Category Archives: Buyers

by

Finding Time for Fun in Real Estate

When you hire a real estate professional to help buy or sell a home, they can help free up time you would otherwise spend on sorting through listings, scheduling showings, or trying to figure out paperwork. You might even have time to focus on the fun parts of moving, such as:

  1. Building a Pinterest board of décor inspiration

Don’t have a particular design style in mind? No problem. Check out the RE/MAX Pinterest page for ideas.

  1. Clearing out the clutter with a yard sale

Remember, each thing you sell is one less thing you’ll have to pack – and unpack. Here are some top yard sale tips.

  1. Planning your housewarming party

You’ll want to show off the new place – especially after you’ve made it Pinterest perfect. Put together a Facebook event and start thinking about party favors to thank friends who helped you move in.

  1. Bargain shopping for furniture

There are plenty of options for you to furnish your new nest without breaking the bank. Here are six places to find furniture within your budget.

It’s easier to find time to prepare for your move if your agent does the heavy lifting. I’ll be happy to help; contact me today!

by

Open House Red Flags: 10 Things to Look for When Buying a Home

While most home buyers spend their time at an open house passively observing the layout of the rooms and the name brands on the kitchen appliances, smart buyers know the things that are really important to look for when buying a home.

In competitive markets, you’ll often walk into an open house that has been deep cleaned, upgraded, and staged with stylish furniture, so you shouldn’t be overly impressed by a house that looks and smells nice. (You can, however, be rightly appalled by a home that looks and smells atrocious.)

Think of the open house as a first date: It’s an opportunity to look beyond the pictures you saw online and figure out if the property is worth seeing again—or if you should move on and never look back.

Read the article on Realtor.com…

by

The Real Factors That Boost Your Home’s Bottom Line

The galloping real estate market is a scary and exhilarating thing.

On the one hand, as home prices soar, how on earth will you ever buy one? On the other, assuming you do pull off the biggest purchase of your life and become a proud homeowner, those very same rising prices are a promise that one day you, too, will make bank.

And that’s exactly why savvy buyers and owners obsess about how much their home will be worth in a few years—and why.

Read the article on Realtor.com…

by

Why is real estate inventory so low?

Consumers are increasingly on the house hunt this spring. Though they’re enjoying solid employment and paycheck gains and in a rush to beat rising mortgage rates, they’re also struggling to find a home to buy in many housing markets.

Indeed, the supply of homes for-sale is at a nearly 20-year low. The most affordable homes—those that tend to attract first-time buyers—are in short supply too. Meanwhile, home prices are rising sharply as buyers find themselves competing for the few homes that are for sale.

Reports are growing of bidding wars erupting across hot markets. About 1.75 million homes were for-sale nationally at the end of February, down 6.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. The supply of homes has dropped on an annual basis for the last 21 months.

Why is the supply so low? Housing experts point to several reasons. The average time that owners are staying in their homes before selling has doubled to nearly eight years, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. Investors own a larger portion of houses and they’ve been renting them out. Between 2006 and 2016, the share of single-family houses and condos owned by investors averaged around 30 percent. Also, builders–faced with rising land costs and a shortage or skilled workers–have done little to ramp up new-home supplies.

The shortages are prompting home prices to skyrocket. The median sales price jumped 7.7 percent from a year ago to $228,400—more than double the pace of average pay gains.

Source: REALTOR.mag

by

The Internet Didn’t Take Down Real Estate

The internet may have entered more aspects of a real estate transaction over the past decade, but consumers haven’t abandoned their desire for a real estate professional’s assistance, according to Steve Murray, president of the consulting firm Real Trends, who has been tracking for 40 years how real estate agents conduct their jobs. In fact, consumers are willing to pay even more for real estate agents’ services. The average real estate commission paid to real estate agents has risen slightly since 2005, according to Murray.

Real estate agent jobs have stayed firm, while the internet has disrupted other industries, like travel agents and stock brokers.

“There’s not a shred of evidence that the internet is having an impact,” Murray says.

The internet may have changed how agents work—like in automating several tasks–but it hasn’t taken their jobs, he adds. The number of real estate professionals has increased 60 percent in the past two decades, Murray notes.

It’s the opposite of what so many predicted.

Read more…

by

Bidding Wars to Heat Up This Spring

Likely to be a hallmark of this year’s spring homeselling season: Bidding wars. As home listings are scarcer and buyer demand remains high, home shoppers are finding a lot more competition this spring, particularly in hot markets like the San Francisco Bay area, Denver, and Boston.

An improving job market, growing consumer confidence, and the threat of rising mortgage rates have Americans flocking to housing. But many markets remain tight for listings. Housing starts remain well below levels prior to the recession and are geared more toward the higher end of the market. Homeowners also are reluctant to sell their existing home because they’re unsure of where they’d move to with the dearth of listings.

Homes are selling at a rapid clip in places like Denver; Seattle; Oakland, Calif.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Boise, Idaho; Madison, Wis.; and Omaha, Neb., according to the real estate brokerage Redfin.

Read the article…

by

The Early Bird’s Guide to Buying a Home

Planning to buy a home this spring? Then right now—yes, during these last days of winter—is the time to get rolling.

Follow these steps and you’ll be way ahead of the pack once the spring home-buying season heats up.

by

New Reality? Buyers Face Fewer Choices

us-february

Many markets are seeing so few new listings that they may not be able to meet the strong buyer demand heading into real estate’s traditionally busiest season. Listings are down more than 7 percent compared to a year ago across the country, according to the latest data by the National Association of REALTORS®.

“Competition is likely to heat up even more heading into the spring for house hunters looking for homes in the lower- and mid-market price range,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

Realtor.com® notes that the following markets are particularly very light on listings:

  • Chicago: -13% (active listings compared to a year ago)
  • Philadelphia: -14%
  • Washington: -15%
  • Seattle: -17%
  • Minneapolis: -18%
  • St. Louis: -12%
  • Baltimore: -16%
  • Cleveland: -18%
  • Orlando, Fla.: -19%

On the other hand, home shoppers may find more choices this year in a few select markets. Notably, Las Vegas is seeing an 18 percent increase in active listings compared to a year ago; Pittsburgh is seeing a 9 percent increase; and Houston and San Antonio are posting a 6 percent increase.

Source: REALTORmag

by

RE/MAX Comes Highly Recommended

remax-comes-highly-recommended

RE/MAX agents are known for providing superior service to their clients. And in the real estate industry, word gets around.  According to a recent study, home buyers and sellers are more likely to recommend RE/MAX than any other real estate brand. Experience, professionalism, results: That’s the sign of a RE/MAX agent!

by

3 Crucial Reasons You Should Buy a Home Before 2017 Ends

sign-close-up-2

Buying a house in 2017 will feel kind of like you’ve jumped onto the subway just as the doors were closing. Your heart’s pounding and you’re winded from the race, but you made it—just in time.

OK, so maybe that’s a little exaggerated. But here’s the thing: Interest rates have begun to rise and will likely climb higher. Inventory is low and could shrink more. And home prices? Well, home prices are increasing—and they’re not predicted to fall any time soon.

If you don’t jump aboard the real estate train now, you might be too late.

Read more on realtor.com®…