Smart Moves from Brace and Ryan
August  2015
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 Brace Helgeson
Ryan Platzke

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Happy August,

It's not too late to take advantage of the incredible opportunities to buy a home, or sell your home this summer.  As a matter of fact, if you're considering selling your home, there hasn't been a better time in years, as the national median sales price rose to an all-time high in June, according to National Association of Realtors®.  In fact, sales are at their highest pace since February 2007.

 

If you're still dreaming of buying a home before the summer comes to an end, you may face competition, as there is still limited inventory in many areas, with homes staying on the market on average just 34 days in June.  Moreover, first-time home buyers are accounting for a whopping 30% of all new purchases, up from 28% just a year ago.

 

All the same, mortgage loans remain at incredibly low rates, with 30 year, conventional, fixed rate mortgages remaining on average below 4%.

 

If you'd like to buy or sell your home before the hot summer real estate season comes to a close, contact us today!


 

Sincerely,

Brace & Ryan


What a Rising Median Home Price Means To Buyers
The nation's median home price is up to $236,400 according to the National Association of Realtors. That's "6.5% above the year-ago price and above the peak price set in July 2006," said USA Today. And whether that seems like a bargain or a bust depends squarely on location. But in Birmingham, AL, Knoxville, TN, or Buffalo, NY, the top three choices on Forbes list of Most Affordable Cities, and you may be able to get in the door for far less than the average. But go west, or east, or north for that matter, and you can expect to pay up to many times that amount.

Affordability

What that translates to is a widely swinging affordability index with homeownership in some cities out of reach for only the tippy-top of its earners.

The median household income nationally is $55,132, and a buyer would "need to earn a salary of $47,253.07 to afford it," according to HSH, a leading national mortgage resource. "Yet if they put only 10 percent down instead of 20 percent, that salary increases to $54,341.84."

Those numbers bode well for cities like Dallas-Fort Worth that have lower-than-the-national-average home values (albeit largely dependent on specific locations within the region, and rising more quickly than many other metros). The median sales price is $206,438 and the median household income is $72,400 in Fort Worth $73,900 in Dallas, according to DMNmedia.

But head toward Northern California, Southern California, or New York, and it's a different story.

"San Francisco remains singularly unaffordable for all but the highest earners," said HSH. "To afford the median-priced home in the San Francisco metro area you will have to earn an eye-popping $141,417 a year. Los Angeles is once again more affordable than New York City, but only by a mere $159."

HSH also noted that recent home-price declines have made Cleveland the most affordable metro area studied. "Compared to Cleveland, San Francisco homebuyers need to earn over $112,000 more per year to afford a median-priced home in their metro area."


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How to Accentuate the Home's Positive Features in Staging
 
 The following section has been reprinted with permission from stager Tori Toth's new book, "Feel at Home: Home Staging Secrets for a Quick and Easy Sell" (Morgan James Publishing, 2015). Toth is the owner of Stylish Stagers Inc. in New York.


Every room has positive and negative features; it's what you do with those features that can make a buyer excited about your space. In any room of the house there should be a dramatic focal point that attracts your eye, but is that focal point pleasing to the eye? Does it have a positive connotation or a negative one?

Here's a list of some positive features you may have in your home:

Positive Features

Large Front Yard
Landscaping/Sprinkler Systems
Two-Car Garage
Deck/Patio
Swimming Pool
Outdoor Living Area
Outdoor View
Energy-Efficient Windows/Insulation/Appliances
Picture Windows/Sliding or French Doors
Grand Foyer


What Our Clients Are Saying

Our home was premarketed well to quickly identify potential buyers. We had an offer within one day our listing went live. Ryan has a complete team that assists with everything from staging to final close and is personally involved with the process as well. He is available to answer questions and follows up on calls well. We have friends that have had similar great experiences as well.

 

Greg P.