Junk data hurts buyers by creating distraction from understanding market value. Buyers need to know market value in order to negotiate for the fair price. Assessed value has no relationship to market price. But, but, but…how can a property be worth more than what the town or city assesses it for? Don’t the town or city
Households with no cars were rare in 1996. Even among people who commuted to work solely by mass transit or bicycle, there was a car. When the house next door to me went up for sale in 1996, my new neighbor was a man in his 30s who did not have a driver’s license. He
How does a seller’s market end? A seller-favoring market exists when there is more demand for housing than supply. Since about 2012 or 2013, buyers found fewer properties for sale than they did during the recession (when foreclosures added to the number of houses and condos for sale.) Limited supply created the seller-favoring market we’ve
If you are only vaguely curious, the simple answer to the question in the title is about $15,000, according to Daily Finance. When my client asked me about this, I decided it was time to do some checking. In a national study, the answer was qualified with more data. All PV (photovoltaic) systems are not
Almost all of the data designed for marketing is, well, marketing. It is designed to give consumers a sense of urgency, so they will buy and sell. A former client wrote me: Hey Rona, Hope you are well. Do these numbers look accurate to you? -J. Are the numbers accurate? Yes. A licensed real estate agent
We’ve been in a seller’s market – where there is more demand than supply – since spring of 2012. It takes a while to get perspective on a market that is changing. To figure out when price inflation began to pick up again, I looked back on my blogs. I found this one, from February
You know that real estate bubble I keep saying is inflating? It just got a pump of air. I agree with Jim Morrison at Banker and Tradesman that easing credit restrictions is the wrong thing to do. It didn’t go well in 2006, and it won’t end well this time. What’s happened? Credit reporting has
Here’s the headline: Real estate prices just passed the line for affordability. This is news. When a market passes the point where average consumers can buy, the market is headed into a bubble. Yet RIS, the source of the info, does not conclude that the market is about to correct, yet. First, a definition: affordability
It's starting. My phone is ringing because landlords are notifying their tenants of their plans to sell the apartment. Some will renovate, some will just sell. When a seller puts an occupied apartment on the market, it takes some diplomacy to make it work. Someone lives there, and it's for sale: Showing rented houses and
You are hearing the stories. I know. “…there were ten offers on every property and everything sells for $50,000 above asking price.” “NO ONE is buying with a home inspection…” “If you don’t have cash, you can’t buy in (name the town here.” The stories are true, but they are not true. Some properties are