Townhomes Back in Demand?

Townhomes Back in Demand? Image courtesy of nonicknamephoto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

More home buyers are being lured back to townhomes: Single-family attached starts are up 30 percent compared to a year ago, according to a recent analysis from the National Association of Home Builders of Census data. Single-family attached starts totaled 26,000 nationwide for the third quarter – that marks the fastest pace of construction since the fourth quarter of 2007.

Over the last four quarters, townhouse starts have totaled 84,000, which is a 20 percent increase over the prior four quarters. The market share of new townhouses now stands at nearly 12 percent of all single-family starts.

Townhome construction peaked during the first quarter of 2008, when townhomes made up 14.6 percent of total single-family construction, according to NAHB.

“Despite the drop in market share during the Great Recession, the share for townhouse construction is expected to increase in coming years – with occasional ups and downs,” according to NAHB’s Eye on Housing blog.

The chart below from October’s REALTORS® Confidence Index report shows where real estate professionals are most upbeat about the townhome market:

Source: “Townhouse Construction: Strong Growth,” National Association of Home Builders Eye on Housing Blog (Nov. 19, 2015) and REALTORS® Confidence Index (October 2015)

Unwanted Furry Roommates

Unwanted Furry Roommates. Image courtesy of tor00722 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As the weather cools, the risk of unwanted roommates joining your household increases. And I don’t mean your mother-in-law.

Rodents such as mice and rats look for entry into houses and apartment buildings in colder weather. They can cause quite a bit of trouble once they have taken up residence by gnawing through electrical wires, getting into food supplies, leaving droppings in cupboards, and, more seriously, exposing you to diseases they may carry.  The need to avoid or treat the presence of a rodent becomes even more urgent if you’re trying to put your home on the market.

A little knowledge can empower you to handle these furry little “friends.”

Prevention

The best situation of course is never spotting a rodent in your home or apartment to begin with. You can make that dream a reality by carefully sealing your perimeter to keep them out.

Because of their flexibility, rats and mice don’t need much room to squeeze into a space – a rat can fit through a quarter size hole and a mouse through one that is even smaller. Steel wool and caulk can be used to easily DIY your home into a fortress impenetrable by any rodent. The key is to be very thorough in checking for possible break in locations.

Check for cracks and crevices around doors, windows, pipes, vents, fireplaces, and check for holes in electrical cables.  Often forgotten spots are those inside kitchen cabinets or behind appliances such as your refrigerator. Look for places where pipes enter walls, such as under sinks. Rodents can travel along pipes between floors, especially in multifamily dwellings. These gaps can be closed with escutcheon plates or flanges, easily obtained at a local hardware store.

Lastly, door sweeps can be added to reduce the gaps between your door and the floor, another common entry point.

Eviction

If rodents have made their way into your home, a few measures may encourage them to leave all on their own. Access to food and water is their biggest attraction. Keep pantry items in airtight containers, rather than in original packaging that can easily be chewed through. Put a lid on your garbage can. Don’t leave pet food out in bowls when you aren’t home, or even water if your pet doesn’t need access to it (for instance, if it is locked in a crate). Bird feeders should be kept away from the house.

Natural products are available to try to drive away rodents. Because rodents have a superhero-like sense of smell, they can be easily overwhelmed with certain scents. You should look into buying mouse repellent products or rodent pouches use things such as mint, cedar, rosemary, balsam fir, and essential oils to drive them away, while only leaving your home smelling better to your mere human nostrils.

And setting traps is always a tried and true resort. The spring-loaded kind should be preferred to glue traps, live traps, and poison. Why? The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says glue and live traps can scare mice and cause them to urinate, increasing your risk of being exposed to disease. Poison is risky to both children and pets, but it also allows for rodents to eat it and then sneak off to die in a wall or hole in your home. That would not be a fun surprise to find – or smell – at a later date.

Spring-loaded traps should be set close to walls because this is where rodents most often travel. Although the cartoons use cheese, peanut butter is actually better bait. Another expert recommends a cotton ball with a few drops of water on it – attractive to rodents as nesting material. Rats can be harder to catch, so some professionals recommend using fruit or bacon. You might even try placing it in one location for a few days without a trap. They will grow accustomed to eating in that spot without fear, making it more likely that their next meal there will be the last.

Professionals

Most importantly, a rodent infestation is not something you want to mess with.  If you continue to see signs of their presence, seek professional help.  (Or seek it even earlier if even one mouse is just too much to face.) Try pestworld.org to find a licensed professional near you. Just make sure you understand the terms of their treatment, such as if it is a one-time visit or a comprehensive package if the problem persists, before signing a contract.

Source: “Of Mice and Apartment Sales,” The New York Times, November 6, 2015

Does Your Listing Have Enough Walls?

Does Your Listing Have Enough Walls? Image courtesy of Geerati / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Home owners and businesses have pronounced a strong desire for open floor plans—areas where fewer walls give a greater sense of spaciousness—over the past decade or more. But some British architects are suggesting that the trend may change soon as home owners in the near future require more walls.

In a recent article in Dezeen, several architects and designers forecast the end of the open-plan era. They say mobile technology is increasing the desire for more privacy. The desire for what is being called “fragmented” spaces comes from the increase in those who are working from home and a desire to have private screen time with phones or laptops. The trend may be more evident in business spaces, as backlash increases against open offices with a lack of privacy and, some say, focus.

Architects forecast a layout that might include studies and television rooms instead of large lounges. Also, split-level floors and sliding partitions may be used more often to help divide open spaces without closing them off entirely.

“Modern technology has consequences to our traditional living patterns and routines, and we are adapting to what is on offer,” Mary Duggan with Duggan Morris Architects in London told Dezeen. “Like it or not, there is greater independence between family members and more out-of-sequence operations. They need a suite of spaces to accommodate this, so our plans are starting to fragment. Broken-plan is a term we are using a lot at the moment. It deliberately challenges open-plan living, encompassing all family activities and allowing them to function in tandem.”

Still, she says there is demand for kitchen and dining spaces that have large countertops built to entertain guests. “The idea of having big theater rooms where families can cook and eat and talk are a constant part of the sequence,” she says.

Source: “Smartphones and Tablets Spell the End for Open-Plan Living, Say UK Architects,” Dezeen Magazine (Nov. 12, 2015)

New School Tech and Old School Attitude

New School Tech and Old School Attitude. Image courtesy of adamr / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Door knocking is old school. It’s personable, but best practices in real estate are changing with the integration of technology, according to a panel of top agents from around the country speaking at the 2016 REALTORS® Conference & Expo Friday. To help them succeed in the evolving environment, attendees crowded into the session, “More Listings, Better Leads, Increased Conversions: A Panel of Top Agents.”

Panelists Tristan Ahumada of Keller Williams/Tristan and Associates, Westlake Village, Calif.; Syreeta Saunder-Keys of The Keys2Day Team/Keller Williams Realty, Columbia, Md.; Kevin Markarian of Marker Real Estate, San Francisco; and Tracey Velt, editor-in-chief of REAL Trends, joined speaker Max Pigman, senior vice president and chief ambassador for realtor.com®, for a review of the tools they use to stay on top.

The agents discussed websites and programs they use to their advantage, praising sites such as realtor.com® as a consistent source for quality leads. Lead conversion programs like Fivestreet and Follow Up Boss give their brokerages a boost in customer connections, they said. The programs send an automated message to prospective customers any time of day, whether it be an e-mail or text message. Ahumada cited texting as one of his favorite methods of communication, calling it quick and user friendly. A timely initial response is key, the panelists agreed.

The main takeaway: Gravitate toward technologies that are user-centric and facilitate quick response times.

Kevin Markarian also emphasized that attendees must practice accountability and diligence. Once he gets a customer, he said, he sets up a one-on-one meetings with members of his team, whom he refers to as his “business partners.” The term business partners, he said, gives customers a sense comfort no matter whom they are meeting with.

In the end, old school techniques still matter; it’s a people business, after all. But to remain competitive, brokers and agents who haven’t explored and integrated new customer management tools may find themselves left behind.

—REALTOR® Magazine

Mortgage Rates are Inching Up

Mortgage Rates are Inching Up. Image courtesy of ddpavumba / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is getting closer to moving over 4 percent, as mortgage rates climb for the second week in a row. Freddie Mac reports that fixed-rate mortgages are rising in anticipation of a possible rate increase by the Federal Reserve and a recent strong jobs report.

“A surprisingly strong October jobs report showed 271,000 jobs added and wage growth of 0.4 percent from last month, exceeding many experts’ expectations,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The positive employment reports pushed Treasury yields to about 2.3 percent as investors responded by placing a higher likelihood on a December rate hike. Mortgage rates followed, with the 30-year jumping 11 basis points to 3.98 percent, the highest since July. There is only one more employment report before the December FOMC meeting, which will have major implications on whether we see a rate hike in 2015.”

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Nov. 12:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.98 percent, with an average 0.6 point, rising from last week’s 3.87 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.01 percent.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.20 percent, with an average 0.6 point, increasing from last week’s 3.09 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.20 percent.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.03 percent, with an average 0.4 point, climbing from last week’s 2.96 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.02 percent.
• 1-year ARMs: averaged 2.65 percent, with an average 0.2 point, increasing from 2.62 percent last week. A year ago, 1-year ARMs averaged 2.43 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac