Educational insights

Buyers and sellers may feel a bit confused by how fast the housing market changes. First, there was a pause at the beginning of the pandemic, then a buying frenzy that gave sellers additional power, followed by a slower pace as mortgage rates quickly rose throughout 2022.

As the housing market shifts to one that is balanced between buyers and sellers, home sellers are more likely to want to take the extra step of renovating their home for maximum profits. Several companies including Revive now offer concierge services that provide design guidance, project management, contractors and financing to renovate a home to appeal to today’s buyers.

A new category has emerged called Concierge Services. It's driven by savvy startups, including Revive Real Estate. Companies like Revive have taken this old dog and taught it some new tricks.The result is a better way for sellers to hire and pay for renovations. Today, most homeowners miss out on 15% to 20% of the value of their homes when they sell. Presale renovations prevent that from happening.

Whether you’re buying your first home or you’re a repeat buyer, you’ll be happy to know you have plenty of choices when it comes to financing your purchase. Shopping around with a few lenders is the best way to learn about loan programs that are only available from some financial institutions and to get advice about which loan programs might be best for your individual circumstances.

The rapid rise of mortgage rates in the spring of 2022 sent a shock wave through the housing market. While buyers and sellers are beginning to adjust and accept that mortgage rates aren’t likely to dip back to 3% or less anytime soon, rates that hover around 5% to 6% reduce affordability for buyers compared to those historically low rates.

For the last couple of decades, the real estate industry’s focus on improving the home sale experience has centered on speed. Marketing messaging promises faster sales, speedier loan processing, and quicker closings. The emergence of iBuyers and cash-backed offer programs promises to finalize a home sale “in as little as 10 days — or less.”

Every seller aspires to receive the highest possible price for their home. Whether they want to use the proceeds to buy or build their next home, to fund their retirement, or for other investments, maximizing the sales price is always a goal. While sellers can’t control market conditions, they can take steps that may boost the offers they receive from buyers.‍

No matter what local market conditions are like, many real estate agents work pretty much all the time. After all, they need to be available when their clients are free, and they need to constantly refresh their knowledge of their local market. And yet, there are some real estate agents who manage their work-life integration seamlessly and carve out time for their family, friends and relaxation. How do they do it? One way is to rely on timesaving programs to speed up or outsource some of their tasks.

Modern house flipping can be traced back to the autumn of 1960, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) into law. Believe it or not, the legislation creating REITs was tucked into the Cigar Excise Tax Extension Act. For the first time ever, a broad base of investors could now pool resources for real estate projects, specifically commercial real estate development. In effect, REITS gave birth to the democratization of real estate investment.

Staging a home for sale may require some extra pre-sale prep, but the time and money reap plenty of rewards. The majority of buyers’ agents (82%) said that staging makes it easier for buyers to visualize a property as their future home, according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors. Nearly a quarter (23%) of buyers’ and sellers’ agents said that a staged home received an offer 1% to 5% higher than a similar home that hadn’t been staged and 18% of sellers’ agents said the value of a staged home was 6% to 10% higher. In addition, 31% of agents said that staging decreased the days a home spent on the market.

Whether you’re new to homeownership or are a repeat buyer, you may not be aware of all the financing options available to help you purchase a home. While meeting with a lender to discuss your individual circumstances is highly recommended, you probably want to know a little about loan programs in advance, so you know what questions to ask.

If you’ve been in the market for a home in the past year you know that mortgage rates have climbed quickly in recent months. Average mortgage rates for 30-year fixed-rate loans were under 3% for much of 2021, according to data from Freddie Mac. By mid-April 2022 rates climbed above 5%.