Monthly Archives: February 2017

Survey: 25 percent of Americans interested in buying this year

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Twenty-five percent of adults reported that they are very likely or somewhat likely to purchase a home this year, according to a recent survey by Bankrate.

Of all non-homeowners surveyed, 15 percent reported they are somewhat or very likely to purchase a home in 2017.

Specially, older millennials (aged 27-36) and Generation Xers (aged 37-52) are more likely to buy within the year. Nearly 40 percent of minorities, more than double the percentage of white adults, reported they are likely to buy a home this year.

“Among millennials, there’s a lot of pent-up demand for home buying,” said Holden Lewis, Bankrate.com’s senior mortgage analyst. “They have been stymied by stagnant wages, student loans and a lack of available starter homes. If enough affordable homes are put on the market, we might see a surge of first-time homebuyers in their early to mid-30s.”

Mortgages do cause hesitation in some would-be homebuyers. Thirty-seven percent of possible homebuyers reported that the size of the mortgage has a major impact on their savings for the future, while 46 percent reported it has a minor impact on their savings.

Parents also struggle more to save, according to the report. Two-thirds of non-homeowners with young children said they are unable to purchase a home due to lack of good credit or the inability to save for a down payment. Eighteen percent reported they don’t want to own a home.

“Having kids and raising a family is a primary reason why Americans take the leap into homeownership—many consider it a key component of the American dream,” added Lewis. “They’re caught between the costs of raising children and paying those mortgages and saving money.”

Realtor.com® Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke said that while most people believe they need 20 percent for a down payment, “in reality, it averaged 11 percent last year.”

 

RPAC Major Investor Benefits and RPAC Fundraising Awards Webinar

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3 PM EST

Do you know about the Major Investor benefits and RPAC Fundraising Awards changes taking effect in 2017? Lauren Facemire, Managing Director of RPAC Fundraising, and Jackie Zaporowski, RPAC Fundraising Coordinator, will fill you in on current Major Investor benefits and how to access them, as well as current RPAC Fundraising Awards for state and local associations and how you can track your progress to help bring home a 2017 award! For more information, contact Liz Demorest.

Existing-home sales kick off 2017 hitting decade high

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Existing-home sales increased 3.3 percent, and reached a 10-year high in January, according to the National Association of Realtors® recent release.

Sales hit 5.69 million, the strongest sales pace since February 2007. The sales pace is 3.8 percent higher than January 2016, but the median home price rose 7.1 percent year-to-year to $228,900. This is the 59th consecutive month representing year-to-year price increases.

Nearly every region, excluding the Midwest, saw increases. In the Northeast, sales rose 5.3 percent, increasing to an annual rate of 800,000, 6.7 percent higher than January 2016. The median home price was $253,800, up 2.5 percent from this time last year.

“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,” he said. “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 deteriorating affordability condition,” said Dr. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR.

First-time homebuyers represented a third (33 percent) of purchasers, an increase of 1 percent from December and last January.

Housing inventory saw an increase of 2.4 percent, rising to 1.69 million existing homes for sale. However, it is still 7.1 percent below January 2016’s housing inventory, which was 1.82 million. Time on the market has also dropped from 52 days in December to 50 days in January.

All-cash sales represented 23 percent of purchases, a 2 percent increase from December, but a 3 percent decrease from January 2016.

“Competition is likely to heat up even more heading into the spring for house hunters looking for homes in the lower- and mid-market price range,” said Yun. “The combination of higher rates and prices led to households in over half of all states last month being able to afford less of all active inventory on the market based on their income.”

 

Developing your own real estate brand to stand out in a crowd

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Realtors® are “kind of everywhere,” said Deb Gabor, author and founder of Sol Marketing.

“Realtors® need to develop a personal brand. What differentiates one from the other is a personal brand, which is the relationship someone has with their clients. Standing out for Realtors® can be everything from a unique approach to the market to specializing in particular brands of home, such as remodeled homes that were mid-century, getting even that narrow with the type of buyer,” she said.

Gabor said that your brand should be defined by the client or by the product, such as the kind of homes you list, or the neighborhoods you specialize in or the price.

“Your brand should be defined by some kind of concept that transcends the whole industry, a unique point of view,” she added.

One of the best things you can do when creating your brand is make sure you use substantial differentiation. “The biggest mistake I see by Realtors® is that they market on bells and whistles, things others can imitate, without making themselves stand out.”

Gabor suggested asking yourself the following three questions:

  1. What does it say about a person that they used me as their Realtor®?
  2. What is the singular thing my clients get from me they can’t get anywhere else?
  3. What is the client trying to create? How do I, as a Realtor®, help make them the hero in the story?

“Think of yourself as a brand. You are not just a person. A brand is an experience. How do you want people to experience doing business with you? The best brands in the world are the ones who become part of the person who uses them,” said Gabor.

Another thing to ask yourself is what does it say about a client that has hired you to list their home or help them find their dream home, said Gabor.

“The best brands are the one that become a part of someone’s self-image. Create the irrational loyalty, which is when your clients feel so attached to a brand that if they were to use something else, they would feel like you were cheating on them. So that when people are going up the property ladder, they wouldn’t even hesitate to think of their Realtor®. That idea of irrational loyalty when people say ‘my Realtor®.’ Referring to you as ‘my’ Realtor® is a good indicator that someone is irrationally loyal,” she said.

“Branding is strategic, but branding is not that hard,” added Gabor.

 

 

Wintertime flood risks: What your homeowners should know

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Wintertime flooding may not be at the top of most homeowners’ concerns this time of year.

But it’s something they should be cautious about, said John Dickson, president at NFS Edge Insurance. Wintertime flood risk is primarily driven by snow melt, according to Dickson.

He said the first step your clients need to take is to understand the snowfall in the community, as well as the surrounding areas. “Future weather patterns dictate the rate at which snow thaws. Understanding current conditions and forecast conditions allows residents to better assess risk today and tomorrow. Also, understanding how the region responded to past winters can help shape expectations with respect to how the same area will react to current conditions,” he added.

Once river waters swell beyond the flood stage, it is hard for homeowners to influence these waters, said Dickson. He said sandbagging can be effective for low to moderate floods, but homeowners should first and foremost make sure their families are safe and they have a plan of action.

“Outside the horizon of oncoming floods, homeowners should assess flood mitigation, such as venting. Foundations need to be properly vented in order for water to flow through rather than push through a structure and air vents, which are not effective. Flood vents are required for mitigation to be effective,” added Dickson.

He said homeowners that are unprepared, and assume that the worst can’t happen there are putting themselves at risk.

“The best thing agents can do is tell your homeowners to understand their risk, and to invest in their household peace of mind,” he added.