1. KOMO News shares, Seattle real estate market cooling faster than any U.S. city, report finds. Although this year has not been as good for sellers as the last two years, the turning table is not so bad. “All of these trends are good news for buyers, who now have more homes to choose from, with lower price increases and less pressure to make a deal quickly – all amid historically low mortgage rates.” I believe returning to this kind of market is a good thing for all involved in real estate transactions. When we rush into things, sometimes we make mistakes. Slow and steady is conducive to improved mental health. 🙂
2. JANUARY BREAKDOWN
I’m hearing a good deal of doom and gloom regarding the 2019 real estate market, but apparently, Pending Home Sales Jump 4.6 Percent in January reports Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Yun says positive pending home sales figures in January will likely continue. “Income is rising faster than home prices in many areas and mortgage rates look to remain steady. Furthermore, job creation will help lift home buying.”” What will the rest of the year hold? Stay tuned and we’ll find out together.
3. COMPASS IS DIALING IN
Compass acquires Contactually, a CRM provider to the real estate industry. For those of you who have no idea what a CRM is, the acronym stands for Customer Relationship Manager. Basically, a platform where real estate agents and other professionals keep track of there customers. A more sophisticated Rolodex, remember those? Techcrunch reports, “Compass, the real estate tech platform that is now worth $4.4 billion, has made an acquisition to give its agents a boost when it comes to looking for good leads on properties to sell. It is acquiring Contactually, an AI-based CRM platform designed specifically for the industry, which includes features like linking up a list of homes sold by a brokerage with records of sales in the area and other property indexes to determine which properties might be good targets to tap for future listings.”
4. NAR STATS
“Are you too young? Too old? Too single? Think you make too little money or don’t have enough for a down payment? Turns out, none of those factors may be standing in the way of buying a home. We’re going behind the numbers of the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) 2018 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers to take a look at some surprising buyer statistics.” Realty Times just posted some interesting numbers in 9 Things That May Surprise You About Today’s Homebuyers.
5. FORMULA NONE
Realtor.com writes: How Does Paying Off Your Mortgage Affect Your Credit Score? “As crazy as it seems, paying off what is likely your largest installment debt might not, in fact, send your FICO score through the roof.” If you’re thinking about living debt-free, or… “Before making any big financial moves, find out what’s involved in paying off your mortgage.”
6. SOCIAL MEDIA STRONGHOLD
Do you have an Instagram account? If not, do you like looking at real estate photos on the platform? Lisa Chamoff from Forbes tells stories about real estate with a focus on the New York market. Here are her Five Luxury Real Estate Brokers Who Are Killing It On Instagram. In this article “a few New York City and Los Angeles brokers with four- and five-digit followings share how they use the photo-sharing app to sell seven- and even eight-digit listings.” How do you think real estate agents can use Instagram successfully?
7. HIGH-END REAL ESTATE
I love this article. Often times we read about the least expensive places to live in the U.S., but Realtor.com just published The Most Expensive Neighborhood in Every State in America. “To satisfy our innate curiosity about high-end housing, the data team at realtor.com® set out to pinpoint the most expensive neighborhoods in each and every state. Plus DC, because why not?” Have a look, see if you’ve been to any of these neighborhoods. Who knows, maybe you even live in one of them now!
8. CODE OF ETHICS
“While many people know that a Realtor® helps buy and sell homes, what they may not know is that only a Realtor® is a member of the National Association of Realtors® and subscribes to its Code of Ethics. It’s the Realtor® Code of Ethics that inspired the association’s powerful new “That’s Who We R®” campaign, which launched today. The campaign aims to reinforce the value of Realtors® as advocates for property owners, engaged community members and trusted advisors with in-depth knowledge of the industry.” The National Association of Realtors® Unveils “That’s Who We R®,” a Campaign to Distinguish Realtors® from Other Real Estate Agents. Did you know The NAR is America’s largest trade association? They have more than 1.3 million members practicing in both residential and commercial real estate.
9. MORE BUYING POWER
“According to Realtor.com, in January 2017, Millennials surpassed Generation X as the group that was responsible for the most new mortgages. Since then, Millennials’ share of the mortgage market has continued to rise. By the end of 2018, Millennials represented 45% of all new mortgages, compared to 36% for Generation X, and 17% for Baby Boomers.” Housing Wire writes: Millennials have officially entered the housing market. With an increase in remote jobs, we may see more affordable markets get busier because millennial money will go further there.
10. SPEECHLESS
Kushner Company Reportedly Seeking Federal Loan For $1.15 Billion Real Estate Deal. That’s right, The HuffPost writes “Jared Kushner’s family real estate business is seeking federal financing for a $1.15 billion real estate deal, Bloomberg reports. Kushner Cos. has been in talks with federal lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about backing for its purchase of more than 6,000 rental apartments in 16 properties in Maryland and Virginia from private equity firm Lone Star Funds, two sources told Bloomberg.” A bold move we have seen before by this family real estate business.
