Follow These Steps to Ensure a Successful Home Purchase

I’ve had the opportunity to travel around the country a lot this year. I’ve gone on vacations, been to conferences, and even trained and spoke to other offices around the country. When I go to these different areas of the country, I always make it a point to look at what their local markets are doing. I’ll ask my Uber driver, ask friends who live there, and go see which agents have the most listings in a typical neighborhood. When I was recently in Nashville, for example, I was told that “everyone” from California is moving there. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but this was the general consensus. “ We have a network of over 130,000 Realtors. ” This got me thinking about the people who are moving away from Sacramento. Just because I’m located in the Sacramento area doesn’t mean that I can’t help you with a move to somewhere else in the world. My team has a network of over 130,000 Realtors across the globe that will give you the same great service I will. If you have any questions for me or you’d like to talk more about your real estate goals, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Many people believe that springtime is the best time to sell a home, and if the latest market statistics are any indication, they’re absolutely right. The number of homes available for sale was down 11.8% last April compared to April 2018. Furthermore, the number of pending sales rose by 7.3%. In other words, we’re seeing fewer homes hit the market, and demand is ratcheting up. “ We’re seeing fewer homes hit the market, and demand is ratcheting up. ” Despite these trends, we’re encountering a lot of sellers who are still on the fence about entering the market right now. If you’re unsure whether you really want to put your home on the market, we’ve created a home seller’s guide that takes you through the sale process from start to finish so you can know exactly what to expect. We also created a homebuyer’s guide for the same purpose. If you’d like a copy of either of these guides or you’d like to sit down with us and talk more about whether you’re better off selling now or sometime in the future, don’t hesitate to give us a call. As always, if you have any other real estate questions, feel free to reach out to us as well. We’d love to help you.

I’ve been in Sacramento real estate since 2005, and over the years, I’ve sold homes, managed teams, and run entire brokerages. In fact, one brokerage I headed was the No. 1 Keller Williams brokerage in all of North America—we sold over 20,000 homes and amassed over $4.5 billion in sales. I’m not sharing this to try and impress you; I’m simply illustrating that there isn’t much I haven’t seen in real estate. However, I need your help to put these experiences to further use. “ There isn’t much I haven’t seen in real estate. ” I want to continue covering important real estate topics and ideas, but I need to know what information you would find interesting and valuable. Most of you aren’t looking to buy or sell right now, but I still want to be there as a resource for you in the meantime. If you want to know about market stats, events in our community, things to do around the house, or anything else related to real estate, let me know; I’d love to share that knowledge with you. Feel free to send me your suggestions at Patrick@PatrickWoods.net. If you are looking to buy or sell, reach out to me as well. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

So is the Sacramento market currently a buyer’s market or a seller’s market? Actually, it’s still a seller’s market , contrary to much of what we’ve been hearing in the news about market trends around the country. Now, the market has softened a little bit, but we still have an inventory that would reflect a seller’s market. What is challenging, however, is that we’re not seeing as much of a hot seller’s market as we had been earlier in 2018. As far as inventory goes, since we’re in a seller’s market, it means that we have less than six months of supply available at the moment. We have seen inventory drop a little bit due to the current season , but we’ve also seen the number of sales go down in proportion to that, as well, meaning that home prices have softened also—but not a lot. “ We don’t know for sure what the future will bring for the market, so it’s important to act on what we currently know, not what could possibly happen. ” What do interest rates look like at the moment? Interest rates are still historically low; as of the time that this video was taken, we’re still in the 4% range , which is crazy low. I remember when an old roommate of mine was excited to have a 9% interest rate on a condo that he had purchased! However, we don’t know for sure what the future will bring for the market, so it’s important to act on what we currently know, not what could possibly happen. Interest rates may creep back up a little, but since we don’t have a crystal ball, we can’t say with certainty what will happen. So what does this mean for buyers and sellers as a whole? With inventory lower than it was and because of the season, there’s actually less competition for homes currently on the market, which is great for both buyers and sellers. Sellers have little competition , and there are also fewer buyers to compete with since the only ones likely to be out bidding on homes this time of year are the ones who are serious and motivated about buying. Right now, we know what interest rates are like, but come springtime—who knows? That’s why it’s important for anyone thinking of buying or selling to act quickly. If you have any questions or need more information, please feel free to reach out to me. Let’s lock something down for you right now and get you into a home ASAP.

Even though we’ve enjoyed a hot seller’s market over the past few years, they say all good things must come to an end. But does that mean you’ve missed the boat? Absolutely not! Though the market has softened a little bit, we’re still in a seller’s market. Here are five key reasons to sell your home in 2019: 1. You won’t be the only one listing for long. The reason why we’ve seen such a massive increase in home values over the last couple years is that we haven’t had enough inventory for the number of buyers in the market. Due to supply and demand, home prices have gone up. We’ve seen more homes come on the market after the first of the year, so we can expect much more supply as we head into the spring and summer months. This might negatively impact home prices and divert eyeballs away from your listing. Strike now while the iron is hot. 2. You can still make a handsome profit . The great news is that you’ll still be able to take advantage of all those years of appreciation and equity that you’ve built up in your home. Prices aren’t dropping just yet—they’re still appreciating, just not at the clip that they were one to two years ago. You’ll still walk away in a great position, even if you’re selling your home today. “ We don’t have a crystal ball to tell us exactly what will happen with interest rates, but it’s much more likely they’ll go up in the future than down. ” 3. There is still a demand for homes in the first-time-homebuyer price range. If your home falls on the lower end of your market, you’ll have more visitors and eyeballs on your listings, meaning that you’ll get more exposure and have more control over the outcome of your sale. The number of people looking at your home is directly correlated to your ability to sell it for the most money in the shortest amount of time. 4. Mortgage rates are still really low . Though interest rates were around 3.5% a few years ago and have since risen to around 4.5%, they’re still low in the grand scheme of things. Right now, there is a prime opportunity to sell your house before interest rates go up again—higher interest rates mean reduced buying power, which in turn means that fewer buyers will be able to afford your home. We don’t have a crystal ball to tell us exactly what will happen with interest rates, but it’s much more likely they’ll go up in the future than down. 5. Millennial buyers are flooding the market. Contrary to popular belief, millennials are actually buying homes. In the next two years, we’ll see more 30-year-olds buying property than we’ve seen in decades. That means it’s a great opportunity to put your home out there so as to attract those millennial buyers. If you have any further questions about selling your home or about the real estate market in general, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We hope to hear from you soon!

If you’re all about personal resolutions for the new year, here are 10 simple resolutions you can make for your home in 2019: Lose weight . Cut the amount of energy you use in your home. Quit smoking . Purify your indoor air. Get out of debt . Make a budget for home improvements. Learn something new . Educate yourself on home finances, for instance. Get organized . Start by decluttering your home. Volunteer . Get out there and support your local community. Drink less . Curb the amount of water you use in your home. Spend time with family . Do projects together with your loved ones. Get fit . Exercise your DIY skills with simple fixes and improvements. Be less stressed . Use maintenance-free materials in your household. If you have any questions or have topics you’d like me to cover in future videos, feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What are the five vices you need to avoid if you hope to sell your home in 2017? The first is over-improving your home . A lot of sellers claim that they have the nicest house on the block, but that can be a bad thing sometimes. Making too many improvements to your home can overprice it and lessen the chance you’ll get a return on its value. Consult with us if you want to make sure you’re not spending a dollar to save a dime. The second vice to avoid is renovating without permits . While it may seem like the fastest way to get something done to improve your home (getting permits can be a difficult process), it will come back to haunt you down the line when you’re trying to close. Take the extra step to get proper permits when making any improvements to your home. The third vice is limiting showing hours . Can showing your home be inconvenient at certain times? Absolutely. But part of our job is to make those showings as convenient as possible. The more open you are to showings, the faster your home will get under contract. That means no more showings will have to take place! The fourth vice is relying too heavily on open houses . While open houses can be great for momentum, the number one reason most people want open houses is because it’s the only time they see their agent work to sell their house. Agents in this day and age use a lot of different avenues to sell homes, so it’s important to know what you’re agent is doing to sell your home beyond the occasional open house. Open houses can also put you at risk because you’re giving people open access to your home to do some damage later on. “ Always follow your agent’s advice. ” The final vice to avoid is not following your agent’s advice . Would you walk into your CPA’s office and tell them you know a better way to file your taxes? No way! Your agent is a pro and you’re hiring them for a reason. They’re an expert on the process and they know what they’re doing. If you have any questions about this topic or are interested in buying or selling a property, feel free to give us a call or shoot us an email. We’d be happy to help you!

Right now is a great time to get your house on the market for a few reasons. There are a lot of sellers waiting on the sidelines for nice weather in the spring to list their homes. Traditionally, most people consider spring the best time to sell a home, but there’s a flaw in that logic. There will be a lot more inventory on the market in the spring, which creates more competition between sellers. Right now, there is low competition and high demand, which means you could get way more for your home than if you wait for spring. “ If you wait until spring to list, you’ll face more competition and possibly less money for your home. ” Our inventory is actually lower right now than it was at this time last year, and interest rates are starting to creep up. This is causing buyers to get off the fence and submit the strongest, quickest offers to secure a purchase. If you have any more questions about putting your home on the market now instead of waiting for spring, or if you have any other questions, please feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

When you start working with our team, we want to get you into production as fast as possible. Today, we’d like to take a minute to explain how our agent onboarding process works. One of the first things that we do is sit down with you to map out your goals. Most people say that they want to net around $100,000 in profit. Based on industry conversion rates, we’ll break down what you need to do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis in order to achieve that goal. When that happens, most people are surprised. When you break down the numbers, there’s actually not a whole lot that you have to do on a day-to-day basis in order to profit $100,000. So long as you are consistent, you will meet your goals. “ We want to set you up for success. ” We also provide services and value to make it even easier for you to meet your production goals. If you have any other questions about our agent onboarding process or if you are interested in joining our team, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!