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February 2017

Found 22 blog entries for February 2017.

How Long Do Most Families Stay in Their Home? | Simplifying The Market

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) keeps historical data on many aspects of homeownership. One of the data points that has changed dramatically is the median tenure of a family in a home. As the graph below shows, for over twenty years (1985-2008), the median tenure averaged exactly six years. However, since 2008, that average is almost nine years – an increase of almost 50%.

How Long Do Most Families Stay in Their Home? | Simplifying The Market

Why the dramatic increase?

The reasons for this change are plentiful!

The fall in home prices during the housing crisis left many homeowners in a negative equity situation (where their home was worth less than the mortgage on the property). Also, the uncertainty of the economy made some homeowners much more fiscally conservative about making a move.

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Where Are the Home Prices Heading in the Next 5 Years? | Simplifying The Market

Today, many real estate conversations center on housing prices and where they may be headed. That is why we like the Home Price Expectation Survey.

Every quarter, Pulsenomics surveys a nationwide panel of over one hundred economists, real estate experts, and investment & market strategists about where they believe prices are headed over the next five years. They then average the projections of all 100+ experts into a single number.

The results of their latest survey:

Home values will appreciate by 4.4% over the course of 2017, 3.4% in 2018, 2.8% in 2019, 2.7% in 2020, and 2.8% in 2021. That means the average annual appreciation will be 3.22% over the next 5 years.

Where Are the Home Prices Heading in the Next 5 Years? | Simplifying The Market

The prediction for cumulative appreciation fell from 21.4% to 17.3% by

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Please stop by...OPEN 1-4pm Saturday, February 25th

2939 Van Ness Street #1006

Updated 2 bedroom condo with 2 full baths, great kitchen, balcony w/ park views and garage parking. First class building with 24-hour front desk, 2 pools, party/social room, fitness center, laundry room on each floor, underground access to Giant, steps to Metro, restaurants & shops.

Monthly Condo fee: $986.00 includes gas, electric, water, sewer, heat/AC, reserve funds, professional management, maintenance of commons areas, trash removal, condo liability insurance & building amenities. 

Building Amenities: 24-hour front desk w/ package acceptance, 2 pools, fitness center, party room, washer & dryer on each floor, underground
access to Giant, steps to Metro, up

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The Impact of Homeownership on Family Health | Simplifying The Market

The National Association of Realtors recently released a study titled 'Social Benefits of Homeownership and Stable Housing.’ The study confirmed a long-standing belief of most Americans:

“Owning a home embodies the promise of individual autonomy and is the aspiration of most American households. Homeownership allows households to accumulate wealth and social status, and is the basis for a number of positive social, economic, family and civic outcomes.”

Today, we want to cover the section of the report that quoted several studies concentrating on the impact homeownership has on the health of family members. Here are some of the major findings on this issue revealed in the report:

  • There is a strong positive relationship between living
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Are You 1 of the 59 Million Planning to Buy This Year? | Simplifying The Market

 

According to a survey conducted by Bankrate.com, one in four Americans are considering buying a home this year. If this statistic proves to be true, that means that 59 million people will be looking to enter the housing market in 2017.

The survey also revealed 3 key takeaways:

  1. Those most likely to buy are ‘Older Millennials’ (ages 27-36) or ‘Generation X’ (ages 37-52)
  2. Minorities, particularly African-Americans, were twice as likely to respond that they were considering purchasing a home this year than white respondents.
  3. Many potential buyers believe they need to put 20% down and need to have perfect credit to own and are unaware of programs that would allow them to buy now.

Holden Lewis, a mortgage analyst for Bankrate.com,

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Access: A Key Component in Getting Your House SOLD! | Simplifying The Market

So, you’ve decided to sell your house. You’ve hired a real estate professional to help you with the entire process, and they have asked you what level of access you want to provide to potential buyers.

There are four elements to a quality listing. At the top of the list is Access, followed by Condition, Financing, and Price. There are many levels of access that you can provide to your agent so that he or she can show your home.

Here are five levels of access that you can give to buyers, along with a brief description:

  1. Lockbox on the Door – this allows buyers the ability to see the home as soon as they are aware of the listing, or at their convenience.
  2. Providing a Key to the Home – although the buyer’s agent may need to stop by an office
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US Housing Market Is Moving into 'Buy Territory'! | Simplifying The Market

According to the Beracha, Hardin & Johnson Buy vs. Rent (BH&J) Index, the U.S. housing market has continued to move deeper into buy territory, supporting the belief that housing markets across the country remain a sound investment.

The BH&J Index is a quarterly report that attempts to answer the question:

In today’s housing market, is it better to rent or buy a home?

The index examines the entire US housing market and then isolates 23 major cities for comparison. The researchers “measure the relationship between purchasing property and building wealth through a buildup in equity versus renting a comparable property and investing in a portfolio of stocks and bonds.” 

While most of the metropolitan markets examined moved further into buy

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Shown by appointment...Call Marjorie 240-731-8079

320 North Carolina Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20003

Location, location, location!  Classic brick 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath rowhouse with great bones.  Living room with bay window, formal dining room with fireplace, high ceilings, kitchen opens to deck & fenced in back yard.  Partially finished basement with rec room. Between 2 Metros, parks, restaurants & shops.

CLICK HERE for architectural photos and color floor plan

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Do You Know the Real Cost of Renting vs. Buying? [INFOGRAPHIC] | Simplifying The Market

Some Highlights:

  • Historically, the choice between renting or buying a home has been a close decision.
  • Looking at the percentage of income needed to rent a median-priced home today (30%), vs. the percentage needed to buy a median-priced home (15%), the choice becomes obvious.
  • Every market is different. Before you renew your lease again, find out if you could use your housing costs to own a home of your own!
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