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New Orleans Market Update January 2019

#nola #nola.com #neworleans #real estate #realtor

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Welcome!

#nola #neworleans #real estate #realtor #realtorlife

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5 Reasons to Sell Your Home This Fall in New Orleans.

1. Demand Is Strong in Nola

The latest Buyer Traffic Report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows that buyer demand remains very strong throughout the vast majority of the country. These buyers are ready, willing, and able to purchase and are in the market right now! More often than not, multiple buyers are competing with each other to buy a home.

Take advantage of the buyer activity currently in the market.

2. There Is Less Competition Now

Housing inventory is still under the 6-month supply that is needed for a normal housing market.

This means that, in the majority of the country, there are not enough homes for sale to satisfy the number of buyers in the market. This is good news for homeowners who have gained equity as their home values have increased. However, additional inventory could be coming to the market soon.

Historically, the average number of years a homeowner stayed in their home was six, but that number has jumped to an average of almost nine years since 2008. There is a pent-up desire for many homeowners to move, as they were unable to sell over the last few years because of a negative equity situation. As home values continue to appreciate, more and more homeowners will be given the freedom to move.

The choices buyers have will continue to increase. Don’t wait until this other inventory comes to market before you decide to sell.

3. The Process Will Be Quicker

Today’s competitive environment has forced buyers to do all they can to stand out from the crowd, including getting pre-approved for their mortgage financing. This makes the entire selling process much faster and much simpler as buyers know exactly what they can afford before home shopping. According to Ellie Mae’s latest Origination Insights Report, the time to close a loan has dropped to 43 days, after seeing a 12-month high of 48 days in January.

4. There Will Never Be a Better Time to Move Up

If your next move will be into a premium or luxury home, now is the time to move-up! The inventory of homes for sale at these higher price ranges has forced these markets into a buyer’s market. This means that if you are planning on selling a starter or trade-up home, your home will sell quickly AND you’ll be able to find a premium home to call your own!

Prices are projected to appreciate by 5.0% over the next year according to CoreLogic. If you are moving to a higher-priced home, it will wind up costing you more in raw dollars (both in down payment and mortgage payment)Â if you wait.

5. It’s Time to Move on With Your Life

Look at the reason you decided to sell in the first place and determine whether it is worth waiting. Is money more important than being with family? Is money more important than your health? Is money more important than having the freedom to go on with your life the way you think you should?

Only you know the answers to the questions above. You have the power to take control of the situation by putting your home on the market. Perhaps the time has come for you and your family to move on and start living the life you desire.

That is what is truly important.

Kelly Snyder, Realtor

[email protected]

504-427-9421

www.facebook.com/agentkelly504

www.buyandsellnola.com

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Mayor of New Orleans: 3 aggressive squirrels 'have been apprehended'

We can all leave the house now with confidence...

By Emily [email protected], NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu used Twitter Wednesday night (Sept. 13) to weigh in on WWL's investigation into aggressive squirrels in Lake Vista and assure constituents the threat had not gone unanswered. "We put our best team on the case," Landrieu tweeted to WWL's Paul Murphy, who reported the story from the scene. "And 3 of the squirrels in question have been apprehended."

The news came after the TV station reported earlier this week that squirrels had been attacking people in Lake Vista. In a follow-up report, WWL said the number of people targeted by squirrels in the neighborhood "may be as high as six," and shared footage of one attack "caught on camera." WWL reports at least three squirrels were subsequently captured after New Orleans Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control put out traps near St. Pius Catholic Church.

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In hurricane’s wake, Keller Williams turns Mega Camp into Mega Relief

'Doing what we could to help those affected by the storm was more important,' says KW COO

As Hurricane Harvey grew increasingly ruthless, displaced Houstonians sought shelter at Keller Williams’ Austin Convention Center, where the real estate franchisor holds its annual four-day training event, Mega Camp, scheduled to start this week. The company swiftly changed plans: Mega Camp became Mega Relief, a week long disaster relief campaign, as KW opened up the convention center to a number of charity groups. “As we were talking to the Convention Center representatives about the possibility evacuees would be housed there, it became clear to us that doing what we could to help those affected by the storm was more important, and we made the decision to pivot to focus on the relief effort in our backyard,” said Darrell King, Keller Williams’ COO.

The Austin-based company with 170,000 associates has turned the revenue-generating international conference into a nonprofit disaster response campaign, with the intention of raising $20 million for hurricane recovery. Through Sept. 15, attendees will be cleaning flooded homes, volunteering with nonprofits, and working with the city of Austin and local businesses to gather supplies and raise money. More than 3,300 Keller Williams’ associates and family members have arrived this week from all over the country and overseas to join forces with the Austin Disaster Relief Network, Central Texas Food Bank and the Salvation Army and work on relief projects in stricken areas of central Texas.

Agents are being bused to volunteer sites during the day and returning to Austin for events that raise awareness and funds in the evening. “We had the hotel rooms, we had the buses, and we had the hardest-working, most compassionate real estate agents in the world,” Keller Williams CEO John Davis said. “We decided to do the right thing and leverage the energy and generosity of our associates to make a real difference in people’s lives.” Today the company is helping high school booster clubs in Rockport, Ingleside and Aransas Pass, towns that were devastated by the storm. Tomorrow, two concerts will be held in big Austin music venues with local musicians to help raise funds for Port Arthur/Beaumont and general Harvey and Irma relief.

Attendees go to Mega Camp annually for agent and business leader-led panel sessions and mastermind discussions focused on the latest best practices in real estate. “We are still focusing on that, having events each evening, learning as much as we can,” King said. “We have got coaches on the buses on the road to relief places. There is going to be a lot of camaraderie coming out of this event. We are not losing sight of the fact that we are a training organization; we are putting it into every space we can.” Some of the agent training will cover how to handle a disaster in your region, he said. “We are using the opportunity to train our regions in how to respond to these (disasters),” King added. “At a training event the other day, we told them about the systems and processes for them to be effective in these situations.” The company said that its charitable 501(c)(3) organization, KW Cares, has already sent more than 3,000 volunteers into the Houston and Beaumont areas to rip out drywall and clean more than 200 homes. Additionally, KW Cares has sent more than a dozen 18-wheelers filled with supplies to areas affected by Harvey along with a fleet of trucks loaded with essentials to various parts of Florida to support with the Irma recovery.

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Self-made millionaire: Not buying a home is the single biggest millennial mistake

While opponents of homeownership claim it's "the American nightmare," self-made millionaire David Bach is doubling down on his faith in real estate. He thinks that not prioritizing homeownership is "the single biggest mistake millennials are making." Buying a home is "an escalator to wealth," he tells CNBC.

Young adults in particular aren't hopping on this escalator, and it's a costly mistake, Bach warns: "If millennials don't buy a home, their chances of actually having any wealth in this country are little to none. The average homeowner to this day is 38 times wealthier than a renter." The self-made millionaire is quick to say that the smartest investments he's ever made have been the three homes he's purchased. He tells CNBC: "I first bought a home in San Francisco. It skyrocketed in price. I moved to New York and bought another home. It skyrocketed in price. My net worth has gone up millions and millions of dollars, simply because I've lived."

Bach argues that you have to live somewhere for the rest of your life, so you might as well invest in a home that you could own permanently. As he writes in "The Automatic Millionaire," "As a renter, you can easily spend half a million dollars or more on rent over the years ($1,500 a month for 30 years comes to $540,000), and in the end wind up just where you started — owning nothing. Or you can buy a house and spend the same amount paying down a mortgage, and in the end wind up owning your own home free and clear!" If you want to get in the game of homeownership, start by crunching the numbers, Bach says: "Actually do the math. Look and see what things costs, starting with the smallest options. This way, you're really clear on your goals and you won't just say to yourself, 'I'll never afford this.'" A good rule of thumb is to make sure your total monthly housing payment doesn't consume more than 30 percent of your take-home pay. He also recommends having a down payment of at least 10 percent, though more is always better. Finally, recognize that "oftentimes, buying your first home means you're not buying your dream home," Bach tells CNBC. "You're just getting into the market." A lucrative market, that is. "The fact is, you aren't really in the game of building wealth until you own some real estate," Bach writes.

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Tiny House Villages Are About to Be the Next Big Housing Trend, According to Researchers

Here's what to expect when a tribe of teeny houses moves in next door.

Tiny house villages could soon be big—really big. According to researchers at Kansas State University, tiny house villages are environmentally friendly, they promote a sense of community, they encourage healthy lifestyles and habits, and they're a safe and affordable housing option for the masses. Forall of these reasons, the experts are hoping that tiny house villages will spread across the country in the near future, according to The Wichita Eagle.

Tiny homes, designated as abodes that clock in under 1,000 square feet, don't make up much of the real estate market right now. As of 2015, only one percent of home buyers wanted to live in a so-called tiny home, according to the National Association of Realtors—but the Kansas State researchers think this may soon change. "We think [living in a tiny village] does a few things for one's health," Julia Irwin, a researcher at the university, explained, "including creating a better sense of community, satisfying people's basic needs for relationships, offering affordable housing options, and encouraging physical activity through community gardens and walking to urban establishments." Clearly, there are a lot of benefits to living tiny, however zoning laws across the country have often hindered the growth of tiny house communities. The guidelines set in many areas discourage small houses—mainly mobile homes—because, among other reasons, they can be seen by neighbors as "low class." But, experts believe that the growing passion many have for these teeny properties will improve the way people perceive them. "Tiny houses have a different connotation to them; they are typically seen as a middle or upper-middle-class housing structure," said Irwin. The researchers plan to study specific tiny villages in order to figure out how they can harness the trend and use it to provide affordable housing options to those that need it. So the next time a new housing development gets underway in your neighborhood, it may not be packed with modern McMansions, but rather with a tribe of tiny houses.