Tips to Transition Your Home From Summer to Fall
Oh my, fall decor is where it's at! Pumpkins and leaves and wreaths and candles, there's no end to the fun in fall decor! There are many ways to decorate your home in a tasteful and festive way for fall.
Here are a few tips on how to transition from summer to fall décor!
1. Incorporate warm tones – change out your blankets and throw pillows with fall colors (browns, mustard yellows, burgundies)
2. Trade out your fresh summer scents for fall scents (pumpkin, cinnamon, apple cider) - Light candles and let the glow set the fall mood. Candles are an absolute favorite to set the tone of the holiday season. Especially pumpkin spice and leaves for fall.
3. Decorate with natural elements – seasonal fruit (pears, pumpkins, apples, squash) and pine cones.
4. Purchase seasonal plants such as mums and hydrangea and place them outside your front door/porch.
5. Change out your fabrics and textures – textured textiles such as burlap, tweed, and herringbone.
I hope you enjoy decorating for fall as much as we do! Keep it simple and classic and you will not be disappointed!
Why Fall Is A Great Time To Buy A Home!
Here are four great reasons to consider buying a home today instead of waiting.
1. Prices Will Continue to Rise
CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Insights report reveals that home prices have appreciated by 6.2% over the last 12 months. The same report predicts that prices will continue to increase at a rate of 5.1% over the next year.
Home values will continue to appreciate for years. Waiting no longer makes sense.
2. Mortgage Interest Rates Are Projected to Increase
Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows that interest rates for a 30-year mortgage have already increased by half of a percentage point, to around 4.5% in 2018. Most experts predict that rates will rise over the next 12 months. The Mortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the National Association of Realtors are in unison, projecting that rates will increase by half a percentage point to around 5.1% by this time next year.
An increase in rates will impact your monthly mortgage payment. A year from now, your housing expense will increase if a mortgage is necessary to buy your next home.
3. Either Way, You Are Paying a Mortgage
There are some renters who have not yet purchased homes because they are uncomfortable taking on the obligation of a mortgage. Everyone should realize that unless you are living with your parents rent-free, you are paying a mortgage – either yours or your landlord’s.
As an owner, your mortgage payment is a form of ‘forced savings’ that allows you to build equity in your home which you can then tap into later in life. As a renter, you guarantee your landlord is the person building that equity.
Are you ready to put your housing cost to work for you?
4. It’s Time to Move on with Your Life
The ‘cost’ of a home is determined by two major components: the price of the home and the current mortgage rate. It appears that both are on the rise.
But what if they weren’t? Would you wait?
Look at the actual reason you are buying and decide if it is worth waiting. Whether you want to have a great place for your children to grow up, you want your family to be safer, or you just want to have control over renovations, maybe now is the time to buy.
If the right thing for you and your family is to purchase a home this year, buying sooner rather than later could lead to substantial savings.
Source: Keeping Current Matters
Good Neighbor Day 2018
Every year on September 28th there is a reason to celebrate the people in your neighborhood. National Good Neighbor Day! It’s good for people to remind themselves what it means to be a good neighbor by doing something helpful for the people around them. A lot of the time neighbors are good friends, but we take their presence for granted. This National Good Neighbor Day, show your neighbors just how much they mean to you!
To celebrate, here are some ideas to brighten your neighbors’ day:
1. A simple ‘Thank You for Being a Good Neighbor’ note left on a doorstep can make a big impact.
2. Mow the lawn of the elderly gentleman two doors up and give him the week off from yard work.
3. Bake a quick batch of brownies and leave them on a neighbor’s doorstep with a nice note.
4. Fall flowers are in bloom. Buy a bouquet and leave an arrangement for the neighbor who watched your house while you were on vacation this summer.
5. Drop a $5 gift card for coffee in your mailbox for your faithful mail carrier.
6. Put a few extra nails in a neighbor’s falling fence and check something off their ‘to-do’ list.
7. Buy a welcome mat for the empty doorstep across the street.
8. Convert a ‘Garage Sale’ sign to a ‘Have a Great Day’ sign and post it at the entrance of your neighborhood.
9. If you have an artist’s flare, create a sidewalk chalk mural for the kids next door to welcome them home from school.
10. Halloween is fast approaching. Pick up your favorite goodies at the store and leave them in a bucket on your neighbor’s doorstep.
11. Today is the day to give a friendly wave when the driver behind you allows you to merge into traffic.
12. Time is running out to use your grill this year. Fire it up one more time and invite your neighbors over for barbeque.
How will you celebrate National Neighbor Day? Share your stories and pictures on social media using the hashtag #NationalNeighborDay!
Southern California Real Estate Market Update - Q2 2018
The following analysis of the Southern California real estate market is provided by Windermere Real Estate Chief Economist Matthew Gardner. We hope that this information may assist you with making better-informed real estate decisions. For further information about the housing market in your area, please don’t hesitate to contact your Windermere agent.
ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
The counties covered by this report—Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino, Orange, and Riverside—added 110,200 new jobs between May 2017 and May 2018. As a result, the unemployment rate dropped from 4.2% to 3.6%. Employment growth in Southern California continues to outperform the nation as a whole, and I am confident this will continue as we move through the balance of the year.
HOME SALES ACTIVITY
- There were 51,320 home sales in the second quarter of 2018. This was 6.8% lower than the same period in 2017 but 32.6% higher than the first quarter of this year.
- Pending home sales (an indicator of future closings) were 3.2% lower than during the same period a year ago, which suggests that third quarter closings may not show much improvement.
- Home sales dropped across the board. The most noticeable decline was in San Diego County, which fell 8.8%. I continue to believe that the decline in sales is directly related to the very low levels of inventory.
- There was an average of 35,238 active listings in the second quarter—well below what is needed to get to a balanced market.
HOME PRICES
- Year-over-year, average prices in the region rose by 7% and were 5.6% higher than in the first quarter of 2018.
- Affordability continues to be an issue, which, in concert with limited inventory, is pushing home prices higher. New construction activity is not meeting the needs of new households, which puts further pressure on home prices.
- Price increases across the region were fairly level, with Orange County showing the greatest annual appreciation in values (+8.1%). The slowest appreciation was in San Diego County, which still saw a respectable 6.6% increase.
- Based on the data in this report, I believe it is highly likely that prices will continue rising at above-average rates for at least the balance of 2018.
DAYS ON MARKET
- The average time it took to sell a home in the region was 37 days. This is a drop of four days compared to the second quarter of 2017, and seven fewer days than in the first quarter of this year.
- The biggest drop in days on market was in San Bernardino County, where it took six fewer days to sell a home compared to the same period last year.
- Homes in San Diego County continue to sell at a faster rate than other markets in the region. In the second quarter, it took an average of only 24 days to sell a home, which is one day less than it took a year ago.
- All five counties saw a drop in the amount of time it took to sell a home compared to the second quarter of 2017.
CONCLUSIONS
The speedometer reflects the state of the region’s real estate market using housing inventory,
price gains, home sales, interest rates, and larger economic factors.
The Southern California economy continues to add jobs at a very healthy rate, which increases demand for all housing types. Mortgage rates—although rising— are still very favorable when compared to historic averages, and low inventory continues to drive prices higher. The number of homes for sale in the region remains well below the levels needed for a balanced market. Given all of these factors, I have moved the needle a little more in favor of sellers.
Mr. Gardner is the Chief Economist for Windermere Real Estate, specializing in residential market analysis, commercial/industrial market analysis, financial analysis, and land use and regional economics. He is the former Principal of Gardner Economics, and has more than 30 years of professional experience both in the U.S. and U.K.
Backpacks for Kids Dropoff 2018 - Assistance League of Riverside
Windermere understands the importance of giving back to our community. Enriching the neighborhoods in which we live and work is an integral part of how we do business.
Today we dropped of the donated backpacks we have collected for the past 3 months, to the Assistance League of Riverside.
The Assistance League of Riverside strives to bring smiles to children in need by providing new clothes, supplies and books to help build self-esteem in the classroom and nutritious snack bags to help fight hunger over the weekend. Assistance League members and community volunteers give more than 41,000 hours of service each year, touching the lives of 10,000 at-risk children and teens. There philanthropic programs receive support from our thrift shop, as well as fundraising activities, donations from individuals and organizations in the community, and grants from corporations and foundations.
We support the Assistance and their many outreach programs. Their volunteers are hardworking, committed and most importantly they CARE. This is another reason why RIVERSIDE ROCKS!
We have very grateful hearts knowing that these backpacks will make a difference in the lives of many children & families in our community.
Supply & Demand Will Determine Future Home Values
Will home values continue to appreciate throughout 2018? The answer is simple: YES! – as long as there are more purchasers in the market than there are available homes for them to buy. This is known as the theory of “supply and demand,” which is defined as:
“The amount of a commodity, product, or service available and the desire of buyers for it, considered as factors regulating its price.”
When demand exceeds supply, prices go up. Every month this year, demand (buyer traffic) has increased as compared to last year and for the first five months of 2018, supply (the number of available listings) had decreased as compared to last year. However, a recent report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealed the first year-over-year increase in supply in three years.
Here are the numbers for supply and demand as compared to last year since the beginning of 2018:
The increase in the June numbers doesn’t mean that prices won’t continue to appreciate. In that same report, Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist, explained:
“It’s important to note that despite the modest year-over-year rise in inventory, the current level is far from what’s needed to satisfy demand levels.
Furthermore, it remains to be seen if this modest increase will stick, given the fact that the robust economy is bringing more interested buyers into the market, and new home construction is failing to keep up.”
The reason home prices are still rising is that there are many purchasers looking to buy but very few homeowners ready to sell. This imbalance is the reason prices will remain on the uptick.
Homebuyers Willing To Sacrifice ‘Must-Haves’ In Favor Of Good School Districts
It should come as no surprise that buying a home in a good school district is important to homebuyers. According to a report from Realtor.com, 86% of 18-34 year-olds and 84% of those aged 35-54 indicated that their home search areas were defined by school district boundaries.
What is surprising, however, is that 78% of recent home buyers sacrificed features from their “must-have” lists in order to find homes within their dream school districts.
The top feature sacrificed was a garage at 19%, followed closely by a large backyard, an updated kitchen, the desired number of bedrooms, and an outdoor living area. The full results are shown in the graph below.
Buyers are attracted to schools with high test scores, accelerated academic programs, art and music programs, diversity, and before and after-school programs.
Test scores were the factor most often selected by buyers as a hallmark of a good school (59 percent), followed by having accelerated programs (53 percent), arts and music (49 percent), diversity (43 percent), and before- and after-school programs (41 percent).
Younger buyers were more likely than older buyers to cite diversity as a factor that makes for a good school — 49 percent for 18-34 year-olds, compared to 37 percent for 55-plus. More older buyers placed importance on whether a school has accelerated programs — 62 percent for 55-plus vs. 50 percent for buyers under 55.
With a limited number of homes available to buy in today’s real estate market, competition is fierce for homes in good school districts. Danielle Hale, Chief Economist for Realtor.com, explained further,
“Most buyers understand that they may not be able to find a home that covers every single item on their wish list, but our survey shows that school districts are an area where many buyers aren’t willing to compromise.
For many buyers and not just buyers with children, ‘location, location, location,’ means ‘schools, schools, schools.’”
For buyers across the country, the quality of their children’s (or future children’s) education ranks highest on their must-have lists. Before you start the search for your next home, meet with a local real estate agent who can explain the market conditions in your area.
Info Source: Keeping Current Matter
Homeownership Is A Part Of The American Dream
According to the latest Aspiring Home Buyers Profile by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 82% of surveyed renters desire to own a home in the future, with 80% believing homeownership is a big part of achieving their American Dream.
The profile went on to state that 50% of millennials believe that their rent will increase, with 20% believing that an increase in rent will be the catalyst that pushes them to consider buying a home vs. renewing their lease.
So, what is holding renters back?
What would make renters take the plunge?
AR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun believes that,
“Housing demand in 2018 will be fueled by more millennials finally deciding to marry and have kids and the expectations that solid job growth and the strengthening economy will push incomes higher.”
Yun goes on to warn that,
“However, with prices and mortgage rates also expected to increase, affordability pressures will persist. That is why it is critical for much of the country to start seeing a significant hike in new and existing housing supply. Otherwise, many would-be first-time buyers will be forced to continue renting and not reach their dream of being a homeowner.”
If you are one of the many homeowners whose houses no longer fit their needs and are looking to move up to your dream home, now is a great time to list your starter home! First-time buyers are out in force looking to achieve their American Dream.
Source: Keeping Current Matters
May and June are the Best Months to Sell Your Home!
According to a newly released study, by ATTOM Data Solutions, selling your home in the month of May will net you an average of 5.9% above estimated market value for your home.
For the study, ATTOM performed an “analysis of 14.7 million home sales from 2011 to 2017” and found the average seller premium achieved for each month of the year. Below is a breakdown by month:
ATTOM even went a step further and broke their results down by day.
Top 5 Days to Sell:
June 28th – 9.1% above market
February 15th – 9.0% above market
May 31st – 8.3% above market
May 29th – 8.2% above market
June 21st – 8.1% above market
It should come as no surprise that May and June dominate as the top months to sell and that 4 of the top 5 days to sell fall in those two months. The second quarter of the year (April, May, June) is referred to as the Spring Buyers Season, when competition is fierce to find a dream home, which often leads to bidding wars.
One caveat to mention though, is that when broken down by metro, ATTOM noticed that while warmer climates share in the overall trend, it turns out that they have different top months for sales. The best month to get the highest price in Miami, FL, for instance, was January, and Phoenix, AZ came in with November leading the charge. However, Southern California being the months on May and June!
If you’re thinking of selling your home this year, the time to list is NOW! According to the National Association of Realtors, homes sold in an average of just 30 days last month! If you list now, you’ll have a really good chance to sell in May or June, setting yourself up for getting the best price!
Contact a local real estate professional who can show you the market conditions in your area and get the most exposure to the buyers who are ready and willing to buy!
Information Source: Keeping Current Matters
Top Reasons to Own Your Home
Family: Putting the needs of your immediate family & children first.
Privacy: Having your space that is solely your own.
Financial Investment: Chance to grow your asset & wealth.
Comfort: Surround yourself with items that enhance your life.
Community: Being part of a broader community of people and society.
Accomplish: Reflection of your efforts & success.
Provides Stability: Having control of your own future direction & security.
Personal Expression: Display your unique personality, desire & interests.
