Who's Buying?

Housing is Back!  Who’s Buying?

 

Realtor.com has an article that claims the US is right on track and has by and large recovered from the housing crisis.  On the sales front, there were more sales of both existing and new homes in 2015. Judging from the data reported through November, new-home sales were up 13% and existing-home sales were up 7%. That higher volume of sales was supported by strong household formation (1.4 million households formed in the past four quarters ending in September) and another year of solid job creation (an average of 210,000 jobs per month through November). Normal, non-distressed sales increased among first-time and repeat buyers, and buyers who were relocating and/or changing jobs. CLICK HERE for ARTICLE

 

Here’s the kicker though: Most of the new households forming are renting households, and that’s where the demand-supply imbalance is most acute. Apartment vacancies are at multiyear lows, and correspondingly, rents are now rising faster than home prices. While it may sound like a real estate agent’s dream to say that it’s cheaper to buy than rent in more than 75% of the country, that sound bite doesn’t bode well for the future.  When renting households are so burdened by making rent payments, they’re less able to save up to own.

            To make your dreams come true, Call The Easterbrook Team for your refinance and purchase needs.

916.850.6050 easterbrookteam@spmc.com 

John Easterbrook NMLS#226555

Patty Aguon NMLS#994635

Bye Bye Foreclosure Hell

We’re Finally Out of Foreclosure Hell!

It actually wasn’t all bad, was it?  At least you didn’t have to make appointments to show properties – they were all vacant.  Remember? The problem was that you couldn’t find anyone that could afford or qualify to buy one.  The numbers have been tabulated and foreclosures are at their lowest level since the housing crisis began.  Foreclosures plummeted almost 27%, from 603,028 in 2014 to 476,000 in 2015, according to CoreLogic.  CLICK HERE for ARTICLE

To make your dreams come true, Call The Easterbrook Team for your refinance and purchase needs.

916.850.6050 easterbrookteam@spmc.com 

John Easterbrook NMLS#226555

Patty Aguon NMLS#994635

Insurance Claims that Affect Premiums

5 Insurance Claims that Affect Premiums

One of the necessary evils in life is insurance – without you aren’t getting your loan and you could leave yourself exposed to a catastrophic expense.  But should you make a claim and risk rising premiums or just pay out of pocket and suck it up, potentially saving you money over the long haul?  Not all claims are created equal.  This article breaks down for you and your clients, the best way to utilize your insurance policy. CLICK HERE for ARTICLE

To make your dreams come true, Call The Easterbrook Team for your refinance and purchase needs.

916.850.6050 easterbrookteam@spmc.com 

John Easterbrook NMLS#226555

Patty Aguon NMLS#994635

Personal Touch

5 Ways to Communicate the Personal Touch

We are big fans of The One Thing by Gary Keller.  He is constantly coming out with material that relates to the power of focus and how it relates to business.  In this article, it talks about connecting with the personal touch.  This is a great way to connect with people in an era of digital “hands off” communication.  CLICK HERE for ARTICLE

To make your dreams come true, Call The Easterbrook Team for your refinance and purchase needs.

916.850.6050 easterbrookteam@spmc.com 

John Easterbrook NMLS#226555

Patty Aguon NMLS#994635

Standout Showstopping Home!

What Does Love Got to Do With It?

Want to make your house a standout showstopper?  According to the Wall Street Journal, homes for sale with ‘sexy’ and ‘seductive’ in the property description have higher listing prices than homes with ‘love’ and ‘loving,’ an analysis finds.  So, should you use these terms in your listings?

An analysis of roughly 1.6 million home listings found that lower-priced homes were most likely to have the word “love” in property descriptions, while homes priced in the millions of dollars were most likely to have “sexy” and “seductive” in the descriptions.

“Love is basic,” said Javier Vivas, an economic researcher for Realtor.com, which analyzed the data. “It’s a pre-canned pitch to generically describe something beautiful.”  CLICK HERE for the FULL ARTICLE

To make your dreams come true, Call The Easterbrook Team for your refinance and purchase needs.

916.850.6050 easterbrookteam@spmc.com 

John Easterbrook NMLS#226555

Patty Aguon NMLS#994635

First Impressions!

A Few Suggestions on How to Impress Your Buyers

Here’s the thing…almost everything anyone would want to know about real estate is available for free.

So, what can you do to provide “value” when the buyers that you are working with are searching for properties online? Learning how many times it has sold and for how much? Researching public records? Using Google maps?

The one advantage that YOU have is knowledge of the local market. Guidance that will save your clients money. Helping them understand the positives and negatives when showing them homes. While they may be able to find information pretty much everywhere, the other advantage you have is your ability to “interpret” what it really means in terms they can understand.

Here’s are some suggestions on how to impress your buyers:

• Preview the homes you plan to show them – Contact the listing agent for additional property information that you can provide to them when showing them the home.
• Ask them about their “Home Wish List” – Pay attention to make sure that the homes they want to view meet some of the items on their wish list. Share information about the homes you previewed that don’t meet some of their requirements.
• Pay attention to their “hot buttons” – During the showings, read their body language, pay attention to how they react to certain features of the home. You may discover that some of the items that were on their wish list are not as important as they thought they were.
• Provide detailed information – This includes local MLS stats, average days on the market, price range of sold homes, property taxes of other homes in the neighborhood, etc. This would be like a mini-CMA to help buyers evaluate each home you show them.
• Google is your friend – Search what’s going on in the neighborhood. Check with local government to see if there are any proposed projects or new developments planned. Map out all the homes you plan to show them so they have a good idea of their location to each other.
• Personalize your information – Take the time to put together a packet of information. Include their name and maybe the “wish list” they shared with you.

By providing MORE information than buyers can find on their own, you are showcasing your expertise and setting yourself apart from other agents who just put buyers in their car (or meet them at a home) to view the homes THEY request to see.

 

The Easterbrook Team 916.850.6050 easterbrookteam@spmc.com

Dreams of Champions

Get More Out of Coffee

Mike Ditka is quoted as saying that “coffee is the lifeblood that drives the dreams of champions”.  It is the favored drink in our industry.  Here’s how to get them most out of coffee – (CLICK HERE).

Here’s another reason to hang out at your local Starbucks (or post your homebuyer seminar on the wall there) – coffee shop patrons are 65% likely to have an income over $100K.  Want the study?  Here you go – (CLICK HERE).

To make your dreams come true, Call The Easterbrook Team for your refinance and purchase needs.

916.850.6050 easterbrookteam@spmc.com 

John Easterbrook NMLS#226555

Patty Aguon NMLS#994635