L.A. real estate news and insights.
The housing market is slowing: Pending home sales fell 3.9% in April, marking the sixth consecutive month for declines and the slowest pace in nearly 10 years.
The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index—a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings—was down 9.1% in April compared to a year earlier.
Source: National Association of REALTORS
Economists polled by Reuters were expecting pending contracts to jump by 18.9% in the US... they were off by a mile!
National pending home sales soared 44% in May after falling 22% in April, according to new data released by the National Association of Realtors—it’s a strong indicator that the worst of the coronavirus recession may be over for the housing market.
May’s gains are the highest month-to-month since the National Association of Realtors started tracking the data in January 2001.
I'm happy to report that I was able to contribute to this recovery by selling a few homes since the start of the pandemic.
I believe this bounce back in the housing sector will lead the way for a broader economic recovery.
The better you know the market, the faster you can identify a good deal.
Track properties that interest you, see what they sell for, and go to open houses.
This will give you an overall feel for the market.
Then connect with a seasoned agent that will guide you the rest of the way.
The #coronavirus has scared #WallStreet and the #FederalReserve.
To stabilize the market, the Fed called an emergency meeting today and cut the interest rate.
Interest rates for home buyers have dropped to the low 3% range.
When my dad was selling properties back in the 1970s, interest rates were at 17%.
On this episode, I answer the following four real estate questions:
1) The buyer for my home wants to use their Rolex watch as their good faith deposit. Is that even possible?
2) How long does a listing agreement usually last?
3) How many homes should I view before buying one?
4) My lender told me I will have to pay PMI. What is that?
We have over 20,000 followers on Instagram... come join us! @daniellosangeles
The National Association of Realtors reports that older millennials, between the ages of 29-38, hold 26% of the home-buying real estate market share.
The second-largest group are the Gen Xers who hold 24% of the market share.
When the listing agent asks you to get pre-approved with their lender, don't get upset.
Understand that getting that second approval is just part of the home buying process.
Most agents won't even ask you for that second approval, but us good listing agents will.
It's done to protect the sellers.
Even though you are already approved for a loan, the listing agent for the home you are interested in may require you to go through the loan pre-approval process again, this time with their lender.
Listing agents often do this because they don't know your lender and want to make sure you truly can qualify for a loan.
The seller doesn't want to find out 3 weeks into escrow that you can't get a loan.
I personally do this 2 step approval process for all of my listings.
You would be surprised to see how many buyers don't pass the second approval process.
Virtual staging is when you take a picture of a vacant room and then have a graphic designer digitally add furniture to that room.
That way your online pictures for your home look great, but in reality the room is vacant.
Virtual staging can be good and bad. It's good because your marketing pictures look awesome and you will get a lot of people through your door and touring your home.
The bad part is that buyers get disappointed when they show up and the house looks completely different than how it looked in the marketing photos.
Real furniture staging is always best because it helps a buyer emotionally connect with a home and you don't end up with a bunch of disappointed potential buyers touring your home.
But if you must, virtual staging is a better option than showing a picture of a empty room in your marketing pictures.
As featured on "House Hunters Renovation"...
3 years ago my clients along with HGTV came in and completely remodeled the home.
There were a few repairs that needed to be done, but overall the buyers of this property now have a wonderful place to call home.
See the episode on my website - HouseHuntersRenovation.com
Asking price: $1,555,000.
Imagine what you could add on to this 17,000 square foot lot...
