Las Vegas Real Estate Podcast with Corey Toushin

What Are Your Options as an Upsizing or Downsizing Seller?

cassidy@getvyral.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 08:09:00 -0700

Are you a seller looking to upsize or downsize? Our market is not moving in your favor, but there are a couple options you can pursue to find the right home.

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Right now in our market, inventory is very low and buyer demand is very high. For sellers looking to upsize or downsize, there’s not much to choose from and homes are selling very fast.

If you’re one of these sellers, what are your options?

Whichever option you should choose depends on your specific situation.

The first thing I recommend is determining if you can actually purchase a home before you sell your current home. This will alleviate the issue of having to sell your current house, move into something temporary, and wait several weeks or months until you can find something else to purchase.

If you can’t do that, your other option is to put your house on the market, find a buyer to purchase it, and make the sale contingent upon the buyer allowing you to stay in the house and rent it back for however long you need. That way you can close on your house, it would free up your equity and your ability to obtain a new mortgage, and give you time after the close to shop for that new purchase.

A recurrent theme of this topic is making contingent offers to purchase property, meaning that you make an offer to purchase a new property that’s contingent on selling your old property first. In our current market, this option isn’t very popular. It weakens your offer, and sellers would rather pursue offers that aren’t contingent on other properties selling.

There are many options you can pursue, and which one you choose really depends on your specific circumstances and real estate goals. If you have any questions about our market or would like to talk about your situation, feel free to call, text, or email me. I’m happy to help.

Your 2016 Vegas Real Estate Market Recap

cassidy@getvyral.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 09:39:00 -0800

What happened in the 2016 real estate market? How is the 2017 real estate market shaping up?

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2016 was a very interesting year for real estate. We had an interesting election, record low interest rates, and a significant drop in the number of new homes listed for sale.

2016 was an interesting year for real estate.

In fact, our inventory levels dropped 30% from 2015 to 2016. Why did inventory drop so much? A lot of it has to do with the election. Everyone wanted to wait and see what would happen. Plus, record low interest rates incentivized a lot of homeowners to refinance their homes instead of selling their homes.

Overall for the year, new listings only went up by 1%. The number of closed sales went up just over 6%. That shrinks the amount of inventory that we have. As a result, the average days on market went down 16% from 2015. We only had a 60-day supply of homes on the market, which means that if no new listings came on the market and we continued selling at the same pace, we would run out of homes in 60 days.

Low inventory drove our median sales price up from $215,000 to $230,000, which is a 6% increase. Normally after the holiday season, we see a spike of new listings coming into the market. That hasn’t happened yet this year. New listings continue to decrease, but pending home sales are up. That has reduced the days on market further to 45 days.

As we enter the famous spring selling market, we will see that spike in listings. I expect that the median price will rise a little bit, but not as significantly as last year.

What does this mean for you?

If you are a buyer, interest rates are still at record lows. They have gone up about a half a point since last year but, historically speaking, these are still low interest rates, which makes now a great time to buy a home.

If you are a seller, now is a great time to list your home for sale. Inventory is still low and pending sales are going up. Now is also the perfect time to beat all of the competition you would face in the spring market.

If you have any other questions about our real estate market, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

How to Protect Your Home this Winter

cassidy@getvyral.com (Unknown) — Fri, 9 Dec 2016 12:05:00 -0800

The weather is getting colder in Las Vegas. We’ve got five tips to help your home stay protected this winter.

It’s getting colder in Las Vegas. Believe it or not, overnight lows are in the 30s already, and it feels like it was just summer a month ago. As the weather gets colder, we want you and your home to be protected from the elements. We’ve got five tips to share with you today that will help keep your home protected and safe, while hopefully cutting down on your energy bills.

1. Insulating all external pipes. Either wrap them with insulation or foam sleeves. You don’t want your pipes to crack or freeze. It can become a very expensive repair.

2. Change the direction of all your ceiling fans. It will increase the circulation of heat throughout your house so that it’s more comfortable during more of the day.

3. Check weather stripping on all exterior doors. If they aren’t sealed properly, they can create air gaps, causing your energy bills to go up.

4. Check all your carbon monoxide detectors. If you don’t have any, add them next to your air return vents. Carbon monoxide likes to settle down towards the bottom of your floors. A detector increases your safety and will keep you healthy.

5. Cut down on watering. Your lawn doesn’t need as much water in the winter, obviously. If you have automatic sprinklers, make sure they are turned off at night. They can make your sidewalk or driveway slippery in the morning when it’s cold enough.

Leaving your sprinklers on in the winter isn’t smart.

We hope you enjoyed this list. If you have any questions for us or are thinking about buying or selling a home sometime soon, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

Should You Try Selling Your Home During the Holidays?

cassidy@getvyral.com (Unknown) — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 09:09:00 -0800

Listing your home now means dealing with buyers who are more serious and not having as much competition from other home sellers.

Is it a good idea to list your home during the holidays? In my opinion, yes it is.

One reason is that buyers that are out in the marketplace during this time are traditionally more serious about purchasing a property. They also have a lot more time to shop for homes with their families.

Another reason is that inventory is a lot lower during the holiday season. Once we enter November and roll into December, we usually see the number of new listings decline. This means you will have a substantially lower amount of competition to deal with. It’s also important to remember that homes show really well during the holidays. They’re decorated and well-maintained, which makes them extremely marketable.

Once we reach the new year and cross January 1st, the number of new listings here in Las Vegas jumps by 50%. Why not list your home now, get it sold, and let somebody else deal with that logjam? If you’re still not convinced, know that each year we have between 2,000 to 2,300 properties close in November and December, and another 2,000 to 2,300 go under contract. That’s a lot of buyers out there shopping this very moment.

Sell now before the competition spikes after New Year’s.

If you have any other questions on this topic or you have a topic you’d like so see me discuss in the near future, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

Las Vegas Real Estate: What to Do When an Appraisal Comes in Low

cassidy@getvyral.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 08:53:00 -0700

Appraisals are a very hot topic in the world of real estate right now. Most would say we're in a seller's market right now, and appraisals are coming in a little bit lower than purchase contract prices.

Appraisals are a report generated by a licensed appraiser using the comparative sales approach; they take properties that have sold around you, compare it to yours, and make value adjustments based on things like size, upgrades, and garage size. They come up with an overall value, or the appraised value.

We're seeing appraisals come in lower than the contract agreement, especially in the luxury price points.

Right now, appraisals are coming in lower than the prices that buyers are willing to pay. Buyers purchasing a home with a loan can't get the loan for any more than what the appraised value is, and that creates some complications. Say for example's sake, a buyer offers $500,00 for a home, but the appraiser values it at $475,000. When this happens, a few things can take place to make sure the deal continues:

The seller can reduce the price. By lowering the price to the appraised value, the buyer will be able to obtain their home loan and purchase the house.
The buyer can come up with the difference in cash. If they see the value in the home, they can make up the difference between the appraised value and the contract price in cash if they're able.
Both parties renegotiate and come to a compromise. The buyer and seller can meet somewhere in the middle, like the seller coming down $10,000 in price, and the buyer agrees to pay $15,000 more in cash.
The buyer can back out of the deal. Since most deals with financing are contingent upon an appraiser, the buyer will almost always have the option to back out of the deal with no penalty.

In the higher price points in the luxury market, what I often see is a more of a disparity between the appraised value and the purchase agreement. This happens because there are a lot more things to assess in a luxury property, like high-end materials or a premium view of the mountains. I'd say appraisals are a little bit more insignificant in that price range because the appraisal is solely an opinion of value. We tend to lean more toward the market value that a buyer is willing to pay at a given point in time.

Another thing I'm commonly asked about is buyers and sellers looking at Zillow's Zestimates and seeing that they're far off from the appraisal. What you need to know is that the Zestimate is an automated value model (AVM) that is a computer-generated number. Most of the time, it doesn't take improvements or upgrades to the property into account.

It's not the same as an appraisal, so I wouldn't recommend going off of that number if you're thinking about selling your home. There could be a lot more value in your home than what the Zestimate says. Similarly, if you're thinking about buying a house, rather than forming your opinion of the price on the Zestimate, align yourself with a great real estate professional who can tell you what the home is worth.

If you have any questions about appraisals and home values, or you're wondering about anything in the Las Vegas real estate market in general, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to answer your questions.

Mortgage Q&A with a Local Las Vegas Lender

cassidy@getvyral.com (Unknown) — Tue, 9 Aug 2016 12:33:00 -0700

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Today I'm joined by Steve Schauer with New American Funding to talk a bit about lending to follow up on last week's talk about interest rates.

Interest rates for 30-year and 15-year loans are both below about 4%, depending on the FICO score and some other things. The turmoil in international markets is also holding interest rates down, and the Federal Reserve has said they will stay low for a bit. How long they'll stay low is uncertain, however, but Steve said he thinks they'll stick around for the next six months, and probably go up next year.

Interest rates are low, but they will go back up soon.

When it comes to waiting periods for getting a new loan after short sales or foreclosures, there are three basic loans. There is the VA loan with a two-year waiting period, FHA loans with a three-year waiting period, and conventional loans with a seven-year waiting period. There are some stipulations with a conventional loan that can push that waiting period down to four years, though.

In Nevada, we also have something called the "Home is Possible" program, which is one of the best down payment assistance programs available because it has a high-income cap. Steve said he has buyers who have moved into a house with zero money down thanks to this program.

With down payments, we also want to debunk the old myth that a 20% down payment is required to buy a home. With VA loans, you don't need to put anything down, and FHA loans require only 3.5% down. For a conventional loan, the minimum down payment is 5%.

If you're seeking a home loan, you should avoid things that affect credit, like major purchases, job changes, and cash deposits. From application to close, try to keep everything status quo.

If you have questions about mortgages for Steve, you can reach him at (702) 476-9000 or email him at steve.schauer@nafinc.com.

For any real estate questions, feel free to give me a call or send me an email soon. I hope to hear from you soon!

How Interest Rates Have Affected the Marketplace

cassidy@getvyral.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 11:49:00 -0700

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Where have interest rates gone from the beginning of the year?

On January 1st, they were floating at just below 4% for a 30-year fixed mortgage. Now, as of one week ago, they’re averaging just under 3.5%. If we take a scenario like a $300,000 mortgage and try to configure the difference in terms of affordability, that equals out to just $75 to $100 per month.

What’s keeping interest rates so low and affordable? A big factor has been the Brexit, or Great Britain’s initiative to exit the European Union. Because it’s still uncertain what the Brexit is doing, it’s creating a concern in the marketplace. This kind of effect usually has a direct impact on where interest rates go. Since it’s thus far kept them low, buyers and homeowners have had more incentive to stay in the market.

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Low interest rates have given both buyers and sellers incentive to stay in the market.

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For buyers, lower interest rates present more affordable homes, thus enticing them to enter the marketplace in greater numbers. For homeowners, lower interest rates presents a great opportunity to refinance at a lower rate and lower their debt obligation. This cycle creates upward pressure on pricing, and for the last year or two we’ve seen a steady increase in home values of about 5% to 6% nationwide.

Where will interest rates go over the next 12 months? A report just came out recently, based on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and the National Association of Realtors, that projects that interest rates will stay flat or increase slightly over the next couple quarters. Toward the end of next year they’re predicted to rise from .25% to .5%.

In the near future, affordability is going to stay strong and present great opportunities for both buyers and sellers.

If you have any questions on the topics we covered or you’d like me to cover a specific topic in the future, feel free to contact me by phone or email.

Why You Need a Home Warranty

cassidy@getvyral.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 1 Jul 2016 08:25:00 -0700

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Not only is the Las Vegas real estate market heating up, so is the weather. When it gets hot in the summer, your appliances are under more stress and more likely to fail. That’s why you need a home warranty.

A home warranty is similar to an insurance policy on the systems and appliances in your home. The home warranty covers things like air conditioners, furnaces, water heaters, pool equipment, washer, dryer, and more.

If you are selling a property this summer, talk to your agent about putting a home warranty policy in place. That way, if one of your appliances fails because of the hot weather while the home is on the market (or in escrow!), you will be covered. The home warranty will also eliminate a lot of those out of pocket expenses for repairs.

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A home warranty will save you thousands on expenses

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If you are buying a property, ask your agent to call the other party to see if there’s a home warranty policy in place. If not, I recommend putting one in place the minute the property closes. That way, if something breaks after you buy the home, you are covered if you need a replacement. In fact, when I bought my last home, there was a major issue with the garage just three weeks after we closed. It would have cost $1,000 to repair. Luckily, we had a home warranty in place, so it only cost us a very small fee.

As you can see, home warranties are incredibly important. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you.

How to Handle a Multiple Offer Situation in Las Vegas & Henderson

cassidy@getvyral.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 12:29:00 -0700

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As a home seller, you probably think that a bidding war or a multiple offer situation is a good thing. It’s a nice position to be in as a seller, but you still have a lot of work to do. It’s not as simple as picking the highest cash offer and moving on.

Now, not all homes are going to get multiple offers, but we are seeing multiple offers cropping up in the lower-priced homes. Inventory is low in the lower price brackets, so buyers are having to compete for properties.

"Cash offers are not always your best choice."

So, is the highest cash offer always your best offer? Not necessarily. It all depends on what you want. If you need to sell quickly, then you may want to go with a lower cash offer in order to get around financing delays.

A cash offer is not always better than a financed offer. Cash offers are usually a little lower than financed offers, but they do allow you to sell your home faster. If you need cash quickly, this might work, but sometimes a financed offer will be better for you.

Selecting the right offer is easiest when you talk to your real estate professional and let them know of your goals and intentions for your home sale. We want to identify your goals so that we can create the best strategy to respond to multiple offers when they do arise.

In the next video, we'll address how to handle multiple offer situations as a buyer, so stay tuned!

If you have any questions or concerns about this video or the content covered in it, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Is Las Vegas in a Buyer’s or Seller’s Market?

cassidy@getvyral.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 13:19:00 -0700

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My clients ask me all the time, “Is it a buyer’s or seller’s market?” Well, it really depends on the price segment. Generally, we are in a seller’s market right now. We judge that by the number of homes available for sale versus the number of buyers interested in purchasing those homes.

Since January 1st, the number of homes on the market has increased only slightly, whereas the number of interested buyers entering the marketplace has increased. Sales are up 15% since the beginning of the year, which naturally puts an upward pressure on pricing. Looking at our median price Valley-wide, we are up about 8% to 10% year over year.

A big factor in the state of the market is the current interest rate condition. Interest rates are still historically low, with 30-year fixed rates hovering around 4%, which definitely drives up buyers’ affordability.

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We are in a strong seller’s market.

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Overall, these factors have created a seller’s market. Home values are on the rise and buyers are finding themselves in multiple offer situations. Sometimes, buyers even end up paying above appraisal price for a property.

If you’re a buyer, know that you will be competing with other buyers. Since there aren’t many homes for sale, be a little bit more flexible with the homes you are looking to purchase. Keep in mind that you can always update the home, but you cannot change the location.

If you’re a seller, know that homes are selling relatively fast. Right now, homes sell in an average of 60 days. Be prepared to move onto your next destination relatively quickly.

If you have any other questions about our current market, give me a call or send me an email.