Northern Virginia Real Estate Podcast with AJ Team Realty

Buyers, what you must know about 2017. (con.t from the 2016 series) from AJ Team LLC on Vimeo. Today we're back with our annual real estate predictions for 2017. Interest rates are the big thing to watch because they'll affect prices, inventory, and the whole market overall. We've been predicting what will happen in the real estate market for the following 12 months for about five years now. At the risk of tooting my own horn, a lot of the things that we've predicted have ended up happening.  With that in mind, we're back with some predictions for the 2017 market. The first thing we know without a shadow of a doubt is that interest rates will go up. It's only a matter of how high rates will go up. I predict they will go up to the 5% range by the end of the summer or the fall, and that's a big number. If you're looking to buy a home, this means the cost of your money will get much more expensive. If you're thinking about moving, you might have to shift your timeline up. Even if you don't want to pay to break your current lease and buy a home, you'll lose that same amount of money 10 or 20 times over if interest rates go up by 0.25% or 0.5%. We know without a shadow of a doubt that interest rates are going up. Be sure you understand the cost of your money. So what will this mean for you as a home seller? Home prices will flatline in some areas and come down in other areas. We know certain areas like D.C., Alexandria, Arlington, and most places inside the beltway will stay consistent. The areas that won't stay consistent are the tertiary market with builders still constructing new homes, like Prince William County, Loudon County, Stafford County, and some areas out in Maryland. I expect prices to pull back a bit in these areas. I don't think sales activity will dip too much because we had a really robust past couple years. We'll still have a lot a people moving in and out. Overall for the market, I don't think we'll see much movement, so you need to prepare for that. Hopefully this gives you a better idea of where things stand and where they're headed in our market from a technical standpoint. If you're looking to buy or sell in our area, give us a call or send us an email soon so we can help you prepare. We'd love to hear from you!

How Trump Will Affect the Real Estate Market- Part 3 from AJ Team LLC on Vimeo. I expect President Trump’s policies to produce a pause in our market. Here’s what you can do to take advantage of that pause.  Now that the new president is in office, what other changes can you expect him to make to our real estate market? As you may recall, we’ve already touched on this topic in two previous videos, which you can see here and here. Today, we’re focusing on policy and tax changes. What types of policies will the new president implement? One of the policies he’s talked about is reducing regulation in our market. Less regulation tends to be more favorable to real estate development. With this in mind, an overhaul of the Dodd-Frank Act has been a hot topic in the news, lately. It also remains to be seen whether the administration will alter FHA and private mortgage insurance or get rid of those things altogether. The next thing to keep an eye on is lower capital gains. If President Trump lowers capital gains, how is that going to affect the investor market? Overall, I think you’ll see a pause in our local market due to a lot of people waiting on the sidelines. How does this affect you? If you’re a buyer, you want to buy during that pause because there will be more inventory and more opportunity for you to get a better deal. If you’re a buyer, take advantage of the pause we’re about to see. Personally, I’m not in wait-and-see mode—I’m in buy mode. Interest rates drive my economy, and I need to know if my money is cheap. If my money is cheap, I can do more with it. If you have any questions about this topic or would like to know more about what’s happening in your local real estate market, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us so we can sit and talk with you. You have the dream—I have the address.

How Trump Will Affect the Real Estate Market- Part 2 from AJ Team LLC on Vimeo. President-elect Donald Trump has expressed a desire to increase defense spending. What will happen with our local real estate market if he does? There are a lot of things we’ll need to keep an eye on during Donald Trump’s presidency in terms of real estate. Here are two more factors we’ll need to pay close attention to over the next four years: 1. Real estate is local. It has always been about local real estate. What happens here is very different than what happens in the Midwest. Our economy is greatly influenced by big government and government spending. Donald Trump has talked about spending more money on the department of defense. If he does that, it means the economy is going to benefit in our area. If those things come to fruition, expect local real estate to see a jump. 2. Foreign money. On the flip side, President-elect Trump talked about being tougher on immigration. There are a lot of immigrants here in the area and a lot of international money, too. If foreign investors start to get skittish, they won’t be spending as much in the local economy and they may decide to make other investments instead. Those are two important local real estate factors you should pay attention to. Think back to the market crash in 2008 and what happened in Prince William County. Immigration policy changed, the market crashed, and look what happened there. If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you.

How Will Trump Election Affect Northern Virginia Real Estate Market? Part 1 from AJ Team LLC on Vimeo. Whether you’re buying or selling a home in our market, you need to pay attention to how interest rates are moving since the election.  Now that the 2016 presidential election has come and gone, what kind of impact can we expect President-elect Donald Trump to have on our Northern Virginia market? As we all know, Trump’s former business was real estate development, so that in itself should be beneficial. There’s still a lot of uncertainty hanging in the air, though. The thing we’re watching most closely are interest rates.  The day after the election, rates went from 3.5% to almost 4%. That was triggered by a big sell-off in the bond market. This really affected buyers’ affordability. We ourselves had a client who was quoted a rate of 3.5% before the election, and afterward, the rate jump increased her monthly payment by $200.  So, if you think there’s a lot of uncertainty now, imagine what’s going to happen after the inauguration. We’re paying close attention to when the Federal Reserve meets this month, and you’d better believe that rates are going up after that happens. I expect them to rise to the mid-4% range. Whether you’re buying or selling a home, pay attention to the interest rates. Now, there are a few other things in the real estate market that will be affected by a Trump Presidency as well: What's happening in local real estate, and Policy and Tax Changes. Not all of this could be broken down into one video, so I encourage you to check out the other videos in this series by clicking here. Finally, if you have any questions about how the election will affect our real estate market, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me by phone or email. I’d be happy to help!