FamilyFirstRealtyBlog

5 Reasons Why To Sell This Summer! By: KCM Keeping Current Matters  5/29/2018    Here are five reasons listing your home for sale this summer makes sense. 1. Demand Is Strong The latest  Buyer Traffic Report   from the  National Association of Realtors  (NAR) shows that buyer demand remains very strong throughout the vast majority of the country. These buyers are ready, willing and able to purchase…and are in the market right now! More often than not, multiple buyers are  competing  with each other to buy the same home. Take advantage of the buyer activity currently in the market. 2. There Is Less Competition Now Housing  inventory  has declined year-over-year for the last 35 months and is still under the 6-month supply needed for a normal housing market. This means that, in the majority of the country, there are  not enough  homes for sale to satisfy the number of buyers in the market. This is good news for homeowners who have gained equity as their home values h

Selling Your House On Your Own Could Cost You By: KCM Keeping Current Matters   5/24/18                           In this extremely hot real estate market, some homeowners might consider selling their homes on their own which is known as a  For Sale by Owner  (FSBO). They rationalize that they don’t need a real estate agent and believe that they can save the fee for the  services a real estate agent offers . However, a  study  by  Collateral Analytics  reveals that FSBOs don’t actually save anything, and in some cases may be costing themselves more, by not listing with an agent. In the study, they analyzed home sales in a variety of markets. The data showed that: “FSBOs tend to sell for lower prices than comparable home sales, and in many cases  below the average differential represented by the prevailing commission rate .”  (emphasis added) Why would FSBOs net  less  money than if they had used an agent? The study makes several suggestions: “There could be sy

Is Your First Home Within Your Grasp Now? [INFOGRAPHIC] By: KCM Keeping Current MatterS   5/18/18 Some Highlights: According to the  US Census Bureau,  ‘millennials’ are defined as 18-36-year-olds. According to NAR’s latest   Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers ,  the median age of all first-time home buyers is 32. More and more ‘old millennials’ (25-36) are realizing that homeownership is within their grasp now!

By: KCM Keeping Current Matters  5/15/18 Access: An Important Factor In Getting Your House SOLD! 720 SHARES 620 48 30 22 0 So, you’ve decided to sell your house. You’ve  hired a real estate professional  to help you through the entire process, and they have asked you what level of access you want to provide to your potential buyers. There are four elements to a quality listing. At the top of the list is Access, followed by Condition, Financing, and Price. There are many levels of access that you can provide to your agent so that he or she can show your home. Here are five levels of access that you can give to buyers, along with a brief description: Lockbox on the Door  – this allows buyers the ability to see the home as soon as they are aware of the listing, or at their convenience. Providing a Key to the Home  – although the buyer’s agent may need to stop by an office to pick up the key, there is little delay in being able to show the home. Open Access with a

What If I Wait Until Next Year To Buy A Home? By: KCM Keeping Current MAtters 5/7/18 We  recently  shared that national home prices have increased by 6.7% year-over-year. Over that same time period, interest rates have remained historically low which has allowed many buyers to enter the market. As a seller, you will likely be most concerned about  ‘short-term price’  – where home values are headed over the next six months. As a buyer, however, you must not be concerned about price, but instead about the  ‘long-term cost’  of the home. The  Mortgage Bankers Association  (MBA),  Freddie Mac,  and  Fannie Mae  all project that mortgage interest rates will increase by this time next year. According to  CoreLogic’s  most recent  Home Price Index Report ,  home prices will appreciate by 5.2% over the next 12 months. What Does This Mean as a Buyer? If home prices appreciate by 5.2% over the next twelve months as predicted by  CoreLogic,  here is a simple demonstration of t