Is our market headed for a crash? Looking to buy a home? Search All Homes Looking to sell your home? Get a Free Home Value Report Many people have been speculating that because of our market’s 21% growth in home prices in the last year, we’re repeating a similar cycle that we went through over a decade ago during the last housing crash. People who have bought into conspiracy theories fear that prices are going to plummet, there will be a wave of foreclosures, and the economy will crash. Today, however, we’re here to talk to you about the facts. We can tell you unequivocally that our market isn’t about to crash anytime soon. Nothing that is happening in our current market mirrors what was going on back then. One factor that contributed to the crash of 2007 to 2008 was that almost anyone who applied could get a loan, and not just one loan, but multiple loans that many people weren’t able to pay off. Since then, the mortgage industry has tightened up; there are more hoops to jump through if you want to get a loan today. Now they know to make sure that applicants are able to qualify for a loan before they’ll issue one. “       The circumstances surrounding today’s market are vastly different than we experienced back then. ” Simple processes that we take for granted today, like appraisals, weren’t required back during the crash. Today, appraisals are taken more seriously. Even though the market has appreciated, we in the industry are still dealing with many appraisal challenges. The biggest deciding factor that caused the crash was an overabundance of homes in the market. We had too many homes and not enough buyers. Today, as I’m sure you’re aware by now, we have the opposite problem—there aren’t enough homes on the market to meet the buyer demand. Right now, we have one month’s supply of homes, and each house that we list in the regular price ranges is receiving upwards of 10 offers. Not only that, but these buyers are owner-occupiers, not investors, meaning that they’re buying homes to live in. During the crash, many investors were buying up properties for speculative purposes. The only thing that seems like it would be capable of slowing our market down would be an increase in interest rates. That would slow demand, but it wouldn’t cause home prices to plummet. All in all, don’t believe the conspiracy theories about the market heading for a crash. The circumstances surrounding today’s market are vastly different than we experienced back then.  If you have any questions about the market or real estate in general, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to speak with you.

Here are the benefits of choosing an experienced agent. Looking to buy a home? Search All Homes Looking to sell your home? Get a Free Home Value Report Great real estate agents understand how to negotiate and market homes, and they also know how to take advantage of a heated market like ours. Even though it’s now commonplace today, we’ve been generating bidding wars and selling homes for above asking price for over a decade. Our agents come from a place of abundance; they’re doing a ton of transactions and are well-compensated for it; they’ll never try moving things along just so that they can get a check.  Being a buyer’s agent in this market is especially tough. It takes a lot of experience and effort to be able to secure a home for a buyer at all, given how low inventory has been. A good buyer’s agent needs to know how to navigate multiple-offer situations, and unfortunately, many newer agents don’t know how to do it. Be sure to compare and contrast your options for agents when seeking professional assistance. Don’t just work with your friend or family member because they’re there or you feel obligated—no matter how close to them you are, if they don’t have the right skill set, they may end up costing you by leaving money on the table or failing to negotiate the best deal. “       Now is not the time to hire an inexperienced agent. ” No matter if you’re buying or selling, if you’re planning to act in this market, you’ll need an experienced professional who has the power of a team behind them. Transactions today are more complicated than they used to be, so it’s invaluable to be able to take advantage of multiple specialists to help yours move along swiftly and smoothly. Because we have such a large team, we’re able to collaborate in order to find properties that aren’t even on the market yet, as well as create strategies to secure properties for buyers and the best prices for sellers. We also have access to professional marketing resources like photography and videography, which can boost the appeal of a seller’s listing. Brand-new agents likely can’t afford the latest technology and tools to get you the best results. If you’ve been thinking about buying or selling a home, reach out to the Duncan Duo Team at RE/MAX. We’d be happy to speak in more detail about how our combined experience can help you find success no matter what you’re looking to do.

Now is the perfect time for you to sell your Tampa home. Here’s why. Looking to buy a home? Search All Homes Looking to sell your home? Get a Free Home Value Report We’re still in one of the hottest real estate markets we’ve ever seen, and it’s created a lot of unique situations for buyers and sellers alike. In particular, there are many opportunities for sellers to make a fantastic profit. Few people expected that the pandemic would cause such an influx of homebuyers in Florida. People who would normally leave the state have chosen to stay instead, so supply and demand are heavily favoring the sellers. Additionally, record-low interest rates have continued. We have less than a month of inventory in many of our markets, so a lot of bidding wars are taking place and netting sellers top dollar on their sales. Really, there’s never been a better time for sellers to jump into real estate. Additionally, sellers haven’t needed to do the upgrades and renovations they normally would in the past. You can still get offers above asking price when you sell your home as is, which nets you an even bigger profit. Home prices have also appreciated 21% year over year. “       If you’re on the fence or waiting to sell, we recommend that you jump into the market sooner rather than later. ” However, new laws may take effect next year that affect capital gains taxes. For example, people can currently avoid paying a capital gains tax if they live in their property for two of the last five years. There are talks of ending this within the next year, which is another reason why now is a good time to sell. If you’re on the fence or waiting to sell, we recommend that you jump into the market sooner rather than later. A lot of things are likely to change in the near future, and these changes can cause you to miss out on great profits in your home sale. If you have any questions, would like more information, or are ready to sell your home, feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Here are four reasons why we’re not in a market bubble that’s soon to burst. Looking to buy a home? Search All Homes Looking to sell your home? Get a Free Home Value Report As we head into the second quarter of 2021, there’s a lot of fear out there regarding the real estate market. People see that prices are continuing to rise and they’re concerned—understandably so—about the potential for a bubble in the market leading to a crash. Will we see a collapse like we saw a decade ago? Are prices about to fall? The answer to all of these questions is unequivocally no; we are not in the midst of a bubble, and a crash isn’t on the horizon. Here’s why:  1. Limited supply. Leading up to the ‘08 crash, we had an abundance of homes on the market, and not many people were actually interested in buying them. Builders ramped up production and greatly outpaced natural demand. Currently, we have fewer than two months of inventory across most neighborhoods and price ranges in Tampa Bay, meaning that there’s more demand than supply; prices will rise organically. Our market isn’t unstable or unnatural—it’s being fueled by basic economic principles. We can’t say the same for the manipulated market that existed between 2005 and 2008. That leads me to my next point…  2. The housing demand is real. We don’t have all the faulty and fake loans out there. Nowadays, it’s much harder to qualify for a loan; you have to send in more documents to verify more components of your financial profile before receiving approval. “       In the early to mid-2000s, Americans were using their houses like ATMs. ” 3. Households in 2021 have plenty of equity. In the early to mid-2000s, Americans were using their houses like ATMs. There was almost an economic assumption that equity exists solely to help you buy things like a new car or splurge on a fun vacation. This type of thinking left many vulnerable to a market correction. Today’s homeowners are not overextending themselves; they’re using their equity more judiciously. If you look at the stats, you’ll see that the majority of homeowners today are in much, much stronger equity positions than homeowners last decade.  4. Real estate is hyperlocal. What happens in one market doesn’t necessarily indicate what will happen in another. Here in Tampa Bay, we have several factors that will help keep our market hot for the foreseeable future. First, there's the population growth; more people are moving here than are moving away. Our builders are still lagging behind demand! Fewer people are selling their homes (though I think that that’s a mistake, considering they might get hit with an unpleasant new tax bill soon). Additionally, we have low taxes and fantastic weather. Last but not least, we have winning sports teams! We won the Stanley Cup and the Super Bowl, and our MLB team contended in last year’s World Series. So there you have it—four reasons why you should put your market bubble fears to bed. Hopefully this helped put things into perspective. As always, reach out by phone or email if you have questions about this or any other real estate topic. I’m here to help, and it’d be my pleasure to have a more in-depth conversation with you.

Here’s how potential capital gains tax changes impact homeowners. Looking to buy a home? Search All Homes Looking to sell your home? Get a Free Home Value Report Potential tax law changes on the horizon could impact home sellers’ capital gains rates and exclusions. Currently, sellers are allowed to sell their primary residence and not pay the capital gains tax if they’ve lived in that residence for at least two out of the past five years. Married couples can exclude up to $500,000 worth of capital gains, while single homeowners can exclude up to $250,000. Due to the run-up of our real estate market, many homeowners out there are sitting on a lot of equity. If they wait until next year or any year afterward to sell their properties, they could pay an enormous amount of capital gains. For our team’s savvy home sellers who don’t want to miss out on taking advantage of home appreciation, we recommend that they sell now, collect their capital gains tax-free, and buy a comparatively priced home in the same area or market. If you’re in the same situation, this simple lateral move protects you from the coming tax basis.  Similarly, investors and landlords who own lots of properties could be looking to sell them because it’s a lock that capital gains rates are rising. If you’re an investor or landlord, you can look at this as an opportunity to take a greater gain as well. Of course, you can always buy back properties and take part in the appreciation that’s expected to happen in the next few years. “       This simple lateral move protects you from the coming tax basis. ” However, because these tax changes haven’t been formally announced yet, people are waiting to see what happens. The problem here is that if you wait too long, you may not be able to sell your property within the same year. It’s not just about when you list your property—it’s about when you close on it. If you wait too long to list and your property closes next year, you won’t get the same benefit.  Many of our smart, wealthy clients who own primary residences worth $500,000 to $1 million and have $200,000 to $500,000 worth of equity are selling now and buying comparable properties for this very reason. They also plan on staying in their new properties until the tax laws swing back the other way. If you’re afraid that home prices will keep rising, they may do so in the coming year, but that rise gets offset by what you’d have to pay in capital gains if you wait to sell.  The longer you wait, the more you put yourself at risk, and there’s never been a better time to sell real estate in Tampa Bay. Inventory is low, we’re seeing high population growth, and there are tons of strong economic indicators. We’re seeing bidding wars across all price ranges and homes selling far above asking price, so talk to an agent and review your options. We’d be happy to give you a free consultation or determine what your home would sell for in this market, so give us a call or shoot us an email today.  If you have any other real estate needs, feel free to reach out to us as well. Also, be sure to check out our weekly radio show every Sunday at 10 a.m. on 970 AM. We look forward to hearing from you!

If you’re buying a home, avoid making these five disastrous mistakes. Looking to buy a home? Search All Homes Looking to sell your home? Get a Free Home Value Report There are five fatal mistakes that too many homebuyers make during the home-buying process: 1. Hiring an inexperienced agent. This includes hiring people like your close friends and family because you’d feel guilty if you didn’t. Many people work in real estate part time and unfortunately can't always provide the resources, tools, and experience needed to help you navigate to a successful closing. Hiring an inexperienced agent to help you could cost you tens of thousands of dollars, a lot of heartache, and cause you to make further mistakes in the transaction. More experienced agents do more transactions, have more experience, and can therefore help you get to the closing table. 2. Failing to get a home inspection. Home inspectors are trained to find things that are wrong with a house. Like when they hire agents, many people look to their friends and family to help, only to find out months after the transaction that something had been missed or poorly assessed. Hiring a professional home inspector is a must in every real estate transaction. “       Don’t go out and make major credit purchases until after you close on the home. ” 3. Changing jobs. Any change in your job environment during a home purchase can cause issues with your mortgage. It doesn’t matter if you’ll make more money at your new job; it’s a risk the bank doesn’t want to take. Keep your job during the process, and be sure to document any bonuses you receive.  4. Making credit purchases. We’ve helped countless people who, after qualifying for a home, have gone out and purchased new furniture at 0% interest. That throws their debt-to-income ratio out of whack, and they’ll find that they can’t qualify with their lender to buy the home. Don’t go out and make major credit purchases until after you close on the home. 5. Choosing the cheapest insurance. Far too many people buy the cheapest insurance policies they can, pass on flood insurance, or fail to get the proper coverage for certain elements of the home. Later when they have a claim, their claim is denied, meaning that they’re out potentially tens of thousands of dollars all because they didn’t want to pay an extra $100 a month for good coverage. Shop around for insurance before you pick one because buying the cheapest insurance is a recipe for disaster. If you have any questions about what it takes to successfully buy a home in our current market, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to help you.

Here are a few things to consider before buying your first investment property. Looking to buy a home? Search All Homes Looking to sell your home? Get a Free Home Value Report Which tips do you need to remember to start off on the right foot as a first-time home investor? First, you’ll notice that I say “home investor” instead of “homebuyer” because I don’t think you should own your first investment property before you own your first home. Therein lies my first tip. Owning your own home before buying an investment property can teach you a lot about what can go wrong, how to fix things, what you are (and are not) capable of doing yourself, etc. Don’t put the cart before the horse and start buying up investment properties while you’re still paying someone else’s rent.  Next, start small. Far too many people try hitting a home run with their first real estate investment and end up striking out. Continuing with our baseball parlance, just try hitting a single. Get a rental property you can manage yourself so you can learn how to screen tenants and identify ways you can increase rent. It’s a low-risk, high-reward opportunity. If you screw things up, you can probably correct the situation without it costing you too much. Additionally, the property can appreciate greatly over time and give you ample tax benefits. “       Once you buy your first rental property, you have to treat it like a business. ” As time goes on, you can branch off into buying multifamily properties, commercial properties, more individual units, or start flipping homes. First, though, start small and build from there. Being a real estate investor is, in essence, its own separate business. As you gain more skills, you can grow your portfolio.  Last but not least, hire a team of professionals. You need a team of property managers, real estate professionals, and contractors you trust to help you. Before buying any rental properties, you need to know who’ll be working on them, managing them (if you’re not), and offering you legal advice so you can successfully run your real estate investment business. Again, once you buy your first rental property, you have to treat it like a business. You have to give it its proper due by ensuring it’s properly managed by a group of professionals.  If you’d like to know more about buying your first investment property or have any real estate needs I can assist you with, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to hear from you.

Here’s why buying and selling during the holidays is still a great idea. Looking to buy a home? Search All Homes Looking to sell your home? Get a Free Home Value Report Obviously, 2020 is different from previous years, but excluding the week around Christmas and New Year’s, we are always very busy. In fact, December is one of our busiest months for closings. There are a myriad of factors that drive this trend. For example, people are looking for tax breaks or they’re looking to make a change before school resumes. Since our market doesn’t have a dead season, homes for sale are always going to look their best. If you were in the market to buy a home now, you’d probably be looking at a December closing as it is. Since our market is low on inventory, many people who didn’t find the home they wanted during the summer are now taking a step back and assessing how they could potentially move during their time off around the holidays. “       It’s pretty much always a good time to buy or sell in our market. ” Aside from a busy, year-round market, we also have historically low interest rates, an appreciating real estate market, and many other good, local economic indicators. Furthermore, if you buy or sell during the holidays, there’s also the convenience of moving when the weather is cooler. The bottom line is that it’s pretty much always a good time to buy or sell in our market. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Need to buy sight unseen? Thank goodness we’re in the digital age! Looking to buy a home? Search All Homes Looking to sell your home? Get a Free Home Value Report In Tampa Bay, we almost always see a surge of people coming down in the summer, but this summer we’ll likely see even more people who want to move here to enjoy the affordability, low taxes, and the absence of a state income tax—not to mention to get out of their crowded city apartments after months of lockdown. So, if you’re moving out of state in today’s market, how do you buy a home sight unseen? In recent months, more people than ever have been doing this out of an abundance of caution amid the coronavirus pandemic. Buying sight unseen isn’t new, especially here in Florida where there are a lot of investors and folks buying vacation homes. Doing it effectively, however, requires some extra awareness. Cited below for your convenience are timestamps that will direct you to various points in the video. Feel free to watch the full message, or use these timestamps to skip to topics that interest you most: 1:16 — The importance of working with an agent that truly understands your needs 2:10 — You don’t have to be physically present at the closing table 3:26 — Do as much digital research on the area (and the agent who will help you move there) as possible 4:34 — Don’t give up a property that’s poorly listed; ask your agent to fill in the gaps 5:20 — Wrapping things up As always, if you have questions about anything that was discussed in this video or real estate in general, you know who to call or email! We’re available to address your concerns and listen to your unique home buying or selling situation. Don’t forget to follow us on social media as well! Have an awesome day.

Home sellers in our market will be very pleased with this update.  Looking to buy a home? Search All Homes Looking to sell your home? Get a Free Home Value Report A lot of people don’t realize that we’re in such a strong seller’s market here in Tampa Bay. Bidding wars are back, homes are selling above asking price, and even the luxury market is moving quickly. Although this sentiment sounds sales-y, it’s the truth. If you would have talked to me a few months ago I wouldn’t have believed it. However, the limited inventory we have right now when combined with the high demand we’re seeing from buyers is making our market very strong. “ The No. 1 way to make sure your home sells fast in this market is to price it right. ” Although sales were down for the last few months, inventory has decreased as well. The No. 1 way to make sure your home sells fast in this market is to price it right. Don't give the consumer any reason to believe that something is wrong with your property. If the home’s overpriced, the consumer will go down that road, whether it’s valid or not. We can help you sell your home for top dollar in the traditional way, but we can also buy it from you directly with our cash offer program. If you have questions for us or any real estate needs that we can assist with, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. We look forward to hearing from you.