This is the lowest average mortgage rate since April 13, 2023—that brief drop following the Silicon Valley Bank collapse
This is the lowest spread in more than 18 months
https://t.co/LxQrCUqSnL
Coach Calo was honored in Dayton at the state Final Four today for NFHS Ohio coach of the year for the 2022-23 season
The Cats lost 8 seniors from an undefeated 2021-22 regular season and district championship team and then returned the next year to win another district title.
I’ve given the same advice to agents and mortgage professionals for over 35 years…
If the person or couple sitting in front of you is a generation younger than you, make believe they are your son or daughter.
If the person or couple sitting in front of you is of the same generation as you, make believe they are your brother or sister.
If the person or couple sitting in front of you is a generation older than you, make believe they are your mom or pop.
…and give them the same advice you would give your own family.
Success in this industry really is that simple.
The Christian Super Bowl Ad They SHOULD Have Made
A group known as 'He Gets Us' released an advert during the Super Bowl which, whilst perhaps well intentioned, failed to convey anything of the gospel to the hundreds of millions who saw it.
Here's my take on what they should have done.
#HeSavesUs
In his famous 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke directly to the housing situation in America. He said: “Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children.”
I think it is appropriate to show this graph as there is still a long way to go.
Just reflecting…
Here’s my take on NAR's latest Existing Home Sales Report (released this morning).
🔹Consensus as reported by the WSJ: “U.S. existing-home sales are expected to fall to an annual pace of 3.76 million in November from 3.79 million one month earlier.”
🔹Actual reported by NAR: “Total existing-home sales – completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – elevated 0.8% from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.82 million in November.”
There are a lot of reasons sales are still low but the biggest reason is a lack of inventory. However, it doesn’t mean that nothing is selling. I did the math.
10,466 houses sell a day. (3.82M divided by 365 days)
Which means 436 sell an hour.
Which means over 7 sell a minute.
The next time someone spends 10 minutes ranting about how the housing market is "frozen" or at a "dead standstill" just realize that 70 houses sold while they were talking to you.
Just saying…
A lower score indicates a softer housing market, while a higher score indicates a stronger housing market
https://t.co/tBRH4VE5ZA's "Hotness Score" for America's 300 largest metros 🏡👇
Map via @ResidentialClub
https://t.co/MfTTELSJMX
The value in using an agent is real. Let’s look at the job of a listing agent. They must realize the seller has only five needs:
1️⃣ To get the house sold
2️⃣ To get the best price
3️⃣ To sell on a certain timeline
4️⃣ To deal with the least amount of hassles
5️⃣ To coordinate the timing of the sale and new purchase
There are certain skill sets the agent needs to help the seller accomplish these goals. I’ll give you one example: the skill of negotiation.
This is a list of people with whom your agent must be prepared to possibly negotiate with on your behalf:
🔹The buyer who wants the best deal possible
🔹The buyer’s agent who solely represents the best interest of the buyer
🔹The buyer’s attorney (in some parts of the country)
🔹The home inspection companies which work for the buyer and will almost always find some problems with the house.
🔹The termite company if there are challenges
🔹The buyer’s lender if the structure of the mortgage requires the sellers’ participation
🔹The appraiser if there is a question of value
🔹The title company if there are challenges with certificates of occupancy (CO) or other permits
🔹The town or municipality if you need to get the COs permits mentioned above
🔹The buyer’s buyer in case there are challenges on the house your buyer is selling.
And, negotiation is just one of the skill sets an agent provides.
Just saying…
To ease some of your concern…Wells Fargo is not calling for depreciation this year or next.
From Lance Lambert:
“Wells Fargo expects U.S home prices to end the year up just +1.8%…Beyond 2023, Wells Fargo expects U.S. home prices to rise +2.5% in 2024 followed by +4.4% in 2025.”
The MBA just upped their home price forecasts:
🔹2023 went from 1.5% to 5.7%.
🔹2024 went from 1.1% to 4.1%.
I hope that all those that couldn’t wait to repost Zillow’s minor pullback on their forecast last week, are just as passionately going to repost the MBA’s dramatic increases this week.
Just wondering…
Days-on-Market are less than last year and well below the pre-pandemic years. This is one sign that demand is still strong.
In other words, the housing market is not “dead as a doornail” as one prominent industry player said recently.
BTW, I looked up what that idiom actually means:
“Dead. No doubt about it, not alive, unequivocally deceased.”
In case you didn’t know, an average of over 10,000 houses will sell today…and tomorrow,,,and the next day…and the next…
Just saying…
This could be evidence of good news coming.
Buyers got over the “sticker shock” of higher rates rather quickly.
Are sellers now getting over the sticker shock?
Just asking…