Well Lake Havasu, snowbird season is upon us! As most of you know, each year thousands of part-time residents come to our community for an extended vacation that generally lasts from late December until the middle of March. This season is affectionately known as "snowbird season" because these residents are actually migrating to Lake Havasu in order to escape the colder temperatures and snow of the areas that they consider their primary residences. While there are some residents who are going to be irritated by the significant increase in population for the next few months, most residents welcome it because of the revenue it generates for the town. These part-time residents will usually spend enough money in our community to last many businesses for the rest of the year. They also bring a redevelopment to the city because in many cases their properties have been sitting vacant for the last nine months, waiting for them to come back.
So what does this mean for the Lake Havasu real estate market? Simple, it means a significant reduction in the amount of houses and condos for rent or for sale until spring. Because of this lack of inventory and increased demand, prices on available houses go up. If you are thinking of selling your Lake Havasu house, now is the time to do it. There are literally thousands of people who are looking for property to rent or to buy right now, and there are not enough sellers to satisfy their demand. Ths naturally leads to an increasing in prices for the inventory that is available.
But what if I want to sell after the season, because I want to take one last vacation before putting my place up for sale? Well, that is your choice of course but you have to remember that everyone who is going to sell is thinking the same way. This is going to cause the market to be flooded with inventory after the vacation season ends in March, and will cause a reduction in the prices that you can ask due to there being more inventory competing for buyers. One of the smartest things you could do is to take a shorter vacation this year than in the past, and use that time to get your property ready to sell in January or February. By doing this, you would be getting your place onto the market earlier than everyone else, and it would give us a chance to market it to the available buyers before all that extra inventory hits the market.
What if I am looking to buy in Lake Havasu? Well, it is a tougher time to buy than if you were to wait until the spring, just because there are so many people in town renting the available properties. Fewer people sell when the season is at it's height due to the fact that they are either enjoying the properties themselves or they are renting them out for premium prices. Our vacancy rate for the next few months is going to be very low, and it will be difficult to find places to rent or buy. While this may seem discouraging, we can assure you that we have access to all of the inventory that is available, and if you need to buy a home in Lake Havasu right now we are going to be able to find you exactly what you want. Unfortunately, you are probably not going to be able to offer a very low price and still get the offer accepted because there are a lot of buyers looking to buy. If you are shown something that you like, we suggest immediately making the best offer that you can make.
Lake Havasu is a seller's market right now. If you have a property that you would like to sell, contact us immediately and we will start working to get is sold quickly. If you are a snowbird, welcome to Lake Havasu!