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The sunniest time of the year when sun is shining brightly is surely a great time for exploring new neighborhoods and visualizing future patio parties during viewings. If you are planning to buy home this summer then it is important to understand the housing market prior starting any serious shopping. You must have to know what housing market is like for buyers now and what you can do to end up the best home with best price that fits right in your budget.
Owning a home is an investment in your future and with that in mind you wants to make sure that you are making educated decisions so that you could get the best possible deal. Housing market in 2018 should be just as strong this summer as it’s been all spring. List prices and existing home sales have risen this year but there are perks to house hunting right now, too. We present you some of the facts and tips to help you get the most out of this year’s summer housing market.
SUMMER MARKET FACTS
DURING THE SUMMER PRICES DROP: Although summer is busy home-buying season but still it is not crazy as prices drop from May through October. Anyhow if you hang out until late August then you could find a really great deal-that is when nearly 14 % of listings get a price cut.
Private Mortgage Insurance Is GETTING MORE Reliable: PMI or Private Mortgage Insurance getting cheaper after PMI lenders MGIC and Radian lowered their rates this spring; it is great financing news for homebuyers. That’s going to cause most of these PMI companies to be competitive with each other which in result going to bring them all down. Less than 20 % of down payment makes the home buyers to get PMI. It means it will be cheaper for some buyers to get into homes sooner.

HOMEBUYING TIPS FOR SUMMER 2018

DON’T DISCOUNT OLDER LISTINGS: At the times when homes are flying off the market within days due to strong competition, it is easy to think a listing that’s a week or so old is a red flag. But keep in mind that it is not always the case. It is often because buyer got cold feet and pulled out of a deal on a perfectly good house. But thanks to the assumptions home buyers make about older listings in busy markets, the delay can cause the price to come down.
There are just more of these in market. The number of homes in market is shrinking but still there are 8.3 % more fixer-upper among them than there were six years ago. If you are dead-set against a fixer-upper to be prepared to move quickly then there is only ever going to be a couple of options at a time. And when new listings come up it’s going to be pretty ferocious.
GET TO KNOW THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The plus point of competitive market it gives you temptation to make an offer on any available property that fits your criteria but if it’s in the wrong neighborhood, you may never want to purchase the house. It is better to take some time and do community scouting before making an offer. You can even find out what your future neighbors have to say about the area by communicating with them.
MAKE THE STRONGEST OFFER: To stay in the market make the strongest offer, even your offer is not the highest because now is not the time for low ball-offer. No doubt, coming up with cash offer could be tough for many home buyers but there are some ways to make a strong offer that don’t require gobs of money. Substantial eventualities like a shorter closing or inspection period and writing a great offer letter can help make your offer stand out.

I recently read a really interesting blog article from an appraiser in Philadelphia titled “Zillow vs. The Coyle Group”. In the article, Michael Coyle analyzes over 20 of their most recent appraisals and compares them to what Zillow says they are worth via it’s Zestimate. With sites like these appearing to be gaining popularity with consumers over the last few years, I thought I would do my own analysis.

The results may surprise you, they did me. Of the 20 properties analyzed, many of which were recent sales, Zillow differed from the appraised value by more than 5% on 16 of them and the average difference was 20.16%! And the four that were within 5% were recent sales in the last 6 months. That means on an average $300,000 home Zillow’s value estimate is off by an average of $60,000. Another interesting statistic is that it was high/overvalued 10 properties and low/undervalued 10 properties. To further substantiate my results I compared them to The Coyle Group’s and noted that they found an average difference of 18.95%.

When digging deeper into the individual properties, I was unable to determine what exact factor lead to some of the biggest discrepancies. For example, the Glencoe Colonial property is currently an 1100 sq. ft. split level that is going to be torn down and a new 3200 sq. ft. home built. It is listed for $1,199,000 (the exact Zestimate value) and is under contract for around $1,050,000. This would lead me to believe that Zillow is giving the MLS list price the most weight and ignoring the actual property characteristics. However, the Zestimate was off by 41% on the Portage Park bungalow which was listed for $460,000 and sold for the same price. In this case, why would the Zestimate be $273,265? It must have ignored the list and sale price when it appeared to rely exclusively on list price on the Glencoe proposed construction. Yes, I’m scratching my head as well.

While I am not here to breakdown Zillow’s method or algorithm used for determining values, I do want to caution the prospective homebuyer/seller about relying on Zillow’s values and advise that you hire a certified appraiser to ensure that all factors have been included in the opinion of market value. This will prevent you from listing your home too high which could lead to your house being on the market way longer than is necessary. It will also prevent you from listing your home too low and potentially leaving money on the table.

You can read Zillow vs. The Coyle Group here.

A good mortgage sales letter that produces leads from a cold list or generates new business from your old client list is worth 1000 times it’s weight in gold.

Lets say you have a list of 50 clients and 50 leads that you haven’t converted. If you send one letter at a cost of just .42, and $100 for printing. That’s just $142 in total costs for a basic mortgage sales letter.

One new loan can generate several thousand dollars in commission. If you get just one new loan from a mortgage sales letter, you are going to be profitable (assuming you aren’t mailing to an enormous list).

As a result, it’s important to create an effective mortgage sales letter to maximize your lead generation efforts.

The key is to write an effective mortgage sales letter that people read and respond to. Most mortgage brokers don’t know the power of effective writing and rely upon hype and trickery in their letters.

The good news is you don’t need to hype up your letter, and you don’t need to rely on tricks like the old ‘fake looking check in the window’ letter (by the way, this does work, but only if you do it without fooling the recipient).

If you want leads and referrals here are the three most important parts of a successful mortgage sales letter that will help you boost response rates and build your book of business:

1. A Compelling Headline. Almost every mortgage sales letter must have a headline. Why? I’ll let the late great David Ogilvy explain it to you:

“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” -David Ogilvy

The job of a headline is to get people interested and excited about what you have to say. For example, a poor headline might say, “Introducing Your Local Home Loan Specialist!”

A better headline would be, “Susan Johnson Saved $498.95 Per Month On Her Mortgage Payment — Here’ How You Can Save This Much or More!”

That headline needs a little work, but it’s light years ahead of the average mortgage brokers marketing letter.

2. Stories Sell. Nothing gets people more involved and motivated to take action than a good story. Instead of cramming a pitch about your products and services down your prospects throat (which puts them into the defensive mindset), tell them a story about a client who saved money instantly. And as a result of saving this money she could pay for child care or get a mini van, or go on a vacation that she has been putting off for a few years.

They key is to write a story that fits into the mindset of your audience. If you are targeting subprime mortgages, tell a story about how a down and out client with no hope. How he brought his family out of a rental in a bad part of town to owning a nice home in a wonderful school district.

3. Call To Action. The next important area of an effective mortgage sales letter is the call to action. You want your prospect to take action and call you or fill out a return reply card.

For example, a weak call to action would be, “Call me at 555-555-5555 between the hours of 8am and 4pm Monday through Friday.”

A stronger call to action would be, “For a free no obligation consultation to see how much you can save on your mortgage payment call me now: 555-555-5555. We can schedule a time to meet and discus your financial situation, or do it on the phone. You can reach me at 555-555-5555 anytime during normal business hours. Or, you can call my toll-free 24-hour voicemail at 1-800-555-5555 and leave your contact information and I’ll send you more information.”

In addition to a headline, a story, and a strong call to action, your mortgage sales letter should include a Post Script (PS), and testimonials. Studies show that up to 80% of your readers will read the PS first. This is where you restate your benefit in a conversational way. Testimonials are very effective in establish credibility, and they reinforce your claims.

If you follow these simple guidelines to a more effective mortgage sales letter, you will generate more qualified leads and referrals.

Sit down and write a mortgage sales letter tonight instead of watching Fringe or Dancing With The Stars. Send it to your current clients, and old leads. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The commission paid to the Real Estate agent is a serious amount of money and a concern in any transaction involving the sell of Real Estate. Where did this six percent commission come from?

The idea of a 6% Real Estate commission being paid to the agent originated during the 1940’s when local Real Estate Boards openly engaged in price fixing to establish a standard rate. This process was an out and out case of an unfair practice, but the 1940’s was a time when the attention of the country was directed to some serious external matters and the idea took hold and spread quickly through the industry.

In the early 1950’s, the Supreme Court ruled that an established 6% commission was illegal. Rather than open up commissions to a more competitive and free market system, the Real Estate Boards merely shifted gears with a bit of fancy linguistic footwork and began to call the 6% commission the “suggested” amount. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, they managed to get away with this practice without much trouble as the majority of real estate agents complied with the suggestion.

In the 1970’s lawsuits brought against the Real Estate Boards effectively put the skids on this practice. The Real Estate agent’s commissions were opened up to competition without the Boards either being able to mandate or even suggest 6% as the carved into stone rate. However, the rate did not alter very much in the years following these court cases. Although the rate may not have been carved into stone, it was pretty much established in the Real Estate market as a standard.

Generally, competitive markets benefit consumers. As long as someone is willing to offer a discounted rate, it would seem that the consumer stood to save money. However, the proponents of a standard 6% rate commission point to such things as health care to argue that the standard rate may actually be helping the consumer by holding the commission down to 6% rather than propping it up to that level. Although the cost of health care is not regulated, the general trend has been straight up off the charts.

Real Estate agents would be quick to point out that if you were to take a close look at just about any service or product being offered or sold in the 1940’s, you would find a very serious increase in cost to the consumer. Except for Real Estate commissions which are still right around 6%. The amount being paid to the agents has increased greatly merely because the value of the property being sold has increased. Today, the internet has been responsible for a few chips in the rock of the 6% commission by offering some straight fee or reduced rate services that allow the sellers to list their own properties. The results are still mixed and the 6% commission is still the standard.

Many home owners in Arizona are facing tough times because of several underlying issues that home owners may or may not be aware of. An Executive Sales Associate with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage wants to discuss these issues so that you have useful information to make an informed decision about your future regarding Real Estate in Arizona. Do what you will with this information. This is one Real Estate Agents opinion and makes no guarantees. Market conditions are impossible to forecast. This article is designed to tell you what has been happening in the past, and where we are today regarding Arizona Real Estate issues.

Now may be an excellent time to purchase a home in Arizona. The interests rates are good, the prices are low, and sellers are giving amazing incentives. There is now way to determine if the prices have fallen as far as they are going to go, but home prices seem to be leveling out. Home builders in Arizona are still building massive communities on the outskirts of Phoenix, Mesa, Buckeye, Chandler, and Casa Grande. Builders would not be building if people were not buying these homes. Yes, the builders are giving great incentives. Residential re-seller’s are also giving great incentives because they are imitating the builder incentives.

Home buyers in Arizona are facing a complicated decision right now. Should they live sixty miles from work and pay two hundred thousand dollars for a home, or should they live ten miles from work and pay three hundred thousand dollars for a home? When making this decision, it would be best to calculate how much money you will spend on gas, how much your vehicle will depreciate because of the amount of miles you are putting on your car, how much time you will spend away from family with a long commute, and how much traffic you are willing to put up with. It would be wise to do a mathematical calculation on these factors versus a higher mortgage payment to see which would make more sense financially. However, other factors will be involved such as school districts and amenities.

Buying a home in Arizona is getting more difficult. Lenders are raising the bar because of the drastic increase in foreclosures. When there is a high percentage rate of foreclosures, lenders must raise their standards to protect their investments. Someone thinking about purchasing a home in Arizona will need a series of qualifications to get into a home loan such as a good work history, a descent credit score, and a good debt to income ratio. Lenders are requiring higher credit scores, more income, and longer work histories given the recent foreclosure rates. Lenders are also requiring more documentation on your assets and liabilities.

When lenders raise the bar, not as many people can qualify to purchase a home. This, combined with builders and sellers flooding the market with home listings, is creating an overall slow down of the market because the public’s confidence has weakened. The growth in Arizona is still phenomenal. Arizona is now the number one growing state in the entire United States.

If you are thinking about purchase a home, now may be the best time with the current interest rates, and the amazing incentives available. It is extremely common for people to get into homes with zero down. If you are a seller, now may not be the best time to put your home on the market. If you have to move, consider renting your home out to a good tenant. A qualified Realtor will be able to help you put your home on the market for lease. Lease option purchases are also becoming very popular in Arizona. They are designed to help a person that does not yet qualify for a home have a possibility of purchasing your home at the end of the term of the lease. This gives someone time to clean up their credit issues. However, a lease option purchase does not guarantee that the tenant must buy your home, they just have the option.

There is a link below, a website developed by an Executive Sales Associate with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, that is truly helpful and is designed to educate the public. Definitely take a look at the website if you have been thinking about buying or selling a home in Scottsdale, Phoenix, or any other city in Arizona If you choose Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage to represent you in a Real Estate transaction, of course they are going to make money. That is not a secret. The seller always pays both the buying and selling Real Estate professionals. When you are the buyer, you do not pay a Realtor. Choosing the right firm to represent your best interests is of paramount importance. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage makes it mandatory for their Realtors to get proper education and training. They take the time to train their Realtors properly so that your best interests are always number one.