One of the Top Fears Holding Renters Back

One of the Top Fears Holding Renters Back. Image courtesy of nenetus / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The possibility of losing a down payment is one of the biggest hurdles holding some would-be buyers back, according to a newly released Harris Poll on behalf of ValueInsured Inc. of more than 2,000 Americans.

More than three in five renters — 63 percent — said they would be more likely to purchase a home sooner if they had the option to buy down payment protection, the survey showed. More than three in 10 home owners and more than half of millennial home owners said they also would be more likely to buy a new home if they had an option to buy down payment protection.

“While consumer morale continues to rise, there is still a crisis of confidence in the housing market for both home owners and home buyers due to the financial events of 2007 through 2008,” says Cleve Bellar, chief marketing officer of ValueInsured. “It is encouraging that Americans want to own a home, but in order to take that step, they want assurance that their nest egg is protected.”

The survey showed that 70 percent of renters say it’s important to one day own a home or to become a home owner again. Millennials were found to be the most upbeat about home ownership, with nine out of 10 renters between the ages of 18 to 34 saying it is important to one day own a home or become a home owner again.

Source: ValueInsured Inc.

The Best Times to Post on Social Media

The Best Times to Post on Social Media. Image courtesy of twobee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Whether teasing up your recent blog post or reaching out to prospects or past clients, your social media outreach should be pegged to the time others are most likely to see it. TruConversion, a company behind a soon-to-debut app to help businesses optimize and track their social media results, recently shared with Forbes some insights into its research on social media posting.

Facebook

• Avoid times before 8 a.m. and after 8 p.m.
• The best times are 1–3 p.m. when activity, engagement, and happiness tend to be highest – particularly on Thursday and Fridays. Engagement and activity tends to peak on Friday afternoon. (For brands, Fridays generate 17 percent of all likes and 15 percent of all comments, and 15 percent of shares, according to TruConversion’s research.)

Twitter

• Avoid times after 8 p.m. on any day.
• The best time for retweets is after 3 p.m., and the best overall time is 5 p.m.
• For businesses posting to consumers, the best times to tweet are on the weekends and on Wednesdays.

YouTube

• Avoid new posts from 5–6 p.m.
• The best times are noon to 3 p.m. Activity and viewer engagement is shown to rise Thursday and continue through Sunday.

LinkedIn

• The best times for activity and engagement are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, demonstrating that LinkedIn is more of a workday activity.

Pinterest

• Avoid new pins from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• The best time for most engagement tends to be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the afternoon.
• If you pin while your viewers are active, you’ll be able to increase re-pins by 36 percent, according to research by Pintura.

Source: “For Brands and PR: When Is the Best Time to Post on Social Media?” Forbes (Nov. 8, 2015)

Home Buyer Pet Peeves to Avoid

Home Buyer Pet Peeves to Avoid. Image courtesy of surasakiStock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The home may be priced right and in a great location, so why isn’t it selling? Maybe the listing has one of these common buyer turn offs lurking. Coldwell Banker Blue Matter’s blog highlights a few:

1. Covering up potential issues. Masking potential issues – from odors to a bad foundation – can be a costly mistake in the end, for the seller too. Serious defects that a seller knows about but fails to disclose can result in a buyer who backs out at the last minute, asks the seller to fix the issue, or even involve the seller into a lengthy legal battle after the transaction has closed.

2. Overpricing the home. A home that is not appropriately priced for the market can prompt many buyers to just overlook it. Sellers need to know that the price they paid for the home has no bearing or guarantee on its sales price when they go to list. The market condition of the home and comparing how recent nearby homes have performed will influence what their home is worth. A house sitting on the market because it’s overpriced will just deter interested buyers.

3. Failing to prepare the home before listing. Clean, decluttered, and neutral spaces are important in helping buyers to envision themselves living there. Sellers who keep an abundance of knick-knacks; dated, worn furniture; or overly bright, dark, or distracting colors can turn-off buyers.

4. Not being accommodating for showings. Sellers may be annoyed at constantly preparing for home showings or open houses but not having their home readily available for such buyer tours will likely prompt the home to linger on the market. Requested showing times or demanding to be present during showings can hamper the sales process.

Source: “The List of Pet Peeves That Turn Homebuyers Off – And How to Avoid Them,” Coldwell Banker Blue Matter Blog (Nov. 5, 2015)

Home Sellers Net Highest Profits in 8 Years

Home Sellers Net Highest Profits in 8 Years. Image courtesy of hywards / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Rising home prices over the last few years are finally putting more money back into home sellers’ pockets. Home owners who sold during the third quarter saw an average price gain of $40,658 – or 17 percent – from the purchase price of their property – the highest average price increase for sellers since the third quarter of 2007, according to RealtyTrac’s Third Quarter 2015 U.S. Home Sales Report.

“An increasing number of home owners in 2015 have been cashing out the home equity they’ve gained during the housing recovery of the past three years,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “That may be a good decision because the data points to a plateauing market going forward. Home price appreciation is slowing, a trend that will continue if interest rates rise in the coming months as expected. Meanwhile the threat of rising interest rates combined with lowered premiums for buyers using FHA loans is spurring more demand.”

In its analysis of 171 counties nationwide, RealtyTrac found that the following counties saw sellers, on average, see some of the largest gains in the third quarter:

• San Francisco County, Calif.: 58.7% gain
• San Mateo County, Calif. (San Francisco metro area): 55.7%
• Santa Clara County, Calif. (San Jose metro area): 47.7%
• Alameda County, Calif.: 43.1%
• New York County, N.Y.: 41.6%

RealtyTrac’s report also showed the following counties posted the largest year-over-year increases in home prices:

• San Mateo County, Calif.: up 17.6%
• New York County, N.Y.: up 16.1%
• Santa Clara County, Calif.: up 15.7%
• Weld County, Colo. (Greeley metro area): up 14.6%
• San Francisco County, Calif.: up 13.3%

Source: RealtyTrac

More Home Buyers Bypass Banks for Loans

More Home Buyers Bypass Banks for Loans. Image courtesy of fantasista / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Home buyers increasingly are turning to independent mortgage companies for their loans, not traditional banks.

According to data from the Federal Reserve, in 2014, nondepository independent mortgage companies originated 47 percent of completed home-purchase loans and 42 percent of refinance loans – up from 43 percent and 31 percent, respectively, from 2013. That also represents the largest share of the mortgage market held by non-banks since 1995.

Nonbank lenders include companies like Quicken Loans (which is now the second largest retail mortgage lender nationwide, behind Wells Fargo) and Loan Depot, and Finance of America Holdings. Blackstone Group’s Finance of America Holdings is expected to soon become one of the nation’s largest nonbank lenders after recently acquiring Gateway Funding Diversified Mortgage Services, Pinnacle Capital Mortgage, and some assets and operations of PMAC Lending Services Inc.

The largest majority of nonbank mortgage volume still comes from conforming mortgages, backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration. However, nonbank lenders are also increasing trying to increase their market share of jumbo loans (mortgages that are above the conforming loan limits of $417,000 in most areas and $625,500 in high-priced markets), Guy Cecala, CEO and publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, told The Wall Street Journal.

For example, Quicken Loans is allowing some jumbo mortgage borrowers with consistent income documentation to complete their transaction fully online. “In many cases, you don’t have to talk to a loan officer,” says Bob Walters, chief economist for Quicken Loans.

Some nonbank lenders are touting their speed as an advantage over traditional banks. For instance, company officials with Movement Mortgage, which operates in 42 sates and originated $4.24 billion in mortgages in 2014, tell conforming loan borrowers that they are able to close mortgages in seven business days and jumbo borrowers in only a few days more (even with new mortgage disclosure rules that took effect last month).

While nonbank lending is catching on, bank officials say they hold one big advantage: They tend to be able to offer lower rates and closing costs to customers based on length of account history and amount of holdings.

Source: “Home-Loan Borrowers Bypass the Banks,” The Wall Street Journal (Nov. 4, 2015)

Paint Mistakes Sellers Should Avoid

Paint Mistakes Sellers Should Avoid. Image courtesy of Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The wrong paint color can be a big turn-off to potential home buyers. House Beautiful recently highlighted some of the worst mistakes home owners can make when it comes to painting their house, including:

1. Painting a ceiling a flat white color. “I never paint a ceiling dead white because all white paint has a bit of gray in it, and it takes the room down,” designer Athalie Derse told House Beautiful. Instead, she suggests choosing a cream shade.

2. Too many colors from room to room. Some home owners may opt for a different color scheme for each room. “Even when I don’t use the same colors everywhere, I still like the rooms to feel connected,” designer Mona Ross Berman says. “The bedroom should never feel like it’s in a completely different house than the living room. The whole house has to make sense as one.”

3. Using the same color palette for the entire house. On the flip side, home owners who only stick to one color palette may be making the home too bland. “A two-color scheme can be great, but there has to be some relief, or it comes across as too pat and makes everything seem stiff,” says designer Tom Scheerer.

4. Matching too much. “You never want to match your walls to a color in one of your fabrics,” designer Sallie Giordano says. “It will be too strong. Find a grayed-out version of the color.”

5. Use neutrals to balance out color. Some home owners may be tempted to go overboard with one color. “The biggest mistake people make when they’re trying to be colorful and exciting is to forget that you need to balance it with neutrals,” says designer Todd Klein. He adds that architectural elements in white or even a few gray throws can give visitors’ eyes a place to rest.

Source: “The 9 Paint Color Mistakes You Should Never Make,” House Beautiful (August 2015)