PAUL'S REAL ESTATE NEWSLETTER – AUGUST 2013
PLEASE ‘LIKE’ ME
I have a new Facebook business page cleverly named ‘Paul Sobania – Real Estate’. Would you please help support my business? Use this link to be redirected to ‘Paul Sobania – Real Estate’ and click on the ‘Like’ button (login to Facebook.com if needed).
Use this link to view my profile and connect on Linkedin.
Thank you for your support!
THINKING AHEAD
Now that home prices have returned to pre-recession levels, have you toyed around with the idea of selling your home? If the answer is ‘yes’ and you expect to list your home this winter (anytime before May, 2014), I would suggest taking the exterior photographs of your home this September. Denver homes just don’t show as well when lawns are dormant. With 90% or more of buyers beginning their home search online, professional photography of your home, when it’s looking its best, are hugely important.
Let’s plan ahead. Call me and I will have my professional photographer come to your home to shoot both the exterior front and back of your home, free of charge. When it comes time to list your home for sale, you will have a competitive advantage over other homes on the market. That advantage might result in a quicker sale and a higher sales price.
HOW DO YOU MAKE DECISIONS WITHOUT THE DATA
For months, actually years, I’ve been talking about the powerful impact of interest rates on home affordability. Many of my clients have struggled to understand the true cost of buying a home with today’s low interest rates vs waiting till next year when rates will most likely be higher than they are now. To help my clients better understand the cost of waiting I created the spreadsheet below. The Home Affordability Calculator is easy to use and the numbers speak for themselves.
In this scenario, assuming that interest rates increase by 0.75% and waiting 12 months to buy, a buyers down payment increases $2,640. Even more important is the impact to the monthly loan payment, which increases a whopping 11% per month.
Over the life of the loan, the additional interest cost is $64,180.
If you’d like a copy of this spreadsheet to analyze the data for your personal situation, send me an email and I’ll email the spreadsheet.
MEET MADDIE TIBBETT
Having survived the worst of the housing downturn, 2011 being the most challenging year, I have worked diligently to grow my real estate business. With the return of the real estate market in 2012 and lots of hard work, the last two years have been very successful and busy. So busy in fact, that I decided that it was time to hire some help. I wasn’t looking to just hire a body, but someone with real estate experience that would help me to continue to provide my clients with the highest level of service while also focusing on growing my business. After months of searching, I am pleased to introduce my new Executive Assistant Maddie Tibbett. Maddie will be responsible for overseeing client relations, marketing and business development. She brings 15 years of real estate experience and will be a wonderful addition to my team. Please join me in welcoming Maddie!
HOUSEHOLD TIPS
Are you looking for a few clever ideas to make life just a little bit easier? I found these household tips that are too good not to share, view tips.
Home Appreciation WARNING!!!!
Both local and national news organizations have given substantial airtime to the dramatic real estate market recovery, celebrating 10% (or more) appreciation since 2012. While it’s true that the market is at or near pre-recession levels, the appreciation we have experienced in 2012 and 2013 is not sustainable. Real estate expert at Zillow.com predict that home appreciation will moderate to a much healthier and stable rate of 3.3% over the next 12 months; inventories of homes for sale is increasing, home sales are slowing due to season trends and interest rates have risen.
I expect that over the next few months we will continue to hear about a ‘hot’ market when the reality is that the market is slowing for the reasons mentioned above. Please use caution when listening to these news reports for many of the reports lag the market by several months. The Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, frequently reported by the media, lags the market by two months. In a real estate market that is continually changing and shifting, data from two months ago is ancient history. It is for that reason I rarely mention the Case-Shiller in my newsletter.
During the housing boom in the early 2000’s many buyers purchased homes they couldn’t really afford expecting home appreciation to continue indefinitely. That expectation got a lot of buyers into trouble and was partially to blame for the real estate collapse.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF HOMEOWNERSHIP?
“Homeownership encourages personal responsibility and the values necessary for strong families. Where homeownership flourishes, neighborhoods are more stable, residents are more civic-minded, schools are better, and crime rates decline.” (President George W. Bush in 2002 proclaiming June as National Homeownership Month)
REAL ESTATE MARKET SUMMARY FOR JULY!
Here are the stats and highlights for the Denver metro market in July compared to July, 2012:
- Homes sold increased 30.81%
- Average days on market decreased 42.19%
- Inventory of homes for sale decreased 7.41%
- AVERAGE SOLD PRICE UP 10.65% to $346,254
DENVER REAL ESTATE MARKET TRENDS
Residential (if having difficulty viewing these charts maximize the email window
Condo and Townhomes If you are looking for market trends for condos and townhomes please contact me. I’d be happy to send them to you!
Denver Real Estate Market Trends
REAL ESTATE NEWS
Metro Denver home sales jump 32% from 2012 Read More
Metro Denver mansion sales almost double in July from 2012 Read More
Record July for contracts Read More
Housing affordability drops to lowest level in more than four years Read More
Rising mortgage rates lead to drop in pending home sales Read More
Denver called a ‘rock star’ retail real estate market Read More
FORECLOSURE NEWS
Colorado 26th for foreclosures Read More
Colorado foreclosures continued steady decline in July Read More
Mortgage delinquencies fall signaling improving housing market Read More
ECONOMIC NEWS
Colorado unemployment increases 0.1% to 7.1% Read More
Retail sales up, but rising interest rates could slow autos, housing Read More
Denver at center of Colorado recovery Read More
Forbes: Denver’s great for business, careers Read More
OTHER NEWS
Denver Water adopts WISE agreement to deliver water to south suburbs Read More
Castle Pines to build library Read More
Trader Joe’s picks Greenwood Village for 3rd Colorado store Read More
27 of the 100 best places to work in U.S. are in Colorado Read More
Kaiser finishes major construction for Lone Tree facility Read More
Boulder No. 1, Denver near top in U.S. for tech startups Read More
THANK YOU FOR YOUR BUSINESS AND REFERRALS!
If you or someone you know is thinking about buying or selling a home any time in the next year, please call to let me know. It would be my pleasure to contact and work with your referral. My commitment to you is to treat them with the utmost care as they work towards buying or selling a home. Referrals are the core of my business and are always appreciated.
Free Real Estate Tools
When searching homes for sale anywhere in the Denver metro area use this link, Interactive Map-Based Home Search. This interactive, map-based home search tool makes looking for homes fun and easy. If you are interested in a specific neighborhood, whether it is your current neighborhood or the one that you hope to move to someday, this site can send you e-mail notifications when new homes come onto the market. Happy home searching!
Please call me with your real estate questions. I’m always happy to help you navigate through this constantly changing real estate market!