San Fernando Valley Real Estate Podcast with Scott Himelstein

Have you considered an umbrella policy as a homeowner? I’m joined by an expert to help me explain what you get with this type of coverage.

Ryan La Fleur from Four Seasons Nursery shares some tips on how to spruce up your landscaping with fresh plants.

How are the Porter Ranch and San Fernando Valley real estate markets doing so far this year? Tune in for our market snapshot to find out.  Looking to buy a home? Get a Full Home Search   Looking to sell your home?  Free Home Price Evaluation Here is your market snapshot for Porter Ranch and the San Fernando Valley.  We are two months into 2017 and our housing inventory is very low. Of course, we had low inventory in 2016, but look at these numbers:  In January of 2017, there were only 47 properties for sale in all of the 91326 area code and only 45 for sale in zip code 91344. We have seen a good number of houses come on the market, but most of those are selling if they are priced appropriately.  Since the beginning of the year, the number of homes for sale in 91326 has ranged from 35 to 41 out of 11,500 single family units. When you look at how many months of supply are actually on the market across the San Fernando Valley, you’ll see that most neighborhoods have between 1.5 to 2.2 months of inventory, which is really low.  When you look at the actual number of active listings in the entire San Fernando Valley, you will see that there are about 2,300 properties for sale. In order to have an even market, we need 7,500 homes on the market. Homes that are priced correctly will sell quickly. We have talked a number of times about why inventory is so low right now. Buyers are still out there in full force but they are not desperate. These buyers are willing to hold out if the house is not priced correctly. The homes that are priced properly and show well are the ones that get sold.  Since home values have gone up so much over the last couple of years, buyers are much pickier. If your home is priced correctly though, you can still draw multiple offers and sell within one to two weeks.  According to the California Association of Realtors, you can expect home values to increase between 3% and 5% over the next year. Based on the first two months of 2017, it looks like that prediction will happen.  If you have any questions about our current market or about the home buying or selling process, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Today I’m going over a few tips for preparing your home for the spring market.

Having a living trust is an important topic. That's why I've brought in Michael Crupi of The Trust Pros to help me explain the benefits.  Looking to buy a home? Get a Full Home Search   Looking to sell your home?  Free Home Price Evaluation Why is it so important to make sure your home is in a living trust after you buy it? Today I'm joined by Michael Crupi from The Trust Pros to help me explain this topic. As Michael says, when you get fire insurance, it insures against the potential hazard of your home burning down, but there's not a contingency built in for other types of hazard in your life, and that's where a living trust comes in. You want a living trust to have a plan to cover all other contingencies. Also, in the unlikely event that something happens to you and your spouse, you'll have a written plan that says exactly what will happen in the event of some other catastrophe.  So what's the difference between a trust and a will?  As Michael says, a will covers just one contingency, saying "If I die, here's where my stuff goes." A will also guarantees that your estate will be overseen by probate, meaning California courts will oversee your estate. They will send letters out asking if anybody wants to contest the will, and if anyone does, it can tie up your estate for years. Everything is public knowledge when you have a will. A living trust makes that all go away. With a living trust, estate transition is instant and private without any court intervention. The transition of the estate to the beneficiaries is instant and private and there's no intervention by the courts, Michael added. In addition, there's a whole section of living trusts that covers other issues that a will doesn't cover. For example, a will has a power of attorney for financial, where you put someone in charge and say "If I get sick and I can't run my business, then my spouse will run it." Well, if your spouse is also sick, then you'll appoint someone else to run the business of your life and pay the expenses.  There's also power of attorney for medical, where you make all decisions in advance and input that contingency, so that way, if your spouse is no longer here or incapacitated, you choose an alternate to that person. There's a whole component to a living trust that a will doesn't even touch on. Thanks to Michael for joining us to talk about this very important topic. If you have any questions for him, you can reach him at 866-993-0299 or email him at [email protected]. He'll actually make a visit to your home! As always, if you have any questions about the greater Los Angeles market or you're looking to buy or sell a home, you can always give me a call or send me an email. I'd love to help!

There are a lot of changes surrounding the lending world as we head into 2017. I'm joined today by our team's preferred lender to discuss how these changes affect buyers and sellers in southern California. Looking to buy a home? Get a Full Home Search   Looking to sell your home?  Free Home Price Evaluation What does the mortgage interest rate look like as we start 2017? I'm joined today by our preferred lender Brandon Moss of Prime Lending to help me explain this topic more in depth. As you probably know, interest rates have gone up over the last couple months and they're up to levels we haven't seen since 2014. While rates are higher than they've been in the past couple years, they are still historically low—in the 4% to 4.5% range depending on your down payment, credit score, and some other factors.  The interesting thing, Brandon says, is an increase in interest in non-conforming products like ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) that have a much lower starting rate for five, seven, or even 10 years, which helps keep monthly payments lower in a higher rate environment. Brandon added that these ARMs are not the same kind people had back in 2000—they are a much safer product that is harder to qualify for and requires more cash reserves in the bank before closing. They're solid products that are a good alternative for buyers to get into a home with a lower payment. These ARMs are not the same kind people had back in 2000—they are a much safer product. With prices going up here in the the southern California market, the federal government has raised the conforming loan limits for 2017. As Brandon points out, the nationwide standard conforming loan limit has risen from $417,000 up to $424,000. In higher cost areas like Los Angeles, Ventura County, and Orange County, loan limits have gone up from $625,000 to $634,000. This helps buyers get a loan without having to qualify for a jumbo loan, which comes with more restrictions and tougher guidelines. Buyers can actually get a larger loan amount going into 2017, and it's really opening up doors. If you have any questions for Brandon, you can give him a call at (818) 256-4330 or shoot him an email at [email protected]. If you have real estate questions, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

Today, we're taking a look back at how buyers and sellers were affected in the 2016 market and looking ahead to how they might fare in this year's market. Looking to buy a home? Get a Full Home Search   Looking to sell your home?  Free Home Price Evaluation Happy New Year! Today, I wanted to take a look back at the market from 2016 and look ahead to predictions for what we will see from the Porter Ranch market in 2017. This year, we saw a lot of price gain throughout California. Many neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley saw values rise close to pre-recession levels. However, inventory was quite low throughout most of the year; 10% to 30% less than 2015 depending on the neighborhood. This really made 2016 the year of the seller. The amount of sales actually decreased despite high demand, but that's because of the low inventory. There's also not many places to build new homes. The big issue for buyers now is making sure they can remain in the market with prices having gone up exponentially over the past few years and affordability dropping below 30% in our state.We definitely want to keep an eye on interest rates in 2017. These are things we'll need to keep an eye on this year, especially considering that toward the end of the year, interest rates increased by about 0.5%. This actually affects the amount of money buyers can afford to spend on a home. We even had a few instances in November where the buyer had to bring in more money because they didn't lock their rate in before the increase. The Fed is expected to raise rates multiple times throughout 2017. If they do, it will obviously continue to affect the purchasing power of buyers. We're seeing that when many homeowners buy a new home, they keep their current property due to the fact that if they purchased in the last seven to eight years, there's a good chance they have an interest rate under 4% that they don't want to give up. This is more inventory that's not coming on the market.  In 2017, interest rates will be the big thing to keep an eye on. Again, rates continuing to go up would slow down the market because it would affect buyers' purchasing power. Demand is still high and inventory is still very low. We'll certainly keep you updated on the market throughout the year. If you have any questions about our market or you're thinking about buying or selling a Porter Ranch home, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help.

What are home warranties? How important are they to home buyers, really? Looking to buy a home? Get a Full Home Search   Looking to sell your home?  Free Home Price Evaluation What are home warranties? Are they really important for buyers?  A home warranty is essentially an insurance policy that protects your home from problems with electrical wiring, plumbing, appliances, etc. Even if no issues are spotted during your initial home inspection, complications can arise unexpectedly, and they often do. In fact, it always seems like something goes wrong right after a buyer closes escrow. The home warranty can help you with that.  Generally speaking, home warranties last for one year. The cost of the home warranty really depends on the type and size of the property, but typically range from $350 to $700. Adding extra features, such as a pool, spa, roof, or refrigerator, can increase the cost of the home warranty as well. Prices may vary depending on what you want to be covered.  Home warranties also provide peace of mind for homeowners. Typically, we ask the seller to pay for the home warranty as part of our offer. That is negotiable, but when you buy a home, the seller usually pays for the one-year home warranty. A home warranty will give you peace of mind. It is important to keep in mind that home warranties are not catch-all insurance policies. They do not cover everything, and there is a service fee attached to each claim. So, every time you call someone from the home warranty company to come out, they do charge you a $65 to $90 fee each time their contractor has to inspect your property.  Still, home warranties do offer peace of mind to new homeowners, even if they are not a perfect solution to every problem you may encounter. You do need to read the fine print. That said, home warranties have replaced many water heaters over the years, so it is important to get one when you buy a home.  If you have any other questions about home warranties or about the real estate market in general, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Sellers want to know if they should sell their home now or wait until spring. I’m here to let you know why listing now is a much better option.  Looking to buy a home? Get a Full Home Search   Looking to sell your home?  Free Home Price Evaluation One of the most popular questions we get this time of year is whether sellers should wait until spring to sell or sell their home now. It is actually much better to list your home now than during the spring season, and here are the reasons why.  There will be way more competition in the spring. It’s true that more houses sell during the spring, but that statistic won’t always work in your favor. For example, we had a client earlier this year wait to sell during the spring and six houses with the same floor plan popped up on the market. This decreased competition for their home drastically.  The numbers really do indicate that it is better to sell during the wintertime. Over the course of the last three years in the San Fernando Valley, during the winter, there are about 2,400 to 2,700 total homes on the market. Compare that to 3,500 to 3,700 homes on the market during the summer months. That’s a huge difference in the amount of inventory and in turn, a huge difference in competition. It’s better to list your home now than during the spring. Interest rates might also be higher in spring, which means fewer people will be able to afford your home. If the Fed raises interest rates, it is likely that trend will continue well into 2017.  You will also get more serious buyers in the wintertime. Listing your home in the colder weather means avoiding the “open house crowd,” which consists of people strolling in to eat the free cookies and probably haven’t even gone through the pre-approval process yet.  Finally, there are lots of job transfers happening at the very end and very beginning of the year. These people need to get into a home fast, and catering to that demographic is a smart move for the seller.  If you have any further questions about selling your home this holiday season, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. Happy holidays! 

What caused the recent interest rate hike? What impact will rates have on buyers and sellers? I'm joined by a home loan expert to help me break it all down for you. Looking to buy a home? Get a Full Home Search   Looking to sell your home?  Free Home Price Evaluation In the wake of the election, we've seen a recent interest rate hike. Today I'm joined today by Hovik Sahinian of New American Funding to talk about the underlying causes of why the rate hike happened.  As Hovik points out, we have been expecting a hike for a while now, and we knew it would happen after the election, regardless of the winner. The market has taken this into account, and we're seeing people move away from the bond market and into the stock market. This naturally causes an increase in rates, and we've seen rates go up about 0.5% since the election. That 0.5% increase has had an effect on buyers, as Hovik points out; he's seen clients have up to a $50,000 decrease in the mortgage amount that they qualify for. For example, a buyer who qualified for a $500,000 loan before the rate hike would only qualify for about $465,000 after. If you're selling, now might be the best time to get a deal done. Home sellers need to be vigilant as well after the rate hike. As Hovik says, if you're close to where you need to be as a seller right now, you should take any opportunity to close your transaction sooner rather than later because rates will continue to go up. This means your house will be less affordable to more and more buyers. It is still a great time to buy a house while rates are still near historic lows. Hovik says that if he was a buyer getting pre-approved for a loan in this market, he'd leave himself some cushion in case rates do creep up during a transaction. That way, you won't have to go through the qualification process again. I'd like to thank Hovik for joining me today. If you have any questions for him about home loans, give him a call at (818) 808-7790. If you have any questions about real estate in Porter Ranch, as always, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help you.