May 2024 Market Update

Sweet May, we are ready for some sunshine! Parts of the market are fast and high and other parts offer opportunities, especially when you have an agent actively looking for the cracks. We have been focused on a bunch of new listings - the inventory is coming! Our summary of where we are is below and we have a fun event coming up.

What to do when you see a home you like…

1. Text us to see what we know about the home and to request the disclosures and internal documents.
2. Ask about when the home is being shown and whether there is an offer deadline.
3. Generally our advice is to get in as soon as feasible unless there is a clear offer deadline.
4. Make sure you have your pre-approval in hand before seeing homes (or your proof of funds).. Things move fast in real estate and you will need this to make an offer.

Everything is status quo for now but…

The National Association of Realtors is implementing some new rules sometime between mid-July and the end of the year. Luckily, Maine has been ahead of the curve in this area and has been using buyer agreements for decades. We don’t expect to see major changes in Maine.

Those new rules include the following two items:

1. We will be required to have a buyer’s agreement that outlines compensation prior to showing any homes, and
2. Any commission offered by the seller’s will not be published in the MLS. Basically, we will have to call around to brokers to see what the seller’s are offering.

We are still seeing seller’s offering around 2.5% to cover the buyer agent commission, and we will keep you apprised of any new trends we are seeing.