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Coast to Coast “Buzz” – Market Rebound!

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As we enter the 4thquarter of the year, we continue to see strong sales in real estate, low inventory levels of existing homes on the market and phenomenally low interest rates.  I just got back from the RE/MAX California-Hawaii Regional meetings and all the buzz was how the market is on the rebound and how there has never been a better time to buy a home.

It was funny, as I was headed to the airport back home yesterday, the taxi driver overheard my phone conversations.  When I was finally off the phone, he asked if I was in real estate.  When I confirmed his suspicion, even he commented – unsolicited – that more people should be buying a home today.  He had no real estate experience and he couldn’t understand why people were paying more in rent than if they were to buy under the current conditions.  He even made the comment that workers at 7-11 could really buy a house today because they could actually qualify for a mortgage -not like wat was happening in the past.

West Coast to East Coast – the “Buzz” is Market Rebound!

We are at historically high affordability rates for home ownership which makes today a great time to be a home owner or investor.  From the investor’s side of the equation, there are many people who cannot buy because of past history, some are only relocating temporarily to the area, and some are just plain old gun shy to buy because of the negative housing market over the last 5 years.  Therefore, with prices down from the all-time highs but making their way up the ladder, a good renter pool, great financing options for investors – now is the time to get in the game!  Home ownership is a long term investment strategy that can pay big dividends later.  To learn more about becoming an investor, call us today.  We would be happy to speak with you about your financial goals and objectives.

Scott’s Market Minute: Fall Sales Picking Up!

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School days and Market Changes..

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The real estate market in Northern Virginia appears to be taking a quick breath so far in September.  Through the first eight months of the year we were on a whirlwind tour with multiple offers, few days on the market and escalating sales prices, but as the summertime came to a close and with the Labor Day holiday and kids going back to school we have seen a slight slowdown in the market.

The inventory of resale homes available remains low at just over 5,400 which is down 25% from the same time last year.  In addition, sales of existing properties are up the last 30 days by 4% over the same period last year.  But the number of houses on the market is up from the previous week and the number of weekly sales the last four weeks has declined each week.  And prices are down slightly from June to July – August prices are not yet released.  As we look at these numbers, again, my belief is it is August, one of the historically slow months for real estate.  People go on vacation, families are gearing up for their kids to go back to school, it is the end of summer, and people are getting back into routines in their lives.

As we look back, in a National report by Corelogic, the July Home Price Index (HPI) showed home prices-including distressed sales-increased year-over-year by 3.8 percent in July. On a month-over-month basis, prices increased 1.3 percent from June and July marked the fifth consecutive increase in home prices on both a monthly and yearly basis.  In Northern Virginia, we are tracking very close to the year of year stats with a 3.2% increase over last year.  Interest rates remain extremely low on all loan products for housing which is good for sellers, more buyers can qualify to buy – buyers, payments are lower and home owners looking to refinance to stay in their homes also have the opportunity to lower their payments.

All in all, we are experiencing a great real estate market in Northern Virginia and we should continue on this path of recovery.  The only issues that potentially could impact the local market is sequestration and Dodd-Frank reform so we will keep on top of these fronts for you and report back as we know more.  If you ever have any questions, always feel free to call us – we are here to help you.

Shock and awe…

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The real estate market continues to be white hot for sellers who properly price their homes, get them in the right condition and have them staged.  This makes it very competitive for buyers.  We see multiple contracts on houses in all price ranges so buyers need to be prepared to be involved in situations like this and put their best foot forward when making their offer.  We have been saying this for several months now and we do not see that this will change anytime soon.

There is one area that continues to shock and amaze me today and that is interest rates.  It is an unbelievable phenomenon watching interest rates today.  Who would have ever thought mortgage rates could be as low as they are today taking into consideration where we have been since the Mortgage Banker’s Association started tracking rates.   Remember what happened in the early 80’s with rates at all-time highs in 18-19% range and even when I got into the business in 1988 rates were between 10 and 11%.  We got excited when the rates were creeping below 10%.  Then we watched as rates came down into the 6’s and thought they couldn’t go lower and they have.  This week I saw a 30 year fixed interest rate at 3.5% with a lender credit.  There was even an article asking if rates could go down to 3%.  There has never been a better time to purchase a home, investment property or even refinance your existing mortgage(s).  Please let us know how we can help you.

Real estate normal?

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What is the new normal in real estate:

Today I am going to share with you a few ideas that are going to help you get on to a successful year in 2012 – you will also hear a few ideas from other agents that they have planned to make this their best year ever as well. The important thing to remember is to only adapt 6 of the strategies. If you try to do too many, you will be overwhelmed and not do any. I recommend starting with 6 things you are not doing today and incorporate them into your business. Once you have mastered 6 add another one in until mastered and then add another and so on. In addition, it is important to set strategies for accomplishing what you set out to do and review them regularly. You are in business for yourself but not by yourself so partner with someone in the room and hold each other accountable – meet before or after training, before or after a real estate exchange – make it easy for you but the big thing is to just do it.

When looking at the strategies you are going to put in place, you need to be clear and specific about what you want to accomplish and write them down. Know what roadblocks and obstacles you will need to overcome to achieve what you want to do and then how you will overcome them. What will you need to do to develop the skills and instill the discipline within yourself to make them happen. You will need deadlines, detailed plans of action – 5 or so for each action item, and have them where you can review them regularly. Lastly, think about and visualize your end result and what it will be like when you have accomplished what you have set out to do.

• Be positive – have the right attitude and eliminate complaining from your life • I like the “theme” of the day – will you do it?

• You are going to have to work more focused and be more intentional

• You are going to have to sell yourself passively and aggressively – explain

• Training is going to be paramount – especially in financing – increase your skills by attending seminars, getting a designation, going to REIX, office trainings, you need to be good at what you do to build referrals

• Video is going to be important – Casey Anthony is doing video diaries – video houses, your listings, neighborhoods, how’s the market, etc.

• Networking is going to be critical – find a group, start a group, join a chamber, Rotary club, coach kids in sports, join a PTA, get involved in a charity, become involved in something

• Learning and interpreting market trends – you have to know your numbers such as inventory levels and types of inventory, prices, DOM, people love to hear this

• Stay on top of values by previewing – especially new homes as they will continue to have an impact on the market – this is a great way to start with video. Video your house of the week, your bargain of the week, or whatever you want to call it.

• Read blogs for more information, see what others are saying about the market. You have to know what your competition is up to and what better way to learn than to read about their thoughts

• Start a blog and of course add video. Write about neighborhoods, your listings, interactions with agents, clients, trends, your services, how’s the market?

• Set your personal business standard and stick to it. Write the personal notes, make the phone calls, stop by and visit your past clients or meet new ones and track your daily conversations.

• Hold open houses on the right houses

• Track your business, determine what gives you the best results and do more of it.

Oh what a night…

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We had another great real estate exchange last night.   There was a lot of banter back and forth about our free trip to Vegas for the RE/MAX Convention in March and who was going to win the trip and how.  Great team building and networking as usual before the event.

Topics that were discussed:

  • Virginia home sales report published quarterly by VAR and the great information available through this report
  • Information on rental rates
  • The lobbying effort upcoming in the House on raising the high loan limits back up to pre-October 1st deadlines
  • Refinance activity
  • Home ownership rates
  • Appreciation rates nationally and locally – we are way ahead of the curve year over year but are down month over month, a trend we need to watch
  • The Bank of America penalties to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and why
  • Fannie Mae’s quarterly losses and the combination of losses between Freddie and Fannie and why were bonuses paid
  • Foreclosures on the rise nationally but so far, we don’t see it here and the indicators of why we don’t see them yet
  • Bechtel is relocating 625 jobs to Reston and they are leasing nearly 200,000 square feet
  • 4 ways to reduce your taxes and a reminder we have accountants coming to Chantilly to discuss tax planning for 2012 on November 18th at 10AM
  • And lastly, the National Enquirer portion of the show – celebrity purchases and sales plus incomes of the top CEO’s in the Washington Metro Area
  • Pat Cunningham updated us on HARP, the Italian debt crisis and what that means to mortgage interest rates and the value of HUD homes.

Enjoy the video but better yet – attend the next one in Ashburn at Clyde’s on the 16th from 1-3PM.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!