Regardless of the field of knowledge, we always look to an expert to provide us the advice and direction to be successful. Just look at how many of us watch HGTV, Doctor Oz and go to Personal Trainers besides seeking the best lawyers, doctors and dentists that we can find.
In the same way, in buying or selling real estate, one needs the expertise of someone who can guide him/her through the intricacies and complications of a real state transation while have his/her very best interest in mind.
Yet....
How to Choose A Realtor???
Key Questions to ask is Selling Your Property:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->Are you a Realtor? If so, tell me what value it brings to me.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->What percentage of your potential commission will go to advertising my property? What sources of advertising do you use and why?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]--> Where does your company rank among the Real Estate Companies in
Southside Hampton Roads?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4. <!--[endif]-->What services does your company provide that differentiates it from your competition?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->5. <!--[endif]-->How many offices and agents are associated with your firm? What advantage is that to me?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->6. <!--[endif]-->Describe your Buyer Pool? How will that impact the sale of my house?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->7. <!--[endif]-->What Relocation assistance can you provide?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->8. <!--[endif]-->What assistance can you provide in me preparing my house to sell?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9. <!--[endif]-->What specific experience do you have selling in this neighborhood?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->10. <!--[endif]-->How do you:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1) <!--[endif]-->Ensure I don’t move until I’m ready to move?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2) <!--[endif]-->Ensure only qualified buyers see my house?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3) <!--[endif]-->Ensure the potential buyer has solid financing?
11. How does the Standard Purchase Agreement work in my favor?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->12. <!--[endif]-->Where do you rank in your company in sales and listings? In Hampton Roads?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->13. <!--[endif]--> How many years have you been a Realtor? Number of Circle of Excellence Awards or other awards?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->14. <!--[endif]--> Do you have letters of recommendation that you can provide?
A Home continues to be your best investment!!! And that doesn't count a home's"priceless" value as a place to raise your kids, share time with friends or just escape after a long day of work.
Yet with all the news on home values and foreclosures, buyers and sellers alike have sat on the sidelines as they were uncertain if it made sense to buy a home. in the past month, an AP article even stated that real estate may never be the value to Americans that it once was.
Recently, Van Rose, a principle with Rose & Womble Realty, shared with the company a topic that I have brought up to buyers and sellers over the past couple of years. The topic: HOME VALUES OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS CONTINUE TO OUTPACE HISTIORICAL RESULTS.
In the graph below, the Blue line notes the actual appreciation experienced in Hampton Roads since 2000. The Yellow line notes the historical 4% rate of increase that has been the 50 year average.
Not hard to see the "hot years" strong appreciation or the tough depreciation of the past two years. Yet look at the delta(difference) after 2010. A $50,000 positive variance!!!! What investment would you shun that over a 10 year period beat the last 50 years average.
Also note the flattening trend....and the solid expectation that we will resume price appreciation in late 2011/2012.
AND WHAT DO YOU GET???
A clear sign that any one needs a new home for any of the many reasons that cause an individual or family to need to make a change:
CALL A REALTOR AND GET GOING!!!
As you will note in the summary notes, the inflation pressures that everybody wondered about with the Fed's pumping dollars into the economy has begun to show itself. In the Virginian Pilot this a.m., cotton prices doubling was discussed due to increased demand and the need to increase clothing costs and other products with cotton content. Thus, we may be seeing the beginning of a trend that will cause us all to watch the broad economic indicators to determine if inflation begins to raise its "ugly" head.
As you may well know, a bit of inflation is normal and is much preferred over deflation(lower pricing due to terrible economic conditions). Yet, high inflation would lead to higher mortgage rates and more expensive house payments. As noted below, rates are forecasted to go up to 5.5% by the end of the year by some.
Thus, it continues to be the absolute best time to buy a home....competitive home pricing and low interest rates.
Read below!!!
Then get the move on, if it s time for you to get a home!!!
Keeping you updated on the market! MARKET RECAP We knew it was only a matter of time, and now it appears the time, if not here, is close at hand. We are speaking of inflation, which is more real and tactual these days. Producer prices, which have been climbing over the past seven months, continued their march north. In January, the producer price index spiked 0.8 percent over December. However, the core number, which excludes energy and food prices, was even more disconcerting, posting a 0.5 percent gain – the most since October 2008. Rising prices on the producer side are eventually felt on the consumer side, so it was no surprise that consumer prices also rose in January, with the consumer price index posting a 0.4 percent increase. Consumer prices still appear subdued, posting a 1.6 percent increase for the past 12 months, but the data include big-ticket and infrequently purchased items, such as automobiles and airline tickets. Most of us are aware that day-to-day purchase prices are increasing at a higher rate. This latest data on price inflation points to upward pressure on mortgage rates; even though rates held steady this past week. Is there a reasonable estimate to how high rates will go? PMI Mortgage Insurance sees the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hitting 5.5 percent by the end of this year and then increasing to 6.5 percent by the end of 2012. (For the record, PMI also predicted the 30-year loan would average 5.5 percent at the end of 2010.) We think 5.5 to 5.75 percent is a reasonable range, with a few caveats, of course, starting with the Federal Reserve. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said that the Fed will keep buying Treasury securities through June to support the economy, but a couple Fed officials have argued that keeping the easy-money policy intact for too long could crimp the Fed's ability to bring inflation under control. The truth is that timing these things is obvious in theory, but very difficult in practice. However, even if we are wrong on price inflation and about the Fed's ability to optimally manage the money supply, other factors could keep mortgage rates moving higher. Pressure is building to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have guaranteed more than nine out of every 10 mortgages since the financial meltdown. The White House has proposed increasing Fannie and Freddie's prices, phasing in a 10-percent down-payment requirement, and winding down their investment portfolio. These initiatives would put private capital and government capital on a more equal footing. We are in favor of more private investment, because it means more diversity in product offerings and more latitude in pricing and qualifying mortgage loans. Of course, the downside will be higher price loans, but that won't be so bad as long as the economy and the job market continue to improve. A 5-percent 30-year fixed-rate loan is nice, but a broader market of qualified applicants in a 5.5-percent loan market would be even nicer. Economic Release Consensus Analysis Case-Shiller Home Price Index Tues., Feb. 22, 0.8% (Decrease) Important. The worst in home-price declines is likely over. Mortgage Applications Wed., Feb. 23, None Important. Refinances continue to fall as the market shifts to purchase activity. Existing Wed., Feb. 23, 5.2 Million (Annualized) Important. Bad weather will likely cause sales to post at the low end of estimates. New Home Sales Thurs., Feb. 24, 310,000 (Annualized) Important. Better pricing and reduced inventory are stabilizing the market. Gross Domestic Product Fri., Feb. 25, 3.2% (Annualized Growth) Moderately Important. This preliminary report is expected to confirm strong growth in exports and retail sales. Bubble Trouble? We don't think so, but Robert Shiller of the Case-Shiller home price index does. Mr. Shiller recently cautioned that housing prices are likely to “stay in the doldrums for years,” but he added an alternative scenario where a growing speculative component could cause prices to overshoot on the upside. It is an unlikely scenario; rarely do consecutive bubbles form in the same market. Stocks that burst with the bursting of the tech bubble in 2001 are an obvious example. In addition, the common value matrices – such as median-income to median-home prices and rent to home-price appreciation are where they were around 2002. To be sure, they are still a little high by historical measures, but they are much more reasonable compared to 2006 – the apex of the housing bubble. The bigger concern is that the number of buyers who could buy won't. The New York Times recently interviewed Dan Cunningham, a 41-year-old renter. Here's what Mr. Cunningham told the Times reporter: “We would love to have a house; I have more than enough for a down payment. I’m pre-approved for a loan. But I have to have confidence it’s not going to lose another 20 percent.” The Times also reported that Cunningham plans to wait until he sees prices rising before making any offers. And that's the mindset we need to overcome. People like Dan Cunningham more often than not wait too long and find themselves chasing a less favorable, more expensive market. That's an important insight, and it's one the Dan Cunninghams of the world need to know.
For the week of
February 21, 2011
Indicator
Date and Time
Estimate
(December)
9:00 am, et
7:00 am, et
Home Sales
(January)
10:00 am, et
(January)
10:00 am, et
(4th Quarter 2010)
8:30 am, et
Economists predict 21 percent climb in single-family starts in 2011 Economists at the National Association of Home Builders' International Builders Show forecast considerable economic gains in 2012 and a boost in housing starts in 2011. Read on for more. (1/18/2011) "This year's spring selling season will be better than last year's," said NAHB chief economist, David Crowe, with job growth providing a stronger stimulus in the housing market than last year's tax credits for homebuyers. Crowe forecasted 575,000 single-family home starts in 2011, a 21 percent climb over an estimated 475,000 units started in 2010, which in turn showed a 7 percent gain from the 442,000 homes started in 2009. Multifamily, which is poised to profit from a disproportionate number of Gen Y members moving into the housing market, has seen the bottom of the cycle, he said, and will see its starts rise 16 percent this year to 133,000 units, with a further 53 percent increase in 2012 to 203,000 units. Builders' access to the credit they need to start new homes remains the fragile component of the NAHB forecast, Crowe said. So far, small builders have experienced extreme difficulty in obtaining financing, and rectifying the situation as soon as possible is the top priority of the association. More encouraging is a rebound in the confidence of consumers, who mid-2010 "froze in place, faced with a lot of uncertainty," he said. A recent pickup in durable purchases for such items as automobiles and furniture indicates that consumers are less afraid today of losing jobs and income. The U.S. economy will receive a boost from the massive tax package enacted at the end of last year, he said, including more income going into the pockets of wage earners thanks to a one-year 2 percent reduction in Social Security taxes. This will contribute to the gross domestic product strengthening from the 2.5 percent range to 3.5 percent to 3.8 percent by year's end. New-home sales, Crowe projected, "will struggle" but begin following employment gains, reaching 405,000 for the year, up from an estimate of about 320,000 for 2010. The housing recovery will start up slowly this year, he said, because it will be driven by the relatively low housing production Plains states, with Texas the most powerful of the bunch. Traditional bulwarks of housing activity such as California and Florida, on the other hand, will not be among the states whose housing markets recover the fastest. In addition, Freddie Mac chief economist, Frank Nothaftsaid housing affordability and demographic trends will help support growing housing demand. Citing research from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Nothaft said households should be growing at an average annual rate of 1.2 million to 1.5 million over the next five to 10 years, suggesting the need for a sharp increase in housing production; half of the 500,000 to 600,000 starts of the past two years were needed just to replace the number of homes being removed from the housing stock. While there will continue to be supply overhangs in some important large markets, by and large the housing price slump should bottom out by the middle of this year, he said, and price increases are already occurring in some local areas. That should attract prospective buyers who have been procrastinating until they see prices hit bottom. "Potential buyers who have resources to buy but want to buy at the bottom are likely to start coming into the market in the springtime," he said, which for fence sitters will be "the time to come into the market." Fixed-rate mortgages will move up from their current 4.75 percent to the 5.75 percent range by the end of this year, he forecasted. This will push total single-family mortgage originations down about 30 percent below the 2010 level as refinancings fall sharply in the face of rising mortgage rates. While a 20 percent increase in housing production in 2011 is good news for housing, to put things in perspective, Nothaft said this gain is from an extremely low level, with single-family production declining about 80 percent from peak to trough. As always, please remember, I am hear to assist you in selling property. Our marketing department is happy to provide property flyers with scenarios, or other financing information that may be pertinent to your buyers. I look forward to working with you and your clients, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. 200 Golden Oak Ct., Suite 100 Virginia Beach, VA 23452 Direct: 757.605.4641 Mobile: 757.272.4199 Facsimile: 757.605.4666 NMLS #101837 Email: jkeenan@oldpointmortgage.com
Housing will see gradual improvements in activity this year as the nation's economy and job market continue to move to higher ground, establishing momentum that will produce more considerable gains in 2012, according to economists who appeared at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) International Builders' Show.
Jennifer Keenan
With 2011 Real Estate Market unknown, we have to look at the results of 2010 to get a sense of our direction and in the current conditions to know where we are headed.
In a great Rose & Womble meeting today, we learned that the New Homes division was up over 4% in units last year and there is only 3.5 months inventory at present. In addition, the New Homes division saw:
11% Increase in sales of home in $350,000-$400,000 range
31% Increase in sales of homes in $400,000-$450,000 range
As Van Rose, President New Homes, these results are a great indication that the market is turning a corner as buyers are feeling the improvements in the market and are confident about moving forward to purchase that new home they have wanted.
With the pent up demand for home purchases caused by the uncertainty and anxiety of the past three years, there are people the need and will buy homes in 2011. Buyers have begun to peak their heads out with the growing confidence and the new homes data shows it.
Both New Homes and Resale will benefit in 2011 from:
A recent survey cited by Van, noted 90% of people said it was a great time to buy real estate. In addition, Van showed a chart noting that a home purchased in 2001 was still valued higher in 2011($50,000 on average) than it would have been if growth rate was 4% over the 10 year period. Thus, numerous home owners have amply equity in his/her home to act on his/her interest to buy a new home.
In addition, this home owner and renters looking to buy their 1st home can realize that though home values have softened in the past three years, real estate remains an excellent long term investment.
So if you are one of the millions that have wanted to know the right time to buy...YOU FOUND IT!
Realtor serving Hampton Roads and NE North Carolina. Associate Broker with GRI, ABR, SFR, and SRES designations
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