Whitney Minnich Real Estate and Community Updates

Survey: Homeownership Still Hallmark of American Dream March 6, 2019 The majority of Americans—79 percent recently surveyed—still believe that owning a home is a vital component of achieving the American dream, according to a Bankrate.com survey of more than 2,000 consumers. Americans placed achieving homeownership ahead of retirement (68 percent), having a successful career (63 percent), and owning an automobile (58 percent), according to the survey. While the majority of respondents rated ownership high, they do see several challenges to overcome to achieve it. About half of the survey’s respondents say they don’t own a home because they can’t afford it on their income. Four in 10 Americans say they don’t own because they can’t afford a down payment and closing costs, while one-third cite high home prices as the major obstacle.    But a rigid savings plan could put more consumers into homeownership. “Put yourself on financial lockdown for at least six month

Where Buying Beats Renting in Savings March 6, 2019 For average-sized homes, buying a home is usually a better deal than renting, says a new study by LendingTree, an online lending resource, which compared monthly rental and mortgage payments for homes in the 50 largest U.S. metros. “Renting can be the best option if a person is not planning on staying in one area for a very long time or does not have enough cash for a down payment,” LendingTree notes in its study. “But buying a home can be a good long-term investment.” Researchers found that Miami, Orlando, Fla., and Virginia Beach, Va., are the metros where rent payments are the most expensive when compared to mortgage payments. Median mortgage payments are, on average, $215 cheaper than median rent payments in these metros. Four of the top 10 metros where monthly rents are higher than monthly mortgage payments were located in Florida. A recent Harvard University study found that too few rental units and lo

How Buyers Can Save $430 in the First Year of Ownership March 5, 2019 Buyers financing their home purchase can save hundreds of dollars in their first year of owning just by shopping around for a mortgage, according to new study from NerdWallet, a personal finance website. “That savings would accumulate and compound for every year that they had the loan,” Holden Lewis, a home expert at NerdWallet, told CNBC.Home shoppers who compare interest rates between five different lenders can pocket $430 in savings in their first year alone, according to NerdWallet’s analysis using a 30-year fixed-rate, $260,000 mortgage. However, most borrowers fail to shop around. Indeed, half of home buyers say they only looked at one lender when buying a home, according to the survey of about 2,000 adults. Lewis says borrowers are missing out on potential savings. He suggests borrowers not only call multiple lenders when looking for the best loan but also use online home affordability

Why You Should Focus on Your Listing’s Home Office March 4, 2019 If your listing has a dedicated home office, consider playing it up in your marketing. With more Americans telecommuting for work, the need for a home office is growing, according to a new Forbes.com report. Nearly 3 percent of the U.S. workforce—or about 4 million workers—now telecommutes for at least half of their work time. Between 2005 and 2015, regular remote work surged 115 percent, Forbes.com notes.  Builder Magazine has called the dedicated home office one of buyers’ favorite choices among bonus rooms. “More people are working remotely, and buyers want a dedicated work space,” says Christine Drimalla, GRI, SRES, a broker with Baird & Warner in Winnetka, Ill. “They want to be in sunlit spaces with plenty of natural light, where they can access the rest of their home. I hear from buyers all the time that they want an office on the main floor so they can quickly go to the front door or kit

Advice Young Adults Need to Avoid Buyer’s Remorse March 4, 2019 Most young adults have financial regrets about their home purchase, a new Bankrate survey shows, but much of their grief could have been avoided with proper planning. That’s where you come in: Younger buyers have a need for more professional guidance about the costs of homeownership. Sixty-three percent of millennial homeowners—more than any other generation—expressed buyer’s remorse, most often pertaining to closing costs, home maintenance, and other hidden expenses, according to the survey of more than 2,000 consumers. “When you buy a house, you can’t call the maintenance company or a landlord to fix major issues; it’s all on you,” says Luis Rosa, a financial planner in Henderson, Nev. Extra expenses, such as needing a new air conditioner, furnace, or water heater, often catch first-time buyers by surprise, Rosa adds. “I always advise home buyers to create savings buckets and open a savings account

More Homeowners Paying Their Mortgages on Time March 4, 2019 More Americans are paying their mortgages on time than at any point in nearly two decades, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Delinquency rates are a key economic measure, closely watched by economists. The last time a large number of homeowners stopped making mortgage payments on time, from 2007 to 2008, it impacted the entire economy. Borrowers who have conventional mortgages are the most likely to pay on time, while borrowers with loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration tend to pay late nearly three times more often. (Still, 91 percent of FHA borrowers pay on time.) FHA borrowers tend to have lower credit scores, higher debt-to-income ratios, and lower down payments. All three factors multiply the risk that borrowers will pay late, according to the MBA. But the FHA delinquency rate of 8.65 percent is still a big improvement over a decade ago, when it was about 14 percent. W

Home Flipping Slowdown Could Be Temporary, Report Says March 1, 2019 Fewer homes were flipped in 2018, but investors are still on the hunt and have not shied away from quick resales, according to a new report from ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm. Single-family homes and condos that were flipped fell 4 percent in 2018, reaching 207,957 homes, according to ATTOM’s 2018 U.S. Home Flipping Report, released this week. Home flips comprised 5.6 percent of all single-family home and condo sales last year, the same as the year before. ATTOM Data Solutions defines a home flip as an arms-length transaction that occurs in the year where a previous arms-length sale on the same property occurred within the last 12 months. Completed home flips returns in 2018 fell to a four-year low. Home flips averaged a gross profit (the difference between the median purchase price and the median flipped sales price) of $65,000—an average 44.8 percent return on investment. But t

Young Buyers Trust Recommendations Above All Else March 1, 2019 Friends and family are the number one way younger millennials and Generation Zers learn about brands, outpacing Google, social media, Amazon, retail stores, and television, according to a recent study of 18- to 29-year-olds by  Swift Prepaid Solutions , a payments technology provider. As digital natives, members of this group of emerging buyers are highly tech-savvy, and, like their older counterparts, prefer to browse online before making a purchase. However, because brand loyalty among these buyers is largely driven by opinions of people they know and trust, it’s crucial for real estate pros to build strong, lasting relationships with their clients in order to attract more business. Here are three ways to provide high quality customer service to strengthen your brand reputation and build loyalty among your clientele. 2. Exercise unparalleled transparency.  The more transparent a real estate prof

Baby Boomers to Drive Home Design Over the Next Decade February 26, 2019 By 2030, the number of people who are 65 and older will be larger than the number of people under the age of 18, for the first time in the nation’s history, according to recent U.S. Population Survey projections. The year 2030 is when the last of the baby boomer generation will turn 65. After that, one in every five Americans will be of traditional retirement age. The aging population will reshape interior design over the next decade, according to the American Society of Interior Designers’ 2019 Outlook and State of Interior Design report, released last week. The “traditional family household model is being replaced by more fluid, variable configurations based on lifestyle and social identity,” according to the ASID Outlook report. Single-occupant housing, shared housing, same-sex households, and single-parent households are all becoming more standard. Here are a few characteristics worth 

Housing Slowdown Doesn’t Scare First-Time Buyers March 4, 2019 Despite recent declines in home sales, sluggish growth in single-family home construction, and mounting affordability concerns, first-time buyers are outperforming other segments of the market, according to a new report released by Genworth Mortgage Insurance. “The first-time home buyer market has been more resilient during the [housing] slowdown compared to repeat buyers,” writes Tian Liu, chief economist at Genworth Mortgage Insurance. About 482,000 first-time buyers purchased homes in the fourth quarter of 2018. Though that’s 3 percent lower than a year ago, it bests the 7 percent year-over-year decline in repeat buyer activity, according to the report. “This is a reminder that first-time home buyers differ from other buyer groups in terms of why they buy,” Liu notes. “Their purchase decisions are more likely driven by the fact that many are starting families and reaching peak homebuying ages. Even

6 Tips for Staging a Home in the Winter February 26, 2019 Even during this current stretch of wintertime cold that's harshly hitting all parts of the country, real estate professionals can do a lot to make a property more appealing to potential buyers. After all, 50 percent of real estate professionals surveyed say that staging a home before a sale increases the amount of an offer by from 1 to 10 percent—and that was regardless of the season, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ “2017 Profile of Home Staging” report. Here are a few tips for winter staging: 1. Turn up the heat.  Make sure the temperature inside is cozy for enticing buyers to stay in the home longer. 2. Watch the smell.  When a home is closed up for the winter and smells start to linger, it’s important to  create scent appeal . Consider simmering cinnamon for a warming, pleasant aroma to increase a home’s attractiveness during colder months. Avoid air fresheners or other a

Lower Mortgage Rates Give New-Home Sales Best Month Since Spring March 6, 2019 Sales of newly built single-family homes picked up at the end of last year, reaching the highest level since May 2018, a newly released report from the U.S. Commerce Department shows. New-home sales increased 3.7 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 621,000 units (the number of homes that would sell if this pace continued over the next 12 months). “Despite a period of weakness in the fall, new home sales ended the year with a small gain,” said Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders. "While the December sales pace improved on a monthly basis, the current rate of sales remains off the post-Great Recession trend due to housing affordability concerns made worse by the rise in mortgage interest rates at the end of the year. We expect lower mortgage rates in the early months of 2019 will lead to additional new home demand.&quo

Be Cautious About Renos Without Permits February 26, 2019 Some homeowners bypass the permit process when they remodel their home. They may find the process too expensive or cumbersome. Permitting fees can sometimes cost hundreds of dollars or more. Some homeowners may believe that if they go ahead with a kitchen or bath remodel without a permit, they’ll likely never get caught. But failing to get a permit could be troublesome when they go to sell the home. Most states require homeowners to fill out a disclosure statement when they go to sell. In that form, sellers are usually asked if they completed work to the home without a required permit. Lying about it can also backfire—the sellers could be sued later by the new homeowner for making false statements. “You can personally become liable for work carried out without permits,” writes Bill Gassett, a real estate professional with RE/MAX, REALTORS® in New England,  for  RISMedia's Housecall . “Maybe the

Homeownership Rate Moves to Highest Level Since 2014 March 1, 2019 More Americans are becoming homeowners. The national homeownership rate increased slightly to the highest level since 2014 in the fourth quarter of 2018, reaching 64.8 percent, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. The homeownership rate has been gradually increasing since reaching an all-time low of 62.9 percent in the second quarter of 2016. Researchers at data analysis firm CoreLogic attribute the housing market’s “healthy path of recovery” to three main factors: An uptick in homeownership that has been persistent “despite the existence of low housing affordability and inventory;” household formation that has been on the strongest streak in more than a decade; and an increase in the rate at which young households—who represent the largest pool of potential buyers—are entering homeownership. The homeownership rate of young adults ages 34 to 44 rose 1.2 points year over year to reach 61.1

2019 Economic Outlook: Residential Growth of a Quiet Sort In most areas, sales and price appreciation will remain steady. January - February   2019   by   Robert Freedman SharJanuary - Februaryby   Robert Freedman Source: NAR Research Despite rising interest rates and weakening buyer enthusiasm, continuing economic gains mean 2019 will look much like 2018 regarding the strength of the residential market, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun predicts. “It’s going to be more of the same, in terms of growth,” he says. A wild card is the growing threat of recession fueled by a trade war with China and other countries, but it’s too soon to see how that plays out. “Stock market volatility caused by talk over a trade war is not good,” Yun says. “But economic fundamentals remain strong and should stay that way if normal trade patterns continue.” Home sales, combined existing and new, are expected to increase a little less than 1 percent, f