It has been a little over a week since Caterpillar made their announcement about a reduction in its work force globally and I’ve seen a wild range of reactions. I’ve had a few transactions this past week that had some bumps in the road because the buyers were Caterpillar employees that suddenly had some employment concerns arise that weren’t there at the time they made an offer-which is completely understandable. I’ve had calls from past clients that were going to be retiring and were now jumping with joy over the prospect of an early retirement incentive to do what they were planning on doing anyway. I’ve also had calls from past clients that weren’t quite ready to retire yet but suddenly are thinking it might be a good time to take Caterpillar up on the offer.
That first group of sellers-the ones that were planning on retiring anyway-are likely going to be putting their homes on the market sooner than expected. What may have been a spring listing time frame is now likely a fall or winter listing time frame. The second group of sellers-the ones that weren’t thinking about retirement yet, are making that decision to list their homes now or hang around and see what options might present themselves in the short term.
As I mentioned in the prior post-this will undoubtedly lead to an unusual increase in the supply of some very nice homes for sale this fall and winter. While the supply of buyers, which in many cases are related Caterpillar, may be tempered while the current reduction is in effect, for those that are not they may have their pick of the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood they have always been looking for.
I’ve been starting a list of past clients that have called who have indicated a likelihood that they may be selling soon, and the homes in question are without exception-pretty spectacular. The price ranges have been from around $200K up to $600K, and they are all over location wise. For those that are in a position to be a home buyer, the increase home inventory, with the slower/colder selling season coming soon and low interest rates-this may be what you have been waiting for.
