Where and How Can a Buyer Get a Deal and What Can Sellers do to Get the Best Deal for Themselves

By Michael Boshnack

I bet you would be surprised to hear that one of the most unaffected real estate markets by the economic downturn is not Los Angeles, Boston or New York, but Syracuse. Don’t get to excited that doesn’t mean the demand is necessarily increasing for Syracuse real estate, what it means is that prices in Syracuse never went up like the rest of the country in the early 2000s, thus they did not have much room to go down. This has also been the case for Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Little Rock and El Paso. Major cities like not Los Angeles, Boston and New York have been the “strongest” meaning that they rode the bubble a few years ago and with respect to the rest of the nation their prices have fallen the least.

So with all of these price changes throughout the country how good of a deal is out there? “For many people who once only dreamed of a $1 million home, today a $500,000 home is looking pretty good”. (Gopal) Originally the economic downturn affected mostly lower class homes as the subprime mortgage crisis effected this socioeconomic class. As the hurting has spread throughout the country many highly paid workers have been laid off by major corporations. This has opened up the market for cheap luxury homes for two reasons. One, many of these types of people are looking to sell their homes to avoid foreclosure even if the value of their house is less then the outstanding loan amount, and secondly this is not a viable option for everyone so many people with luxury homes are forced to foreclose their homes.

So what can you do to help increase your homes value in a time when people are looking for discounts? Kelli B. Grant says there are five important things to consider.
1. Paint, a little paint job can go a long way in the eyes of the buyer
2. Basic Maintenance, a paint job will be overlooked if the sinks do not work
3. Energy efficient upgrades, this is huge for homebuyers as the upgrades are inevitable anyway.
4. Install new fixtures, this will bring an updated look to your home
5. Landscaping, help make that good first impression

Sources:

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/105690/Top-5-Inexpensive-Ways-to-Boost-Your-Home's-Value

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/106157/How-Much-Home-You-Can-Buy-for-500,000

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/106413/America's-Strongest-Housing-Markets