By Julea Joseph, guest contributor As a home stager, I hear weekly this song from people getting ready to sell their occupied home: “My closets are stuffed, I hate my living room sofa, Grandma’s old dinette set looks shoddy, and those oak cabinets in the kitchen are not going to fly with the younger buying… Continue Reading Smart Staging Solutions for the Owner Occupied House
The rise of live video streaming technology on social media has given real estate professionals a powerful new way to promote listings, create brand awareness and attract business. Video platforms such as Facebook Live make it possible to show a property to potential buyers who might not be able to visit it in person, and… Continue Reading Using Live Video to Build Your Real Estate Business
The Silent Generation, buyers ages 71 to 91 years, make up the smallest share of home buyers by generation at only eight percent of all home buyers in 2016. The median age for this group is 75 years old and they were born between 1925 and 1945. They tend to have the smallest families; 97… Continue Reading The Silent Generation: Downsizing Homes & Joining Senior-Related Housing
Many real estate pros look at building a marketing plan as a simple task to be checked off a list each year. But what if reaching customers were more about attitude and philosophy than goals, metrics, and budgeting? Alejandro Escamilla, Unsplash.com If you, like me, suspect that the latter is true, I humbly suggest turning… Continue Reading A Mindset for Your Online Marketing Plan
Weather, searching, safety, design, technology, nature, demographics, and retail. Did you know we have a terrifying day of tornado outbreaks to thank for our emergency preparedness system? Stop losing things and find that which you’ve misplaced. Search results in Google will soon look a little different. Well this is terrifying. Be safe when you charge… Continue Reading What We’re Reading: April 3-7
The following is NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun’s reaction to this morning’s U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report on employment conditions in March: “The soft hiring seen in March is not too concerning and likely a single month aberration. The recent high levels of voluntary quitting, presumably because of better job opportunities elsewhere, will lead… Continue Reading Instant Reaction: March Jobs Report
WASHINGTON (April 6, 2017) — Growing consumer interest and demand for greener, more sustainable properties is driving a dialogue between Realtors® and homebuyers and sellers. Over half of Realtors® find that consumers have interest in real estate sustainability issues and practices, according to the National Association of Realtors®’ recent REALTORS® and Sustainability report. The report, stemming… Continue Reading Majority of Realtors® Say Clients Interested in Sustainability
More first-time homebuyers take advantage of a low downpayment loan compared to all homebuyers, according to the February 2017 REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey Report, a monthly survey of REALTORS® about their sales activity and local market conditions.[1] Among all buyers whose transaction closed in February 2017, 62 percent of those who obtained a mortgage made… Continue Reading Eighty Percent of First-time Homebuyers Put Down Less than 20 Percent Downpayment (Based on December 2016–February 2017 Closed Sales)
One of the most important issues facing residential real estate in the coming years has to do with the appraisal profession. Although appraisers are generally satisfied with their work and expect to stay in the profession in the years ahead, the median age of appraisers is close to 55. As a result, a big wave… Continue Reading WIll There Be Too Few Appraisers in 10 Years?
Recently GO Banking Rates put out some interesting information in their survey on how Americans spend their tax return. This was a very relevant topic because one thing that comes to mind in reference to potential homebuyers is the always-elusive down payment. With a sizable tax refund, the average American would have a decent down… Continue Reading Using Your Tax Refund for a Down Payment