Housing Ablaze With Activity, Even as California Cools

Housing Ablaze With Activity, Even as California Cools

Cash Buyers List News

​Housing continues to be ablaze with activity, with off-the-charts prices and supply consumed at rapid-fire pace, according to the latest data preview from realtor.com(R). 

Prices in May were 10 percent higher than those one year ago, with the national median at $275,000 and the national median age of inventory at 60 days-five days, or 8 percent, faster than one year ago. Inventory, though higher in May than in April, will still be down 11 percent.

​"Last month there were more prospective buyers, and homes are selling more quickly than during any other May since the recession," says Javier Vivas, manager of Economic Research at realtor.com.

"For the first time, one in three homes nationwide are selling in under 30 days. The lack of affordable homes for sale remains a critical issue, particularly for a growing number of first-time homebuyers and millennials, who are lining up for starter homes but can’t break in."

Red hot California again ruled realtor.coms Hotness Index for May, though some markets are showing signs of fizzling-clearing a path, according to Vivas, for simmering markets, such as Boston, Mass., and Midland, Texas, to heat up. The markets topping the Index have more views per listing on realtor.com compared to the national average-sometimes three times more-and supply moving as much as 36 days faster than the national average.

"This is officially the most competitive, fastest-moving spring housing market in decades," Vivas says. "Some places like the Bay Area have become too hot to handle-and now a lack of inventory and affordability are allowing other markets to catch up."

The top 10 in the Hotness Index:

1.  Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif.
 Median Age of Inventory: 28 days

2. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calf.
 Median Age of Inventory: 24 days

3. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.
 Median Age of Inventory: 33 days

4. Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, Calif.
 Median Age of Inventory: 33 days

5. Kennewick-Richland, Wash.
 Median Age of Inventory: 34 days

6. Colorado Springs, Colo.
 Median Age of Inventory: 32 days

7. Columbus, Ohio
 Median Age of Inventory: 36 days

8. Midland, Texas
 Median Age of Inventory: 34 days

9. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
 Median Age of Inventory: 24 days

10. Stockton-Lodi, Calif.
 Median Age of Inventory: 36 days

For more information, please visit www.realtor.com.

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6 Ways to Stay Fit with Your Pup

6 Ways to Stay Fit with Your Pup

Cash Buyers List News

​(Family Features)--Puppies don’t just make great best friends; they’re also awesome (and adorable) workout buddies. It’s important for both humans and pups to stay active, so the Pedigree brand is sharing fun, interactive tips and hilariously cute videos with fitness inspiration, perfect for owner/puppy bonding.

While you’re focused on keeping in shape, it’s important to also keep diet top of mind. Below are some tips from Pedigree:

Canines on the Court. Let your pup play doggie defense in a game of backyard basketball. Dribble the ball around and watch your puppy opponent have the time of his life trying to steal the ball again and again.

Group Pup-Dates. If you’re meeting up with friends for some outdoor fun, don’t forget to bring your pooch, too. You and your pals can break a sweat chasing your pets around, and the pups will get to expel some energy, socialize with their fellow pup-letes and create their own canine games.

Fetch Takes the Field. Give your usual game of fetch a soccer spin by kicking a soccer ball outside while your pup chases after it. Hell love chasing after the moving target.

Nama-Sit, Nama-Stay. Recent studies have found that owning a dog has an array of health benefits for both the minds and bodies of dog owners. Try out a relaxing and fun bonding experience with your four-legged friend by practicing the art of "doga" (dog yoga). At the very least, you’ll have fun trying new poses with your pup.

Race to the Finish. Let your pup run at top speed to see if he can beat you in a foot race. You might need to just let him win, especially if he has tiny legs.

Walk It Out. At the end of the day, there’s nothing like a good, old-fashioned walk. Keep it fun and interesting for you and your pup by taking walks outside of your neighborhood every once in a while. Find a new trail or a local lake to stroll around. Your puppy will love taking in all the new sights and smells.

Source: Pedigree

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How to Find a House Today

How to Find a House Today

Cash Buyers List News

​This year may be the most difficult in a decade to buy a home, especially for a first-time homebuyer.

Prices are soaring in most markets, and for affordable starter homes, the price is rising faster than larger homes.* Supplies are suffering from a three-year inventory drought that also is hitting starter homes hardest.

The number of starter and trade-up homes fell 8.7 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively, during the past year, while the inventory of premium homes has fallen by just 1.7 percent, according to Ralph McLaughlin, Trulia’s chief economist.*

There’s little leeway for mistakes in today’s marketplace. Discipline is essential, and the learning curve is stepped. Buying a home is serious business, and in most markets today, it is the most difficult step in the process for move-up buyers, as well as first-timers.

Here are nine tips on house-hunting in today’s marketplace that will put you ahead of the competition and may spell the difference between success and failure.

Hire a specialist. If you had a serious medical condition, you would seek advice and treatment from a medical specialist. Real estate is also a large and complex field. Many brokers and agents specialize in delivering better service to their clients and customers. If you’re serious about finding a home today, hire a REALTOR(R) who specializes in serving buyers. Look for one with the designation ABR after their name. It stands for Accredited Buyers Representative and means that they are REALTORS(R) who have received specialized training from the Real Estate Buyers Agent Council (REBAC) and have experience representing buyers.

Even if you don’t hire a specialist, you should hire a REALTOR(R). Not all agents are REALTORS(R); REALTORS(R) are members of the National Association of REALTORS(R) (NAR) who are licensed and abide by NARs Code of Ethics. Hiring a REALTOR(R) with an ABR designation won’t cost you anything, and a professional’s assistance could make all the difference. Above all, don’t try to go it alone today. Last year nearly 90 percent of successful buyers used an agent.**

Don’t start your search until you are ready. It’s a good idea to spend some time online surfing real estate sites and learning about real estate and checking out what’s available; however, you aren’t a serious buyer until you have done all you can to improve your credit, raised the money you need for a down payment, been pre-approved for a mortgage from at least one lender and hired an agent

Make a budget and stick to it. The amount for which your lender pre-approves you is not your budget. Your pre-approved amount is conditional and can change when you apply for a mortgage. Moreover, it does not include many of the other costs of homeownership, like taxes, home insurance and maintenance.

Sit down with your agent, make your budget and stick to it. As a rule of thumb, economists recommend you spend no more than 30 percent of your gross income on housing costs. Make a pledge to yourself to stick to your budget. There are few heartaches worse than falling in love with a house you can’t afford or stretching yourself so thin that you are "house poor" for years to come.

House hunt every day. Looking for a house in today’s market is like having a second job. Financially, finding the right home may be even more important to you than a second job. The outcome of your search will determine where you live and how much you spend on housing for years to come. Be proactive with your agent to learn as much as you can about the home-buying process and conditions in your market. Spend time every day reviewing listings and learning about neighborhoods.

Drive the neighborhoods in which you are interested and go to open houses to get a feel for the market and to meet listing agents who may have a home that meets your criteria. Check out "coming soon" listings to get a head start on the competition.

Use a selection of sites. Most buyers start their house search on one of the major national real estate sites like realtor.com(R), Zillow or Homes.com. These sites have great features, research and how-to material. As you get more serious about finding a house, increase your selection of sites to include your local multiple listing services, if yours has a consumer site with listings (not all do). Also, bookmark several of the leading local brokerages in your market. Listings may appear earlier on a local brokerage site than a national site, and often updated information like contracts or price changes are posted first on the site of the listing broker who represents the property. Sign up for email updates of listings that fit your criteria.

Be flexible. You may find that you cannot afford to live where you would like, or you can’t afford the size or amenities you want. If those are deal-breakers for you, you may not be ready to buy in your market today-or you might revisit your plans and decide to live a little farther out from the city, buying an older house that you can improve over time. Starting out in a condo might be an acceptable alternative. Chances are prices in your market are not going to decline, and by buying now, you will begin to accumulate equity. Though mortgage rates have risen over the past year, they are still very reasonable by historical standards, which mean that the odds are they will continue to rise, rather than fall, in the future. Expand the geography and price ranges on the websites you are using and see what you find.

Sweeten your offer. When you find a house on which you want to make an offer, ask your agent for a comparative market analysis (CMA) to determine its value. Don’t rely on the estimated values provided by valuation tools on real estate sites. Knowing the value is important not just for deciding how much to offer, but also to anticipate how much the house will appraise for. CMAs are based on recent sales of comparable properties, similar to appraisals. Chances are you will be competing with other buyers, including investors who pay all cash. Sellers are not only looking for the best price; they also want an offer that will close on time from a buyer whose financing won’t fall through.

Consider sweetening your offer by increasing your down payment and getting more than one pre-approval. Be flexible on considerations like renting back if the owner is a move-up buyer who may need time to find a new home. If you are a move-up buyer, sell your current home before you buy a new one. Most sellers react negatively to offers that are contingent upon a buyer first selling his current home.

Don’t lose your deal. About 23 percent of contracts on homes today have a delayed settlement, and 7 percent of contracts fail to close and are terminated. The leading causes for delayed settlements are issues related to obtaining financing and appraisal issues. Among contracts that were terminated, 25 percent faced issues related to home inspections, and 20 percent had issues related to the buyers ability to obtain financing.***

One way to improve your odds for financing is to get more than one pre-approval so that you are ready to talk to a second lender if your first application fails. Most appraisal issues result from appraisals that come in lower than the contract price and buyers must come up with more cash. One way to protect against a low appraisal is to know the value of the house before you make an offer and make a larger down payment than you have to.

Persistence pays off. Don’t despair if a seller selects another offer over yours. Learn from your experiences. A better home may come on the market tomorrow. Last year buyers searched for an average of 10 weeks and looked at a median of 10 homes**, but that’s just a national average for all buyers. If you are a first-time buyer in a hot market, expect your hunt to take longer. Don’t quit when the weather turns cold. Fall and winter can be good times to find a home. There are fewer listings than in the spring or summer, but there’s also less competition, and sellers are usually more motivated.

* McLaughlin, Ralph. (2017, May 22) Don’t Call It a Comeback: How Rising Home Values May Be Stifling Inventory. Retrieved from www.trulia.com/blog/trends/inventory-q117/

** 2016 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. National Association of REALTORS(R).

*** REALTORS(R) Confidence Index: Report on March 2017 Survey. National Association of REALTORS(R). Retrieved from www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/reports/2017/2017-03-realtors-confidence-index-04-21-2017.pdf.

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How to Make Difficult Clients Happy

How to Make Difficult Clients Happy

Cash Buyers List News

​Human emotions play a significant role in the home buying and home selling process.  Sellers may feel excited to be moving into a new home; however, at the same time, they may feel remorse and sadness for leaving family memories behind.

Homebuyers may be overwhelmed with wonder and glee to start a new life, but worried and cautious about the responsibilities of owning a home.

As a real estate professional, you work in the service industry and deal with these types of emotions every day. Luckily for you, many clients are happy and thrilled to start their new life-but that isn’t always the case.

Difficult clients are part of the business, but with a few tips, you can turn a hardship into a profit.

Listen
Many difficult situations arise because the client feels like they are being ignored-a situation that can be avoided if you listen to your clients needs, wants and negotiables from the start. Create an "interview" process for all clients prior to working with them to find out all this information.

This is the perfect time to ask questions to figure out what the client is looking for, as well as understand them as a person.

Some situations need to be seen from the other person’s point of view. By constantly trying to make them see things your way, you are telling them that their concerns don’t matter and are not important. Think about how you would act in this situation and give the client a response in a manner you would like to hear and/or see.

If the client is already feeling frustrated and you see signs of difficulty arising, let the client talk until they have finished stating their worries and/or concerns. This lets the client feel like they are being heard and listened to. This is also the perfect opportunity to start evaluating different solutions you can offer your client, then once they are done, acknowledge that their concerns matter and move the conversation towards the end result, rather than continuing to focus on the problem.

Communicate
Have you ever heard the saying "It’s not what you say; its how you say it?" You might be the cause of difficult situations without even being aware of it. A great way to overcome this is by mimicking your client’s tones and dialogue. For instance, if your client is using a more professional tone and you are using a more laidback tone, then slightly adjust yours to the level of the client. 

By watching your client’s body language, you can notice if they are uncomfortable with the way you are speaking. Take note of what phrases and words are being used and see if/when they react to what is being said. By adjusting your speech, you should see the client relax and calm the situation before it escalates.

Educate
Sometimes, as an expert of your field, you may communicate with clients in a manner that makes them feel like you are patronizing their intellect without even knowing that you are doing it. As a real estate agent, its crucial to have a clear understanding of the industry and market trends, and know to communicate this knowledge to clients.

With a clear understanding of the industry, your clients will be less likely to disagree with your insight. This is especially helpful when dealing with unrealistic pricing issues.

Be Goal-Oriented
Selling/buying a home can be an excruciatingly long process and create frustration for your client. They want to be updated often and see results quickly. As an agent, you want to stay goal-oriented and focus on the end result. Create a document that can be easily updated with what tasks have been completed and what still needs to be done, so your client can have a visual aide showing where they are in the sale.

Know Your Limits and Refer
Differences in personalities can be the cause of major difficulties within the client/agent relationship. As a service provider, you need to learn how to deal with all types of personalities in order to make the sale; however, there are times when the client’s personality just doesn’t mix well with yours.

When this happens, it might be best to refer the client to a friend or a different member of your team who could provide the client with better service by understanding how to deal with their personality type.

There might come a time when you have tried everything possible and still failed to maintain a positive client/agent relationship. If your situation ever becomes so toxic (for you) that it outweighs the potential revenue, it may be better to cut your losses than to continue moving forward with this client.

Once you do, you can take the time that would’ve been spent with this difficult client to work with a more productive client. Let Homes.com Local Connect introduce you to leads in your area. Secure your zip codes today.

For more information, please visit connect.homes.com.

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International Homebuyers Have More Impact on High-End Market

International Homebuyers Have More Impact on High-End Market

Cash Buyers List News

​International homebuyers have more impact on the high-end housing market than on the general housing market, according to the latest Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey for the second quarter of 2017, which surveyed over 100 housing authorities.

Those surveyed reported that though international buyers have a major effect on home values in the luxury market, they have only a minor effect on supply and values overall.

"International buyers are popular scapegoats for rising real estate prices and shrinking inventory, but domestic factors have had a bigger influence on the housing market, much more so than demand from overseas," says Dr. Svenja Gudell, chief economist at Zillow. "Older millennials are reaching prime home-buying age, increasing demand for housing, but we are still well behind historical norms when it comes to building new homes. The fact that economists and experts are revising their expectations upward for future home value growth is a sign that these trends will continue to exert upward pressure on prices going forward."

The majority of those surveyed foresaw international buying activity to either remain at its current pace or slow in the year ahead. Many agreed, also, that recent steps taken by several cities to cap international home-buying will be ineffective at preserving affordability.

Those surveyed, in addition, amended their previous home price forecast, now believing prices will post 4.8 percent growth in 2017-up from 3.4 percent one year ago.

"On the heels of last year’s nearly 7 percent national home value appreciation rate, the prospect that prices will increase less than 5 percent overall this year might be dispiriting to some," says Terry Loebs, founder of Pulsenomics, conductor of the survey. "Yet, 4.8 percent is not only well above the historical average annual gain; it's the most optimistic projection for 2017 that we've seen from our expert panel over the past five years."

For more information, please visit www.zillow.com.

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Prepare for Entertaining Inside and Out

Prepare for Entertaining Inside and Out

Cash Buyers List News

​(Family Features)--With warm weather comes an overwhelming urge to get outside and enjoy it. 

From barbecues and cookouts to ice cream parties and poolside hangouts, summertime is a popular excuse to kick up your feet and invite your friends and family over to celebrate together.

Now is the perfect time to give your deck or patio area a little TLC before inviting the masses. Follow these tips to revamp and refresh your home’s exterior and interior ahead of hosting your next summer event.

Get your gardening gloves on.

A little color goes a long way for a bed of plants and flowers. Plant some bright flowers along your patio or consider growing functional, edible plants that look and taste great. Gardening is a fun summer project that can add beauty to your home’s exterior lounging areas. If gardening isn’t your thing, fresh-cut flowers in a vase as a centerpiece can do the trick.

Ready the deck and home exterior.

Funguses on the deck aren’t appealing, nor are mildew stains, dirt or weather-beaten patches. Pressure wash your deck then re-stain it with a matching color and finish, and apply a wood preservative to help prevent water damage and discoloration. In addition, it might be time to give dull shutters and doors a fresh coat of paint to prevent them from looking washed out.

Remove mold and mildew.

Mold and mildew can form on the exterior siding and trim of your home, as well as on patio furniture, flower pots and swimming pools. It’s important to regularly clean the outside of your house as well as your outdoor furniture and accessories that may have been stored away all winter. It’s easy to remove mold or mildew with a garden hose, a long-handled brush and a mixture of a 1/2 cup of Clorox Regular-Bleach per each gallon of water.

Stop the spread of fungal disease in gardens.

​Fungal diseases can be deadly to plants and wildlife. When used as directed, bleach is a simple but powerful tool that can be used to help stop the spread of fungal diseases. It can also keep cut flowers alive longer when you add a few drops to a water-filled vase.

Clean up the bathroom and kitchen.

Don’t forget about indoor spaces. When hosting friends, its likely that you or a guest will need to visit the kitchen to prepare a side dish or grab another drink and bathroom visits are inevitable. Clean up any loose items and use a disinfecting wipe on hard surfaces like counter tops, door handles and light switches.

When it comes to summer entertaining, all you need is a quick refresh before you kick back with loved ones in a clean, relaxing space. 

Source: Clorox

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