Are Fed rates going up?

Over the past few months, we've been hearing about a possible rate increase from the Federal Reserve. First, experts were predicting that the Fed would raise interest rates in September.

That didn't happen. Now we're being told rates will go up in mid-December... we just don't know by how much.

All this uncertainty is making people very uncomfortable.

Because of the uncertainty, news outlets are parsing every word Fed members are saying, and everyone is wondering: Will there be a rate increase? Will mortgage rates increase as well? What will happen to the real estate market?

My personal opinion is this: the moves by the Fed are nothing to worry about. I think it’s simply another case of people getting nervous while waiting for the test results.

The real estate market looks great right now.

In fact, I believe that an increase in the Fed Rate will have minimal impact on the real estate market in Mansfield for three reasons.

First, mortgage rates often move independently of the Fed Rate. An increase in the Fed rate might actually lead to a decrease in mortgage rates — this is exactly what happened the last time the Fed increased rates, back in December of 2015.

Second, the likely rate increase will be small, probably 0.25%. If mortgage rates were to increase by the same amount, they would still be at historically low levels.

Third, we know the members of the Fed are concerned with the shortage of new housing right now — it’s right there in their September meeting notes. Because of this, any actions they take will keep the real estate market in mind.  

In short: the real estate market is doing great right now—and it's likely to stay that way, with or without a Fed Rate increase.

Right now, if you're selling, you can benefit from stable prices and strong demand:

Check out how much your home is worth based on current Mansfield prices.

And if you're buying, you can benefit from historically low mortgage rates so you can afford a great home in Mansfield:

See available Mansfield homes that are for sale right now.

Either way, if you have questions, or you just want to talk about what the Fed might do next, give me a call. I’m here to help.

Many potential home sellers have been worried about the uncertainties in the housing market in the face of the upcoming presidential election.

A lot of them want to wait until the election is over to sell, but that would be a mistake. It’s a great time to sell right now because of all the advantages in the marketplace. Here are six reasons why you shouldn’t wait until after the election to sell:

1. It doesn’t matter who the next president is. What I mean by this is that the world will continue to spin and people will continue to buy and sell real estate regardless of who is elected to office.

2. Real estate will still be one of the best ways to build wealth. Again, this is true no matter who wins the election. Real estate is always going to be one of the wisest investments to make.

No matter who wins, the world will keep turning.

3. Inventory will continue to constrict because of uncertainty. Most people will decide to take their homes off the market until after the election. This will help you stand out more if you list your home right now. There is a higher concentration of serious buyers in the market who will see your home.

4. Serious buyers want to move before the holidays. A lot of buyers in the market right now have been looking for months. Many weren’t able to get a home in the highly competitive market this spring and summer, so they have a sense of urgency in wanting to get a deal done.

5. Many relocation buyers are looking now. Most corporate relocations take place at the beginning of the year. The families that are being relocated are looking for homes right now and checking out the areas that they want to live in. This is another pool of buyers that will see your home stand out.

6. Interest rates are at historic lows. You’re probably sick of hearing it at this point, but it’s still true. Interest rates can only go up now, and we want you to be able to capture the buyers that are out there right now.

If you have any questions for us or are interested in buying or selling a home, we would love to hear from you. It’s a good time to make a move right now.

Why are interest rates so low right now? Global economics have made American real estate a great haven for investments, so rates have dropped.

It's not very nice to profit from your neighbors’ troubles. Sometimes, though, there's simply nothing you can do to stop it.

At the beginning of the summer, as I'm sure you have heard, the UK voted to leave the EU. This became known as "Brexit," and it has created heaps of uncertainty and worry for our neighbors across the Atlantic.

Here in the U.S., though, Brexit has been nothing but good news for the real estate market. Because of Brexit, investors all over the world wanted a safer place to invest, and this pushed already low mortgage rates down even further to almost unseen lows.

In fact, we are now in the middle of the second-longest run of cheap mortgage rates in history. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 3.46%; this is only a few points above its all-time low of 3.31%.

What does this mean for you?

First, if you are looking to buy a home, now is an unusually good time to do so because these low rates mean you will be paying less. As an example, taking out a 30-year, $250,000 mortgage today versus a year ago (when the rate was 3.91%) would mean that you would save more than $25,000 over the lifetime of the loan.

The other way to look at it is that at today’s rates, you can afford a more luxurious home without paying more. For example, if you were to take out a 30-year mortgage, you could now afford $15,000 more for a home than a year ago while keeping the same monthly payments.

Clearly, this is a great opportunity.

Here in the U.S., Brexit has been nothing but good news for mortgage rates.

Now, if you are looking to sell rather than buy, these low rates also benefit you big time. The more the mortgage rates drop, the more buyers there are, and the greater the demand is for homes.

This healthy demand keeps up the price of your home and ensures your home will get sold quickly. Not surprisingly, pending home sales are up by 1.3% this summer and are now at the second-highest level in over a decade.

As you can imagine, these ultra-low mortgage rates won’t last forever and will rise sooner or later.

If you are looking to take advantage of this unique situation while it lasts, give me a call or send me an email. I’m always here to help.

Contrary to popular belief, the fall is actually a great time to sell a home. You may not see as many buyers as you would in the spring and summer, but you can be sure that fall buyers are more serious.

Today I wanted to talk about why the fall is such a great time to sell your home.

Sometimes, it really pays to go against the crowd.

As you probably know, spring is the season when most people around Mansfield put their homes on the market. Summer is the high season, and it’s when most homes get sold. And yet, there are a few powerful reasons why fall might actually be a better time than either spring or summer to sell your home.

It makes perfect sense when you think about it.

By the fall, the bulk of spring listings are expiring. As a result, there is less competition, particularly when you consider the *NEW* label and the fewer days on the market that your listing will boast. Also, home buyers in the fall are more serious. They have been looking at listings for months, and they are eager to conclude their search and move in comfortably before the holidays.

It makes perfect sense when you think about it.

When you put those two things together, you get that homes listed in the fall sell more quickly and often command a higher price. In fact, fall is the season with the highest percentage of sold listings, beating out summer by 1%.

Now, if you are thinking of selling your home this fall, there are a few things you have to do differently.

First, you have to prepare your home to account for the particular fall conditions. For example, you need to check the HVAC system and replace your furnace filter so your home will be warm and smell fresh. Also, make sure to turn on all the lights; you've got to compensate for the shorter, cloudier days. Cleaning up the yard is also a must.

The second thing you need to do is price your home appropriately. To get started, check out the value calculator I created that takes into account recent Mansfield sales to give you an idea of what your home is worth right now.

Once you have an idea of what your home is worth, how should you price it? On the one hand, the fall is not a good time to start with a sky-high price. If you don’t sell right away, you might not have time to adjust the price because of the smaller number of buyers and the shorter selling period (nobody wants to move over Christmas).

On the other hand, those serious buyers I mentioned earlier might be willing to pay more simply because they’ve been looking longer and are more eager to buy.

It’s a balancing act. It’s also something I can definitely help you with. Give me a call if you are considering selling this fall, and I’ll give you my recommendations on how to price your home based on current conditions in Mansfield.

If you are considering selling your home in the near future, you are probably planning on making a few renovations. However, some renovations are more appealing to buyers than others.

These improvements will actually deter buyers when it comes time to sell your home:

Too much wallpaper. Buyers don’t want to tear down a bunch of wallpaper in order to paint; they want the walls ready for painting when they move in.

Lavish lighting fixtures. You might have a different sense of style than the buyers, so keep it simple when it comes to the lighting fixtures.

Textured walls, wall coverings, and ceilings. Many times, people think they are adding value with different DIY textures when, really, they put up too much. You should also avoid murals, permanent wall coverings, or cute ceiling decals that may damage the walls.

The wrong kind of flooring. Flooring is expensive to replace and the wrong kind of flooring will be detrimental to your home sale. Buyers want plain, neutral decor when they move in.

Too much carpet. Carpet holds dirt and shows traffic patterns. Most buyers do not want to see that everywhere.

Bold wall colors. Remember, bright, loud colors are bad; neutral, soft colors are good.

Swimming pools and hot tubs. You may enjoy a pool or hot tub but most buyers don’t want to deal with or pay for the maintenance.

Keep the decor light, soft, and neutral.

That said, other renovations will add value to your home and net you more money when it comes time to sell. The top four renovations to make when selling your home are:

Renovating your kitchen. Buyers love to see updated kitchens. However, keep in mind that if you spend more than $20,000 on the renovation, you’re not likely to get all of that money back.

Bathroom renovations. Everyone likes to have a large, luxurious master bathroom, and buyers will pay extra for an updated bathroom.

New flooring. You probably can’t clean your carpet well enough to make people think that it’s new; instead, bring in new carpeting or tile. New flooring is a great way to add value and that new carpet smell will give buyers peace of mind.

Curb appeal. When buyers drive past your home, you need to make sure your property makes a good first impression. Plant flowers, trim bushes, and pull weeds. The more organized and orderly your lawn can be, the more appealing your home will be to buyers.

Now, this one is not on the list, but it’s incredibly important not to forget the backyard.

People want to see a yard that they can entertain friends in. A cluttered and unkempt backyard tells the buyer that you don’t take care of your home; a well-cared for backyard with trimmed trees, weeded flower beds, and trimmed grass tells buyers the opposite.

If you have any questions about getting your home ready for the market or about real estate in general, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

It’s commonly known that kitchens and bathrooms sell homes. Making improvements to your bathroom, therefore, is one of the best ways to create value to your home if you’re considering selling in the future. Here are eight inexpensive ways to do just that:

Paint: As is the case with any room in the house, painting is the best way to update your bathroom. Due to the room’s small space, it’s important to use a neutral color.

Paint the vanity mirror. If nothing else needs to be painted, you might consider painting the vanity mirror to contrast the rest of the room.

Replace the vanity mirror.

Update the flooring. Stay away from carpet and laminate floors. If you’re going to do it yourself, there are some great products out there with vinyl flooring that are easy enough to install, but please at least consider hiring a professional for the job. Adding a rug can also accent the room well.

Change the showerhead. If you haven’t modernized the showerhead in some time, go down to your local home improvement store and consider the variety of inexpensive options you can choose from.

Add shelving. If there is any place to add shelving, especially if there is storage needed, don’t hesitate to do so. It’s a nice place to put colorful towels, baskets, and other accents to the room as a whole.

Cover any problem walls. If you have areas on any wall that are showing past damage, or or just have too many white walls, find a solution for them. Even if you have to hire a contractor to come out and retexture, it will be worth it.

Change the lighting. Much like the showerheads, you have a surplus of options in how you would like to replace and update your bathroom’s lighting fixtures. Make sure you choose the right bulbs so the light works well with however much natural light you have coming in already.

Painting is the best way to update your bathroom.

If you have any questions, or have plans to buy or sell a home in the near future, please don’t hesitate to give us a call or send an email.

The latest numbers are in for the Mansfield real estate market, so we wanted to share them with you. We’ll compare them to the figures we saw at this time last year to show how the market has changed in the past year.

The median house price in Mansfield has remained the same since June 2015 at $247,500. When we look at homes that came on the market, 25% of homes were listed under $200,000, 72% of homes were listed between $200,000 and $500,000. The rest of them are over $500,000.

Active listings in Mansfield are down 12.3% from last year, which doesn’t help our inventory problem. Despite that, the number of homes sold is up 21.7% over last year, which shows strong demand in our market.

Demand is strong in our market.

Our average days on market is 26 days, six days fewer than last year. We have only 1.8 months of inventory, down from 2.3 months last year.

There you have it, the latest in Mansfield real estate. If you have any questions for us or are considering buying or selling a home, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help in any way we can.

Teaser: We’re back with another update for you on the Mansfield real estate market. Although the median house price hasn’t changed since June 2015, a lot of other things have. Active listings are down 12.3% from this time last year, but homes are selling in an average of six days fewer. To get all the latest numbers for Mansfield, watch this short video.

Let’s review some numbers from June 2016 and see how they compare to June 2015:

In that time, the median home price has gone up 8% to $178,000.

Much like our surrounding areas, our active listings in the area are down 15.4%

With 443 homes sold, our active listings are up 5%

The average days on market is 26 days, a decrease of two from last year

Our inventory level has gone down from 1.8 months to 1.4 months.

The median home price has gone up 8% to $178,000.

That’s it for our Arlington housing report. If you have any questions about real estate, or are looking to buy or sell a home, give us a call soon. We guarantee service, experience, and teamwork.

We’re here today to introduce our newest listing at 4407 Meadow Knoll Lane in Mansfield, Texas. It’s a beautiful home featuring four bedrooms, three living rooms, and three full bathrooms built inside its nearly 3,100 sq ft area. Tucked within the Meadow Glen subdivision, the neighborhood is great for raising a family. Nearby you can find community parks, pools, playgrounds, and Lake Ridge High School.

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The neighborhood is great for raising a family in.

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We’d love to have you come check it out for yourself at our open house this Saturday, August 6th, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Since we ran out of pizza, this time we’ll be serving free tacos. Who doesn’t like free tacos?

Today we want to introduce our newest listing here at 6406 Berlinetta Drive. It’s a beautiful corner lot with a 3-bedroom home in South Arlington measuring almost 1,900 square feet.

The location falls under the esteemed jurisdiction of the Mansfield school district. The outside features an enormous backyard that’s adjoined by a covered patio. The inside features a floor plan that is somewhat open with a large living space that leads into a spacious dining room. It’s a house that’s great for entertaining guests, and for the price of $175,000 in South Arlington, you can’t beat that deal.

At a price of $175,000 in South Arlington, you can’t beat that deal.