New Home Sales Best Estimates; Rates Up Again; Should we Care About Oil Prices?

New home sales continued on a winning streak in March , increasing for the third straight month. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said sales of newly constructed homes were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 692,000 units during the month. This is a 4.5 percent increase over the revised (from 667,000) rate of 662,000 in February and 3.0 percent higher than the March 2018 estimate of 672,000 new homes. Analysts polled by Econoday expected a pullback in March after the strong numbers earlier in the year. They had forecast sales in the range of 630,000 to 660,000. Their consensus was 645,000 units. On a non-adjusted basis there were 68,000 new homes sold in March compared to 56,000 in February and 66,000 a year earlier. For the year-to-date, sales

from
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/reports/newsletter/2019/4/23/3890

Inventory Growth Fueled by Softening Demand, Not More Sellers

While for-sale home inventory rose in March, fewer new listings have come onto the market in each of the past four months

from
http://zillow.mediaroom.com/2019-04-23-Inventory-Growth-Fueled-by-Softening-Demand-Not-More-Sellers

March Home Sales Couldn't Repeat February's Win, but 2019 Should be Better; Construction Buoyed by West

The question this morning was whether March's existing home sales could build on the strong numbers posted in February, an 11.8 percent increase from the prior month with a seasonally adjusted pace of 5.51 million. It was the largest gain in more than three years. The consensus was that they would not. The forecasters were spot on. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) reports that sales of existing single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and cooperative apartments retreated from their February gains, with each of the four major U.S. regions falling back. The Midwest saw the largest decline although the West wasn't far behind. Total existing-home sales fell 4.9 percent from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.21 million. Sales as a whole are down 5.4 percent from a

from
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/reports/newsletter/2019/4/22/3888

Zillow Launches AI-Powered 3D Home Tours Across United States and Canada

from
http://zillow.mediaroom.com/2019-04-22-Zillow-Launches-AI-Powered-3D-Home-Tours-Across-United-States-and-Canada

How to Prep a Yard for Spring Buying: 5 Tips

Photo Courtesy: OPEI

By Kris Kiser, President & CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI)

As the spring selling season kicks into high gear, real estate and staging professionals can help their clients enhance their listings by creating an outdoor space that is attractive to buyers. The family yard not only can expand living space, it also reconnects families and pets with nature and provides a natural setting to reduce stress, improve memory, boost mood, among many other benefits.

Here are five points to consider:

1. Understand potential buyers’ lifestyle needs.
Determine how a potential buyer might use the yard, then plant accordingly. Does the yard need more shade for hot summer days? Is it lacking a grassy area for kids and pets to play?

2. Know the climate zone.
Help your clients select climate-appropriate plants that will thrive with minimal input. The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map indicates which grasses, shrubs, and trees are most likely to succeed in a specific location.

3. Plant for pets.
More families are including pets in their lives so consider animal’s needs when planting. Hardy grass withstands pet traffic. Soft, yet sturdy, foliage is a good choice for heavily-trafficked areas. See which plants are dangerous to pets by downloading the ASPCA’s list of poisonous plants.

Photo Courtesy: OPEI

4. Attract pollinators & wildlife.
The home habitat is also vital for pollinators (bees, butterflies, and birds) and other wildlife that rely on backyard plants for food and shelter. Planting climate-appropriate, pollen-rich flowers will help nourish pollinators, while creating a vibrant outdoor scene buyers will appreciate.

5. Stage the outdoors.

Showcase how the space will be used, including setting outdoor tables, having a barbecue grill set up, and other touches that show people can “live” in the space.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kris Kiser is the president and CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) and the OPEI Education and Research Foundation. OPEI is an international trade association representing 100 small engine, utility vehicle and outdoor power equipment manufacturers, and suppliers. OPEI is managing partner of GIE+EXPO, the industry’s annual international trade show and exposition. Prior to joining OPEI, Kiser, also an attorney, served for 14 years in senior management at two major, Washington, D.C. trade associations representing the automobile manufacturing and forest products industries. He was vice president of state and international affairs for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and vice president of governmental affairs for the American Forest & Paper Association. Learn more about OPEI: OPEI.org

 

from
http://styledstagedsold.blogs.realtor.org/2019/04/22/how-to-prep-a-yard-for-spring-buying-5-tips/

The Closing - Show 532

Real Estate Today Radio - SHOW 532

On this week's Real Estate Today, it's our special show "The Closing."

This Week's Show Includes:
- Top News Of The Week
- Ten Things to Bring to the Settlement
- Five Things you Must Do After the House is Sold
- Smart Home Technology
- Get REALTOR(R)

Become a part of the community at http://retradio.com!

from
http://retradio.com

Lenders Manage Tiny Profits in 2018 Despite Rate Hikes, Inventories; Europe Helping Bonds; Don't Count Chickens

Despite their fourth quarter loss reported last month, independent mortgage banks and bank mortgage subsidiaries still managed, albeit barely, to stay in the black last year. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said that banks responding to its survey made an average profit of $367 on each loan they originated last year, down from $711 per loan in 2017. They lost an average of $200 per loan in the last quarter of the year, only the third quarterly loss since MBA began collecting the data in 2008. "Despite a healthy economy in 2018, the mortgage market suffered, as rate hikes hurt refinancing volume and low housing inventories priced some potential homebuyers out of the purchase market," said Marina Walsh, MBA's Vice President of Industry Analysis. "For mortgage companies, there was the perfect

from
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/reports/newsletter/2019/4/18/3886

Black Dog Brewing Co. to open in Mooresville

This will be the first craft brewery in the Morgan County town. Also this week: Ellison Brewery, The Dugout and Ale Emporium.

from
https://www.ibj.com/blogs/19-property-lines/post/73379-roundup-black-dog-brewing-co

Tax Changes May be Hurting Housing; Purchase Volume Improves; Rates at 1-Mo Highs

Mortgage rates continued higher for the 5th day in a row today. This brings the average lender to the highest levels in exactly one month. At issue: a series of stronger economic reports at home and abroad have eased concerns about global growth. Not only is a strong economy associated with higher rates in general, but those "concerns" were a big part of the Federal Reserve's decision to be more bond-friendly back in March. With concerns arguably lessened by recent data, investors may be assuming the Fed won't be quite as bond friendly going forward. All that having been said, the Fed is NOT likely to make any big changes after one solid month of global economic data. The most immediate cause for pressure toward higher rates came overnight in the form of Chinese economic data. Along with Europe

from
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/reports/newsletter/2019/4/17/3884

More Buyers, But Builders Remain Cautious; Highest Rates in Nearly a Month

Mortgage rates rose again today, albeit at a slightly slower clip compared to yesterday. Still, that's little consolidation considering this is the 4th straight day spent moving in that unfriendly direction. The average lender is now back to levels not seen since March 19th. On the bright side, March 19th's rates were the lowest in more than a year at the time. So what's going on? In general, the month of March saw the confluence of 2 great things for rates. Not only was there a generally high level of concern/uncertainty surrounding the global economic outlook, but the Fed was also surprisingly helpful. This was a bit of a double-edged sword because the Fed's helpfulness was predicated on that same sort of concern/uncertainty. In other words, if events unfold in such a way as to ease that

from
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/reports/newsletter/2019/4/16/3882

Going Green: Homes with Solar Panels Sell for 4.1% More

Zillow helps homeowners understand the solar energy potential of their homes by providing a Sun Number for more than 84 million homes

from
http://zillow.mediaroom.com/2019-04-16-Going-Green-Homes-with-Solar-Panels-Sell-for-4-1-More

Non-Bank Lender on Perils of Non-Bank Lending; Rates Rise; Appraisal Delusions

Homeowners are and should be proud of their homes, but that often leads them to think it has a higher value than does an appraiser and the difference between the two opinions increased significantly in March. Quicken Loans says the gap in its Home Price Perception Index grew by 25 percent compared to February. Part of the difference might be accounted for by a decline in home prices of 0.20 percent during the month although prices rose 3.37 percent over the previous 12 months. Nationwide, appraised values came in 0.78 percent lower than homeowners expected compared to 0.50 percent in February. Quicken Loans Executive Vice President for Capital Markets Bill Banfield said that there's more than one reason behind this sudden increase in the gap between estimates and values. "This month's fluctuation

from
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/reports/newsletter/2019/4/15/3880

Zillow Offers Now Live for Home Sellers in Dallas-Fort Worth

With Zillow Offers, sellers can get a no-obligation cash offer from Zillow to buy their home and pick a close date of their choice

from
http://zillow.mediaroom.com/2019-04-15-Zillow-Offers-Now-Live-for-Home-Sellers-in-Dallas-Fort-Worth

Staged to Sell: A Virtual Transformation

Photo Credit: VHT Studios / Chrissy Barrett

The real estate professional: Cris Grayson, broker associate at Baird & Warner in Glen Ellyn, Ill.

About the home: The five-bedroom home in Glen Ellyn, Ill., was built in 1975. The home has been meticulously maintained, and the homeowners had recently made some updates to the interior as well. It is listed for $569,900. Grayson wanted to make sure the online presentation of the home would appeal to the widest buyer pool.

Grayson’s tips:

1. Don’t skimp on photography. Grayson places a high value on quality photography for her listings. She uses a professional photographer who is trained specifically on taking real estate photos through VHT Studios, a national real estate photography firm. A good real estate photographer will know how to capture a space from the best angles as well as the flow of the home, Grayson says.
2. Show off the possibilities. Grayson also likes to use VHT’s Virtual Redecorate tool, which allows spaces to be virtually changed and staged for photos.

Here’s the kitchen “before” and then virtually staged “after.” See how it changes the look of the table area.

Photo credit: VHT Studios / Chrissy Barrett

Virtually Staged / Photo Credit: VHT Studios – Chrissy Barrett

Grayson also used virtual staging to change the look of the home’s family room. In its current state, the family room appears comfortable and cozy, but some buyers may be looking for a lighter, more modern look. Through virtual staging, the wall décor and upholstered furniture was presented in a warmer look in the photographs.

Photo Credit: VHT Studios / Chrissy Barrett

Virtually Staged / Photo Credit: VHT Studios  – Chrissy Barrett

 

3. Re-cast the room’s purpose. In some cases, you may want to change the purpose of the room to appeal to a wider pool of buyers. In the upstairs of the home, Grayson and her VHT photographer Chrissy Barrett used virtual staging to transform a teen room into a young child’s room with a play space. They also presented it another way too as an office and reading or crafts room. Grayson labeled any pictures as “virtually staged” when they appeared online. The virtually staged photos appeared after a photo of the actual room.

Photo Credit: VHT Studios / Chrissy Barrett

Virtually Staged / Photo Credit: VHT Studios – Chrissy Barrett

Virtually Staged / Photo Credit: VHT Studios – Chrissy Barrett

The Result?

Days after the home was listed with the virtual staging pictures included, Grayson said they received an offer and were in negotiations with an interested buyer. Grayson has found that using virtual staging in her listings doesn’t just show potential buyers the possibilities of a space but also offers buyers a styling guide to use when they move into their new home and make it their own.

Have a home you recently staged that you’d like to show off here at Styled Staged & Sold? Submit your staging photos for consideration, along with three to five of your best spruce-up tips. Contact Melissa Dittmann Tracey at mtracey@realtors.org.

from
http://styledstagedsold.blogs.realtor.org/2019/04/15/staged-to-sell-a-virtual-transformation/

Baby's restaurant opening in former drag club

The family-friendly restaurant, which will have a retro-diner atmosphere, will also acknowledge the space's history as the former home of Talbott Street Nightclub.

from
https://www.ibj.com/blogs/19-property-lines/post/73273-babys-restaurant-opening-in-former-north-side-drag-club

Sellers Spend Nearly $21,000 to Sell a Home in 2019

Beyond closing costs, basic home-prep projects like painting and staging can cost home sellers thousands of dollars

from
http://zillow.mediaroom.com/2019-04-09-Sellers-Spend-Nearly-21-000-to-Sell-a-Home-in-2019

Instagram-Worthy Pics and Ga-Ga-Like Amenities to Attract Millennials

By Justin M. Riordan, Spade and Archer Design Agency

Surveys show that millennials prioritize home buying over getting married or having kids. They’re eager to buy, as soon as they  get their finances in order.

So, how do you appeal to the millennial home buyer? Here are some tips in speaking their language:

1. Make it Instagram Worthy

When it comes to reaching a millennial buyer, here’s one simple thing to keep in mind: Is your home Instagram worthy? Seriously, an empty room with a price attached to it is not enough to grab the attention of those 25 to 35 years olds. The space needs to have an awesome interior design through home staging–along with great lighting, photos worthy of being reposted along with copy that makes people think, laugh, and repost.

 

 

If you happen to get a millennial to actually visit your listing in person, be sure to have signs prepared that say “Home tour today!” and “1107 Elm Drive is AWESOME!” This way they can hold up the signs, you can take their picture, post it on your Instagram and tag them in it. All of their friends get to see what they are doing, where they are, and perhaps become interested in both your listing and in you as an agent. It’s like building your own little army of social media influencers.

Add hysterical descriptions to your listing. Make them laugh. If you raise an emotion with your listing, your audience will be more apt to “Like” and share your listing. Create short videos, by using TikTok or Boomerang, of you or your visitors being goofy in the house. Again, make them laugh, and you’ll gain followers.

Include ironically vintage items in your house. That exercise bike that your mom used to workout with when you were a kid is now an Instagram worthy moment. The vintage typewriter with a description of the house typed on the paper already inside is a great #coolhouse moment. Anything you can do to get your house organically in front of more millennials, the better.

2. Amenities That Millennials Will Go Ga-Ga Over

Furry Friendly Funmenities: Millennials are having less kids, and they are opting to fill their empty nests instead with dogs and cats. Providing cat doors, fenced dog runs, pet surveillance systems and pet washing stations could be a huge appeal to these perky parents of pets.

 

Photo by LDa Architecture & Interiors – Search entryway design ideas

Photo by Sage Interior Design – More laundry room ideas

Super Smart Shelter Stuff

Smart homes are all the rage. Millennials were raised in a world of the disposable. They have very little concept of how to fix or repair anything in their home. The more their house can take care of itself the better. Here are some of the best self-caring items we are in love with currently:

• Keyless entry systems: Opening doors with your smartphone or a memorized code, means you never have to carry a key with you again. When you join the shared economy, you can simply text your entry code to your renter, how easy is that?

 

Shavonda Gardner

 

• Smart light bulbs: Change the level and temperature of light with a simple voice command or from your smart phone. Take your lighting from “selfie” mode to “Netflix and chill” with a simple code word.

kasasmart

 

• Smart home management systems: From Nest to Alexa to Siri, there is some disembodied smart voice that can take care of everything from your temperature to your locks to your lights to your security system.

 

kasasmart

• Refrigerators with cameras: It comes down to this–every time you open the door to figure out what you want to eat, you are essentially killing the Earth. If you want to be a better person without actually doing anything, you can now turn on the camera inside your refrigerator and see what’s inside guilt free. Earth saved!
• Electric vehicle support systems: Speaking of killing the Earth, gas powered vehicles are doing just that too. By providing your millennial home buyers with electric charging ports, wall mounted batteries, and solar cell panels, you can make owning an electric vehicle so much easier. Now, we just need to get past the $80,000 price tag of the car!
• USB ports in the outlets: This will allow your millennial buyers to charge their devices anywhere in the entire house.

Community Conscious Conveniences

There is a serious desire for millennials to find ways to meet other people without seeming forced. Skip the media room, millennials don’t watch TV on big screens, they instead use their laptops to download the latest episode of “Game of Thrones” and “Broad City.” Instead, promote outdoor BBQ spaces, community gardens, and high Walk Scores to show your listing is community-minded.

Photo by Harrison’s Landscaping – Search landscaping pictures

 

When it all comes down to it, millennials are going to need the same (vegan) meat and (gluten-free) potatoes everybody else needs: Living rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms. The rest? It’s all (dairy free, non-GMO) gravy in getting them attracted to your listing.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Justin M. Riordan, LEED AP is the founder of Spade and Archer Design Agency, a home staging company with locations in Portland and Seattle. He is a thought leader and trendsetter in the real estate industry as well as the energy behind Spade and Archer, creating home staging that is simultaneously aspirational and obtainable. Prior to opening Spade and Archer in 2009, Riordan practiced interior architecture and interior construction for 12 years, bringing a diverse background as well as a bachelor of architecture to the home staging industry. With more than two decades of hands-on project management and design experience, Riordan delivers an unmatched level of precision, expertise and service to his clients. In addition, Riordan is an accomplished and engaging speaker who regularly presents at real estate industry events, sharing his expertise about home staging.

from
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/StyledStagedSold/~3/2QL3FnbTKRo/

Mortgage Rates End Week at Highest Levels as Bonds Defend Important Ceiling

Mortgage rates rose fairly quickly on Friday, depending on the lender and the scenario. Bonds (which dictate mortgage rates and interest rates in general) weakened overnight on a variety of foreign and domestic data. While we can't necessarily be sure that one particular development was more responsible for the move than another, we can observe that most of the damage followed news of surprisingly strong credit growth in China. This could stand to reason given that China and Europe are central to the cautionary economic stance taken by the likes of the Fed. In general, uncertainty about the global economy would be associated with lower interest rates. Actually a downbeat economy is even better than an uncertain one! With Chinese GDP and several European metrics hitting long term lows in the

from
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/reports/newsletter/2019/4/12/3876

The Offer - Show 531

Real Estate Today Radio - SHOW 531

On this week's Real Estate Today, it's our special show "The Offer."

This Week's Show Includes:
- Top News Of The Week
- Price Isn't Everything
- What Should I do?
- Smart Home Technology
- Get REALTOR(R)

Become a part of the community at http://retradio.com!

from
http://retradio.com

Baby's restaurant opening in former drag club

The family-friendly restaurant, which will have a retro-diner atmosphere, will also acknowledge the space's history as the former home of Talbott Street Nightclub.

from
https://www.ibj.com/blogs/19-property-lines/post/73273-babys-restaurant-opening-in-former-north-side-drag-club