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Tips to Get Your Offer Accepted in a Bidding War

28 Thursday Apr 2022

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In today’s competitive market, it’s not unusual for a home to get multiple offers. So, if you’re planning on buying a home, it’s important to understand how to navigate bidding wars.

So, what, exactly, do you need to know when you’re ready to make an offer on the house, but you’re not the only buyer that wants to call the home their own?

A recent article from realtor.com outlined key insights buyers need to know when they find themselves up against a bidding war, including:

  • Make your first offer your best offer. When a home has multiple offers on the table, you generally only have one shot to grab the seller’s attention—so make sure that your first offer is your best offer. That means to make an offer at the upper limit of what you’re willing to pay and to include anything else you’re willing to make your offer more competitive (for example, waiving a contingency).
  • Write a personal letter. When you’re up against multiple other offers, a heartfelt letter to the sellers about why you want to buy their home could help your offer stand out—and, if the rest of your offer is competitive, could give you the extra help you need to win the bidding war.However, these have been coming under scrutiny in many areas recently, so make sure they are still acceptable in your area before writing and submitting one. Make sure to have your agent guide you in what you can and can’t say in your letter if you are writing one to include with your offer.
  • Know that the seller is in the driver’s seat. When you really want a home, it can be tempting to try to force or control the situation. But the truth is, in the case of a bidding war, it’s important to recognize that the sellers are in the driver’s seat—and accepting that all you can do is make your best offer and hope for the best can make the process less stressful.

The Hanley Home Team has several other tips to share with you! Let’s WIN – get in touch today.

Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTOR, SRES. Luxury

OVER 1000 HOMES SOLD!
The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside 904-515-2479 HanleyHomeTeam.com

Mortgage Interest Rates Are Rising, but You Can Still Get a Great Deal—Here’s How

21 Thursday Apr 2022

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Mortgage rates are rising—and fast. According to data from Freddie Mac, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit 4.16 percent the week ending March 17—the first time rates have exceeded 4 percent since May 2019.

But don’t panic! Rising interest rates don’t have to put your home purchase on hold; you just need the right strategies to get a good deal.

So what, exactly, are those strategies?

A recent article from realtor.com outlined strategies buyers can use to score a great deal on their home (even as mortgage interest rates rise!), including:

  • Purchase points for a lower rate. Mortgage rates may be on the rise—but you can still lock in a low rate. Points allow you to pay an upfront fee to lower the interest rate on your mortgage; generally, 1 point will lower your mortgage rate by 0.25 percent—and will cost you 1 percent of the loan. It’s an upfront cost, but it can drive significant savings over the course of the loan—so if you can purchase points to lower your rate, you’ll definitely want to consider it.
  • Target homes that come in under budget. As interest rates rise, your dollar won’t buy you as much house as it did at a lower rate. That’s why, if you want to keep your monthly mortgage payment at an affordable level, you should consider targeted homes that are under your budget.
  • Explore down payment assistance programs. As interest rates rise, you may not be able to get as competitive of a mortgage as you could have when rates were hovering near all-time lows. But you can still find ways to save money on your home purchase—including down payment assistance programs. There are a variety of assistance programs in place (for example, programs for first-time homebuyers and programs for civil servants, like firefighters or teachers)—so it’s definitely worth doing some research to see if there are any programs you qualify for.

The Takeaway:

Interest rates may be rising, but there are still great deals to be had—so if you’re thinking about buying a home, don’t let the increase in interest rates stop you! Get in touch!

Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTOR, SRES. Luxury OVER 1000 HOMES SOLD!
The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside 904-515-2479 HanleyHomeTeam.com

Is It Time to Lower Your Asking Price?

14 Thursday Apr 2022

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We’re in the midst of a historic seller’s market, when many homes are selling quickly and above asking price.

So, if your home has been on the market for a while and hasn’t sold, you may be scratching your head and wondering what the issue is. And, in some cases, it may be that your asking price is too high.

But how, exactly, do you know when you’ve priced your home too high—and when it’s time to bring that price down?

A recent video from realtor.com outlined scenarios where you should consider lowering your asking price, including:

  • You’ve had lots of showings—but no offers. If you’ve had plenty of potential buyers come and see your property—but none have made an offer—it could be a sign that your home is priced too high. (This is particularly true in today’s market, when most homes sell quickly.)
  • High volume of more affordable properties on the market. If your home is listed significantly higher than other comparable properties in your area, it could deter buyers—and you may want to consider lowering your asking price to be more in line with the going rate in your neighborhood.
  • New construction in your area. If there is new construction in your area that’s priced within range and/or offering incentives to buyers, it could make it harder to generate interest for your home at a high asking price.

Let’s discuss the importance of pricing your home correctly so you maximize your profit!

Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTOR, SRES. Luxury

OVER 1000 HOMES SOLD!
The Hanley Home Team
Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside
904-515-2479
HanleyHomeTeam.com

How Time Can Be On Your Side if You’re a First-Time Home Buyer in This Market

07 Thursday Apr 2022

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If you’re in the market to buy your first home in this market, it’s probably felt like an uphill battle. There aren’t a lot of houses to choose from, and the minute a house gets listed there are a ton of offers to compete against.

Adding to the stress, now you’re probably worrying about the news that interest rates are going up, and hoping to scoop up a house before rates go up too high and make buying a house more affordable. 

But then there’s the news about pending home sales dropping over the past couple of months, which may sound hopeful to buyers. 

Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Are buyers putting on the brakes and waiting to see if house prices come down due to rates rising? Should you wait and try to time the market?

All understandable questions buyers may be thinking about, but speculating and trying to time the market is a gamble that may not pay off as one would hope. Here’s a few reasons why:

  • Even if interest rates go up, prices may not come down enough to make buying a house cost less.
  • Inventory won’t likely increase enough to outpace demand. That can only be solved by either more houses being built, or more Baby Boomers listing their houses, which hasn’t happened as anticipated.
  • Trying to time the real estate market is almost impossible for even a seasoned real estate investor, let alone an average homebuyer.

So timing may not be the best bet, but time itself can be on your side as a first-time buyer in any market, but especially this one.

Part of the reason why there are so few homes for sale, and pending sales have dropped over the past few months, is due to the fact that many homeowners worry about where they’ll go if they sell their house. Think about your concerns as a first-time buyer having to find a house to begin with, and then hope you can beat out a bunch of other buyers. That concern is even greater for someone who already owns a house. Even if they truly want to move, it can be scary to pull the trigger and list their house because they have legitimate concerns that they won’t be able to find and buy a house.

This is where you, as a first-time buyer, have an advantage. Most sellers would love to have time on their side to look for a home once they get their house under contract. Sure they want as much money as they can get for their house, but time to look for a house can be more valuable than a higher offer another buyer makes. 

The Takeaway:

Rather than put your house hunting on hold and speculating that prices will come down, or more inventory will magically appear, focus on what you have to offer that other buyers can’t offer to a seller—as much time as they need to find a house to buy. 

This doesn’t mean you can get away with a lowball offer against other buyers, but it can give you the upperhand. So consider writing terms into your offers that give the seller as much time as they need to find a house. 

And perhaps your real estate agent can even use your ability to wait as a reason to reach out to their network of past clients and other agents. There’s no guarantee, but he or she might be able to find a seller who hasn’t listed their house because they’re concerned about timing. It could be just the right thing that gets a hesitant homeowner to sell, and gets you a house to buy!

Let’s get creative! Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORS The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside HanleyHomeTeam.com 904-515-2479

7 Things to Avoid When Selling Your House Due to Divorce

31 Thursday Mar 2022

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Considering everything you’re thinking, feeling, and dealing with when going through a divorce, one of the last things you want to think about is selling your house. It’s a stressful thing to do even when you’re not getting divorced. But when you are, it can be even more stressful.

While it shouldn’t affect how much you sell your house for, or how quickly it gets sold, it can cost you both time and money if you don’t pay attention to a few details. Some buyers may pick up on the cues and clues and use them to try and get a deal on your house because they sense desperation or motivation. Others may simply be turned off by the vibe and take a pass on your house, making it sit on the market longer than it would otherwise.

To help sell your house as quickly and profitably as possible, here are 7 things you want to avoid when selling your house due to divorce:

1) Half-empty closets

Plenty of people who are simply single and aren’t splitting with a significant other sell homes with closets filled only with their clothes. But it doesn’t usually look like someone else used to take up half the space in the closet. While the person who moves out doesn’t have to leave their wardrobe behind just for appearances, make an effort to stage the closet in a way that doesn’t look like someone else used to share the space.

2) Missing furniture

Buying new furniture isn’t always possible when going through a divorce. So it’s pretty common for the person moving out to take some furniture to get settled in their new home. If at all possible, try and keep the furnishings intact in the home until you get it sold. If that’s not possible, try and rearrange the remaining furniture in a way that doesn’t look like pieces are missing, or replace the missing pieces with something borrowed or inexpensive until the house sells. 

3) Mattress on the floor

Another common sight agents see in homes that are being sold due to divorce are mattresses on the floor. If the bed frame went with the person who moved out, you don’t have to buy anything fancy, but at least get a cheap bed frame to get it up off the floor, or put some crates underneath and make sure the bedding hides them from sight.

4) A slept on couch

Sometimes the solution isn’t for one person to move entirely out of the house, but just out of the bedroom until the house is sold. If one of you is using the couch as a bed, just make sure to put away the pillows and blankets each morning. And also make sure that the coffee table doesn’t look like your nightstand! 

5) Missing family pictures

Some agents advise everyone to strip their house of any personal photos when selling, even if they aren’t getting divorced. The thought is that it gives buyers a better chance at envisioning themselves in the home, rather than the existing owner. But when you’re selling due to a divorce, having pictures of your family, or worse, having pictures that don’t include one of the partners, can be a tip-off that something’s going on when combined with other clues they may pick up. So, to be safe, just replace family photos with some framed artwork instead.

6) Nasty notes

Emotions can run high during a divorce, and couples don’t always have it in them to speak face to face when they’re mad. Whether the couple is still living under the same roof, or one came by to pick something up, sometimes an angry note left on the table of fridge is the chosen method to say what’s on their mind. Just make sure they aren’t hanging around for buyers to see when they come to look at the house. Better yet, send a text.

7) Legal paperwork

Of course leaving any legal or other private documents out in the open when your house is on the market isn’t advisable. But it doesn’t even have to be the actual documentation that’s left out! Make sure you don’t have mail out in the open that indicates it’s from a divorce attorney. 

Hopefully these tips will help you navigate the process of selling your house during a difficult time.

Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORS The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside 904-515-2479 HanleyHomeTeam.com

Planning to Buy a Home? These Savings Strategies Will Help You Save Up for Your Home Purchase

24 Thursday Mar 2022

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If you’re planning on buying a home, you need to save up for your down payment and to cover closing costs. But saving can be tough—and if you want to save up enough money to purchase a home, you need a plan.

But what, exactly, should that plan entail?

A recent article from realtor.com outlined key savings strategies you can use to save enough money to successfully buy a home, including:

  • Set up a home savings account—and set up automatic payments. If you’re saving for a home, you’ll want to set up a savings account specifically for your house savings. Then schedule regular automatic transfers (for example, once or twice per month) from your checking account to your home savings account, just like you would a bill. Automating your home savings will ensure that you’re putting money away each month—and will help you reach your savings goal faster.
  • Turn spare change into savings. When it comes to saving for a home, you’re probably thinking in dollars—but cents can also help you reach your goals. There are a variety of apps that will round your purchases up to the nearest dollar—then deposit that spare change into a savings account. While 25 cents here or 70 cents there might not seem like much, those cents can quickly add up—and when it comes to financing a home purchase, every cent counts.
  • Research down payment assistance programs. The down payment is generally the largest expense associated with buying a home—but, depending on your financial situation, you may not need to save up for your entire down payment yourself. There are a variety of down payment assistance programs available to certain types of buyers (for example, buyers at a certain income level, or civil servants looking to buy a home)—so do your research and see if there are any programs you qualify for.

Ready to start your home buying journey? Reach out today – Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORS The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside 904-515-2479 HanleyHomeTeam.com

The “New Rules” for Selling Your House in Today’s Market

17 Thursday Mar 2022

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In today’s hot seller’s market, many of the old rules of selling a home don’t apply. 

But if the old rules aren’t the way to sell your home in today’s market, what, exactly, are the new rules?

A recent article from realtor.com outlined the “new rules” of home selling that can help homeowners sell their homes quickly and profitably in today’s market, including:

  • List at or below market value. Many sellers believe that in order to get high offers, you need a high listing price. But in today’s market, listing at (or even under!) market value is sure to attract buyers—and the competition for a well-priced property can start a bidding war, driving offers well above asking price.
  • Be prepared for a high volume of showings. As mentioned, competition can be fierce in today’s market—and chances are, there are going to be a lot of potential buyers that want to see your home. While your home is on the market, you need to be prepared to be away from your home for long stretches of time—particularly on the weekends, when you can expect back-to-back showings all day long.
  • Beware of offers that seem too good to be true. With so much competition in the market, many buyers are making insane offers—sometimes as much as $200,000 over asking price. But if those buyers are planning to use a mortgage, there may be a gap between the appraisal price and their offer price—which can cause the deal to fall apart. When evaluating offers, beware of financed offers that are wildly over asking price; otherwise, you could end up wasting time.

The Takeaway:

Understanding the best strategies for selling a home in today’s market will help you sell your home quickly, easily, and profitably—so before you list your home, make sure to get to know these “new rules” of home selling. Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORS The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside 904-515-2479 HanleyHomeTeam.com

Will the Russian Invasion of Ukraine Affect the US Real Estate Market?

10 Thursday Mar 2022

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Nearly everyone is keeping an eye on what’s happening in Ukraine, hoping it will end quickly and without too much damage and loss of life. 

It may feel trivial and even selfish to wonder how it will affect the US real estate market, but it’s a valid concern if you’re in the process of selling or buying a house, or simply thinking of doing either.

While it’s impossible to predict exact impacts on the entire US real estate market, let alone local markets, it’s possible to speculate on a few broad potentials:

Consumer Hesitancy

Whenever there are big question marks due to geopolitical events like this, people may hold off on selling or buying a house because they simply aren’t sure of the impacts it may have on them directly or indirectly. This could show in the form of buyers putting a pause on their home search, or sellers taking their house off the market. 

As of now there hasn’t been much change in market conditions. There are still a lot more active buyers than there are houses for sale. In other words, it’s still a sellers’ market in most areas of the country.

Luxury and Secondary Markets Could Take a Hit

The stock market and investment accounts are a lot more volatile during a major conflict. One day they are down considerably, then they bounce back only to take another dip. Since luxury and secondary homes are more often funded by tapping into investment accounts, it could put a damper on the higher end home sales.

Rise in Construction Costs

Transportation costs have already been rising due to oil prices, but this conflict could lead to even less supply and higher prices, which would impact the transportation costs of building materials even more than the supply chain issue has affected costs. Therefore, new construction homes could see more of a hike in cost and delays. 

Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rates are the X-factor. While there’s no guarantee it will last, mortgage rates actually came down a bit and could come down even more, or stabilize, rather than continue rising like they had been in recent weeks. This is likely due to investors looking for a safer place to put their money in such a volatile financial market, so they often invest in mortgage-backed securities, bonds and U.S. Treasury notes which affect mortgage rates. 

The Takeaway:

Considering how unpredictably the market reacted (and how much it surged) during the COVID pandemic, there’s a good chance the market will continue along much like it has been for the past couple of years — especially if mortgage interest rates stop rising, or even go down again. 

Low mortgage rates will likely lead to buyers who are still willing and anxious to buy. Couple that with the low number of houses for sale, and it paints a picture of an overall US real estate market not noticeably affected by the crisis in Ukraine.

As always, there’s no crystal ball in real estate, and it’s such an individual decision affected by one’s personal situation and local market. If you’re concerned about whether selling your house or buying a house makes sense for you, speak to your financial advisor and/or a local real estate agent for advice. Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORS The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside 904-515-2479 HanleyHomeTeam.com

Should You Buy or Sell a House in 2022? Don’t Base Your Decision on Headlines Alone

24 Thursday Feb 2022

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Whether you’re at a party, family get-together, work, or just talking to a neighbor, there’s a good chance you’ll hear people talking about how crazy the real estate market’s been. And you’ll probably hear people’s opinions on whether it’s a good time to buy or sell a house.

But what are they basing their opinion on? 

Sometimes it’s just based on what they’ve heard second (or third) hand from a friend or family member. But a lot of times it’s “backed up” by what they’ve read or heard in the news, which is often just from a headline like, “Home Price Growth Is Finally Decelerating—and It’s Just the Start”, which Fortune recently published. 

Someone who only read that headline could easily take that as a sign that prices aren’t going to go up as much in 2022, and that’s just the start! So, it’s an easy leap to think that must mean prices may even go down next year. That could easily cause a homeowner to sell in a hurry before prices drop. Or, it could cause a buyer to wait for prices to come down and miss out on a house that would’ve been perfect for them, only to find nothing changed, or (worse!) prices went up even higher.

If you actually read the Fortune article, it doesn’t entirely prove out the headline, or at least how most people would interpret it. In fact, the “deceleration” they refer to in the headline is a 0.3% dip in home prices between September 2020 and September 2021. It went from an all-time high of 19.8% year-over-year gain, down to a 19.5% gain. Okay, to be fair, that is a “start” as they said in the headline…but how much more deceleration should we expect if that’s just the beginning?! 

Well, the predictions they cite in the article are all over the place for the next year:

  • Zillow predicts prices will rise 13.6%
  • Goldman Sachs predicts a rise of 13.5%
  • Fannie Mae expects a 7.9% increase
  • Freddie Mac thinks it’ll be a 7% bump up
  • Redfin is predicting price growth will only be 3%
  • CoreLogic sees it slowing to 1.9%
  • And the Mortgage Bankers Association is the only one cited with any amount of a decrease at 2.5%

To sum it up, according to the sources they cite, sure there may very well be a deceleration in prices, but that doesn’t mean prices will fall. Other than one source, they all predict that prices will continue to go up. More than half of them anticipate the growth rate to be higher than average…

…not quite what you may have thought if you just read the headline alone.

The Takeaway:

That’s just one example of a headline that could be misleading and cause you to judge whether it’s a good time for you to buy or sell a house. Much of what you see, hear, or read about the market tends to be too broad to make an informed decision, and the headlines can often be misleading. If you want a true read on the market and advice on whether it makes sense for you to buy or sell, your best bet is to speak to us who knows the local market. Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORS, Luxury, SRES The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside 904-515-2479 http://www.HanleyHomeTeam.com

Are You Paying Too Much for Your Monthly Mortgage? Better Check Now, Time Is Running Out to Refinance

17 Thursday Feb 2022

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Nobody wants to overpay for a house, and people tend to focus on negotiating as low of a purchase price as possible when they actually buy a house. And of course they want to make sure the interest rate on the mortgage they take at that time is as low as possible too. This all makes total sense to do, of course. But, once all of that is done, many homeowners kind of “set it and forget it”, and never look at whether they could be paying even less for their house once they own it.

According to this CNBC article, Black Knight (a mortgage data provider) says that over 5 million homeowners just missed out on their chance to refinance to a better rate. Rising interest rates have just knocked all of those people out of the running to save some money on their house.

The good news is that according to Black Knight’s analysis and metrics, there are still 5.9 millionhomeowners who are in a position to save money, despite the rising rates. Their data indicates that more than a million borrowers could save at least $400 per month, and 661,000 homeowners could save more than $500 per month.

So, if you haven’t recently refinanced, you may want to do yourself a favor and look into it. You could be paying more per month for your house than you need to, and ultimately more for your house than you need to. Capitalize on the increased equity you might have due to the sharp rise in home values in the past couple of years, and the still record low mortgage rates, before either shifts too much for it to benefit you. 

When doing your research, make sure you consider and analyze the costs of doing the refinance, and that you aren’t getting sold on doing one when it doesn’t actually make sense.

The Takeaway:

Before speaking to a lender, consult with us about the current market value of your house, the lenders will want to know this information. But also speak to us about your short and long term goals with the house, as this will affect the advice we give you, and whether or not it makes sense for you to refinance at all. Then you can truly weigh whether the savings are worth doing, given the costs to do so, and your future housing plans. Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORS, Luxury, SRES The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside 904-515-2479 http://www.HanleyHomeTeam.com