anecdotes, advice, info, and more from southern California's premier real estate consultants.
These figures were supplied to us from the National Association of Realtors chief economist this past week. You can clearly see why buying real estate now may be advantageous. We should add that mortgage rates came down a small amount today…just in time for the weekend! We’ll be working this weekend so feel free to contact us.
Experts have said that the best time to sell real estate is when consumers have confidence in the market. This is generated by increased employment, low interest rates, attractive prices, increased demand and low inventory.
Buyers can also take advantage of the low interest rates and current pricing. There is a window of opportunity here.
According to the NY Times Floyd Norris wrote, ”There are indications that fewer households have been formed in recent years than would have been expected from population growth. More young adults have stayed with their parents, while other people who lost their homes or jobs were forced to move in with relatives. If and when the economy improves, many of those people could seek housing of their own, creating a sudden increase in demand.”
There is an excellent article online at CNNMoney titled Buying a Home Won’t Get Much Cheaper. Check it out here.
For those of you who haven’t been making offers on homes you’d be surprised. There are multiple offers on many homes and even escalating prices. Nice properties are selling quickly and bringing full price offers and above. But wait…there are people lining up for back up offers. Sound familiar?
Yes folks there is competition. With home prices at their lows and mortgage rates at all time low rates more and more buyers are leaving their fears behind and jumping into the market. With so many sellers not moving the inventory of available homes is small and so the serious buyers are battling to get their offer accepted.
Investors with pockets full of cash are looking to buy and use their cash to negotiate the best price. Buyers who are financing their purchase have to raise their offer over the all cash offers so they can get their foot in the door.
Now enter the folks who are renting. If you haven’t seen the rental rates you won’t be surprised that they are as high as paying a mortgage. So here come the folks who want to buy instead of rent. These people are adding to the amount of buyers looking to take advantage of the real estate market.
So what do you do to become the new owner of the home you’ve been waiting for? The very first thing is to speak with a lender and get a prequalification letter. You’ll be asked to prove you can afford to buy and back it up with copies of your bank accounts showing you have the earnest money deposit. Next, have a competent and experienced real estate consultant who can help you formulate a strategic plan and then guide you through the process. Your success will be dependent upon the guidance you follow from your Realtor®.
- Current Market Report indicates there are only 6,344 Active single family/condos currently for sale in Orange County. Of this number there are only 179 homes for sale in Mission Viejo. The low inventory is, of course, leading to a high demand which is leading to multiple offers on the same property.
What does this mean? If you have been thinking about selling this may be a good time to proceed. If you have a strategic plan in place you can Save big $$$$ now and get top dollar for your home.
Foreclosure activity hits lowest level since Q4 2007 says Inman News®
“Foreclosure filings hit their lowest level in more than four years in the first quarter, according to a report from foreclosure data aggregator RealtyTrac.
Default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions were filed on 572,928 properties in the first quarter, or one in every 230 U.S. housing units — the lowest number of filings since fourth-quarter 2007, when 527,740 properties received filings.
Last quarter’s foreclosure activity was down 2 percent from the fourth quarter and 16 percent from first-quarter 2011. March accounted for nearly 38 percent of the quarter’s foreclosure activity, with 198,853 properties receiving filings. That was the lowest monthly total and the first under 200,000 since July 2007, the report said.
On an annual basis, foreclosure activity fell 17 percent in March.”
What does this mean? Fewer distressed homes competing with equity sellers.
· Know why you’re selling
· Once you know keep it to yourself
· Do your homework before setting a price
· Go home shopping yourself
· Know when to get an appraisal
· Your tax assessment: what does it mean?
· Find a good Realtor®
· Give yourself room to negotiate
· Maximize your home’s potential
· Clean like you’ve never cleaned before
· Fix everything no matter how small
· Add little touches, they make a difference
· Don’t let smells be your downfall
· Disclose everything
· The more prospects, the better
· Don’t get emotional during negotiations
· Know your buyer
· Don’t sign a deal on your next home until you know you can close on this one
· Don’t move out before you sell
· Don’t give yourself a deadline
· Don’t take a low offer personally
· Make sure the contract is correct
· Don’t deviate from the contract
If this sounds like a lot of work it is! Russ and I have written a brochure “29 Essential Tips That Get Homes Sold Fast (and for Top Dollar)”. It goes into details about these bullet points and then some. Should you want a free copy just contact us at:
Text: 714-343-6300 Email:Lee@LeeandRuss.com Direct: 949-661-4663
Please visit us at
24 Pegasus, Coto de Caza
on Sunday, April 15 from noon to 4 PMPHOTOS AND DETAILS AT
LeeAndRuss.comMLS #S694362
$999,000
1% bonus to buyer
- 5 Bedrooms (1 on the main floor) PLUS Office/den/bonus room
- Huge family friendly kitchen and adjacent family room
- Cul-d-sac street with lots of children
- Pool, Spa, BBQ island with refrigerator AND outdoor stone fireplace
- 3910 square feet, 3 car garage
- View of hills and valley
Well designed floor plan + amenities make this one of the best lifestyle homes on a cul-d-sac w/ easterly vu of the hills & valley. The backyd offers a pebbletec pool & elevated stone spa w/ water features + a built in BBQ island AND separate sitting area w/ a stone outdoor fireplace. Inside: 5 BR (1 on the main floor w/bath) PLUS den/office. Kitchen offers granite counters incl.granite sink, center island w/bkfast bar, stainless appliances incl 2 ovens, micro, gas cktop & built in refrig. Family friendly kitchen opens to super sized FR w/ fireplace & ent. center all w/ a view! Formal LR w/ fireplace and DR are palatial and overlook the pool and water features. Upstairs are 3 bedrooms, laundry rm & a master suite w/ spectacular views. The master bath offers his & her vanities, sunken tub, separate shower &spacious walk in closets. Enjoy golf, tennis and equestrian activities + everything Coto has to offer & store it all in the 3 garages. Wonderful curb appeal & in move in condition.
Directions Oso Pkwy East. Right onto South Bend Dr, 1st Left onto Phoenix Way the Right onto Pegasus.
What to expect for the rest of 2012 in the real estate market:
· Fewer homes for sale
· Raising interest rates from record lows
· Rents increasing
· First time buyers rushing into the market
· Investors and vacation home buyers purchasing a large % of homes for sale
· All cash buyers continue to put their money into real estate and compete with buyers who are financing
Our services include strategic planning for wealth development and preservation. What you do today will have an effect on your future. Let us put our 30+ years of experience to work for you. Our initial consultation is free so please contact us now at Lee@LeeandRuss.com, (949) 661-4663 or text to 714-343-6300.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said investors with cash took advantage of market conditions in 2011. “During the past year investors have been swooping into the market to take advantage of bargain home prices,” he said. “Rising rental income easily beat cash sitting in banks as an added inducement. In addition, 41 percent of investment buyers purchased more than one property.”
Yun said the shift in investment buyer patterns in 2011 shows the market, for the large part, is able to absorb foreclosures hitting the market. “Small-time investors are helping the market heal since REO (bank real estate owned) inventory is not lingering for an extended period. Any government program to sell REO inventory in bulk to large institutional companies should be limited to small geographic areas. Even where alternatives are needed, it’s best to rely on the expertise of local businesses, nonprofit organizations and government,” he said.
The Urban Land Institute’s Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate economists have predicted that through 2014 the following will occur:
Your friends in the business,
Lee and Russ
It’s happening as we speak, interest rates are going up. That’s good news for the economy but if you’re looking to buy a house you’d better do it soon. Freddie Mac rates on a 30 year fixed rate loan hit 4.08% yesterday up from 3.92% just last week.
We’re seeing good news on the economic front, inflation is going up and that makes rates rise. Russ and I believe we may see interest rates continue to climb but not too much, after all it is an election year.
But don’t despair because the rates are still exceptionally low and so are home prices.
Trulia just published their rent vs. buy index and it shows that 98 out of the largest 100 metropolitan areas the cost of buying a home was less than paying rent (except San Francisco and Honolulu).
With rates going up we may see prices begin to climb as a sense of urgency may be perceived by some on the fence buyers. There continues to be a shortage of homes available for sale and the demand may soon put pressure on the supply.
If you’ve been waiting for interest rates to go lower or home prices to continue to drop you may want to rethink your strategy.
The National Association of Home Builders keeps track of housing starts and economics throughout the US. They want to know and forecast where new homes should be built. They target areas where buyers will have difficulty finding available homes for sale.
The data comes from a variety of sources but the most detailed is the Census Bureau’sAmerican Community Survey (ACS). Our interest in this report was reading about the 27 larger markets with at least 500,000 owner occupied homes. Orange County was the 2nd tightest market for owner-occupied housing. Naussau-Suffolk counties in New York were first by a smige.
The 9 measures the NHBA looks at are “ owner-occupied housing units; homeownership rate; home owner vacancy rate; share of single-family detached homes; value of homes owned; home owner incomes; growth in stock of single-family detached homes; and share of homes built recently.”
Russ and I believe we may be seeing the beginning of a change in the market. Because many equity sellers are not putting their homes on the market there are fewer homes for sale. We’ve been seeing multiple offers and not just on bank owned or distressed sales. There were 2 offers plus our clients on a home in the $4 million range.
We often discuss timing and opportunity. We think both are available now but that may be changing after the elections. For more details please contact us.
