Whitney Minnich Real Estate and Community Updates

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 t...

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 wo...

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...

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....

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  RISM...

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 6...