What You Need To Know About Us Hiring

We’re hiring! Here are our four core values we try to live by.

Today I’m excited to announce that we are hiring! Are you interested in joining this team? We are looking to grow and sign on more agents, and we need your help to do that. Maybe you’re interested, or maybe you know someone who might be. Either way, I would appreciate your help in passing this message along. To start, I think it is important to be upfront about our values to make sure that we match. There are four core values that we focus on: 

1. Faith. By this, I mean faith in God, ourselves, and the people around us. I believe that faith is imperative for people to move forward confidently and improve. 

2. Growth. I feel very strongly that if we aren't growing, we’re dying. This means we must ask ourselves how we can level up in all areas of our lives, and not just in our business. This includes being the best mothers and fathers that we can be to our children, being the best husbands and wives to our spouses, caring about our physical health, and more. 

"It’s important that someone we hire matches these four values."

3. Humility. I believe that the real estate industry as a whole has way too much ego, and that ego doesn’t help anything. We must recognize that there are so many people we can learn from. If we truly want to grow, it requires us to humble ourselves and become a student, constantly learning and improving, knowing we don’t have it all figured out. 

4. Relationships. I have learned so much about how important relationships are in recent years as I have gone through some health trials. My team truly believes in the importance of being team-focused. Throughout a transaction, the most important thing is your relationship with the client. God designed us to be not only in relationship with Him but also in relationship with one another. Iron sharpens iron.

Those are our four core values. If they align with you and your values, and you'd be interested in exploring what it might look like for us to partner together, reach out. My team and I can help you sell more homes, win back a lot of your time, plug into helpful systems, net more money, and ultimately have a more impactful and fulfilling life. We would love to connect and just start the conversation to see where it might lead. You can start by following this link to our website. We look forward to hearing from you! 

Should You Wait for Rates To Drop?

 

Don’t let fear take over—waiting for a better rate may hurt even more.

Today I want to share some perspective regarding how insanely interest rates have jumped lately. I was recently talking with a great client and friend of mine, Bruce Barker, who put it so perfectly. He said, “Historically, the average interest rate has been 7.6%.” 

To have an average, you need something to be lower, and you need something to be higher. We have had extremely low interest rates over the last few years, and now they’ve risen to 6.5%. That's been a significant jump, but they’re still below the historical average. It's possible that interest rates will go above the average of 7.6%. If you’re thinking about holding off until interest rates come down, I want to pause and reconsider. I hear many people say those things, but based on what I'm seeing in our economic outlook, I don’t believe rates will drop any time soon.

"Get into something now and build your equity."

If you can afford the mortgage payment on a property, lock it in. If the interest rate does come down at some point, you can always refinance. You shouldn’t gamble with your future and the house that you want for your family because you’re hoping interest rates come down. Real estate doubles every 10 years, so get into something now and take advantage of being able to build equity over time.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to me by phone or email. I’m here to serve you.

A Comprehensive Update on the Housing Market

Everything you should know about our current housing market.

Have all the changes in the real estate market been too overwhelming to keep up with? There’s a lot happening, so I can’t blame you! That’s why I’m here today, to make sense of it all for you. It can help you stay updated on our Pierce County market so you can make informed real estate decisions. 

You can hear the full update by watching the video above, or you can skip to individual topics by using these timestamps: 

0:00 — Introduction 

0:30 — Median sales price 

1:20 — Median percent of list price 

1:54 — Days on market 

2:04 — Pending sales and number of homes sold 

4:00 — Determining what kind of market we’re in 

4:40 — Inventory 

5:35 — Interest rates and the Federal Reserve rates 

6:00 — How to price a home and handle this market 

6:45 — Wrapping up 

The bottom line is that there are advantages in this market for both buyers and sellers. If you have any questions, I would love to be your real estate resource. Call or email me and my team anytime!

Your May 2022 Pierce County Market Update

 Here’s what’s happening in our market and how it affects you.

There’s a lot happening in the market, and it’s starting to get a little weird. That’s why I wanted to share some hard data with you today to show you what’s taking place. Let’s dive right into these numbers and what they mean for you as a buyer or a seller.

You can watch the full video above or skip to each section using the timestamps provided:

0:00 — Introducing today’s topic

0:32 — Home prices are at an all-time high

1:13 — The five-year graph for the sales-to-list-price ratio

2:02 — We are still seeing a fast market

2:39 — The pending sales, homes for sale, and number of homes sold

3:52 — We’ve been in an extreme seller’s market for a while

4:21 — We only have 18 days of inventory

4:56 — Interest rates have jumped, and that will affect the buying pool

6:27 — Wrapping up

If you have any questions or would like to develop a specific strategy for your situation, call or email my team and me. We’d love to hear from you.

Sellers: Consider Capital Gains Before Selling

Even though we’re in a hot seller’s market, you may not want to sell right now.

Considering how much homes have increased in value recently, many people are wondering whether they should sell their homes or cash in on their equity. Selling may or may not be a good idea, so today I’ll give people in this position something to consider: capital gains taxes.

Many people don’t really think about capital gains taxes until after their house has already been sold. When you purchase a home, the IRS determines whether you’ll pay short-term or long-term capital gains based on how long you’ve lived in the home.

If you’ve lived in the home for less than a year, you’ll pay a higher capital gains tax, so be sure to check with your CPA to find out exactly how much yours would be if you sold. For simplicity’s sake, you can expect to pay around 22% of your total profit. If you’ve lived in the home for more than a year, your capital gains taxes are reduced. Again, your CPA can give you a more exact figure, but you’re looking at somewhere around 10% to 15%.

 "If you’re pretty close to that two-year mark, then it may be a good idea to hold off on selling."

Now, if you are in a position where you have lived in the home for at least two out of the last five yearsand you’re single, you are exempt from having to pay capital gains taxes on up to $250,000 worth of profit. If you’re married, you’re exempt for up to $500,000. If you’re pretty close to that two-year mark, then it may be a good idea to hold off on selling.

Hopefully this has given you some helpful information to better inform your decision to sell or not to sell.

If you have any questions or need assistance, give us a call or send us an email. We’d love to be a resource for you.

Should You Wait To Sell Your Home?

Our market conditions suggest sellers should act sooner rather than later.

With how volatile the market is, does it make sense to sell your home now, or should you wait? Many homeowners are asking this question. After all, home values will continue to rise, so wouldn’t it be better to let home prices rise before selling? That way, you could extract the maximal value from your sale. Today I’ll address this question and some concerns that I have for those thinking of waiting.

First, let’s consider what’s going on in the market. As I said, home prices are on the rise. As prices go up, your pool of potential buyers shrinks since fewer people will be able to afford your home. The Federal Reserve has also announced that they’re going to increase interest rates multiple times. They’ve already jumped quite a bit in just the last few weeks. Rising rates also have the effect of reducing your buying pool.

"You’ll have a larger buying pool now than you will later in the year."

It’s not hard to see why consumer confidence has been getting lower and lower. Many are starting to wonder if it’s even worth it to pay that much for a home anymore. If confidence continues to drop, that’s even fewer buyers in the market who will be prepared to make you an offer. That, in turn, means the value of your home will go down since you won’t be able to take advantage of high demand and bidding wars to boost your sales price.

With all that in mind, if you’re thinking about selling your home in 2022, I strongly encourage you to take action sooner rather than later. You’ll have a larger buying pool now than you will later in the year, meaning that you’re more likely to get a higher price if you don't wait.

If you have any questions or need help getting the sales process started, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. Hope to hear from you soon!

How Interest Rates Affect Your Buying Power

How rising interest rates could affect your ability to buy a home.

Interest rates are on the rise, so what does this mean for you? If you’re thinking about buying a home soon, you need to know what’s happening. Interest rates are in the low 4% range, so I want to break down what that means for your pocketbook.

A chief economist at a large brokerage recently said, “With certainty, by the end of this year, interest rates will be 5.5% to 6%.” That’s a huge jump from where we are now—up to a 2% difference. That might not sound like that much, but it is.

"Act sooner rather than later to protect as much of your money as possible."

The median home price in Pierce County is $525,000. Let’s say you own a home at that price, and you’d like to move into a larger house that would cost around $750,000. If you put 20% down on that home and rates were at 4%, your monthly payment would be $2,864. If rates rose to 6%, your monthly payment would be $3,597 for that same house. 

That’s a difference of $733 per month. Over a year, you’d pay $9,000 more, and over the life of your loan, you’d pay $264,000 more. I want to make sure you’re aware of how much rates affect your monthly payment. If you want to move, I recommend acting sooner rather than later to protect as much of your money as possible. 

A lot of people don’t want to sell until they find where they’re moving to, but there are a few strategies you can use to help. You can purchase the new property first and sell your home immediately afterward. There are ways you can structure and finance that option. 

If you know someone who would benefit from this information, please pass this on to them. As always, if you have any questions, I’d love to help. Just call or email me.

Using a HELOC To Make Your Move

Here’s how you can use a HELOC to buy a new home before you sell. 

Are you looking to move? If so, you probably need to sell your old home before you can buy a new one. If you’re in this position, how can you sell your house without going homeless? I have a great tip that’s helped plenty of our clients, and I want to share it with you today. 

The big issue in our market right now is our low inventory. Sure, you can get a great deal on your home, but what will you do when you have to buy? Fortunately, we’ve worked closely with lenders to help solve this situation, and you may be able to use a home equity line of credit, or HELOC, to make your move. 

So how would this work? Let’s look at an example: Say you want to move up from your existing house into a bigger one. Because homes have appreciated so much in the last few years, you probably have a lot more equity than you think. In this instance, you can use a HELOC to pull the equity out of your home. It doesn’t cost any money until you deploy the funds, so you can use that cash to pay for a down payment on your new home. 

"You probably have more equity than you think."

Even if you aren’t looking to move, there are plenty of good reasons to take out a HELOC, such as an emergency fund. While I’m not a financial expert, I will caution against spending your equity on things like expensive cars. If you need a lender to speak with about this topic, please reach out to us. We'd be happy to put you in touch with a great one.

If you have questions about today’s topic, please call or email my team. We are always happy to be a resource for you!

Our Latest Pierce County Market Update

Here’s what’s happening in our Pierce County market in October.

Today I’m sharing what’s currently happening in the greater Pierce County real estate market. Feel free to refer to the graphs in the video above if you’d like a visual representation of the data.

September had a median sale price of $507,480, which is the third month in a row we’ve seen a small decrease in prices. That isn’t unusual for the season, and we’ve seen a rise of 14.3% in home values compared to this time last year. That’s excellent appreciation; the normal rate is about 4% to 5% in a single year. So we’ve seen about three years’ worth of appreciation condensed into just this past year. 

Sellers are getting 2.7% over the asking price when they sell and are doing so very quickly at an average of five days on the market, on average! When we look at pending sales, the number of sales that are taking place has grown 7.3% compared to September 2020. The number of homes for sale has improved by 19.5%, and homes sold have climbed 4.4% in the last year. Our market truly needed more inventory, and we’re starting to see it. I would say the jump in sold homes is due to having more options available for buyers. 

"We’ve seen about three years’ worth of appreciation condensed into just this past year."

When we have less than six months’ worth of homes on the market, we’re in a seller’s market, and home values are usually escalating. When we have six to seven months of inventory, we’re in a neutral market (not a buyer’s or seller’s market), and home values follow inflation. Neutral markets rarely last very long. When we have over seven months of houses for sale, we’re in a buyer’s market, and home values frequently decrease. 

Even though inventory has been creeping up a bit, we’re still very much in a seller’s market at 0.7 months of inventory, or just 21 days. We’re still desperate for more homes to hit the market, which is fairly consistent all across the U.S. right now. Diana Olick, CNBC’s Real Estate Correspondent recently said: 

“Fall is usually the start of the slower season for the housing market, but nothing is usual in today’s pandemic-driven housing market. Potential homebuyers are seeing a slight rise in inventory and consequently rushing back into the fray. Mortgage applications to purchase a home jumped 7% last week from the previous week… That is the highest level since April of this year.”

That’s a great sign that buyers are still interested, and as more inventory is becoming available, they’re excited and taking action. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team via phone or email if you have any questions about our market or real estate in general. We’re here to be of service to you. 

Home-Buyer Workshop

REGISTER HERE

Are you thinking about buying in the Puget Sound area? You're invited to my Home-Buying

Workshop: How To Best Position Yourself as Qualified Buyer, on May 18 at 7 p.m PST.

It's a virtual, online event to stay safe.

I'm going to answer your biggest questions about buying a home, including:

• Is COVID-19 affecting home prices?

• How much house can I afford?

• Can I safely tour homes?

• Are home prices dropping?

• Is now a good time to buy?

• What is an inspection?

• What mistakes should I avoid?

• How do I find movers?

• How do I get the best price for my new home?

Hurry! It's limited to 25 homebuyers. You can attend safely from your computer, phone, or tablet.

If you're thinking about buying a home, you need to attend this.

Get your free ticket on Eventbrite here.

Summer 2021 Market Update

Ours continues to be a hot seller’s market as we hit the middle of summer.

The Pierce County real estate market continues to go crazy this summer. The market conditions that we’re seeing here make it the perfect time for those who were potentially thinking about selling their house to take the leap. You can take advantage of this market and get top dollar for your property.

Cited below for your convenience are timestamps that will direct you to various points in the video. Feel free to watch the full message or use these timestamps to browse specific topics at your leisure:

0:23 — Five-year price history

2:05 — Days on market

2:51 — Active listings

4:00 — Inventory

5:18 — Why it’s a good time to sell

5:42 — Wrapping up

If you have any questions about real estate matters or are looking to buy or sell a home, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I look forward to the opportunity to help you reach your goals.

May 2021 Pierce County Market Overview

Here are the latest numbers and information about our Pierce County market.

Today I’m sharing a Pierce County real estate market update for May 2021. This market is on

fire, and I continue to say that every month because I’m still blown away by what we’re seeing.

At 0:35 in the video above, you can see a graph that shows our five-year pricing trends. We just

hit an all-time record: The median home price has reached $500,000. We’ve seen a 20% increase in

home values in the last year, while historically, values increase around 5% per year. In last month’s market update, I said we were consistently seeing homes spending an average of six

days on market and that I didn’t see how it could get any lower than that. However, we’ve now dropped

to an average of five days on the market, so homes are moving extremely quickly.

"Our market is in a feeding frenzy; people are buying more homes than ever."

At 1:55 in the video, you can see a chart that illustrates pending sales in the last five years. Pending

sales are those that have gone under contract but haven’t closed yet. The number of pending sales

has risen 41.61% year over year. At 2:30, you can see a graph showing active listings versus the number of sales in the last five years.

We currently have a very low number of homes available for sale; that number has declined 45%

compared to this same time last year. At the same time, the number of homes selling is much higher

than the number of homes for sale. The number of homes sold has climbed 46% over the last year.

That means our market is in a feeding frenzy; people are buying more homes than ever. A seller’s market is when there is fewer than six months’ worth of homes on the market and home

values are trending upward. When we have six to seven months’ worth of homes, we’re in a neutral

market, and home prices will only appreciate with inflation. If we have seven months or more of homes

on the market, it’s a buyer’s market, and home prices will depreciate. Knowing all this, we’re in more of

a seller’s market than we’ve ever been before. We have only half a month's worth of homes for sale right now. If no more homes were to come

onto the market, we’d sell out in just 15 days. The number of homes for sale has just been decreasing

and decreasing. This is the hottest market I’ve ever seen, by a long shot.

If you’re considering selling, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be glad to be a resource and educate

you about timing, what you need to know, preparation, and more. Feel free to contact me via phone or

email anytime if you have questions about the market or real estate in general. I’d love to speak with

you.

April’s Mind-Blowing Market Update for Pierce County

Here’s how things have changed in Pierce County real estate.

The latest numbers for the Pierce County real estate market are in, and to put it simply, the metrics

are astonishing. 

We’re in the hottest market I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been in real estate for about 17 years.The median sales price in March was $480,000, which was a 14.6% increase from the year

before. It’s unbelievable. Another unbelievable metric is that homes are spending, on average, only

six days on the market before selling. That’s about as low as you can realistically get. If someone

tried to sell quicker than that, they wouldn’t be exposing their listing to enough people.

When selling, a little time is necessary.

"It’s a total feeding frenzy right now, and you can get in on

the action if you’ve been thinking of listing."

The number of pending listings was 1,636 in March, which is a 33% year-over-year increase.

These are homes that haven’t officially sold yet, but the buyer and seller have created a contract;

the home will close if no issues derail the transaction. 

Another crazy metric is our sales numbers. The number of homes for sale is down 64% compared

to a year ago, but the number of homes sold is up 8%. It’s a total feeding frenzy right now, and you

can get in on the action if you’ve been thinking of listing. It’s never been a better time to sell. You’ll

have lots of opportunities to negotiate exactly what you want, and you can easily make more than

your home is worth. 

Inventory is completely wiped out. To put it in perspective, we’re in a normal market when we have

around six months’ worth of inventory. Anything above that is a buyer’s market, and anything below

is a seller’s market. We’re at 0.3 months—in other words, there are only nine days’ worth of

home inventory in our area. It means that if no more homes were to come onto the market, all

homes would be gone within nine days.

Needless to say, it’s a blistering-hot seller’s market and a perfect time to list your home. If you’re

ready to jump into the market or you have any questions related to real estate, feel free to reach out

to me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What to Know About Pierce County Real Estate in March 2021

The latest numbers point to an extreme seller’s market in Pierce County.

Today I have a quick market update for you on Pierce County real estate here in March 2021. If you

weren't aware already, things are pretty wild in the market right now.

In the past month, we have set an all-time record for the median sale price in Pierce County

at $468,260. That’s a 14.6% increase from this time last year! We weren’t sure if we would see price

stabilization at the end of 2020, but last month definitely showed us that this is an appreciating market.

In Pierce County, homes are selling in an average of just six days on the market. This is about as low

as this figure can get, because any good agent wants to make sure the property gets exposed to

the market for at least a few days—if not a week—before accepting an offer.

"We have just half a month of available inventory for sale."

As for pending sales, those are up considerably as well (13%). As a reminder, pending sales are

sales that have been agreed to but haven’t closed yet.

At 2:20, you’ll see two overlapping graphs that measure active listings (in red) and the number

of sales (in green) over the last five years. You can see that while we started off with about twice

as many active listings, there has clearly been a shift in supply and demand. As of January 2021, we

had more than twice as many home sales as active listings.

A neutral or balanced market has between six and seven months, and a buyer’s market has more than

seven months. Anything less than six months, like the market we’re in now, is a seller's market. We’re

in a very strong seller’s market right now with just 0.5 months of inventory (15 days). This means all

of the homes in Pierce County would be sold in just over two weeks if no new homes were listed for

sale.

If you have any questions about your specific real estate situation or the market in general,

don't hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you.