10 Reasons to use a real estate agent

I am particularly fond of reason number 2.  I can protect you from predatory agents!

Courtesy of: Park City Real Estate - JensenandCompany.com

Beach Dreaming

I know I have mentioned before that one of my favorite blogs about real estate is Hooked On Houses.  I don't know about you, but after the summer of rain and chilly, and being stuck in the lovely Northeast Ohio, I have been dreaming of a beach vacation.  You need to see this transformation!  I will let you read the full article with the photos in the article below, but you have to see the before picture to truly appreciate the after!

Turning a “Shabby Shack” Into a Family Beach House

Happy Friday!

Banks May Ease Lending Standards Soon

Good news for home buyers?  Lending standards are what the bank uses to determine if you will qualify for a loan.  A few years back, what caused many of our housing issues, was loose lending standards.  I remember clearly in 2002 wondering how I qualified for my loan with the job I had, and the amount I had saved.  I wasn't alone.  Banks were giving out loans to just about anybody, and several years later, many of those people who wondered "why me?" were losing their homes to foreclosure.

So standards tightened up.  Your credit scores needed to be higher, your debt to income ratios were adjusted to show less risk, and larger downpayments were required.

Now that things are improving, but interest rates are creeping up, experts are predicting that lending standards might loosen a little to drum up more business, according to this article:

Banks May Ease Lending Standards Soon

This could be good news!  Stay tuned. . . .

Here come the Millennials

There's been a lot of talk in the news lately about the Millennials.  From my understanding, the Millennials are the generation that came after Generation X, formerly called Generation Y.  There is a lot of buzz in my industry about the Millennials and how they might impact the market.

Just to get myself started with this post, I went ahead and googled Millennials.  It turns out that I am a Gen Xer by about a year and a half.  So this young generation is. . . a lot of people I know.  Looking at my search results, recent articles written within the past day I found include the following:

When Should Millennials Finally Move out? 

Let's Give Millennials a Chance

Tips for Millennials Who Want a Mortgage

Look into the Hears of the 'We Generation': Column

I had two sales that closed for my buyers in the past week or so.  Both of these buyers were of the Millennial generation.  One single guy, one couple with a young child.  Both sales went smoothly.  Both sets of buyers were extremely easy to work with, understood and were happy to use technology, and were flexible with their wants.  They used the tools I gave them to search for homes, and ran with it.  I had compliments on both ends for working with them, and responding to their questions and needs quickly.

In short, I don't see the concerns about this Millennial generation!

Maybe, what that says though is something about me.  Both of these buyers used texting as their main form of communication with me.  Emails were responded to quickly because they were getting them on their phones.  Both used the internet to search for homes, and brought their lists to me.

Gone are the days where you need to wait for your agent to find you the house of your dreams.  Gone are the days where people can't google for information when they need it.  Gone are the buyers who don't have a GPS in their phone, or even their car, so finding homes isn't an issue.  You need an agent that realizes this.  You need an agent who is happy to return your texts at the time you need an answer.  You need an agent who is comfortable with technology, social media and isn't intimidated by a buyer that knows their stuff.

There was an article in my inbox this morning that had a very positive message for Millennials.  The message is basically this:  Now is the time.  Pricing has bottomed, the affordability index is low and jobs are coming back.  You don't want to look back a year or two from now and wish you had bought a home at this time.

Read the full article here:

A Message to Millennials for Our Future

So I say, bring on the Millenials!  Contact Me today if I can help make your dream of home ownership a reality!

Picture by my daughter Maggie, age 4.  I believe she will be Generation Z.  

Interesting Buyer Survey Results

I ran across this article today:  News Room - Trulia.com - Press Releases

Basically, Trulia surveyed just over 2000 potential homebuyers in an online survey.  It really seems to highlight some of the changes we are seeing in the market - more DEMAND, less supply, and buyers who are willing to do whatever it takes to get the house of their dreams.  You can read the full results with the link above, but here are some stats that I found interesting!

Top worries of home buyers:

• Interest rates will rise before I can buy
• Home prices will rise before I can buy
• I will not find a home for sale that I like
• I won't qualify for a mortgage
• I will have to compete with many other buyers for the home I want  

In addition to the worries, these buyers are willing to take extreme measures to get the home of their dreams.  Buyers need to beware that submitting a lowball offer might have been fine a couple of years ago, but now that the market is recovering, you might be competing with buyers that are willing to do whatever it takes.

According to the Trulia article:

Among Americans who would buy a home someday, 2 in 3 (66 percent) would use aggressive[1] tactics to buy a home, including bidding above asking, paying the seller’s closing costs, writing personal letters, or removing contingencies, to name a few. Households earning more than $100,000 a year are more likely to offer to pay the seller’s closing costs or bid above asking, whereas lower-income households making less than $50,000 a year are more likely to borrow money from family or friends to put down 20 percent or make an all-cash offer. Young adults – many of whom are likely to be first-time homebuyers – are especially aggressive in their house hunt, with 78 percent likely to do at least one of these tactics.

I think this infographic from KCM shows it perfectly.

So buyers, what do you think?  Does this seem accurate?  I know that several of my recent buyers were faced with multiple offer situations, and we did use some of these tactics.  Do you have a buyers agent that knows that today's market is different?  

Contact me if I can help, I would love to work with you to find that home of your dreams!