The Cedar Rapids Real Estate Market Is Absolutely On Fire

The housing market across the U.S. is definitely a seller's market right now, and that's no more obvious than here in Cedar Rapids. I've seen it with my own eyes and just wait 'til I tell you the story of a couple that sold their house last week.

Back in mid-February, one of our Cedar Rapids neighbors put their house on sale at the height of the cold snap. You remember... when temperatures didn't get above zero for days. It didn't matter. Julie and I watched out our front window with amazement the day before Valentine's Day when the high reached -2 in Cedar Rapids. Despite the cold, there was a non-stop stream of showings of the house that day, which had just gone on sale a couple of days earlier. The next day there was an open house and a few days after, the "sold" sign went up.

Last weekend I was chatting with another Cedar Rapids man with an incredible story. He and his wife had put their home up for sale a week ago yesterday. Would-be buyers pounced quickly.

The man told me that last Tuesday, April 13, there were 41 showings of his house. He and his wife had to vacate the place for 12 1/2 straight hours to accommodate all the visitors. Wednesday, they had 27 offers in hand. Thursday, they accepted an offer for nearly $20,000 more than the asking price.

It's definitely a great time to sell a house since the Cedar Rapids real estate market is on fire, but if you're looking for a new place to move into, you'd better have that taken care of before putting your house up for sale. If you see a "For Sale" sign you better jump on it quick because there are obviously a lot of buyers out there.