now? Homebuying season started early this

HOMEBUYING SEASON STARTED EARLY THIS YEAR

The months of April through July are considered the prime months for the real estate industry as they account for more than 40% of a year’s housing transactions. This is the time people think about whether to keep renting or to move out. The prime real estate season generally varies, but over the years, it has been starting at the end of March (early spring) and lasts through the summer and in some cases early fall. There are varied reasons why this period sees an uptick in sales activities, but generally, good weather is a big factor. It is easy for people to move when the weather is warm, enticing homebuyers to trek to an open house which is difficult in cold snowy weather. In addition, many homeowners don’t want to sell their home during the cold months, or during the holidays. With Christmas, new years and all the stress that goes in planning for the festivities, accommodating real estate selling can be a hassle for many sellers. Remember, it is also during this time when most home repairs are done, which ties into home inspections. Inclement weather and a snow-packed roof make it harder for inspectors to give accurate reports to prospective buyers. All these are some reasons why early spring through summer makes a good time to buy a home.

But the norm over the years has been changing and homebuyers are seemingly getting an earlier start especially this year, perhaps driven by the low mortgage rates. A report by Realtor.com listing data from 2015 to 2019 shows the spring seasons now starts in January for many of the nation’s largest markets.

Back in 2015, the peak month for average views per listing on realtor.com was April, January lagged behind with a 16 percent. And while it lagged significantly, January saw a surge, ranking as the top month in 20 of the 00 largest metro areas including New York, Los Angeles,

Chicago, Houston, Seattle, San Francisco, Atlanta, San Jose, California, and Denver.

The generation of buyers today has very sophisticated buying strategies, thanks to technology and it would only seem they are modifying their buying behavior even more. Today, buyers are navigating the housing market that has become more competitive due to the rising prices and the low inventory, which means, to get lucky, the search for a home has to begin early. The report by Realtor.com ties with finding from Mortgage Bankers Association which also shows that spring homebuying season officially began in January this year.

The mortgage application is considered the first step in the homebuying process, therefore, this means that the applications made in January are a positive indication that buyers are ready and willing to buy early. The mortgage application continued to rise into February.

“The mortgage market continues to be active in early 2020, as applications increased for the third straight week,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting. “Rates also rose, but still remained close to their lowest levels since October 2016,”

The MBA report also shows that buyers aren’t just moving to buy the houses, they are also continuing to refinance at record rates. MBA data shows that the Refinance Index climbed 5% to its highest level since June 2013. Compared with a year earlier, it was a whopping 207% higher this year. The share of refinance mortgage activity has been increasing over the recent past to a record of 65.5% of all the mortgage applications.

As of November last year, the number of sales across the country was down 9.5 percent Y-O-Y. Additionally, the inventory of the entry-level home prices below $200,000 shrunk by an astonishing 16.5 percent Y-O-Y.

You may wonder, since January has become the newfound favorite month for buyers, do spring months now become irrelevant or less competitive? On the contrary, that is very far from the truth. Data from MBA and Realtor.com just suggest that competition now starts in January and stays high all through the spring months.

Also, note that homebuying is not set on a stone. It is a general window and will change accordingly depending on the place and circumstances. For instance, places like San Francisco where the inventory is practically low, experience in home buying season is yearround. By the way, if you are looking to buy a home in the San Francisco and Bay region or any other place in California, reach one of our VIP agents stationed near you. Check agents in your area here; https://thepowerisnow. com/vipagentsservices/. At the moment, the environment in the U.S. real estate market seems to favor sellers, but buyers have the greatest leverage and sellers should not get greedy with their list prices. Remember, buyers today are savvy than in the past and they understand the risk involved in buying a home.

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Sources and Works Cited https://www.realtor.com/research/january-housing-marketnew-april/ https://smartasset.com/mortgage/what-is-home-buyingseason https://www.housingwire.com/articles/homebuying-seasondefinitely-started-early-this-year/

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HOME HUNTING GOES MOBILE TIPS TO HELP YOU HUNT FOR YOUR HOUSE USING MOBILE

Awhile back, we used to say that mobile phones will be the future of almost everything. Today, they are routine. A 2015 survey by California Association of Realtors’ showed that eighty-five percent of Californians used a mobile device to help them buy a home. ninety -five percent of used their mobile phones to do their homes research, 20 percent to research neighborhoods and 14 percent to take photos of the houses and neighborhoods.

Today, we are ruled by technology. You will find an app that finds a home’s data by snapping it in its picture; an app that will detail how much natural sunlight a house gets; an app that will give you a detailed description of the home’s surroundings as well a dozen apps to help you modify, decor and remodel your home.

Fast forward to 2020, the National Association of Realtors report on real estate in the digital age show that 81 percent of older millennials, 80 percent of younger millennials, 78 percent of Gen Xers and 68 percent of younger baby boomers found their homes on a mobile device in 2019. We foresaw this. Apps are continually introducing a new level of confidence in the buyer as far as the home buying process is concerned allowing the buyers to search for

homes, by applying location and softening their search filters through the listings to match buyer’s wants and needs.

For quite some time now, the real estate industry has fretted over technology replacing what realtors can do, the way the internet has gutted many other industries, but the opposite is true. Referring to the 2015 survey, more than 90 percent of California home buyers used a real estate agent to buy a home, which over a decade ago (2002) was up by 20 percent. Technology is just a supplement to what realtors actually do, and with that, if you are looking for an agent in your area, The Power is Now VIP agents are the people to work with. They are stationed in almost every county in the state to help you start your homeownership journey. Talk to an agent near you by visiting; https://thepowerisnow. com/vipagentsservices/ today and learn about the beautiful programs to help you start your homeownership journey.

As with all the digital developments, mobile house hunting has its set of opportunities and challenges and below, you will find some useful tips when it comes to your house hunting.

Find an App

Buying a house is the most expensive decision you’ll ever make in your life. Some transactions go even up to six figures or more, which means, if you are planning to spend on homebuying, it is best you go in it with the right information. Real estate applications can help you dig up the best information on a deal, giving you greater insights into the market where you are looking to make your purchase. Before downloading any application, it is good to understand that there are a few different types of applications to consider. Some of the application have a large volume of house listings, while some others are more inclined toward commercial real estate listings. Some will score you some discounted home-buying fees. It will depend on what your goal is.

Buyers need to get up to speed quickly on the market values so they know the right decisions when an opportunity presents itself. The more quickly a buyer can update himself on the market trends, the more successfully the home search will be. Another important thing to note is that databases are constantly updating and new homes are being added each day, which means prices are adjusted constantly and already sold homes are being removed. This is the reason you will find most apps giving you an option to select whether to set alerts for changes to individual property listings and specific locations. Given that option, go ahead and activate these notifications for the listings you are interested in so you get notified if the prices rise or drop. You also need to be aware of the micro-trends in your area that could have an impact on the local prices.

Expand your Search

One of the great tools you have at your disposal with the mobile phone applications is the ability to filter through your search. Filtering can help you in narrowing your search and while that is a plus for the application, filtering can also limit your results which can keep you from finding the right home. When using mobile applications, it is best to try expanding your search

Once You’re Interested Contact Your Agent

You’re almost there. Once you have found a property you are interested in, contact your real estate agent. We have the best agents stationed across the state as well as a network of other agents all across the country. It is important to note that, unlike the websites and desktop applications, mobile app databases can often be outdated. Once you find a home you are interested in, contact your agent right away and have them review the listing on your behalf. Again, to find an agent in your area, visit https:// thepowerisnow.com/vipagentsservices/ today and talk to a professional agent.

Actual Visit

Listing photos at a time can lie, so to actually verify the realness of the home you saw, go for an actual field visit. Work with your agent to schedule a site visit so that you can get a better sense of the state of the home and assess the neighborhood too.

Resources for Buyers and Realtors: https://thepowerisnow.com/vipagentsservices/ https://www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/ documents/2019-real-estate-in-a-digitalage-08-22-2019.pdf

Sources: http://www.freddiemac.com/blog/ homeownership/20200107_mobile_house_ hunting.page https://www.thebalance.com/best-real-estateapps-4163003 https://www.ocregister.com/2016/01/11/househunting-goes-mobile-85-of-californians-used-amobile-device-to-help-buy-a-home-in-2015/

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