Consumers Love Looking for Homes Online

Consumers Love Looking for Homes Online

Americans spend an average of 55 minutes per online visit with real estate apps on their phones, according to new research unveiled by Google.

Basically, “customers roll over in the morning and start looking at real estate listings [on their phone],” John Thornton, a partner in Google’s real estate business, said about the study’s findings.

Sixty-nine percent of respondents Google surveyed call “shopping for real estate fun” from their phone and online. In fact, Americans are so addicted to home shopping online that 64 percent say they keep checking out houses and home values even after they purchase a home.

The Google study also finds that people start hunting on real estate sites three years before they buy on average. Also, one in five of the people checking out homes on real estate apps and websites are actually in the current market to purchase a home, the study found.

Source: “Phoning Homes: Google Says We’re Wild About Real Estate Apps,” The Republic/AZcentral.com (Aug. 7, 2016)

Help Clients Get to Know the Neighborhood

Help Clients Get to Know the Neighborhood

During a house hunt, helping your clients find a neighborhood where they can feel comfortable and satisfied long-term can be just as important as helping them find them a home with the right features.

This is particularly important for younger buyers, who still want traditional single-family homes but are increasingly choosing neighborhoods that reflect their personality and lifestyle. Besides finding a neighborhood that reflects their interests, your clients will want to assess the neighborhood’s proximity to their jobs, its safety, and if it has decent school options.

Here are steps your clients can take to properly assess a potential neighborhood:

Walk, Don’t Drive

As more buyers are interested in living in neighborhoods with entertainment and outdoor amenities within walking or biking distance, the days of driving clients around the neighborhood in a car may be over. Also, as a recent blog post from Classic American Homes points out, getting out and walking around the neighborhood is also key in terms of assessing the noise and smell of a neighborhood.

Don’t Be Afraid to Knock on Some Doors

Your clients can gain a lot of insight into a property by just asking the neighbors about the home’s condition, how the homes in the area handle bad weather, and even find out more information about the homeowner’s association, if there is one. If the buyers get a bad vibe from the neighbors, it might also be a sign that the area isn’t the best fit for them.

Visit Multiple Times

Checking out a neighborhood at different times and during the week and also on the weekend can not be stressed enough. While a place might seem relaxed and quiet during the work-week, it could be party central on the weekend. Going at different times can also help assess if the area is kid-friendly and if the neighbors spend a lot of time outside.

Imagining Life There

Finally, your clients need to be able to picture themselves living in the neighborhood long-term. As Classic American Homes suggests, have them ask themselves these questions: How does it feel being there? Can they envision a happy life? What will it be like to relax in the yard? Is it close to plenty of amenities?

Source: “What to look for in a new neighborhood,” American Classic Homes  (July 28, 2016)

Renovation Ideas Owners May Want to Rethink

Renovation Ideas Owners May Want to Rethink

Home renovation television shows give home owners big ideas about how they can spruce up their property. But some of these projects can open up problems for owners whose big remodeling dreams may not have been well-thought out. Realtor.com® recently spotlighted a few renovation plans that often turn out badly:

Tearing down walls: While some walls may not look like they’d be any big deal to tear down – even, say, a half wall — they actually may be providing more support to a home than home owners realize. The walls may be holding up floors or framework. Also, those walls may contain electric and plumbing. Always ask a professional the implication of tearing down any wall and check what is required by your municipalities building code.

Modernizing a historic home: Removing some of the historic appeal or character of a home – such as removing original woodwork, built-ins, or claw-foot bathtubs – can be one of the worst mistakes remodelers make, says Matt Forcum, a real estate pro with Century 21 Realty Concepts in Effingham, Ill. The interior may no longer match the character of the exterior, and thereby bring down the value of the property.

Replacing worn-out wood floors: “Unless you’ve had significant water damage, it doesn’t take much to replace hardwood flooring,” says Luis Leonzo with TableLegsOnline.com. Tearing out old floors could potentially lower your home’s value too, Leonzo adds. “The older the home, the higher the quality of hardwood, which might have cost $20 a square foot when it was built. Replacing the flooring with laminate or carpet at $1 a square foot is like reupholstering your leather couch with canvas!”

Using the highest priced materials: Some of the priciest renovations rarely pay off at resale. For example, Morgan Franklin with United Real Estate Lexington in Kentucky suggests finding a nice granite for $35 to $50 instead of the marble for $100-plus a square foot. “In the eyes of the appraiser and the next buyer, there isn’t much difference,” Franklin says.

Source: “The Worst Renovation Advice You Might Actually Try,” realtor.com® (Aug. 4, 2016)

Home Owner Sues Over Pokémon GO Grief

Home Owner Sues Over Pokémon GO Grief

A home owner in West Orange, N.J., has filed a request for a class-action lawsuit against the makers of the popular Pokémon GO game, saying that it has encouraged trespassing on his property. The owner says the company placed Poké Stops and Pokémon gyms on his property without his consent and is profiting from players who invade his private space.

The home owner says he sees strangers routinely coming into his backyard, holding up their cell phones. At least five people have knocked on his door to ask if they could gain access to his backyard to catch Pokémon, a key to playing the virtual game. The game urges players to not trespass and recommends they ask permission before going on private property.

Still, complaints have been surfacing since the game’s popularity soared in the past month. Wanderers showing up in people’s yards, cemeteries, and even the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., have been reported.

The lawsuit asks that property owners effected by the game be paid and that Poké Stops and Pokémon gyms not be placed on private property without consent, Forbes.com reports.

The defendants, Niantic Inc., the Pokémon Company, and Nintendo Co. Ltd., have 21 days from July 29 to respond to the suit.

Source: “Homeowner Files Class-Action Lawsuit Telling Pokemon GO to Get Off His Lawn,” Forbes.com (Aug. 3, 2016)

It’s a Good Time to Sell, Americans Say

It’s a Good Time to Sell, Americans Say

Fifty-two percent of home owners say now is a good time to sell in their neighborhood. This is up from 34 percent who said so last year, according to a survey conducted by the real estate brokerage Redfin.

What’s more, 58 percent of home owners believe sellers have more power than buyers in the market right now. Redfin researchers note this is nearly the highest level of seller confidence they’ve recorded.

The top reasons sellers say they want to sell now:

• I want a larger or nicer home: 40%
• I am relocating to a new city: 24%
• I want to pull out my profit: 21%
• I want a smaller or less expensive home: 20%
• I have had a change in family status: 19%
• I want to move to a better school district: 15%

“Many move-up buyers have told me they are buying now to take advantage of low mortgage rates,” says William Porterfield, a real estate professional with Redfin in Little Rock, Ark. “Buyers are trying to get as much home as possible before rates rise.”

Still, some Americans expressed concerns about selling, mainly about finding a new home to buy when they sell their own.

The following were Americans’ top concerns about selling:

• I might not find another home I want: 30%
• Prices might fall before I sell: 26%
• I might not find another home I can afford: 25%
• General economic conditions might discourage buyers: 23%
• The appraisal might come in low: 19%

Pricing Matters

When it comes to setting the price for their home, 55 percent of home owners say they will price in the middle range based on comparable sales. However, 19 percent of home owners said they would price high, citing that negotiation is inevitable. Also, 12 percent of home owners said they would price high because if the market didn’t value their home, they would wait until it did.

“While we’re noticing a shift among sellers in terms of their confidence in getting their homes sold quickly and for good prices, it’s up to the agent as their advocate to keep their expectations grounded and recommend a pricing strategy that is most likely to get the best value for their home,” says Sascha Gummersbach, a Redfin real estate agent in Atlanta. “A seller’s market doesn’t grant home owners a license to skip things like valuable upgrades, home staging or setting a price based on comparable homes in their neighborhood.”

Source: “Most Home Sellers Think Now Is a Good Time to Sell,” Redfin Research Center (July 28, 2016)

Buyers Want More Land

Buyers Want More Land

A high demand for land is driving up prices in the luxury market. Median list prices for prime lots in the nation’s top luxury markets climbed 8.7 percent in the first half of the year compared to a year ago, realtor.com®’s data shows.

The South saw the highest increases compared to any other region. The median list price in the South rose 13.33 percent in the past year.

Robert Dietz, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders, told The Wall Street Journal that the housing crisis in 2007 is what contributed to most of the current shortage. Builders couldn’t get funding from banks at the time and that stopped or slowed the pace of developing land for future construction, Dietz says.

The data shows that the median list price for a lot in a high-end neighborhood is $635,000 nationwide. The largest increases in median land prices in luxury markets has occurred in Beverly Hills, Calif.; Southampton, N.Y.; Chicago, and downtown neighborhoods in Miami.

Source: “Land Scarce for Luxury Homes,” The Wall Street Journal (July 27, 2016)