Two Ways You Can Win In This Market

It’s no secret that many prospective homebuyers are finding the current real estate market challenging. One of the more unexpected consequences of the Covid pandemic was the hyper-focus on one’s home. This has resulted in a robust market where sellers are seeing advancing home sales prices and multiple offers.

While competition is fierce, clearly for sellers to sell, they need buyers. If your goal is to find a new home this year, there are a couple ways you can maximize your ability to have your offer accepted.

Two Ways Homebuyers Can Win in Today’s Market

1. Act Early - There are a couple reasons why home buyers should start early this year. With rising inflation, interest rates are likely to rise this year. While conventional wisdom may suggest lower real estate prices with an increase in mortgage rates, this is a gamble. Lower interest rates can not only save homeowners thousands of dollars over a 30-year term, but also provides better buying power with lenders, providing more choices.

2. Buy Now and Move Later - The rapid pace of the current market affects not only buyers but sellers as well. In a typical market, sellers often have weeks or months to find their replacement property. Buyers can sweeten their offer by asking about the sellers needs and allowing them extra time to move, offering to close quickly but renting to the sellers for 2-3 months to allow them time to find their new home.

The bottom line is that home loan rates and home prices will likely continue to advance throughout 2022. Potential homebuyers who move quickly can maximize their buying power and ability to win the home.

Find Your Next Home With Me! www.homesnap.com/laura-key

Buyers To Sellers...TAKE MY MONEY!

When you sell your home, you want to make sure you’re getting the best price for your property. The best way to do that is to sell when demand is high and supply is low. And if you look at supply and demand, there’s never been a better time to sell your home.

According to the most recent Home Price Insights Report from CoreLogic, there are four times as many renters looking to purchase a home in the next twelve months than there are homeowners looking to sell. And as rents continue to rise around the country, the number of renters looking to transition to ownership will only increase.

(According to Realtor.com’s most recent Market Outlook Report from Q4 2017, rents rose in a whopping 78% of counties across the US year-over-year.)

The Takeaway

If you’ve been thinking about selling your home, now is the time to make a move. With so many potential buyers flooding the market, demand has never been higher, and that demand will get you a much higher price for your property.

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Buyers Need Homes!

Don't Sell Until You Are Ready!

I love to sell homes. It’s a privilege and an honor to be a part of the process. I get great satisfaction from making my living helping people move on to the next phase of their life, whether it’s upsizing, downsizing, or simply relocating to a new neighborhood.

But there is one sort of home seller I can’t really help: The seller who’s not really ready to sell.

If you’re thinking about selling your home, don’t enter into the process lightly. It’s a big deal. There’s some stress and there’s a great opportunity for joy. There’s a big investment at stake. This, along with a lot of other reasons large and small, is why you want to be 100% sure you’re ready to sell your home. If you think you’re ready to sell, but it turns out you’re not, you waste a lot of time and energy (and sometimes money).

So how do you know if you’re really ready to sell your home?

1. You’re fine with the process. You must have no problem with the idea of a stranger poking around your house, talking about renovating it, or treating it like a used car. If you’ve lived in your house a long time, it’s natural to have emotional attachments. So if the process of selling the house makes you feel protective or defensive, you may not be ready.

2. You are flexible on the right price. Motivated sellers understand selling a home involves negotiation and competitive market pricing. If you have a number “you must get” in order to sell, then you might want to think again. Also, if all of the agents who price your home come back too low for your standards, take a breather and ask yourself if it’s go time or not.

3. You know where you’re going next. Prepared sellers have plans, even if those plans aren’t 100% firm. They’re anticipating the move and they are probably even shopping for houses, if only casually at the moment. If you can’t clearly answer the question, “Where would you like to live after you sell?” then you’re not quite there yet.

If you’re iffy on any of these, take a step back and consider how you feel. While some markets favor sellers more than others, a home can sell in any market for the right price. Don’t jump into something before you’re ready.

However, when you’re ready, I’d be happy to help. Give me a call when the time is right:

Laura Key
310-866-8422
Laura@LauraKey.net

Unexpected Benefits of Repainting Your Home

Unexpected Benefits of Repainting Your Home 

As a homeowner, you understand the importance of updating your property from time to time. Whether you plan on putting your house on the market or are ready to embark on a home improvement project, repainting your home both inside and out is a great way to personalize your living space while also adding value to your home. Read on to discover 5 unexpected benefits that accompany a fresh paint job! 

Cleanliness

The first benefit that comes along with a newly painted interior is a dramatically cleaner house. Over time, interior walls get scuffed, scraped and smudged and often times we don’t even notice. Highly trafficked walkways receive the majority of this damage, but doorways and walls near furniture often find themselves in danger as well. Recently painted walls also take some of the age out of the appearance of your home, and anyone who visits will take notice of how new your home feels. 

Cost Effectiveness

When considering potential home improvement projects, there are few options that provide as much benefit as a new paint job in the same price range. Other common ventures such as remodeling a kitchen or bathroom can cost thousands of dollars between the work, materials, and appliances necessary to complete them. Renewing interior wall paint can be done by the homeowner with the only cost being painting materials, and hiring a local house painter would still be cheaper then other home renovation undertakings.

Air Quality 

Thinking about the cleanliness of the air within your home should be a top priority, and recently painters have become more aware of the effect that their paint has on home environments. This had led to an increase of paints that contain little or no amounts of ‘Volatile Organic Compounds,’ which are carbon-based chemicals that can easily evaporate at room temperature. These compounds, known as VOC’s, are known by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cause eye, nose and throat irritation, frequent headaches, nausea, and can also damage the liver, kidney and central nervous system. If you live in an older home or you are not sure about the level of these compounds in your current paint, it is imperative that you repaint your interior for your own health.

Environmental Protection 

Having a fresh coat of paint on the exterior of your abode is nearly as beneficial as updating the paint on your interior. The first and most obvious reason that exterior house painting is advantageous is the boost in curb appeal. Whether your house will be listed for sale or not, visitors and passerby will notice the improved aesthetic of your external walls. Beyond just impressing the people who see your home, refreshing the paint on the outside of your house will also protect your building materials. High-quality paint on the exterior of your home will decrease the risks imposed by inclement weather conditions. Repainting the exterior of your home will simultaneously improve the look of your house and save you money by preventing expensive repairs! 

Increased Home Value 

The final, and most obvious, improvement that comes from repainting your home is the bump that your property receives in value. I have already discussed the boost in curb appeal and that fresh paint makes a home feel newer, which are both reasons why your home’s worth will increase. Most realtors advise against starting large renovation projects prior to listing your house for sale out of fear that you will not see a return on your investment, but the low cost associated with a repainted home makes this a safe bet to provide tremendous return on investment. 

Curious to know how much your Southern California home is worth! Get an instant report now! www.CaliOnTheMove.com 

Bio: Matt Lawler is an Internet marketing specialist from Tempe, Arizona where he attended Arizona State University. Whenever he can step away from the computer, Matt enjoys playing sports, traveling and exploring the great outdoors. Follow him on Twitter.

Laura Key, REALTOR®

Cal BRE 01908085

310-866-8422

Laura.A.Key@gmail.com

Return to 'Buyer's Market' Still Years Away

Even though it's tough for buyers right now, I never say it's IMPOSSIBLE! Buyer who are patient and stay the course can find a home! Call me today! Free Homebuyers classes coming soon! Register Now! Laura Key 310.866.8422

It may be two to three more years before prospective home buyers get a break from escalating property prices and tight supply, according to experts speaking at a National Association of Real Estate Editors conference Wednesday. 

That is the time frame for institutional speculators, who currently are dominating the market, to pull out of their investments and still make a profit, explained Bill Rayburn of the mortgage technology firm FNC.  The market also will need to see the return of individual home buyers in order to normalize, he said, which will be propelled by employment gains.

Source: "Better Times for Home-Buyers Will Take a Few Years, Experts Say," Los Angeles Times (June 5, 2013)

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Are you thinking of selling?  I have buyers! Call me and let's reach your Real Estate Goal! Laura Key 310.866.8422

For-Sale Home Inventories Remain Tight

Inventory levels in 2012 reached an 11-year low and fell yet again last month, further limiting the number of homes for sale nationwide. Inventories of for-sale homes were down by 16.5 percent in January year-over-year, and fell 5.6 percent from December, according to the latest data compiled from Realtor.com.  Inventories typically fall in December and January in preparation of the spring buying season. 

“But the shortage of homes for sale in a growing number of U.S. markets is maddening for would-be buyers who frequently complain that there aren’t enough good choices,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “Bidding wars are becoming more common.” 

At a time when buyer demand is strong, inventories remain constrained as banks slow their pace of foreclosures and home owners delay selling until they regain more equity in their homes. 

Metro areas posting some of the largest monthly declines in inventory levels are San Francisco (where inventory levels are down by 21 percent in January compared to December and down 47 percent year-over-year) as well as Seattle (where levels dropped 9 percent from December). The two have also seen some of the largest price increases in the nation. Median asking prices have risen by 16.4 percent and 23.7 percent in those places, respectively. 

Source: “Housing Inventory, Already Low, Dropped Further in January,” The Wall Street Journal (Feb. 14, 2013)

If you are in the market for a new home, it would be wise to use an experienced Buyer's Agent to help guide you through the process.  Contact Laura Key today for your free consultation on the up's and downs of being a buyer in this changing market! 310.866.8422 or visit www.KeyCaliforniaHomes.com

Is Your Home in a Buyer's or Seller's Market

As the overall housing recovery gains steam, local market divergences are growing wider. That is because one overriding factor —faulty and fraudulent mortgage lending — brought the market down; it will take varied local and national market drivers — jobs, income growth, consumer confidence, increased lending — to bring it back.

And that is why certain markets remain buyers' markets and certain ones have fast become sellers' markets.

Online real estate marketplace Zillow, defines a sellers' market as not necessarily one where prices are rising, but one in which homes sell faster, price cuts occur less frequently and final sale prices are close to or greater than list price.

Zillow ranked the top 30 markets and found that the formerly hard hit markets in California, Arizona and Nevada now rank as the top sellers' markets, which may seem counterintuitive, until you consider who the buyers there are now.

"Much of that strength is driven by investor interest, as many distressed and non-distressed homes are purchased and transformed into rentals," says Stan Humphries, Zillow's chief economist, in the report. "This investor activity is contributing to very low inventory levels, which increases demand and helps drive up prices, particularly for less expensive homes in these markets."

The best buyers' markets are equally surprising, with Chicago, Cleveland and Philadelphia topping the list.

These markets are still plagued by distress, despite the fact that their foreclosure numbers were lower during the worst of the housing crash. Investors are a far smaller share of buyers, as these markets don't offer the sun and leisure opportunities that the sand states do. Home prices are still suffering in these markets under still-tough local employment conditions. All that makes them less desirable for buyers. Stricter mortgage lending standards are also likely playing an outsized role, since most buyers in these markets would be owner-occupants.

The housing crash was the first fully national housing downturn in U.S. history. Usually housing downturns are local, spurred by some local phenomenon. Now that the overall economy is on the upswing, housing return to its roots and rises and falls on local factors again.

Source: CNBC —By CNBC's Diana Olick

Need to know how much your home is worth? Contact Laura Key today for a free Comparative Market Analysis! www.KeyCaliforniaHomes.com