This is the question of the day …

As the market shifts, Sellers may have to make accommodations to which they are not accustomed. They may have to prepare their homes in ways they have not had to for some time … such as sweeping and cleaning cobwebs from corners.

There are a lot of corollaries between our local market and the Northern VA market, not least the amount of young professionals and their transience.

Seeing a quote such as this –

For sellers in the nation’s hottest housing markets, the thought that the peak may have passed is sobering. In the suburban Washington, D.C., market, the number of contracts for single-family homes fell 8.9% in July from the year before. Brokers who used to oversee bidding wars of houses that hadn’t had a makeover in decades are now pushing sellers to fix up their places to sell faster.

Lend credence to my belief that the market is shifting a bit, and not only due to the cyclical nature of the market (due in large part to the school calendar).

From my perspective, For Sale by Owners seem to be suffering a bit as properties are actually requiring marketing now. Perhaps the days of sticking a sign in the yard and waiting for qualified buyers to beat each other to the door are numbered.