Great Time to Buy a Home This Thanksgiving!
Hello everyone and welcome to a very special video blog. We wanted to not only share with you some of our hot off the presses real estate updates, we here at Cardano Realtors wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving with a special clip at the end of your update.
First, the news.
As you can see from this graph, recent mortgage rates have been moving downwards. This is great news for all potential buyers and sellers. The decline in rates really happened back in the middle of September with the Federal government’s announcement to not taper bond purchases.
From there, we have seen a rather consistent decrease in these rates since then. What does this mean? This recent downturn has something to do with the time of the year. Late Fall and Winter aren’t usually the best time of the year to sell a home, but that isn’t always true. Currently, it’s still a great market for buyers and sellers. While inventory has increased some, it’s not just a buyers’ market. If your home is in great condition, and well maintained, you can still sell your home for top dollar, guaranteed!
Now, Thanksgiving is a special time here at Cardano Realtors. It is a time for family and friends to gather and share a special meal together. And here, we have a very special tradition. Giving our past clients and friends a pumpkin or apple pie to celebrate the holidays. We want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving, and please check out our video that is about this wonderful tradition!
You Really Need An Expert Advisor to Help You Realize Your Home Buying and Selling Dreams!
Hi ladies and gentlemen, this is Diane Cardano from Cardano Real Estate Experts here with the Latest Cardano Real Estate Expert Market Report. It has been an incredible year in Real Estate and I have been right here, month after month, breaking down all the information and making it easy for you to understand. So many of you have been giving me such positive feedback on these blogs and I want to thank you for that! I am very happy you are enjoying them and finding the information and my advice so helpful.
Before I get to the news I wanted to take a second to address a request made by a few of my video blog viewers. They wanted to know why they should hire a real estate expert versus just a traditional sales person.
Imagine hiring a real estate expert, a real estate professional.
Imagine what they can do to protect your real estate asset.
Imagine what that looks and feels like.
#1- They help with all disclosures and paperwork necessary in today’s heavily regulated environment. There's more paperwork to fill out when you sell a house now than any time in history. We have a team, executing market tested, proven repeatable systems which ensure every document is processed accurately and filed well ahead of deadlines.
#2- An expert Realtor is well educated in and experienced with the entire sales process. There are over 115 variables that must be managed in the home-selling process so this is very important as one mistake from an agent who is not an expert can cost you thousands.
#3- They act as a ‘buffer’ in negotiations with all parties throughout the entire transaction. The vast majority of people don't want to get involved in negotiations and most don’t even know how to start. Most people want somebody in the middle of it. They want someone helping them talk to the appraiser or the inspectors. They want someone helping them and maybe even talk to the bank. But most importantly they want someone to stand up for them and negotiate for them.
#4- They help understand today’s real estate values when setting the price on a listing or on an offer to purchase. The days of using just Comps to understand a home’s value are long gone. You need to consider hundreds of variables, aside from obvious ones like upgrades and renovations you have done to your home, there are economic indicators, rental housing vacancies, new single and multi-family construction, seasonal market changes, interest rates, and even regional and national unemployment rates just to name a few.
#5- They simply and effectively explain today’s real estate headlines and decipher what they mean to you. Home buyers are more informed than ever with their Internet searches. We all know that there is plenty of information out there. However, there's a critical need to transform that information into analysis and advice that helps our client make the best home buying and selling decisions.
I hope that helps clarify the very real need to have an expert, helping you, your friends, family and neighbors with what is more than likely the largest single asset they own. You need to choose your expert wisely. Just go to www.QuestionsToAskARealtor.com for a complete list. A bad hire can cost you thousands.
This brings me to the market research I want to share with you this month!
Greg McBride, Bankrate.com's Senior Financial Analyst, put it this way: "It seems like Americans' love affair with real estate has returned," and I couldn't agree with him more.
The existing home sales chart, going all the way back to January 2011,shows that the market is definitely back. It's flying back. Things are doing really, really, really well, the real estate market is back in a big way.
Take a look at the recent Survey Fannie Mae did which shows the top 5 reasons Americans are buying homes:
Number One, they want a better place to raise their children;
Number Two, a place that their family can feel safe;
Number Three, they want the ability to have more space, more elbow room;
Number Four, they want the freedom to renovate that space to their taste. They may want to paint that room a lot of different bright colors in order to spark creativity, but a lease might tell you have to keep it beige. They may want to put a swing set out in the backyard, but a landlord tells them no because that's an insurance risk and you can't do that.
Number Five, and perhaps the most important reason, is that they understand that owning is a better investment than renting.
As a matter of fact, a study just came out last week that showed that owning is still 35 percent cheaper than renting in the United States. Owning a home is 35 percent cheaper than renting a home in this country, and the study covered a hundred of the largest metro areas. And how many were at the cheaper end? All 100. They weren't all 35 percent cheaper, but on average it's 35 percent cheaper, and every single one of the hundred largest metro areas it's cheaper to buy a home than rent a home. That's exciting.
I’ll tell you what is even more exciting, What we're getting back to is people realizing the investment ability of owning a home, and that this is a great time to buy.
Take a look at this chart, I go all the way back to January 2000 and come right up to the most current numbers.
See what is the return on investment if you invested in the Dow, the S&P, and the NASDAQ, or if you invested in real estate. And we can see over that 13‐year period that real estate outshines any one of the other investments. It's still the case even though the stock market is taking off.
Some people will say, "Well, Diane, that's over 13 years. You know, what about from 2006 on?
Well, I don’t have time in this video to break down every single time period, but let's just take a look at the last year.
Everyone is bragging how well the stock market did. And they're not wrong; the Dow's up 13.9 percent. The S&P is up 12.1 percent. And the NASDAQ that took a tremendous hit is roaring back; they're up 17.4 percent.
But look at home prices in this country are up 12.4 percent. We're not doing as well as every one of them, although a little bit better than the S&P, but even in the last year where the stock market was skyrocketing, owning a home is a sound and profitable investment.
And friends, realize, when you buy a stock, if you're buying two hundred thousand dollars' worth of stock, you're paying two hundred thousand dollars. If you're buying a two hundred thousand dollar house, you're putting down ten, maybe $20,000. So the return on your actual cash investment skyrockets over any of these other investments.
I know many of you watching this will be selling and or buying a home in the upcoming year. Or you know a close friend or family member who will be.
I am here to tell you that it is an Amazing time to be on the market. But like I explained at the start of this video, you really can’t do it right without the help of an Expert.
There is still one more opportunity to attend one of my Home Seller Seminars, on November 21st at 6:30pm in the Abington Free Library! Just go to www.homesellingsharks.com, and sign up today!!
This is Diane Cardano, signing off!
How to Create a Fake Staged Room
Imagine when selling your home, on the very first day on the market, you have buyers lined up outside your door. Better yet, these buyers all have their checkbooks and are willing to pay you list price or more. You may be asking, how can this happen for me when I sell my home?
Watch this video to understand how you can prepare, right now, if you are planning to sell your home in Spring 2014. That is of course, if you want to CRUSH your competition.
The strategy I use to have buyers lined up outside my client's door is called creating a "Fake Staged Room". In the video, I talk about how we get great interior pictures of the home way before you are going on the market. Combine this with the great exterior pictures you have, from when your home looked its best on the outside (see Blog from October 1st) and you are ready to market your home to potential buyers BEFORE your home goes on the market.
I call it my Coming Soon Listing program. My video will show you how the interior can be “faked” for professional pictures. For example, you move your kitchen “stuff” into a different room of the house while your Real Estate Expert takes beautiful pictures of your now cleaned and “clutter-free” kitchen. Then, repeat this process in each room so every picture looks clean and ready for potential buyers to imagine themselves moving in right away!
Once we upload these pictures to YOUR home’s website, you have wonderful pictures inside and out! This, in turn, creates DEMAND for your home! That makes thousands of dollars of difference in YOUR pocket.
To find out how you can get your FREE Home Seller Tool Kit, outlining my 8 Secret Strategies to selling your home Fast for Top Dollar, just go to www.HomeSellerToolKit.com
Inventory Is Growing!! Is It A Good Time To Sell a Home … Is It A Good Time To Buy a Home?
Hi, ladies and gentlemen, this is Diane Cardano from Cardano Real Estate Experts here with the “Hot Off the Press” Real Estate Market Report through October 1st.
Let’s get right to it! Check out the video for fabulous graphs.
Let's start with the good news.
We are finally in a full housing recovery; there's no question about that anymore! Let me tell you why. For a recovery to occur, three things need happen: sales need to increase from the bottom lows they were at, prices have to turn around, and inventory has to bounce back to a normalized level.
1. Sales
Let's take a look at the pending home sales beginning from January 2012 through July of this year. Historical data shows us that with the exception of a sharp drop in April 2012, home sales have been in a healthy state of growth for more than a year. Some of you may have heard the fear monger voices of the media telling you pending home sales are down in July and August.
That is true - to an extent, Are pending sales down from major peak? Yes. But look at where they are in regard to a historically healthy level; they're still well above that level.
2. Prices
In the beginning of 2013, inventory was limited because people didn't fully believe in a housing recovery; because of this hesitancy prices increased dramatically in the spring market.
As far as the recovery is concerned, sales have been up for nearly two years, prices have been up now for about 15-18 months, and since the beginning of the year inventory has increased.
This graph is important for two reasons: first it shows the rapid appreciation as the market recovered from the dramatic losses of the past.
This is illustrated by the year over year gains on the first two thirds of the chart.
The second reason this graph is important is because it shows the last three months sitting at 12 percent. It is assumed that the market has found a steady level and will likely proceed at a much slower growth rate over the upcoming months. We are seeing a slow in our market.
The rapid price appreciation is not going to continue; that's important for sellers to know!
If you read the Wall Street Journal, watch CNN or listen to NPR, you probably have heard that home prices have increased by 12%-13%. You might think, "Well, if I wait until next year to sell, I'll get another 12 or 13%." Not necessarily.
3. Inventory
In real estate, we look at inventory based upon the supply. If there's one to five months' supply of inventory, we know it's a sellers' market and appreciation is going to take place.
That's the market we've been in since June of last year, the amount of people looking to buy a house was greater than the amount of people that were putting their house on the market.
An equilibrium market has 5-6 months of inventory. This means an equal opportunity for both buyers and sellers.
Anything greater than a six-month supply indicates that there aren’t enough buyers looking for homes.
This graph only shows through July and it appears that we are at normal levels of inventory. Our graphs only show national stats.
Our inventory, though, is high, especially in the higher end market. Most areas in our market are back to a buyer's market.
Another way to demonstrate this is with a graph. This graph shows the year over inventory levels. Back in January, we were 24% off of last year. Every month since January, though, has decreased. The decrease reached a point where we were only 5 percent behind where we were last year. However, inventory has increased considerably in our area during the past two months.
This is the national market report for October. My experience is that our market here in Philadelphia has slowed down incredibly. The first time buyer’s price ranges have dropped 10 percent and hardly anyone is looking at homes over $500,000.
So if you are thinking of selling your home, you need expert advice to ensure you stage your home to perfection, have the best high tech marketing, get your home on thousands of websites and have it priced it to sell.
How can you do that? Just come to one of our Home Seller Seminars at the Abington library. Our last two seminars this year are on October 24th and November 21st. Just go to www.HomeSharkSeminar.com to sign up!! Or email in for your free kit by going to www.HomeSellerToolKit.com
This is Diane Cardano from Cardano Real Estate Experts signing off on this month’s real estate marketing report.
Free $10,000 Home Selling Secret Strategy
As all Home owners know, there are many things we do to plan and prepare for the change of season. We treat our lawns, store or move our outdoor furniture, change filters and clean our heater. Well the same thing applies to those considering selling their home in the winter through early spring.
Strategy number 3 of my 8 secret strategies is
the Photo and Video showcase! This is the strategy most effected by the time of
the year you choose to put your home on the market. The great news is
that if you act quickly and take photos now, you will be able to differentiate
yourself from the competition when your home hits the market. So many of
my clients, over the years, have told me how grateful they are that they
attended my Seller’s seminars and took advantage of our free no obligation photo
shoot!
When you finally open your doors on the first day, you will have buyers lined up outside competing with one another to pay you list price and more for your home!
Now, as we promised: We are making Diane’s
exclusive Home Seller Tool Kit available to all of our blog followers!
Simply go to www.HomeSellerToolKit.com!
To get your free Home Seller Tool Kit, just go
to 2155768666.com
Hot Off the Press Market Report
Hello this is Diane Cardano from Cardano Real Estate Experts here with the “Hot Off the Press” Real Estate Market Report through September 1st. In today’s video blog, I review the BIG news right now. The 2 issues are “What is happening with house prices?” and ”Are we heading for a new balloon?”
The good news is the latest home price expectation survey
came out a couple weeks ago. This is a nationwide survey of over 100
economists, real estate experts and investment & Market strategists. First
they looked at the pre-bubble number, then there was a correction or recovery
from 2011 to the present.
Now let’s look at what the appreciation of house prices
should have been if we had stayed on the same trend line before the
roller coaster ride. In the next 5 years we would be at around 22.3%. And if you look at the actual, and
projections through 2017, it comes out to be around the same appreciation,
22.3%. Just a year ago, these same economists were not as positive as they are
now! Watch the video with complete slides showing graphs and illustrations.
Distressed property numbers are diving, foreclosures are
down, and the foreclosure inventory is down as well as the number of delinquent
loans.
There is NOT a housing bubble forming right now. There are 8 cities in the country that
currently have appreciated over 20% since the bottom hit. However with those
appreciation numbers, both Las Vegas and Arizona are still down 50 and 40%
respectively. When these numbers start really approaching 2006 numbers, then we
can talk about a bubble, maybe.
As the mortgage rates increase so
does the monthly payment for that same home. Some people will reduce their
asking price for a house so they can afford it; these are people shopping by
budget. Some people will be eliminated from the market altogether because they
will no longer qualify for a house that they are looking to buy.
I do believe that the price appreciation momentum will slow
down due to the increase in mortgage rates,
but nothing like the newspapers, radio
and television are saying....
Over the last 30 years, the 4 times that the interest rates
spiked, prices did not go down, they went up. You may have been hearing that
with interest rates going up, prices have to tumble, but not necessarily and
not historically. It is not just the interest rates that determine price. It is
the amount of supply, the inventory, where the economy is and where
unemployment is. There is no guarantee that because interest rates are spiking
up that prices are going to spike downward.
Mortgage Rate projections for 3rd quarter 2014 are between
4.8% and 5.1%. However, for those of us looking at the past numbers, as we can
see the mortgage payment for a $250,000 home has come down over the last 30
years.
Some other interesting stats from Trulia shows that the
number of buyers out of 100 willing to bid over asking price. These studies
show that 25% of the buyers willing to pay 1 to 5% over asking price, 9 out of
100 are willing to pay between 6 and 10% over asking price and 4 out of 100 are
even willing to pay 10% more than asking price!
This is something I am very familiar with as over half of my
listings have sold this year for more than asking in 3 days due to our high
tech marketing and our determination to crush the competition when it comes to
selling our client’s homes.
John Paulson says:
“The housing market has bottomed. It is not too late to get
involved. I still think buying a home is the best investment any individual can
make. Affordability is still at an all time high. Buy a home and if you can, buy
a second home.”
Thanks for checking out my market update for September.
Check back next month to our blog. If you are planning to sell your home, be
our guest at our next home seller seminar on September 26th at the Abington
Library. Sign up at this link. www.HomeSharkSeminar.com
Real Estate Market Update: Mortgage Interest Rates and Home Sale Statistics
Today I am going to share with you a Real Estate Market Update for August 2013. We have a lot of things happening in the real estate industry. If you own a home or plan to own a home, please listen to this short video filled with graphs and statistics concerning the future mortgage interest rates, trends happening right now with house prices, and what you should expect to happen over the next couple months.
As you can imagine, being an expert in this New World of Real Estate, I want to make sure everyone understands what’s happening in the real estate market right now before you make a decision to buy or sell a home.
Let’s get started with what is happening with sales right now. The market is very strong. In January we were at 4.2 months of inventory, now we are at 5 months of inventory. As prices rise people with negative equity now can sell, hence more homes are coming on the market. Looking at the pending homes graph, pending sales are skyrocketing.
More important than that is the latest projections from NAR over the next 6 quarters, sales are projected to continue on almost a straight line up. Here are Cardano Realtors our goal is to educate people to making the right decisions.
Watch the video to view various graphs that tell the story of what is occurring in the real estate industry.
Median days on the market graph. The graph shows that the days on the market is decreasing. So if your home not sold in the last 60 days on the market, bottom line, it is not priced right.
Case Shiller Report: Home Prices Over the Last 12 Months. This graph shows that yes prices are up from last year. However, in almost every city, they are down pretty dramatically from where the peak was in 2006. In 2006, home prices swung too high. Prices are now recovering, to where they should be and nowhere near where they were in 2006.
Mortgage Rates: Where are the mortgage rates headed? No one expected interest rates to go up this past month, they went up almost 1 percent. This took everyone by surprise. Interesting enough, 4 major institutions projected the beginning of June this year that the interest rates in 3rd quarter 2014 would be 4.6 to 4.8%. . We hit those rates last month. No one saw that spike coming.
Rates from January 2012 to Today. Rates were dropping for a good portion all the way to the beginning of this year, then they went up a little bit and came back down again. Then over the last 6 weeks they just skyrocketed.
Rate Change Effect on Monthly Mortgage Payment. Well how does that impact someone buying a $200,000 house. The cost of waiting a year is just over $200 a month. Over 12 months $2,600 a year and over a 30 year mortgage almost $78,000. So if you are looking for a home, it may be a good time to capture these low rates before they go up again. Home Sellers it is a great time to sell this fall, you have a captive audience and if you are priced right you will find your home selling in less than 60 days. Our average here at Cardano Realtors is 26 days. We find our homes sell for half the time as the average and people who go to our seminars sell 3 times faster than home sellers who did not go to a seminar.
Distressed Sales Graph. Let’s talk about Distressed sales, good for us they are at 18%, the lowest they have been in years. We are eating through that inventory right now. We are getting back to more normalized numbers, it is still high but nowhere near where it was a couple years ago.
Home Prices Appreciation Since June 2012. This graph from S&P Cash Shiller shows home prices going up every month sign June of last year. Let’s see what happens over the next couple months. If the amount of appreciate slows down that might be something we want to keep our eye on.
Price increases in 20 Metropolitan Areas. Philadelphia is not on this graph, however, I have been told we are around 5%. One thing I know about our area, our prices never get too too high or get too too low, we do not get the large fluctuation in prices as California, Arizona, etc.
That is this month's report, this is Diane Cardano from Cardano Real Estate Experts. We will see you next month with more statistics about the current real estate market.
Secret Formula to Secure a Buyer for Your Home in 26 Days or Less in Today's Market
Secret Formula
to Secure a Buyer For Your Home In 26 Days or Less In Today’s Market
In
this video, I share with you a TOP SECRET Formula on how to sell your home in
26 Days or less.
First
as a Home Seller, you need to understand why it is so important Stage your home
months to a year before it goes on the market. Some Sellers are just not
coachable enough and do not want to do anything to prepare their home for sale.
Others do some work to the home but do not know the real reason why they are doing
anything to prepare their home for sale.
Understanding
the reason why you should STAGE your home for sale will give you the energy
needed to make your home shine for the prospective buyers. The most important reason
why you should Staging your home for sale is………..
To Create Demand
For Your Property!!!
You
need to entice the buyer to look at your home online. The pictures online need
to shine to get the buyers to want more!! If they want more, they request more
information about the home or to request a physical viewing of the home. The
idea is that your pre-market your home months in advance online to get as many
buyers looking at your home BEFORE it goes on the market. Then, when the
property is ready for showing, buyers will be waiting outside the door. There
will be so much excitement that your home will sell quickly, for Top Dollar!!
Therefore,
the Secret Formula to selling your home is: (See Video)
Eyeballs
+ Foot Traffic = Sale in 26 Days
Eyeballs: The first
showing for any home is online, therefore home sellers need to make sure they
have the best pictures online. If buyers do not like the home from the website,
they will never request more information. If your home is on the market and you
are not getting any showings, you need to not only look at the price you are
offering for your home, but what are you showing the buyers online.
Buyers
will search for a home using an area of interest and a price range. If your
home comes up in that search, you get a hit!! They browse through the homes
that come up from the search and if the outside picture of your home intrigues
the buyer, they will click on it…. ANOTHER HIT!! Then,if they like what they see on the
outside they will view the inside pictures!!
Most
IMPORTANTLY, if they like what they see inside and outside, they will raise
their hand and request more information and a physical showing of the property.
Sometimes it takes 5,000 initial hits just to get 1 showing!!
Foot Traffic. The goal is
get as many eyeballs looking at your home online, to get lots of foot traffic
into the home. Once you have actual showings on your home, then you can get
feedback from the buyer. Feedback tells you what to do next. What are they
saying about the home?
Here are some examples of how to interpret feedback from buyers about your home on the market:
Too
Small:
They feel at that price and with the features that your home has, they can get
more for their money.
Bedrooms or a specific room is too small,
means at that price they feel they can find a home where the rooms are bigger,
or they can afford more… so the home is overpriced.
Home is on a busy street…the home is
overpriced. They can find a home on a quieter street and they can afford more.
Don’t like sloping of the backyard, or don’t like how the home is on a hill
and has such a steep driveway…the home is overpriced. They can buy other homes
in the same price range that do not have these issues.
Asbestos siding…… they can buy a home
with vinyl siding at the same price.
Abnormal Lot Shape…Unusually shaped
back yard…not a rectangular…At that price, they want a home with a better yard.
Power Lines In Area …they can buy a
home without power lines at the same price.
Home is dated, needs too much work….
They expect the home to be more updated at that price.
Ultimately, the perfect home is
for everyone. The perfect home is defined as on a rectangular lot, on a quiet
street, beautifully landscaped, fenced yard facing the woods, cul-de-sac location,
vinyl siding, totally updated inside and out. This is what the buyer will
always be comparing your home too. They will settle on some issues, but the
buyer who can afford a home at a certain price range will not settle for less.
So getting eyeballs weeks or
months before your home is going on the market is so important. It allows you
to get feedback before your put your home on the MLS. Once your home is on the
MLS, you will never get a chance to make a first impression.
To find out more about how to
pre-market your home and get thousands of showings BEFORE your home goes on the
market go to www.FreeRoomByRoom.com
and sign up for your Free Room by Room review of your home. Each Room by Room
review is 30 minutes long and gives you a complete list of things you need to
do before your home goes on the market.
Also, sign up for our next Home
Seller Seminar where you can learn secret tips from an Expert Advisor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)