Tag Archives: buying

Buying a Home – What Happens After Your Offer Is Accepted

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Our blog is read by real estate agents, brokers and consumers which is why this post is of interest. For those in the business this might be information worth sharing with your clients.

You might be wondering what happens after the offer is accepted? Having your offer accepted feels great, but for most home buyers, it’s just the beginning. There is still a lot more to be done before you’re done buying a house. You might think it’s time to get the keys and start moving in, but there are several things you still need to do before this thing is official.

Learn more about what happens after the offer is accepted and other real estate tips: realtor.com

Better off Renting? BH&J Buy vs. Rent Index Shows Renters Create More Wealth than Buyers in Many U.S. Housing Markets

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Boca Raton, FL – June 6, 2018 (PRNewswire-USNewswire) With housing markets around the U.S. nearing the peak in their cycles, renters who reinvest their money have an increasingly better chance at creating wealth than individuals who purchase a home, according to the latest national index produced by Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University faculty.

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This marginal move in the Beracha, Hardin & Johnson Buy vs. Rent (BH&J) Index shows an increased possibility of significant price retractions in many metro areas around the country, while other markets’ pricing can be expected to remain stable based on their index scores.

“On the heels of information concerning slowing housing starts, rising mortgage rates, decreased demand and unsustainable price increases, these numbers provide additional evidence that housing markets around the country are slowing, resulting in many to opt for renting,” said Ken Johnson, Ph.D., a real estate economist and one of the index’s creators in FAU’s College of Business.

Of the 23 separate metro areas in the BH&J Index, many are nearing the top of their current housing cycle, meaning they are above their long-term pricing trend. These cities include Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Honolulu, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and St. Louis.

Other cities are below their long-term pricing trend — meaning buying and building equity is the superior option — including Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, New York and Philadelphia.

The biggest contributor to the rising cost of ownership is rising house prices, said Eli Beracha, Ph.D., co-creator of the index and associate professor in the Hollo School of Real Estate at FIU.

“The current scores driving the markets in the direction of renting and reinvesting appear to be the results of higher mortgage rates, increase in returns, on average, in the stock market, and the cost of ownership, which includes your mortgage payment, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc.,” Beracha said. “All of these costs are rising faster than the cost of renting a comparable property. Therefore, renters who take the money they’re saving each month and reinvest it are going to build wealth faster than those who buy a home, on average.”

The BH&J Index is published quarterly and is produced two months after the end of the quarter.

Buyer Demand Continues to Climb With February’s 3.7% Year-Over-Year Increase

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Northeast Region posts largest year-over-year increase; West, Midwest regions decline slightly

Chicago, IL – March 21, 2018 (PRNewswire) Home showings on the national level posted a 3.7 percent year-over-year increase in February, according to the ShowingTime Showing Index®, as high consumer demand continued throughout the winter and ahead of the spring season, real estate’s most important time of year for booking sales.

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Buyer engagement via showings in the Northeast and South regions outpaced the national numbers, with the Northeast Region exhibiting an 8.4 percent year-over-year increase and the South Region experiencing a year-over-year increase of 5.3 percent.

Showing activity in the West and Midwest regions experienced slight declines in showing activity in February, with the West Region dropping 4.4 percent and the Midwest Region declining 0.4 percent compared to the previous year. Those declines can be attributed to a very busy February 2017, ShowingTime Chief Analytics Officer Daniil Cherkasskiy said.

Other issues that bear monitoring in the coming months are whether higher mortgage rates and new tax laws will impact buyers, and if the new steel and aluminum tariffs will influence the already low inventory of new homes.

“Buyer demand remains strong throughout the U.S. despite prices continuing to rise across the country,” Cherkasskiy said. “We experienced a very substantial increase in buyer activity during the last spring season, and this year seems to be just as busy throughout all of the regions. Activity in the Northeast has especially increased as we head into the spring season.”

The ShowingTime Showing Index is compiled using data from property showings scheduled across the country on listings using ShowingTime products and services. It tracks the average number of appointments received on an active listing during the month.

ShowingTime is the leading market stats and showing management technology provider to the residential real estate industry. Its MarketStats division provides interactive tools and easy-to-read market reports for MLSs, associations, brokers, agents and other real estate companies, along with recruiting software that enables brokers to identify top agents. Its showing products and services take the inefficiencies out of the appointment scheduling process. ShowingTime products are used in more than 180 MLSs and associations representing more than 900,000 real estate professionals across the U.S. and Canada. Visit www.showingtime.com.