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What day of the week should you list your home?

November 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

With home sales in the gutter, anyone thinking of selling a home today can use all the help they can get, starting with what day of the week to debut.

Serious sellers know that it is important to make repairs, stage well, and showcase their home online with professional photos, but there hasn’t been a consensus about which day of the week you should list your home for the best results. This is evidenced by the fact that new listings on the market are spread pretty evenly between Monday and Friday, with each day getting between seventeen and nineteen percent of the total share of listings (Saturday and Sunday are much lower at five to seven percent).

Since you only get one chance to make a first impression with your listing, let’s dig into  data to find out whether putting your home on the market on a certain day of the week is correlated with sales success. We pulled the data on over a million listings spread throughout the nation over the last twenty-one months, and here’s what we found:

listing day Fonte

Filed Under: marketing, Real Estate Updates Tagged With:

Seattle tops best cities for tech jobs!

November 22, 2011 By 1 Comment

seattle tech jobs Seattle tops best cities for tech jobs, Austin only ranks #32 are startups dying?

Top best cities for tech jobs named

Recently, Forbes names the top 50 best cities for technology jobs and the list has made waves in the tech community as the magazine took a look not just at the current scene, but how tech jobs have changed in the past decade, putting some tech cities low on the list.

The top 10:

  1. Seattle, WA
  2. Baltimore, MD
  3. Columbus, OH
  4. Raleigh, NC
  5. Salt Lake City, UT
  6. Jacksonville, FL
  7. Washington, D.C.
  8. New Orleans, LA
  9. Riverside-San Bernadino, CA
  10. San Diego, CA

John Cook at GeekWire.com wrote, “One of the biggest story lines of the past couple of years in the Seattle tech community has been the arrival of titans such as Facebook, Salesforce.com, EMC, Zynga and other Silicon Valley stalwarts who’ve chosen the region for new development centers.” He adds that Facebook is doubling its presence in Seattle and Amazon.com hired 8,000 people in the third quarter alone.

Are startups like Gowalla going out of business?

Unfortunately, it is true. Austin’s semiconductor industry has taken a hit in recent years while the startup industry has brought in millions of dollars in funding, but our sources hint that the startup world is quickly and quietly dwindling down.

Although it is a quiet notion and likely just a rumor, we were asked by a very successful entrepreneur in Austin if we knew that Gowalla could be going under and later that same day we were asked by a venture capitalist if Gowalla’s $10.4 million wasn’t keeping them afloat and 2012 wasn’t looking good. We have been told that Austin startup CEOs and employees have been quietly submitting their resumes at more established companies and even Gowalla employees are rumored to be sending out a high volume of applications. It isn’t just Gowalla though, they’ll just be the biggest let down if this is even remotely true (which we’re not convinced of).

We’re hearing that the first quarter of 2012 will be the last for many startups in town, so is Forbes on to something? Is 2012 the year the struggling startups finally run out of money or give up regardless of the millions that have been poured into them as they learn they’re not alone in their struggle? Time will tell but 2012 isn’t looking so good for Austin while it is looking quite promising for Seattle.

N.B.: The Seattle area has other employers as well. Namely, Boeing, Starbucks, Nintendo, Nordstrom, Costco, Paccar, Safeco etc. The Puget Sound is no longer a one trick pony in the job world.

Employment (and population growth) is the main reason that housing is a stable and safe choice in our area.

Filed Under: Economy, Real Estate, Real Estate Updates Tagged With: , ,

Housing Affordability Hovers Near Record Levels

November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

232_img_locnUltra-low interest rates mixed with stabilizing home prices continued to push housing affordability in the third quarter near its highest levels in more than two decades, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index.

For the third quarter, 72.9 percent of all homes sold were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,200, according to the index. This marks the 11th consecutive quarter that the affordability measure was above 70 percent; prior to this it rarely was above 60 percent.

"With interest rates at historically low levels and markets across the country beginning to improve, home ownership is within reach of more households than it has been for nearly two decades," Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, said in a statement. "However, tough economic conditions — particularly in markets that experienced major changes in house prices and production — as well as extremely tight credit conditions confronting home buyers and builders continue to remain significant obstacles to many potential home sales."

The most affordable major housing market nationwide? Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla., in which 92.5 percent of all homes sold were found to be affordable to households earning the median family income of $53,800 for the area. Other affordable major markets included Toledo, Ohio; Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa.; Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind.; and Ogden-Clearfield, Utah. For smaller housing markets, Fairbanks, Alaska, ranked the highest, in which 97.8 percent of homes sold during the third quarter were found to be affordable to families earning the median income of $91,700.

Meanwhile, the least affordable major housing market continues to be New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J., in which 23.3 percent of all homes sold were affordable to those earning the area’s median income of $67,400.

Source: National Association of Home Builders

Filed Under: Real Estate, Real Estate Updates Tagged With: ,

Congress Restores FHA Loan Limits

November 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Real-Estate-PuzzleThe U.S. House and Senate yesterday restored FHA loan limits to the level they were at before they were allowed to expire at the end of September. As a result, the limits will rise to 125 percent of the area median home price from 115 percent, up to a  maximum $729,750 from $625,500. NAR estimates that several hundred counties where FHA loan limits fell at the end of September will now rise back up to the previous level.

“The reinstated loan limits will help provide much needed liquidity and stability to communities nationwide as tight credit restrictions continue to prevent some qualified buyers from becoming home owners and the housing market recovery remains fragile,” said NAR President Moe Veissi in a statement released last night.

President Obama is expected to sign the legislation shortly. The restored loan limits are in a broad-based bill that includes funding for a wide variety of federal operations and programs.

The maximum conforming loan limits for secondary mortgage market companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also expired at the end of September, but lawmakers did not include a restoration of those limits in the bill. As a result, conforming loan limits will remain at 115 percent of the area median home price, up to $625,500.

Once President Obama signs the bill, the limits will go into effect.  FHA will release a mortgagee letter to its approved lenders thereafter, containing a list that’s been updated to reflect the new limits. NAR analysts say it will take the agency a short period to update its database and release the mortgagee letter, maybe a couple of weeks.

The funding bill also extends the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) until Dec. 16 to allow lawmakers time to consider long-term authorization of that program, which is an NAR priority.

Filed Under: Economy, Real Estate, Real Estate Updates

Federal Housing Agency Announces Changes to Mortgage Refinancing Program

October 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

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Yesterday the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac announced several changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), the details of which can be found here:http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/22721/HARP_release_102411_Final.pdf.

While the specific changes will not be released until November 15, 2011, below are some of the enhancements that were included in yesterday’s announcement:

  • No Loan-to-Value Limit:  Under the current program borrowers are limited to a maximum mortgage of 125% of the home’s current value.  By eliminating the loan-to-value limit the program will apply to more homeowners who are currently underwater on their mortgage.
  • Lower Loan Level Price Adjustments (”LLPA’s”) and no LLPA’s on loans with terms of 20 years or less; the end result will be a reduction in the costs of refinancing for most borrowers.
  • Increase in the number of loans eligible for Property Inspection Waivers.  Much like the LLPA issue, the end result will be a reduction in the cost of refinancing for more borrowers.

Given that the agencies will not release the final draft of the changes until the middle of November, right now we are in a “wait and see” mode as to the ultimate impact these changes will have.  However, from an initial glance the changes coming are a positive step in making the HAMP program available to more homeowners.

Filed Under: Economy, Real Estate, Real Estate Updates

Good News: Interest Rates Will Remain Low

October 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

3.5 % Down Payments and Jumbo Loans Available

This is a great time to be looking for a new home. Historically low mortgage interest rates will remain low for the near future. Those low interest rates keep home purchases affordable, which is good news for buyers and sellers. With the August United States’ debt ceiling crisis behind us, many people are starting to become more confident about buying or selling their homes.

Interest Rates
In early August, the Federal Reserve pledged to maintain historical low interest rates for another one to two years. Most likely, when the Fed’s pledge ends, interest rates will have to increase. However, we don’t anticipate a significant increase in interest rates until 2013 or later.

Down Payments
Even though underwriting for home loans has tightened up over the past several years and buyers are now required to put down larger down payments and have higher credit scores, the Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, still offers mortgages with a 3.5 percent down payment.

Expiring High Mortgage Balance Loan Limits
As a result of the 2008 mortgage crisis, loan limits were increased to allow more borrowers to secure conforming loans. On the first of October 2011, these temporary limits expired, and more buyers in higher-priced markets will need jumbo loans that will carry tighter qualifying requirements (i.e. credit scores) and slightly higher interest rates.

Although many banks stopped or significantly tightened lending underwriting for jumbo loan products when the housing crisis hit, they are now back in the market and filling the void created by the expiration of the higher loans balance. That’s good news for buyers needing jumbo loans and sellers of higher-priced properties.

Conclusion
The days of reckless lending and then the market’s pendulum swing to overly conservative lending practices are gone. The good news is that we are now back to sensible underwriting. Even though we have tougher qualifying requirements – larger down payments and higher credit scores – banks still want to provide mortgages, even at historically low interest rates. Call your broker for more information when planning to buy, sell or refinance your home.

If you want to know more, give me a call 206-713-3244 or email me Emmanuel@EmmanuelFonte.com

Filed Under: Economy, Real Estate, Real Estate Investment, Real Estate Updates

Mastering the Grill

July 5, 2011 By


http://youtu.be/7vjstewfk3s

Filed Under: Blog, Real Estate Updates

Rejoice, landlords! Sorry, tenants

June 30, 2011 By

ForRentSignFor some time, there’s been reporting on the trend toward residential leasing as the housing sector continues limping along. Leasing is chic and the stigma around it is slowly fading. People that are fully capable of buying are sitting still or trying out new areas of town while others have no choice and are living in rentals due to foreclosure. Either way, “rent” is no longer a cuss word.

Rental rates have been going up considerably over the last year and it appears it is accelerating, rising at a rate beating most economists’ projections for 2011. A new report released by real estate search site HotPads.com reveals that residential rental listing prices have jumped 6.7% from June 2010 with the fringe listings of studio and five bedroom apartments escalating most rapidly.

HotPads.com says that “this is a telling trend which may indicate a growing demand for rental housing among first time renters and larger families” but we see it more as a supply and demand issue in that studios and very large rental units are less common (low supply) and because rentals of all sizes are in high demand right now, it appears a premium is being set on studios and five bedroom units.

In most cases, the rapid rise in rent has occurred in 2010 rather than a slow increase over the past twelve months. We are seeing consumers flocking to their chosen social networks, flustered that their landlord is screwing them over and are being met with the harsh reality that it isn’t their landlord, it is the entire market. Times have been rough for landlords, is this the time to recoup the losses met since 2008? In some markets, rents have been held down but national trends are allowing an increase as perception of the market is softening.

Rental trends graphed:

rental-market-report-by-hotpads

Let me know how I can help: emmanuel@emmanuelfonte.com

Filed Under: Blog, Real Estate, Real Estate Investment, Real Estate Updates Tagged With: , , ,

Conducting a Marketing & Sales Plan

June 15, 2011 By

conductor_6It started when I was 14. It was my first opportunity to conduct a symphony orchestra. I took the conductor’s score home, following along with a recording of Mozart’s ‘Andante & Allegro’; I identified whom I needed to communicate with, so that the melody would be clear to the listener. Hours of perfecting my patterns, and my movements, so that the orchestra would know exactly what I wanted them to do. Phrasing and rhythm had to be internalized so that I could communicate and control the entire group. Everything needed to be memorized… all the parts… all the phrases… to assure a gorgeous timbre was played by all. Yet, I couldn’t make a single sound…

Even at 14, I knew what I expected. No one would get away with giving less than what was needed to serve the music. I can remember some instrumentalists complaining that I expected them to play the 16th note runs, in tempo. Of course, I did! How else would the phrase be propelled as it needed to be?

After 25 years of leading, directing, creating, performing, I have found myself doing the same job but with a new set of players, and a new checklist. No longer do I have to verify that the trumpets are playing in Bb or C. I, now, verify if I am hitting our target buyer’s needs and wants. Telling the story about a home, a neighborhood or a lifestyle is up to me – just like conducting an orchestra. Again, I don’t make any of the sound, but the message has to be tailored to the recipient and to make sense, no, to captivate them.

Though, there is a small minority of buyers (typically investors), that do not engage emotionally in the buying process. Most buyers make a decision based on emotion and subsequently, solidify their choice with logic.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Why our properties sell is because we pay attention to the story that the home, the neighborhood, and the lifestyle provides to the next owner. Technology delivers the message immediately; the speed of the message is lightning fast (in real time). For properties on the market today, the first impression is almost always the ONLY impression.

Another reason my team’s marketing works is because we understand human nature, in that, we all want significance. Many of the orchestras I conducted were made up of volunteers. My job was to make the many sound as one unit. This is counterintuitive to most ego-driven performers. To do that, I had to make sure the musicians felt important and valued. When the 2nd violin playing in the 4th row felt valued, she performed better. When she played better, we would all sound better. The reality is; this was about them, not me. When they sparkled, the music was served. When the music was served, we all won!

When the buyer’s values are identified and met, they are emotionally engaged. This is crucial to ensuring that buyers commit to a property, and stick with it until the closing.

We are all in sales. Teachers, parents, politicians, lawyers, even you! What you need to remember is; IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU! It is about THEM!

Filed Under: Blog, Real Estate, Real Estate Updates Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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