by The KCM Crew on May 22, 2017 in First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, Move-Up Buyers
Whether you are buying or selling a home it can be quite an adventurous journey, which is why you need an experienced real estate professional to guide you on the path to your ultimate goal. In this world of instant gratification and internet searches, many sellers think that they can For Sale by Owner or FSBO. The 5 reasons you NEED a real estate professional in your corner haven’t changed, but have rather been strengthened by the projections of higher mortgage interest rates & home prices as the market continues to pick up steam. 1. What do you do with all this paperwork? Each state has different regulations regarding the contracts required for a successful sale, and these regulations are constantly changing. A true real estate . . .

by The KCM Crew on May 15, 2017 in First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Move-Up Buyers
Every year, Gallup surveys Americans to determine their choice for the best long-term investment. Respondents are given a choice between real estate, stocks/mutual funds, gold, savings accounts/CDs, or bonds. For the fourth year in a row, Real Estate has come out on top as the best long-term investment! This year’s results showed that 34% of Americans chose real estate, followed by stocks at 26%. The full results are shown in the chart below. The study makes it a point to draw attention to the contrast of the sentiment over the last four years compared to that of 2011-2012, when gold took the top slot with 34% of the votes. Real estate and stocks took second and third place, respectively, while still in recovery from the Great Recession. Bottom . . .

by The KCM Crew on May 5, 2017 in First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Infographics, Interest Rates, Pricing
Some Highlights: The “Cost of Waiting to Buy” is defined as the additional funds it would take to buy a home if prices and interest rates were to increase over a period of time.Freddie Mac predicts that interest rates will increase to 4.8% by this time next year, while home prices are predicted to appreciate by 4.9% according to CoreLogic.Waiting until next year to buy could cost you thousands of dollars a year for the life of your mortgage! . . .

Slaying Home Buying Myths  by The KCM Crew on April 24, 2017 in Down Payments, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Infographics, Interest Rates
Some Highlights: Interest rates are still below historic numbers.88% of property managers raised their rent in the last 12 months!The credit score requirements for mortgage approval continue to fall. . . .

by The KCM Crew on April 17, 2017 in For Sellers
If you thought about selling your house this year, now may be the time to do it. The inventory of homes for sale is well below historic norms and buyer demand is skyrocketing. We were still in high school when we learned the concept of supply and demand: the best time to sell something is when supply of that item is low and demand for that item is high. That defines today’s real estate market. Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist at realtor.com, revealed in a recent article that: “The biggest challenge to buyers this spring will be simply finding a home to buy and getting it successfully under contract. That’s because the supply of homes for sale is at an all-time low, and yet demand is strong and getting stronger.” Smoke goes on to say: “We started the year with the lowest . . .

by The KCM Crew on April 10, 2017 in For Sellers, Housing Market Updates, Pricing
There are some homeowners that have been waiting for months to get a price they hoped for when they originally listed their house for sale. The only thing they might want to consider is... If it hasn't sold yet, maybe it's not priced properly. After all, 15,014 houses sold yesterday, 15,014 will sell today and 15,014 will sell tomorrow. 15,014! That is the average number of homes that sell each and every day in this country, according to the?National Association of Realtors’ (NAR)?latest?Existing Home Sales Report. NAR reported that sales are at an annual rate of 5.48 million. Divide that number by 365 (days in a year) and we can see that, on average, over 15,014 homes sell every day. The report from NAR also revealed that there . . .

by The KCM Crew on April 5, 2017 in
Buying this Spring? Be Prepared for Bidding Wars
Traditionally, spring is the busiest season for real estate. Buyers come out in force and homeowners list their houses for sale hoping to capitalize on buyer activity. This year will be no different! Buyers have already been out in force looking for their dream homes and more are on their way, but the challenge is that the inventory of homes for sale has not kept up with demand, which has lead to A LOT of competition for the homes that are available. A recent Bloomberg article touched on the current market conditions: “It’s the 2017 U.S. spring home-selling season, and listings are scarcer than they’ve ever been. Bidding wars common in perennially hot markets like the San Francisco Bay area, Denver and Boston are now also prevalent in the once . . .

by The KCM Crew on March 22, 2017 in First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Housing Market Updates, Interest Rates, Move-Up Buyers
Mortgage interest rates have risen over the last few months and projections are that they will continue their upswing throughout 2017. What impact will this have on the housing market? Here is what the experts are saying: Laurie Goodman, Co-director of the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center: “In 1984, 1994, 2000, and 2013, every time we have rate increases, we have increases in nominal home prices. We expect this to be more pronounced, as there is a big demand-and-supply gap at the present time.” Scott Anderson, Chief Economist for Bank of the West: “The tightening labor market, rising wage growth, high levels of consumer confidence and a millennial generation with a pent-up demand for . . .

by The KCM Crew on March 9, 2017 in First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Move-Up Buyers, New Construction In many areas of the country, there are not enough homes for sale to satisfy the number of buyers looking to purchase their dream homes. Experts have long proposed that a ramp-up in new, single-family home construction would be one of the many ways to overcome this inventory shortage. According to a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo, housing market confidence amongst builders reached an 11-year high last month. What Does High Confidence Mean for the Housing Market? In a recent interview, Rob Dietz, Chief Economist and SVP for NAHB, put it this way: “Higher market confidence will translate into more building and more inventory in 2017. We expect single-family construction to grow 10 . . .

by The KCM Crew on March 7, 2017 in For Sellers, Housing Market Updates That headline might be a little aggressive. However, as the data on the 2017 housing market begins to roll in, we can definitely say one thing: If you are considering selling, IT IS TIME TO LIST YOUR HOME! The February numbers are not in yet, but the January numbers were sensational. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors, said: “Much of the country saw robust sales activity last month as strong hiring and improved consumer confidence at the end of last year appear to have sparked considerable interest in buying a home. Market challenges remain, but the housing market is off to a prosperous start as homebuyers staved off inventory levels that are far from adequate…” And CNBC says consumer confidence in the economy is fueling the . . .