Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate Federal Way & Puyallup

Some Highlights: The  Federal Housing Finance Agency  (FHFA)   recently released their latest  Quarterly Home Price Index  report. In the report, home prices are compared both regionally and by state. Based on the latest numbers, if you plan on relocating to another state, waiting to move may end up costing you more!

Home sales numbers are leveling off, the rate of price appreciation has slowed to more historically normal averages, and inventory is finally increasing. We are headed into a more normal housing market. However, some are seeing these adjustments as red flags and are suggesting that we are headed back to the same challenges we experienced in 2008. Today, let’s look at one set of statistics that prove the current market is nothing like the one that preceded the housing crash last decade. The previous bubble was partially caused by unhealthy levels of mortgage debt. New purchasers were putting down the minimum down payment, resulting in them having little if any equity in their homes. Existing homeowners were using their homes as ATMs by refinancing and swapping their equity for cash. When prices started to fall, many homeowners found themselves in a negative equity situation (where their mortgage was higher than the value of their home) so they walked away which caused prices to ...

In real estate, the spring is often seen as the ideal time to buy or sell a house. The term  “Spring Buyer’s Season”  exists for a reason, as renters and those looking to move on from their current home thaw out from the winter and hit the market ready to buy. According to  Bank of America’s  annual   Home Buyer Insights Report , 41% of renters surveyed agree that spring is the best time to buy a home. The surprising result, however, is that when ranking the seasons, winter comes in second at 24%. In many areas of the country, the spring and summer are the most competitive seasons for buyers. Families with children often want to move over the summer to make sure that their kids are ready for school in the fall. This often leads those families who haven’t found homes to buy to push pause on their search in the fall and winter months. This creates a great environment for buyers to find a home with less competition. According to  moving.com , schedu...

Many sellers believe that spring is the best time to place their homes on the market because buyer demand traditionally increases at that time of year, but what they don’t realize is that if every homeowner believes the same thing, then that is when they will have the most competition! The #1 Reason to List Your Home in the Winter Months is Less Competition! Housing supply traditionally shrinks at this time of year, so the choices buyers have will be limited. The chart below was created using the  months’ supply  of listings from the  National Association of Realtors. As you can see, the  ‘sweet spot’  to list your home for the most exposure naturally occurs in the late fall and winter months (November – February).   Temperatures aren’t the only thing that heats up in the spring – so do listings! In 2017, listings increased by nearly half a million houses from December to June. Don’t wait for these listings to come to market before you decid...

Many homebuyers think that saving for their down payment is enough to buy the house of their dreams, but what about the closing costs that are required to obtain a mortgage? By law, a homebuyer will receive a  loan estimate  from their lender 3 days after submitting their loan application and they should receive a  closing disclosure  3 days before the scheduled closing on their home. The closing disclosure includes final details about the loan and the closing costs. But what are closing costs anyway? According to  Trulia : “ Closing costs are lender and third-party fees paid at the closing of a real estate transaction, and they can be financed as part of the deal or be paid upfront. They range from 2% to 5% of the purchase price of a home. (For those who buy a $150,000 home, for example, that would amount to between $3,000 and $7,500 in closing fees.)” Keep in mind that if you are in the market for a home above this price range, your costs could ...

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The National Association of Realtors reported  This Week in Real Estate  that the run of 6 consecutive months of decline in existing-home sales ended in October. In addition, housing starts in October increased 1.5 percent over September. Below are a few highlights from the third week of November that influence our business : * Single-Family Starts Stable in October as Caution Grows.   Total housing starts posted a 1.5 percent increase in October (1.23 million units) compared to a revised September estimate of 1.21 million units. However, total starts are 2.9 percent lower than October 2017. Despite the recent market softness, 2018 is still shaping up to be the best year since the recession. Total housing starts are 5.6 percent higher for 2018 on a year-to-date basis, according to the joint data release  from the Census Bureau and HUD.  T he pace of single-family starts posted a slight monthly decline in October, decreasing 1.8 pe...

Some Highlights: Existing home sales are currently at an annual pace of 5.22 million, which is up 1.4% over last month. This reverses the six-month trend of dips in sales every month. The inventory of existing homes is still below the 6-month supply needed for a normal market and is now at a 4.3-month supply. NAR’s  Chief Economist,  Lawrence Yun, had this to say:  “After six consecutive months of decline, buyers are finally stepping back into the housing market. As more inventory enters the market and we head into the winter season, home price growth has begun to slow more meaningfully. This allows for much more manageable, less frenzied buying conditions.”

The top concern for most first-time home buyers is their ability to save for a down payment. According to a new  survey , 36% of millennials took on a second job to make their dreams of homeownership a reality in 2017. Among millennials with incomes over $100,000 a year, the top ways to come up with the necessary funds were to sell stocks (20%) or to sell cryptocurrency (16%). The most popular method of savings was the most traditional; 60% of those saving for a down payment used a percentage of their paychecks to achieve their goal, while 75% of those with salaries over $100k were able to save this way. For those who have not yet begun to save for their down payment, 32% plan on pursuing additional employment, while 15% plan on driving for a ride-share service as their second job. Many first-time buyers are  mistaken  about the down payment needed in today’s real estate market. In fact, “In a 2017 survey, 68% of renters cited saving for a down payment as an ...

By Chip @ Reliance Network Link Your Social Media Networks to Your Website Are you using Social Media links on your website? Depending on your target market, these links can be very important, and always imply you are comfortable with today’s technology. There are eight different ones that allow your website to link to your personal account: Blog, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube. It is easy to have these links display on your website: While in My Office, click your  photo  (upper right of window), then click  Profile. Scroll to the Social Network Icon Links section. Follow the instructions for each individual social media field to enter the correct information for that field (Most, not all, are the full URL). Click the  Submit  box  immediately under the Social Network Icon Links section . Here is an example how that section looks like in your My Office > Photo > Profile: That’s all ...