Home Buyers Shouldn’t Overlook

Home Buyers Shouldn’t Overlook

After moving in, buyers will discover a lot about their new home—but they may wish they had paid closer attention to some items before signing the sale contract. Help your clients avoid regrets by guiding them to assess a property carefully before purchasing it. Realtor.com® advises giving particular consideration to these areas:

Nighttime atmosphere. Advise your clients to view a home at different times of the day and night. “A community can change drastically when everyone is home from work and school,” says Aaron Norris of the Norris Group in Riverside, Calif. For example, Norris says he learned after purchasing his own home that college students pack into nearby houses and party on the weekends.

The commute. Buyers should test the morning and evening drive between their potential home and work. Does traffic make it difficult for them to get to work on time? Your clients should know whether the location of their home will require them to leave earlier in the morning.

Homeowners association rules. If the home your client wants to buy falls under a homeowners association, encourage them to review a copy of the bylaws. The association’s conditions, covenants, and restrictions describe regulations around what homeowners can do with their property. You’ll also learn what neighbors are allowed to do—in case, for example, your client is uncomfortable living next to a home that is being rented out.

The need for specialty inspections. The home may contain items that need to be assessed by specialists who go beyond a general inspection. For example, if the property contains a septic system, well, or solar panels, your buyer may want a special evaluation.

Source: “9 Things Buyers Regret Overlooking in a Home: Will You Miss Them, Too?” realtor.com® (July 6, 2017)

True Impact of Home Staging

True Impact of Home Staging

Sixty-two percent of listing agents say professional staging decreases the amount of time a home spends on the market, while 40 percent of buyer’s agents say their clients are more willing to walk through a home that has been staged, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2017 Profile of Home Staging.

“REALTORS® know how important it is for buyers to be able to picture themselves living in a home, and staging a home makes that process much easier for potential buyers,” says NAR President William E. Brown. “While all real estate is local and many factors play into what a home is worth and how much buyers are willing to pay for it, staging can be the extra step sellers take to help sell their home more quickly and for a higher dollar value.”

Thirty-one percent of respondents to NAR’s survey say staging increased the dollar value of a home they sold by 1 percent to 5 percent; 13 percent of respondents say it increased a home’s dollar value by 6 percent to 10 percent. Agents on both the buying and selling side agree that the living room is the most important part of a home to stage, followed by the master bedroom, kitchen, and outdoor space.

Thirty-eight percent of listing agents say they stage every one of their sellers’ homes before listing them. Fourteen percent say they will only stage homes that are difficult to sell, while 7 percent say they only stage homes in higher price brackets. However, 37 percent of listing agents say they do not stage homes at all before listing them. Instead, they say they make recommendations to sellers to declutter their homes and fix any issues.

Agents who stage say the seller pays for the staging 25 percent of the time, according to the survey. Twenty-one percent say they have provided funds to stage a home. Fourteen percent of agents say they offer home staging services to sellers.

Source: National Association of REALTORS® 2017 Profile of Home Staging (2017)

Renovations That Cause Neighborhood Feuds

Renovations That Cause Neighborhood Feuds

Homeowners doing renovations can develop feuds with their neighbors if they’re not cognizant of how work on the project affects the rest of the neighborhood. After all, one homeowner’s upgrade could be another’s downgrade. Realtor.com® recently ticked off common home improvement spats.

Additions that block views. Large additions that block views or cast shadows onto a neighboring lot are the most common sources of neighbor disputes involving a remodeling project, according to Mark Grisafe, an architect in Long Beach, Calif. Homeowners would be wise to consider what the neighbors will see from their windows—will they suddenly have a view of a brick wall?—once the addition is built.

Lengthy projects. Tension with neighbors is bound to brew if there’s “a permanent front yard landscape palette that features weeds and a chain-link construction fence that lingers for a year,” Grisafe says. Owners should work with contractors to limit construction noise and traffic congestion as much as possible to be respectful of the neighbors.

Distracting colors. “Bright primary colors are just not proper for exterior use unless you live in Key West or the Caribbean,” says Juan Carlos Daetz, a home design expert at Max Warehouse. “Any color that goes against the theme or general use of the neighborhood can be distracting and may harm property values.” Owners should consult HOA guidelines and neighborhood covenants when tackling an exterior paint job.

Too much lighting. “Make sure [construction] lights aren’t aimed at your neighbors’ windows, and be considerate about the hours that you use high-beam lights,” says Brad Woods, owner of American Turf and Tree Care in Colorado.

Source: “7 Home Improvements That Could Turn Your Neighbors Against You,” realtor.com® (June 29, 2017)

Mortgage Rates Hit Another Low for 2017

Mortgage Rates Hit Another Low for 2017

Interest rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage took another dip this week, setting a new low for 2017, Freddie Mac reported in its weekly mortgage market survey.

“The 30-year mortgage rate fell 2 basis points to 3.88 percent this week,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “However, the majority of our survey was conducted prior to Tuesday’s sell off in the bond market, which drove Treasury yields higher. Mortgage rates may increase in next week’s survey if Treasury yields continue to rise.”

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending June 29:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.88 percent, with an average 0.5 point, dropping from last week’s 3.90 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.48 percent.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.17 percent, with an average 0.5 point, holding the same as last week. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 2.78 percent.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.17 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 3.14 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.70 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac

Take your chances… Buyers Make Offers Sight Unseen

Take your chances… Buyers Make Offers Sight Unseen

The number of buyers making offers sight unseen—meaning they haven’t physically visited the property—is on the rise, according to a survey of recent home buyers conducted by real estate brokerage Redfin. Thirty-three percent of respondents in 11 major markets say they made an offer on at least one house sight unseen. These types of offers are more common when working with foreign buyers and in markets where homes are selling quickly, real estate professionals say.

New uses of 3-D photos, video tours, and virtual reality are giving some buyers enough confidence to purchase a home without an in-person showing. The Wall Street Journal reports that some real estate pros are conducting property walkthroughs with long-distance buyers remotely via FaceTime, Skype, or WhatsApp. Some agents are working with technology companies to create 3-D photo and video tours within the virtual reality space to make long-distance buyers feel like they’re at the property in person.

Home buyer Angelo Smyrnios of Littleton, Colo., recently purchased a home in Lighthouse Point, Fla., for $1.65 million without ever stepping foot inside. Smyrnios’ agents, Lisa and John Wilson of Douglas Elliman Boca Raton, gave him and his wife a 45-minute tour of the property using FaceTime while walking through the home and highlighting its features. The agents then FaceTimed their clients while riding on a motorbike so they could get a view of the surrounding neighborhood.

Real estate companies are also seeing more homebuying capabilities with virtual reality. About 10 percent of Sotheby’s International Realty’s listings now have 3-D photo tours in which clients can view 3-D property pictures on a screen or while wearing VR headsets. The company expects that in five years, it’ll have viewing areas in every office, says John Passerini, global vice president of interactive marketing.

Tech startup VirtualAPT offers a robot that can film virtual tours in 3-D. The robot can record a real estate professional guiding a tour of the property and then produce a video within 15 minutes. VirtualAPT CEO Bryan Colin says the goal of these tours is to help faraway buyers see the property themselves and get a full tour virtually.

Source: “Buying a Home Sight Unseen Is Easier Than Ever – and More Common,” The Wall Street Journal (June 22, 2017)

Owners Are Missing Out on Savings

Owners Are Missing Out on Savings

Nearly 4.5 million borrowers are eligible to refinance and could lock in savings on their monthly mortgage payments but have not taken advantage, according to a new report from Black Knight Financial Services.

The average borrower stands to save $260 a month. Nearly 700,000 borrowers could save $400 or more per month, the report shows.

“The recent pause in the upward movement of interest rates continues to encourage late-to-the-game borrowers to refinance,” says Lynn Fisher, the Mortgage Banker Association’s vice president of research and economics.

But many owners are not refinancing, despite the potential savings.

“Our data doesn’t tell us about motivation,” says Ben Graboske, senior vice president of data and analytics at Black Knight Financial Services. “It leaves us to surmise that the reason is apathy, lack of awareness, and education.”

Some homeowners may still be underwater on their home loans, owing more than what the home is currently worth. Other owners may have a low credit score that is blocking them from taking advantage of lower rates.

Still, owners likely will have more time to take advantage. “I don’t think this will be the last opportunity [to refinance into a low rate], but I don’t have a crystal ball,” says Graboske. “There are enough pressures in the market—lenders getting more efficient—that we’re going to have competitive rates around for awhile.”

Source: “Reason to Refinance: 4 Million Homeowners Are Leaving $1 Billion on the Table,” CNBC (June 22, 2017)