right now, in that same price range, we’re averaging 46 days. That’s a 37% increase on how long it’s taking homes to sell in that price range.

We currently, as of this time the video was created, we have 217 active homes for sale in Brentwood. In January, at our lowest point, we only had 89 homes on the market. That’s more than double, at 59% more to be exact. So what does this mean? It means that with more inventory, you need to make sure that your home gets massive marketing exposure, it’s ready and available to show when the buyers want to see it, and it’s in really good condition. When there is more competition, you want to make sure that the carpets are cleaned or new, the walls are free of scuff marks, and it’s as turnkey as possible. Otherwise, you have a lot of other homes to choose from that might look better than yours.

In the 750 to $850,000 price range right now, there are 31 homes to choose from. According to the National Association of Realtors, a buyer typically only looks at 10 homes. So right now, there is more than three times the amount of homes on the market, so you’ve got competition. You’ll have a much better chance of getting chosen, of buyers wanting to see your property, if your marketing is on point, there’s lots of high quality pictures and video, and your home is exposed digitally to the masses.

Don’t wait for buyers to find you. You need to make sure that your marketing is showing up online, where the buyers are actually looking. That way, you can sell your house even with this competition. But even with that, it still is going to take a lot longer than normal, so be prepared. And, as always, we’re here to help. So please reach out to us anytime. And, remember, when you do what you love, people love what you do. So make it a great home selling and buying day.

— Krista Mashore