#1 Reason to List Your House for Sale, NOW! by The KCM Crew on May 30, 2017 in For Sellers
If you are debating listing your house for sale this year, here is the #1 reason not to wait! Buyer Demand Continues to Outpace the Supply of Homes for Sale  The National Association of REALTORS’ (NAR) Chief Economist Lawrence Yun recently commented on the inventory: “Last month’s dip in closings was somewhat expected given that there was such a strong sales increase in March at 4.2 percent, and new and existing inventory is not keeping up with the fast pace homes are coming off the market. Demand is easily outstripping supply in most of the country and it’s stymieing many prospective buyers from finding a home to purchase”. The latest Existing Home Sales Report shows that there is currently a 4.2-month supply of homes . . .

by The KCM Crew on May 22, 2017 in First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, Move-Up Buyers
Whether you are buying or selling a home it can be quite an adventurous journey, which is why you need an experienced real estate professional to guide you on the path to your ultimate goal. In this world of instant gratification and internet searches, many sellers think that they can For Sale by Owner or FSBO. The 5 reasons you NEED a real estate professional in your corner haven’t changed, but have rather been strengthened by the projections of higher mortgage interest rates & home prices as the market continues to pick up steam. 1. What do you do with all this paperwork? Each state has different regulations regarding the contracts required for a successful sale, and these regulations are constantly changing. A true real estate . . .

by The KCM Crew on May 15, 2017 in First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Move-Up Buyers
Every year, Gallup surveys Americans to determine their choice for the best long-term investment. Respondents are given a choice between real estate, stocks/mutual funds, gold, savings accounts/CDs, or bonds. For the fourth year in a row, Real Estate has come out on top as the best long-term investment! This year’s results showed that 34% of Americans chose real estate, followed by stocks at 26%. The full results are shown in the chart below. The study makes it a point to draw attention to the contrast of the sentiment over the last four years compared to that of 2011-2012, when gold took the top slot with 34% of the votes. Real estate and stocks took second and third place, respectively, while still in recovery from the Great Recession. Bottom . . .

by The KCM Crew on May 5, 2017 in First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Infographics, Interest Rates, Pricing
Some Highlights: The “Cost of Waiting to Buy” is defined as the additional funds it would take to buy a home if prices and interest rates were to increase over a period of time.Freddie Mac predicts that interest rates will increase to 4.8% by this time next year, while home prices are predicted to appreciate by 4.9% according to CoreLogic.Waiting until next year to buy could cost you thousands of dollars a year for the life of your mortgage! . . .

Slaying Home Buying Myths  by The KCM Crew on April 24, 2017 in Down Payments, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Infographics, Interest Rates
Some Highlights: Interest rates are still below historic numbers.88% of property managers raised their rent in the last 12 months!The credit score requirements for mortgage approval continue to fall. . . .

by The KCM Crew on April 17, 2017 in For Sellers
If you thought about selling your house this year, now may be the time to do it. The inventory of homes for sale is well below historic norms and buyer demand is skyrocketing. We were still in high school when we learned the concept of supply and demand: the best time to sell something is when supply of that item is low and demand for that item is high. That defines today’s real estate market. Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist at realtor.com, revealed in a recent article that: “The biggest challenge to buyers this spring will be simply finding a home to buy and getting it successfully under contract. That’s because the supply of homes for sale is at an all-time low, and yet demand is strong and getting stronger.” Smoke goes on to say: “We started the year with the lowest . . .

by The KCM Crew on April 10, 2017 in For Sellers, Housing Market Updates, Pricing
There are some homeowners that have been waiting for months to get a price they hoped for when they originally listed their house for sale. The only thing they might want to consider is... If it hasn't sold yet, maybe it's not priced properly. After all, 15,014 houses sold yesterday, 15,014 will sell today and 15,014 will sell tomorrow. 15,014! That is the average number of homes that sell each and every day in this country, according to the?National Association of Realtors’ (NAR)?latest?Existing Home Sales Report. NAR reported that sales are at an annual rate of 5.48 million. Divide that number by 365 (days in a year) and we can see that, on average, over 15,014 homes sell every day. The report from NAR also revealed that there . . .

by The KCM Crew on March 22, 2017 in First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Housing Market Updates, Interest Rates, Move-Up Buyers
Mortgage interest rates have risen over the last few months and projections are that they will continue their upswing throughout 2017. What impact will this have on the housing market? Here is what the experts are saying: Laurie Goodman, Co-director of the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center: “In 1984, 1994, 2000, and 2013, every time we have rate increases, we have increases in nominal home prices. We expect this to be more pronounced, as there is a big demand-and-supply gap at the present time.” Scott Anderson, Chief Economist for Bank of the West: “The tightening labor market, rising wage growth, high levels of consumer confidence and a millennial generation with a pent-up demand for . . .

by The KCM Crew on February 28, 2017 in First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Housing Market Updates, Move-Up Buyers
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) keeps historical data on many aspects of homeownership. One of the data points that has changed dramatically is the median tenure of a family in a home. As the graph below shows, for over twenty years (1985-2008), the median tenure averaged exactly six years. However, since 2008, that average is almost nine years – an increase of almost 50%. Why the dramatic increase? The reasons for this change are plentiful! The fall in home prices during the housing crisis left many homeowners in a negative equity situation (where their home was worth less than the mortgage on the property). Also, the uncertainty of the economy made some homeowners much more fiscally conservative . . .

by The KCM Crew on February 20, 2017 in First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Move-Up Buyers
According to the Beracha, Hardin & Johnson Buy vs. Rent (BH&J) Index, the U.S. housing market has continued to move deeper into buy territory, supporting the belief that housing markets across the country remain a sound investment. The BH&J Index is a quarterly report that attempts to answer the question: In today’s housing market, is it better to rent or buy a home? The index examines the entire US housing market and then isolates 23 major cities for comparison. The researchers “measure the relationship between purchasing property and building wealth through a buildup in equity versus renting a comparable property and investing in a portfolio of stocks and bonds.”  While most of the metropolitan markets examined . . .