The Skilled Labor Shortage #2
3 Reasons Why the Boston Real Estate Market is Primed for Pre-Listing Updates
Boston buyers, like many of today’s home buyers, are looking for move-in ready homes in order to avoid major home improvement projects. Unfortunately, Boston has one of the oldest housing stocks in the country and is riddled with homes that need significant updates to be deemed move-in ready.
In the coming months, sellers will likely experience pickier buyers, who won’t be willing to overlook serious flaws like those who purchased earlier in the year. As the market continues to fluctuate, buyers and sellers will have to meet somewhere in the middle through pre-listing and pre-move-in home improvements.
Each home sale is different, but here are our top 3 big reasons why the Boston market is primed for pre-listing updates:
1. Old housing stock = outdated homes
The median age of housing in Massachusetts is 54 years old, making it the second-oldest housing stock in the United States. With an older housing stock comes outdated design features: closed floor plans, aged flooring, antiquated wall décor and more, all of which are likely to be unattractive to the modern home buyer.
The aging housing stock in Boston means that many homes in the area would benefit from floorplan reconfigurations and cosmetic updates to bring home features up-to-date and provide home buyers with the move-in-ready homes they desire.
Curbio can help Boston real estate agents and their clients update their homes with all of the contemporary features that will make any home stand out in a market that is saturated with older homes. From creating open floor plan concepts that maximize square footage to adding a fresh coat of paint, working with Curbio will help raise the value of older Boston homes.
2. Buyers are reluctant to purchase homes that need work
In a hot seller’s market, buyers will take whatever they can get, right? Not quite. While it’s easy to assume that any home will sell with the current demand for housing, the reality is that buyers are still reluctant to purchase a home that needs work.
Many home buyers have faced a similar scenario: they find a nice, updated home that is within their budget. They then decide to make an offer, only to be outbid by other buyers who are willing to pay more money, waive inspections and waive mortgage contingencies. The prevalence of stories like this one has proven time and time again that move-in-ready homes are in high demand.
Simple updates like replacing flooring, painting and kitchen refreshes can help sellers meet the demand for updated homes, ensuring they can sell quickly for their target list price.
3. City-center homes need TLC to compete
When the coronavirus pandemic hit and the prominence of teleworking increased, many city residents opted to forego their urban homes in favor of the space that comes with the suburbs. With indefinite work-from-home policies now becoming commonplace, many former city dwellers are making these moves permanent.
Boston has been no exception. While downtown areas like Back Bay and South End used to be in high demand, home buyers have been increasingly eager to move out to the suburbs and beyond, where they can get more space at a reasonable price.
With downtown Boston homes on the downswing in popularity, sellers need to do all they can to compete with homes in the suburbs. Curbio is the agent’s go-to contractor for hassle-free pre-listing home improvements.
Give us a call today at 844-944-2629 to discuss options, or request an estimate online at curbio.com/estimate.
The Boston real estate market is characterized by outdated homes, meaning both sellers and buyers can benefit from investing in pre-listing and pre-move-in home improvements. Curbio is here to help Realtors® and their clients by providing a turnkey home improvement experience without the stress. Our expert team of full-time Project Managers will see each project from beginning to end, working closely with their team of pre-vetted subcontractors and managing timelines so you don’t have to. To ensure you’re never left wondering what’s happening at the project site, agents, sellers and buyers are kept up-to-date with visual and text updates at every step of the way via the Curbio app.
Ready to get your client’s home improvement project started? Get your free, no obligation estimate today!