Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate Federal Way & Puyallup

Have you ever been flipping through the channels, only to find yourself glued to the couch in an HGTV binge session? We’ve all been there, watching entire seasons of  “Love it or List it,” “Million Dollar Listing,” “House Hunters,” “Property Brothers,”  and so many more all in one sitting. When you’re in the middle of your real estate themed show marathon, you might start to think that everything you see on TV must be how it works in real life, but you may need a reality check. Reality TV Show Myths vs. Real Life: Myth #1: Buyers look at 3 homes and decide to purchase one of them. Truth: There may be buyers who fall in love and buy the first home they see, but according to the  National Association of Realtors  the average homebuyer tours  10 homes  as a part of their search.     Myth #2: The houses the buyers are touring are still for sale. Truth: Everything is staged for TV. Many of the homes being shown are already sold and are off th...

Every three years, the  Federal Reserve  conducts their  Survey of Consumer Finances  in which they collect data across all economic and social groups. Their latest survey data, covering 2013-2016 was recently released. The study revealed that the median net worth of a homeowner was $231,400 – a 15% increase since 2013. At the same time, the median net worth of renters decreased by 5% ($5,200 today compared to $5,500 in 2013). These numbers reveal that the net worth of a homeowner is over 44 times greater than that of a renter. Owning a home is a great way to build family wealth As we’ve said before, simply put, homeownership is a form of ‘forced savings.’ Every time you pay your mortgage, you are contributing to your net worth by increasing the equity in your home. That is why, for the fifth year in a row,  Gallup  reported that Americans picked real estate as the best long-term investment. This year’s results showed that 34% of Americans chose...

While the national median single-home price in the second quarter reached a new peak, single family starts is 6.2% higher than same time last year according to the joint release  This Week in Real Estate  by the Census Bureau and HUD .  Permits are up 7.5% compared to same time last year while the number of homes for which permits have been authorized but construction has not started is up 25% compared to last year.  Below are a few highlights from the third  week of August that influence our business :     *  Flat Conditions for Housing Starts .   Total housing starts posted a slight increase in July as markets face headwinds in the form of rising construction costs and growing affordability concerns. Total housing starts increased 0.9% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 862,000. That is 6.2% higher for 2018 on a year-to-date basis, according to the joint data release from the Census Bure...

Some Highlights: Interest rates are projected to increase steadily heading into 2019. The higher your interest rate, the more money you end up paying for your home and the higher your monthly payment will be. Rates are still low right now – don’t wait until they hit 5% to start searching for your dream home! AUGUST 17, 2018 / BY  THE KCM CREW

Some are attempting to compare the current housing market to the market leading up to the “boom and bust” that we experienced a decade ago. They look at price appreciation and conclude that we are on a similar trajectory, speeding toward another housing crisis. However, there is a major difference between the two markets. Last decade, while demand was being artificially created by extremely loose lending standards, a tremendous amount of inventory was coming to the market to satisfy that demand. Below is a graph of the inventory of homes available for sale leading up to the 2008 crash. A normal market should have approximately 6 months supply of housing inventory. As we can see, that number jumped to over 11 months supply leading up to the housing crisis. When questionable mortgage practices ceased, and demand dried up, there was a glut of inventory on the market which caused prices to drop as there was too much supply and not enough demand. Today is radically different!...

It should come as no surprise that buying a home in a good school district is important to homebuyers. According to a  report  from  Realtor.com , 86% of 18-34 year-olds and 84% of those aged 35-54 indicated that their home search areas were defined by school district boundaries. What is surprising, however, is that 78% of recent homebuyers sacrificed features from their  “must-have” lists in order to find homes within their dream school districts. The top feature sacrificed was a garage at 19%, followed closely by a large backyard, an updated kitchen, the desired number of bedrooms, and an outdoor living area. The full results are shown in the graph below. Buyers are attracted to schools with high test scores, accelerated academic programs, art and music programs, diversity, and before and after-school programs. With a limited number of homes available to buy in today’s real estate market, competition is fierce for homes in good school districts. Daniell...

For many Americans, buying their first home is their first taste of achieving part of the American Dream. There is a sense of pride that comes along with owning your own home and building your family’s wealth through your monthly mortgage payment. It may seem hard to imagine that the first home you purchased (which made your dreams come true) might not be the home that will allow you to achieve the rest of your dreams. The good news is that it’s ok to admit that your home no longer fits your needs! According to  CoreLogic’s  latest  Home Price Index , prices in the starter home market have appreciated faster than any other category over the last year, at 9.4%. At the same time, inventory in this category has dropped 14.2%. These two stats are directly related to one another. As inventory has decreased and demand has increased, prices have been driven up. This is great news if you own a starter home and are looking to move up to a larger home as the equity in y...