The process of selling a home can be daunting, not to mention time-consuming and complicated. This is especially true if you’re also looking for a property to buy at the same time. 

Most of the decisions you will be making can either save or cost you hundreds or thousands of pounds. Apart from marketing and putting your property up for sale, you’ll also need to settle and work out your financial options and consider timing things appropriately with the home you want to move to. 

With all the things you need to keep in mind when selling a property, it can be quite confusing to know where to begin or how to start. Because of this, here are some things that you need to keep in mind when selling a house in the UK. 

1. Sort out and settle your finances. 

The first thing you should figure out before selling your home is whether or not you have the capacity to do so. Ask yourself if you can afford to do it and if your finances prove sufficient enough to sustain you throughout this ordeal. 

Solar energy is gaining more and more attention as a viable option for supplying reliable energy to public lighting systems all around the globe. Solar streetlights provide a number of advantages, some of the most notable of which are less reliance on traditional forms of energy, increased energy efficiency, and decreased dependency on the power network. Solar lights are by far the most practical choice for nations that have a lot of sunshine since they may be used to brighten public areas such as streets, gardens, and parks.

Some solar lighting benefits are:

Each solar energy streetlight system is equipped with a solar power assembly that is self-contained and of sufficient size to operate the solar light fixture that has been requested by the area in accordance with the criteria that have been established. 

They are constructed in such a way that each solar-powered streetlight system may give illumination dependent on the amount of electricity required by the fixture as well as the amount of available sunlight in the area where the system is installed. The battery backup system offers a minimum of 5 days’ worth of autonomy for prolonged battery life, and it takes into account the meteorological conditions in the area.

Solar power assembly options vary from 30 Watts through 550 Watts, while battery power options range between 36 Amp-hours to 672 Amp-hours. A controller is included in the comprehensive solar lighting system as standard equipment. 

This June in Denver!

Let’s Go Avs!!!

 June 9th – June 26th: Moulin Rouge! The Musical

“Enter a world of splendor and romance, of eye-popping excess, of glitz, grandeur and glory! A world where Bohemians and aristocrats rub elbows and revel in electrifying enchantment. Pop the champagne and prepare for the spectacular spectacular…Welcome to Moulin Rouge! The Musical.” Get Tickets

Ask Brian is a weekly column by Real Estate Expert Brian Kline. If you have questions on real estate investing, DIY, home buying/selling, or other housing inquiries please email your questions to askbrian@realtybiznews.com.

Question from Lynda in IL: Hi Brian, I don’t really have a question. I just wanted to share with others the best real estate decision that I’ve made as I enter old age. I’m 71 and my husband was nine years older than me. He passed away five years ago, leaving me with a large four-bedroom, one-den, three-bath, three-car garage home on a large lot in the suburbs. I’m not even sure why we had such a large home since we never had children but that is where I found myself. After being alone for four years, I found myself only living in a few rooms, the master bedroom with a bath, the family room, and the kitchen. I no longer had much in common with the neighbors. At first, I thought the neighborhood had changed because we used to visit with neighbors frequently, but I wasn’t anymore. Then I realized I had changed more than the neighborhood. Over the years, the old friends had sold and moved away. The new neighbors were families with children much the same as it had been 20-years ago. I had become the old lady down the street and didn’t have much in common with any of them. I was becoming lonely and isolated.

That’s when I decided to do something to improve the later years of my life. A year ago, I moved into a 55 and older one-bedroom one-bath condo. I’m much happier here. I’m also much better off financially. I have a lot fewer expenses here – no yard maintenance, lower utilities, almost no repairs, less insurance, etc. After one short year, I still don’t know too many of the people here well, but I have started joining some of the activities and getting to know more people closer to my age. Life has gotten much better than the first several years after my husband passed and I just wanted to share my experience with others.

Answer: Hello Lynda. I’m glad things have worked out so well for you. Since you didn’t ask a particular question, I’m happy to share your story and also share a few tips and insights for baby boomers thinking about downsizing. One place to start is by thinking about how technology has made downsizing easier and more convenient. For instance, in the age of Uber, Lyft, and other car services, aging drivers have less need to own a car. If you don’t own a car, you don’t need a garage. Those who like to read also no longer need a den with books shelves filled with printed books because today every book is available in the cloud and is read from a Kindle or notepad. Community-based living means having a clubhouse with all the amenities available for entertaining. The overall result is less need for a large home.

Finding the perfect time to downsize isn’t simple. If you’ve recently retired, your new lifestyle takes time for adjustment. Fortunately, you now have time to make these adjustments exactly the way you want to.

Demand for mortgages in the U.S. has fallen to its lowest level since December 2018, even though there was a slight decline in interest rates last week.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications fell by a single percentage point last week, compared with the week prior. More telling is that mortgage application volume was down 14% from one year ago.

While rates did fall slightly last week, they still remain far higher than what many borrowers are willing to stomach. Since the start of the year, interest rates have risen steadily, adding hundreds of dollars per month to the cost of a mortgage.

The average contract interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a conforming loan balance of $647,200 fell from 5.46% to 5.33% last week, the MBA said.

Joel Kan, an economist at the MBA, said this was the fourth time in five weeks that rates have declined, amid concerns of weaker economic growth and a recent sell-off in the stock market that pushed Treasury yields lower.

Media Frenzy vs. The Facts

Many people we’ve spoken with have no idea what to think about the current housing market. The media is leading people to believe that we’re in another housing bubble. A few sources are even predicting a rapid decline in home prices when “the bubble” finally bursts. We’re here to cut through the noise and provide a no-nonsense snapshot of the current market.

The media is trying to liken what’s happening today to what happened back in 2008/2009. In reality, there’s little evidence we’re in a housing bubble. One major factor is the job market. Back in the days of the Great Recession, the unemployment rate hovered around 10%, making it hard for people to afford their mortgages, many of whom should have been considered unqualified to receive their loans in the first place. Lending standards today are much healthier than they were during the days of sub-prime mortgages. As of April 2022, the unemployment rate was just 3.6%, significantly lower than in the Great Recession. A healthy jobs market goes a long way toward a stable housing market. Additionally, even if unemployment does spike, most existing homeowners have enough equity in their homes that they would land on their feet if they did need to sell.

What should be more of a concern from an economic perspective is that the “yield curve” inverted in March, which is one of the best leading indicators of a recession. Once this change happens, it takes 18 months on average for a recession to occur. We have already begun to see some investors panic in the current “bear” stock market. The good news: real estate is historically a much safer investment than stocks, due to less risk over a longer period. Houses, in general, will always be worth money — people will always need a place to live!

ERA® REAL ESTATE ENTERS NORTH IDAHO WITH THE AFFILIATION OF 

ERA SHELMAN REALTY

ERA® Real Estate, a global franchising leader within the Realogy family of brands, today announced the affiliation of ERA Shelman Realty. The market-leading company is based in Bonners Ferry, Idaho and has served the community since 1963.

Owners Mark and Loralee Carey purchased the firm in 2018 from Mark’s brother Steve Carey, who bought the firm in 1991 from the Shelman Family.

A native of Bonners Ferry, Mark Carey left his hometown following his high school graduation in 1981 to find work due to the downturn in the economy. He met his wife Loralee Carey in Oregon in 1982 and earned his real estate license there in 1984. The couple moved back to north Idaho in 1993 where Mark continued his real estate career. In 2017, Loralee obtained her real estate license when the couple was purchasing the family brokerage. Mark and Loralee’s son, Isaac, is also a REALTOR® with the local Bonner Ferry brokerage, as well as a number knowledgeable and experienced agents who live in the area.

When you’re on the lookout for a new place to live, or even somewhere to add to your existing portfolio, this can require a lot of time and effort. However, if you deploy some smart tactics, you may be able to cut down on the total work involved. In doing so, it might be possible to prevent the house hunt from dominating your waking hours and even get rid of some of the more strenuous aspects.

Online shopping

Many people already look for gifts, electricals, and even general groceries online so why not  Sacramento real estate?. This could really simplify the process. You may have already felt frustrated by being bound by a traditional bricks-and-mortar real estate agent’s opening hours. However, an online agent or brokerage will conduct much of the process online, enabling you to liaise with one of the team, and even search for properties, using your smartphone, tablet, or computer. This can include the use of filters, so that you are only shown relevant properties in a specific area, or of a certain size or price. You might also be able to book an appointment to view certain properties or enquire for further details, without needing to visit an office in person. When your life is already rather hectic, this might come as a welcome relief.

Remove the pressure

It might also help you to get a feel for the current market by visiting several different properties that are within your budget. However, you may not feel ready to make a purchase yet, or want to do so without pressure. One way of achieving this can be to visit a variety of open houses, rather than only relying on allocated appointments. Doing so may also help you to figure out what you want in your future home, and what you may be willing to compromise on. For first-time buyers, physically visiting properties can be a good way to gain realistic expectations regarding what is available for certain amounts of money.

Prioritize your relationship

If you plan on purchasing a place with someone else, you might find that the entire procedure is putting significant strain on your relationship. Sometimes, it can make things easier by taking a step back and looking at how you can put yourself first. This might mean that you both need to better communicate what you want, or how you feel. Alternatively, it might even involve pausing your search for a while to allow you both to decompress. This might also allow you to return to the search feeling somewhat renewed and reassured of your joint decisions.

Buying a new home isn’t always an easy thing to do. You may benefit greatly from looking at ways you can both make the process easier and reduce the amount of stress you feel. This could also help you to prevent these issues from damaging your relationship, as well as enable you to conduct your searches at times that best suit you.

New home buyers may soon see some much-needed price relief, with reports saying that the lumber market bubble has finally “burst”.

Lumber prices rose to record highs during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding significantly to the cost of buying a new home. But the price of lumber is now falling fast, more than 12% in the last week alone, to hit its lowest point so far this year.

Experts say the falling price of lumber will be welcome news for both builders and new home buyers. In the last year, rising lumber prices added around $18,600 to the price of a median new home, according to data from the National Association of Home Builders.

The price of lumber is now in decline due to a slowdown in the new home market caused by rising inflation and higher interest rates. Buying is now simply too expensive for many Americans, leading to lower demand. That has led to a glut in the lumber market, with inventories piling up. Lumber yards have reduced their orders and sawmills are therefore slashing their prices, Market Insider reported last week.

As of last week, lumber prices were down 47% from the beginning of the year. They are down 65% from the record high of $1,733 per thousand board feet. It’s a substantial price drop that experts believe will help to ease inflationary pressure on the housing market, allowing the cost of building a new home to come down.

When leasing out your commercial property to a business, you are taking on certain risks. These individuals may default on payments, damage your building, or cause other issues. If you want to get ahead of such problems and limit how much you may be liable for as well, here are the top guidelines to follow: 

Protect Yourself Against Liability 

Yes, you can be held liable for various things when you rent out your building. If any kind of damage or accident occurs due to negligence, fire, electrical issues, or even the weather, you could be held responsible. As you can imagine, the cost for such issues would be incredibly high. 

This is why you should always consult with a commercial insurance company before you rent out your property. They will be able to suggest various forms of coverage that can protect you in a wide variety of circumstances. Remember, it is best not to skimp on your coverage. What you spend now can end up saving you tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars later on. Thus, it is always good to err on the side of caution. 

Create a Screening Process 

It is important to create a screening process for each business that you will interview. You may want to sit down with a legal expert to ensure that all your bases are covered. The more extensive the screening process, the greater the chance of finding the right tenant. 

You may want to start by running credit checks – this will show you if the company will be able to continue paying the rent for the duration of their lease. It is probably best to have a background check on the main owner to ensure that they are functioning above board. Finally, checking out their general reputation may be helpful as well. 

Inflation in the U.S. is running at a 40-year high and the rising prices its causing means many Americans are having to rethink their finances and future plans.

With inflation currently at 8.3%, people are facing higher prices for food, housing, fuel and most other goods and services.

Now, a new report from BMO Harris Bank has looked at the implications of those higher costs on the lives of Americans. Worryingly, some 25% of respondents in a survey told the bank that they’re postponing their retirement plans due to higher living costs.

The finding comes after a second survey by Pymnts.com and LendingClub revealed that almost one third of consumers who earn $250,000 a year say they’re forced to live from paycheck to paycheck.

The survey authors said that, based on typical benchmarks, some higher earners may have overspent on their housing. For instance, a mortgage on a $1.7 million home with a 20% down payment would cost $100,000 a year. That would make up 40% of a $250,000 pre-tax income, according to Bloomberg. Most financial analysts advise limiting housing costs to 30% of income.

Lots of people want to buy property in Berlin or any other city in Germany, but as a foreigner, you might be unsure of the process and whether or not you are even eligible. Do not worry! This guide will tell you everything you need to know about purchasing property as a foreigner in Germany.

Are Foreigners Restricted From Buying Property in Germany?

The first thing you should know is that there are no restrictions on foreigners buying property in Germany. You are treated the same as a German citizen when it comes to buying property. The process is relatively straightforward and there are a few things you need to know before getting started.

Find a Reputable Realtor

The first step is finding a reputable realtor who specializes in foreign buyers. They will be able to help you with the paperwork and answer any questions you have about the process. Look for someone who has the experience and is knowledgeable about the German property market.

To find a realtor, you can start by asking friends or family if they know anyone. You can also search online or on the yellow pages. Once you have found a few realtors, you can interview them to see who the best fit is for you.

Get Your Finances in Order

Before you start looking at properties, you need to make sure your finances are in order. This means getting pre-approved for a mortgage and having a down payment saved up. You will also need to show proof of income and have your tax returns ready.

A top economist has warned sellers that a slowdown in home price appreciation is all but inevitable as the economy falters.

In an interview with CNBC, National Association of Realtors’ chief economist Lawrence Yun said that the housing market is already showing signs of slowing down, with rising mortgage rates adding to already high prices and making homes unaffordable to many.

It means that sellers will likely have to lower their expectations, the economist said.

“It’s just inevitable that home price appreciation will slow down in the upcoming months,” Yun told CNBC.

Yun noted that pending home sales and new home sales have both fallen to pre-pandemic levels of activity, after seeing a huge spike over the past couple of years. Moreover, home listings rose last week by 9% compared to a year earlier, meaning buyers have more inventory to choose from. More homes for sale means more competition for sellers, which may drive prices down or at the very least, ensure home price growth tapers off.

People have multiple financial priorities in life. For some, it’s saving the down payment to buy a first home. Other times are saving college tuition for children, for their retirement, or untold other worthy financial goals. One that is often overlooked is the accelerated mortgage payoff.

There are many ways of doing this and doing so can save you 20, 30, 40, 50, thousand dollars or more over the life of your mortgage. For instance, you might make minimum payments for the first 5 years on a $200,000 30-year mortgage at 4.2%. Then, at the beginning of the fifth year, you start adding an extra $150 to your monthly payment. Your savings in interest costs over the remainder of the loan will be $26,093. A 17.15% savings. But there are many methods of saving interest costs and/or paying off your mortgage early. That is one of the more modest ways.

As time passes on a 30-year mortgage, the percentage of your income going towards your biggest asset will almost certainly become less. As you grow in your profession, you’ll earn more money. You will also probably have occasional financial bonanzas in the form of bonuses, large tax returns, or inheritances. Heck, you might even win $15,000 playing the lottery. The extra money from any source can be used to pay off your home earlier using one of these methods.

Regular extra annual payments. Using the same $200,000 30-year mortgage at 4.2%, you may be able to begin making an extra $2,500 annual payment after a few years. Around year 5 is when many people find their income outpacing their mortgage payments. That extra $2,500 annual payment results in paying off your loan 6 years and 11 months earlier at an interest savings of $34,449. A word of caution, keep an emergency account for unexpected financial needs.

Make 13 payments in 12 months. You could put 1/12th of a monthly payment into a special savings account (about $82 per month for a $200,000 mortgage). Or maybe you get paid every 2 weeks which results in an extra paycheck two months out of the year. Making that 13th monthly payment saves you about $26,000 of interest and cuts more than 4 years off the length of the loan.

As signs of a real estate market slowdown grow across the country, many sellers are resetting their home price expectations.

Recent data suggests that both new home and existing home sales are falling, as well as pending home sales. The latter fell for the sixth consecutive month in April to its lowest pace in almost 10 years, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors last week.

Homes are still selling fast but a slowdown is evident in many markets. Amid rising mortgage rates that are pricing more buyers out, some home sellers are having to revisit their asking price.

Price drops are particularly more common in migration hotspots, places that have been relatively affordable but saw home values surge as more people have migrated in from coastal areas since the pandemic began, a new report from Redfin says. For example, in Boise, Idaho, home prices are up 62% over the past two years. In April, 41% of home sellers dropped their prices, the largest of 108 metro areas tracked by Redfin.

More than 20% of home sellers dropped their price in April in seven of the 10 most popular migration destinations, the report says. Other areas that are seeing a rise in price drops include Cape Coral, Fla. (at 33% in April); New Orleans (32%); Baton Rouge, La (31%); and Sacramento, Calif. (30%).

“Gambling is not about how well you play the games; it’s really about how well you handle your money,” says the old gamer’s axiom.  Real estate brokers have enjoyed a good run for several years and in the changing climate, many are looking to take some chips off the table and reduce their personal risk. They typically start with wanting to know the value of their brokerage.

It’s not like valuing a home, where you can run market comps. Even within the same market, comparable brokerages will often vary greatly in value. In most industries, there are tangible assets that make up a sizable portion of company value, however, in a real estate brokerage, the most important asset isn’t even the brokers. That asset has legs belonging to independent contractors who are free to walk away: The value of the firm is impacted by the productivity of the agents.

Every week I hear the question, “what is the multiple today for valuing a brokerage?” The answer is one that brokers don’t like to hear: There is no simple magical formula for determining value because a lot of factors come into play.

“…there is one consistent driver of value
and that driver is profit”

Brokers understand the concept that a firm’s value is based on multiple profits. Where there is often a disconnect is understanding what is actually considered true profit.

The median price of homes in so-called “opportunity zones”, or areas that have been designated as “economically challenged” are seeing price increases that mirror the rest of the U.S. housing market, according to a new report from ATTOM Data Solutions.

The report finds that the median single-family and condo price made gains in 55% of opportunity zones nationwide between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of this year. What’s more, in half of those areas, home prices rose by at least 20% annually.

ATTOM said median values are up by more than 16.6% in around half of all opportunity zones. The opportunity zones were established under President Donald Trump through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Under that act, investors in opportunity zones would be entitled to tax breaks in exchange for making long-term investments that aim to revitalize federally-designated neighborhoods across the country.

ATTOM’s executive vice president of market intelligence, Rick Sharga, said home price trends in opportunity zones have mirrored those in the wider housing market. “Strong price growth has helped homeowners in these economically-challenged areas benefit from higher equity, and should contribute to the ongoing redevelopment of these areas,” he said.

While the price increases suggest that the opportunity zones policy is working, it’s important to note that home values in these areas are still much lower than most other neighborhoods in the U.S. For instance, opportunity zone home values were on average much less than the national median home price of $320,500. Indeed, the median home value in 51% of opportunity zones was less than $200,000, the report found.

Ask Brian is a weekly column by Real Estate Expert Brian Kline. If you have questions on real estate investing, DIY, home buying/selling, or other housing inquiries please email your questions to askbrian@realtybiznews.com.

Question from William in NE: Hi Brian, I’m a 67-year-old widower that will be retiring in seven months. I have no more use for my big four-bedroom two-story home. I’m going to sell it shortly after I retire. The house is paid for and I’m well aware that my retirement dream is supposed to be having a fully paid for the home when my paychecks stop. However, I’m starting to think that might not be what I really want. I see some appeal to renting a ground-floor apartment and leaving all the yard work and maintenance to a landlord. Is my thinking getting screwy as I get older and close to retirement?

Answer: Hi William. Your thinking doesn’t sound at all screwy to me. It sounds to me that you are in a good place because you get to decide what you want to do and where you want to live during retirement. First of all, at age 67, your next home might not be your last home. So, keep thinking about what else could be in your future. What homeownership has done for you at this point in your life is give you a lot of options to consider.

At this stage in your life, real estate probably isn’t as important as an investment as it was before. You own that investment and now is the time to decide what to do with it. Many people think the best economical decision is to stay in the house that is paid off. But it sounds like you have already decided that is not the answer for you. The house sounds too big for one person, also by the time it is paid off is often when some major repairs are needed, and a two-story house is not ideal for older people. So, your decision is to either rent or buy another home.

The place to begin is by deciding what type of home you want to live in and crunching some numbers. Unless you are thinking about an extravagant upgrade, the numbers should work in your favor. A ground-floor condo or a smaller one-story house seems to be the best choice for you to consider. You should be able to buy either one and still have money left over from selling your big house that you can invest to generate some retirement income. A ground-floor condo with a porch would make it easy to do your shopping or pack the car for road trips. A condo means someone else does the maintenance and repairs to the shared areas, but you would still be responsible for the unit that you own.

Sellers are getting worried that they could miss the home buying frenzy and are consequently accelerating their timelines to try and sell up before demand softens too much. As home inventory is a variable factor in today’s real estate market.

There are some important signs that the real estate market is slowing across the U.S. Data shows that both existing home and new homes sales have declined recently, while pending home sales are also lower, according to the latest index that tracks these things.

Moreover, we’re seeing more homes on the market. The inventory of for-sale homes jumped 9% last week compared to one year ago, according to realtor.com. New listings have grown at almost double the rate they were coming onto the market in the last four weeks, compared to the year before.

Redfin’s chief economist Daryl Fairweather told CNBC that rising mortgage rates are the main factor behind the shift in real estate markets. Due to the cost of mortgage payments going up, sellers are now in a hurry to find a buyer before demand weakens and they find themselves unable to sell, she said.

Another sign of the slowing market is that pending home sales fell for the sixth straight month in April, and are now at the slowest pace in almost ten years, the National Association of Realtors said last week.

This week we continue our quest to showcase some of America’s top real estate professionals. The focus today is on the Providence, Rhode Island market. We’ve also isolated yet another tool to help us compare and showcase great industry professionals. So, perhaps we’ll learn a bit more about how to discover the best of the best in this session. 

PropertySpark comes into frame as something of an attempt at differentiating agents and brokers in social media. We’re trying platforms like HomeLight, Google, Zillow, and others in order to give consumers a more complete picture, so this one should be interesting. Though cross-references just got a lot harder. Interestingly, what we found this week says a lot about best digital practices for rating industry pros. I’ll explain in the summary. 

 The Re/max Advantage Group has a website, but it’s not currently SEO friendly enough to even have a MOZ rating. Her 4.9 Google rating with 30 reviews is respectable. She’s in position #5 on RateMyAgent with perfect reviews from 46 reviewers. Gleason also took home a 2022 award. The agent/consultant is also perfect on Zillow.