Some of you may have noticed some branding changes around this blog. Equity Northwest Properties a locally owned independent real estate brokerage has affiliated with national company, Weichert Realtors. As a relatively small brokerage Equity Northwest had advantages and disadvantages in the market. Small companies are market mobile and locally focused. These are good things. On the downside, the economy of scale works against them on technology platforms.
Weichert Realtors offers affiliations for independent real estate companies to continue with the gold standard of local professional service but with the added strength of a national giant in real estate and the large scale economy to bring amazing marketing and productivity opportunities to small brokerages.
So as of last week, Equity Northwest Properties is now Weichert Realtors® - Equity Northwest and I look forward to continuing to bring insights on real estate, with both national and local trends. I'll continue with tips and advice to my clients and the readers of this blog. And I am excited to have access to even more information and technology to bring you the best possible information and stronger and more thoroughly researched advice.
Enjoy this Memorial Day weekend and remember the men and women who have sacrificed their lives to help ensure America continues to be the beacon of freedom and hope for the world.
Musings on the state of the market with tips, information and a little fun.
Showing posts with label changes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label changes. Show all posts
Friday, May 25, 2018
Friday, December 29, 2017
Happy New Year... Almost
Rod's outlook for real estate in 2018: Here in the Portland Metro in a word, "healthy." I do not foresee a massive spike in pricing or the crazy multiple offer bidding wars 10% above asking like we saw in the first half of this year. That tends to be sort of exciting but it is not sustainable and it is terrible for the buyers trying to get a house before they close on the one they just sold.
I see a market that should remain in the favor of sellers under roughly 115% of median value. From 115% to the upper middle bracket of 200% of median I see the strong possibility of neutral market conditions. Above that 200% of median, locally above $600k may even slide into a slight buyers market. I don't see soften prices, just very modest appreciation in the high end and average to slightly less than average appreciation in the low to middle price ranges.
This is a healthy condition because home values that rise in double figures for more than a few years leads to hard crashes as that greatly outstrips the wage growth. A healthy market with values appreciated in the 3-5% range is sustainable long term and when things get tight on incomes the market will get a soft landing.
The new tax law recently passed by congress and signed by the President, will increase the standard deduction for a married couple to $24,000 per year. The ability to deduct state and local taxes has been severely cut back. For entry level home buyers the ability to "write off" mortgage interest may not be a viable option. You see, a $300,000 mortgage at 4% will have about $13,000 in deductible interest in the first year and it will decline each year as the balance is reduced. Most people cannot come up with another $9,000 in deductions to reach the point of beating the standard deduction, so itemizing may not make sense anymore. This is a huge benefit to renters as they will now gain a massive increase in deduction where as home owners will either save a little or see no gain in benefit.
According to the politicians the idea was to eliminate the need for average Americans to fill out complex tax forms, pay accounting fees to do it for them, or buy software to help them. I suppose this is a good thing, but not everyone likes this flavor of taxation.
Homeowners should talk to a tax pro to see how the changes for 2018 will affect them. Self employed people and others with large company and business expenses will likely continue to do taxes they way they always have. But W-2 wage earners may see a nice simplification to the annual annoyance that is filing tax returns.
Those with larger mortgages and or higher than average deductible expenses will not likely benefit from the higher standard deduction but all taxpayers will benefit from the lower tax brackets. Overall I remain cautiously optimistic about the plan, congress does have a way of screwing things up though, so we shall see :)
Happy New Year! I'll be back in 2018.
I see a market that should remain in the favor of sellers under roughly 115% of median value. From 115% to the upper middle bracket of 200% of median I see the strong possibility of neutral market conditions. Above that 200% of median, locally above $600k may even slide into a slight buyers market. I don't see soften prices, just very modest appreciation in the high end and average to slightly less than average appreciation in the low to middle price ranges.
This is a healthy condition because home values that rise in double figures for more than a few years leads to hard crashes as that greatly outstrips the wage growth. A healthy market with values appreciated in the 3-5% range is sustainable long term and when things get tight on incomes the market will get a soft landing.
The new tax law recently passed by congress and signed by the President, will increase the standard deduction for a married couple to $24,000 per year. The ability to deduct state and local taxes has been severely cut back. For entry level home buyers the ability to "write off" mortgage interest may not be a viable option. You see, a $300,000 mortgage at 4% will have about $13,000 in deductible interest in the first year and it will decline each year as the balance is reduced. Most people cannot come up with another $9,000 in deductions to reach the point of beating the standard deduction, so itemizing may not make sense anymore. This is a huge benefit to renters as they will now gain a massive increase in deduction where as home owners will either save a little or see no gain in benefit.
According to the politicians the idea was to eliminate the need for average Americans to fill out complex tax forms, pay accounting fees to do it for them, or buy software to help them. I suppose this is a good thing, but not everyone likes this flavor of taxation.
Homeowners should talk to a tax pro to see how the changes for 2018 will affect them. Self employed people and others with large company and business expenses will likely continue to do taxes they way they always have. But W-2 wage earners may see a nice simplification to the annual annoyance that is filing tax returns.
Those with larger mortgages and or higher than average deductible expenses will not likely benefit from the higher standard deduction but all taxpayers will benefit from the lower tax brackets. Overall I remain cautiously optimistic about the plan, congress does have a way of screwing things up though, so we shall see :)
Happy New Year! I'll be back in 2018.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Loan Changes Ahead
The regulators have decided to change the loan process again with new requirements on final HUD statements and disclosures that many in the industry feel will slow the process down by a few weeks. Right now a government backed loan product already averages nearly 6 weeks to close and potentially adding another two on the end could make that process a two month ride.
Borrowers whether using FHA, VA, USDA or Conventional products need to follow the loan officer's explicit instructions and most importantly in a timely fashion. This will become even more important when the new regulations are activated in August.
Conventional loans that currently close in 20-30 days will likely see close times increase to 30-40 days. Government backed products will likely nudge up against that 2 month window. Buyers need to be sure to ask for a long enough closing time to get everything complete and ready for recording.
All too often buyers are sluggish getting the required documentation into the lender and this causes delays that could result in having to ask the seller for an extension. In this robust seller's market asking for an extension could end up in causing the whole transaction to end.
Buyers need to follow the advice of the loan office and act quickly on getting requirements fulfilled so the loan is funded on time and without complications. The added issue is that inspectors, appraisers and other professionals involved in the process are all quite busy right now and they may need several extra days to complete their process.
Buyers simply need to stay on top of the process and respond promptly and they will be in their dream home before long.
Borrowers whether using FHA, VA, USDA or Conventional products need to follow the loan officer's explicit instructions and most importantly in a timely fashion. This will become even more important when the new regulations are activated in August.
Conventional loans that currently close in 20-30 days will likely see close times increase to 30-40 days. Government backed products will likely nudge up against that 2 month window. Buyers need to be sure to ask for a long enough closing time to get everything complete and ready for recording.
All too often buyers are sluggish getting the required documentation into the lender and this causes delays that could result in having to ask the seller for an extension. In this robust seller's market asking for an extension could end up in causing the whole transaction to end.
Buyers need to follow the advice of the loan office and act quickly on getting requirements fulfilled so the loan is funded on time and without complications. The added issue is that inspectors, appraisers and other professionals involved in the process are all quite busy right now and they may need several extra days to complete their process.
Buyers simply need to stay on top of the process and respond promptly and they will be in their dream home before long.
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