for sale
When Should I Sell?
As you will see in this video, real estate marketplaces are generally most active in summer because families with children want to move in before school starts. So more homes are typically available in summer as well. But buyers and sellers tend to balance out in other seasons, too especially in todays tight market. There may be fewer buyers in late December but usually fewer homes, too. So, prices tend to rise or fall on general demand in that market rather than time of year. It is best to sell when you & your house are ready to sell. Start working with a real estate professional as early as possible to make the most of your sale in any season.
Sales Dropped last month …
On December 22nd 2015, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their latest Existing Home Sales Report which covered sales in November. The report revealed that sales:
“…fell 10.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.76 million in November (lowest since April 2014 at 4.75 million)…”
That revelation gave birth to a series of industry articles, some of which quoted pundits questioning whether the housing market was slowing. In actuality, there is one rather simple explanation to much of the falloff in sales last month. It is likely the implementation of the “Know Before You Owe” mortgage rule, commonly known as the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, which went into effect on October 3. These regulations caused house closings to be delayed by an extra three days in November as shown in the graph below.
Three days might sound like a minimal difference. However, since there are only approximately 20 days in a month that a closing would normally take place (Mondays through Fridays), losing three days constitutes well over 10% of all closings. These sales are not lost. They are just moved into the next month’s numbers. In a DS News article on the subject also posted on December 22nd, Auction.com EVP Rick Sharga explained:
“The most likely cause for the weak sales numbers is a delay in processing loans due to the new TRID mortgage requirements imposed by the CFPB. This is the biggest change in mortgage document processing in many years, and there have been numerous reports within the industry of problems implementing the process and the new documentation that comes with it.”
So how is the housing market actually doing?
A better way to look at how well the housing market is doing is to look at the Foot Traffic Report from NAR which quantifies the number of prospective buyers that are actively looking for a home at the current time:
We can see immediately that demand to buy single family homes is increasing over the last few months – not decreasing.
Bottom Line
No matter what last month’s sales numbers show, the housing market is still doing well as demand remains strong.
Call 786.554.8063 or email us George@GeorgeAssal.com, WE are here to facilitate and help you during the process of buying, selling, or renting any real estate needs, which will result in reaching your financial goals quickly and with ease, visit our page www.GeorgeAssal.com .
The Impact of Higher Interest Rates
Last week, an article in the Washington Post discussed a new ‘threat’ homebuyers will soon be facing: higher mortgage rates. The article revealed:
“The Mortgage Bankers Association expects that rates on 30-year loans could reach 4.8 percent by the end of next year, topping 5 percent in 2017. Rates haven’t been that high since the recession.”
How can this impact the housing market?
The article reported that recent analysis from Realtor.com found that –
“…as many as 7% of people who applied for a mortgage during the first half of the year would have had trouble qualifying if rates rose by half a percentage point.”
This doesn’t necessarily mean that those buyers negatively impacted by a rate increase would not purchase a home. However, it would mean that they would either need to come up with substantially more cash for a down payment or settle for a lesser priced home.
Below is a table showing how a jump in mortgage interest rates would impact the purchasing power of a prospective buyer on a $300,000 home.
In Conclusion
If you are considering a home purchase (either as a first time buyer or move-up buyer), purchasing sooner rather than later may make more sense from a pure financial outlook.
Tired of being a tenant? thinking of selling your home?, looking to upgrade? 1st time buyer(s)? buying your dream home? Call us 786.554.8063 or email us George@GeorgeAssal.com, WE are here to facilitate and help you during the process of buying, selling, or renting any real estate needs, which will result in reaching your financial goals quickly and with ease, visit our page www.GeorgeAssal.com
Applying For A Mortgage: Why So Much Paperwork?
We are often asked why there is so much paperwork mandated by the bank for a mortgage loan application when buying a home today. It seems that the bank needs to know everything about us and requires three separate sources to validate each and every entry on the application form.
Many buyers are being told by friends and family that the process was a hundred times easier when they bought their home ten to twenty years ago.
There are two very good reasons that the loan process is much more onerous on today’s buyer than perhaps any time in history.
The government has set new guidelines that now demand that the bank prove beyond any doubt that you are indeed capable of affording the mortgage. During the run-up in the housing market, many people ‘qualified’ for mortgages that they could never pay back. This led to millions of families losing their home. The government wants to make sure this can’t happen again
The banks don’t want to be in the real estate business. Over the last seven years, banks were forced to take on the responsibility of liquidating millions of foreclosures and also negotiating another million plus short sales. Just like the government, they don’t want more foreclosures. For that reason, they need to double (maybe even triple) check everything on the application.
However, there is some good news in the situation. The housing crash that mandated that banks be extremely strict on paperwork requirements also allowed you to get a mortgage interest rate probably at or below 4%.
The friends and family who bought homes ten or twenty ago experienced a simpler mortgage application process but also paid a higher interest rate (the average 30 year fixed rate mortgage was 8.12% in the 1990’s and 6.29% in the 2000’s). If you went to the bank and offered to pay 7% instead of <4%, they would probably bend over backwards to make the process much easier.
Bottom Line
Instead of concentrating on the additional paperwork required, let’s be thankful that we are able to buy a home at historically low rates.
Tired of renting and/or being a Tenant(s)? Thinking of selling your home?, looking to upgrade?, First Time buyer(s)? Buying your dream home this year? Call us, you know you can count on our help every step of the way while reaching your goal faster, easier and with a smile on your face. 📞786.554.8063 📧George@GeorgeAssal.com 💻 www.GeorgeAssal.com
The Roads one of Miami’s most prestigious neighborhoods.
The Roads is a neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, it is a triangular area located south of SW 11th Street, between SW 12th Avenue and SW 15th Road, just west of Brickell.
The Roads is known for its old homes, historic public schools, and its tree-covered streets. The Roads is very close to Downtown and Brickell, but is a historically residential neighborhood. It is also off the normal Miami street grid, and thus all the streets in The Roads are named roads, instead of streets and avenues, as is the case in the rest of Miami. Since 1986, the Miami Roads Neighborhood Civic Association has worked on a variety of projects to support the neighborhood.
The Roads neighborhood is served by the Miami Metrorail at the Vizcaya station to the south and by the Brickell station to the north.
The Roads, originally called “Brickell Hammock” was designed, platted and developed by Mary Brickell in January 1922 days before her death. Mary Brickell had designed the Roads as a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, with wide streets with median parkways and roundabouts with native Miami plants. Mary Brickell gave the streets, parkways, sidewalks, and electric lighting to the City of Miami in 1922. All the properties were sold in a single day on February 1, 1923.
The Roads is also an entire off-grid plan section of the city of Miami. The streets and avenues in Miami-Dade County are aligned to a grid, where streets run east-west and avenues run north-south. The roads that run from Broadway to SW 32nd Road are roughly 45 degrees out of alignment with the grid-plan. The avenues running perpendicular to these roads are also 45 degrees out of alignment with their respective avenues coming from the north. The avenues in this section run northeast-southwest rather than the standard north-south that the ones in the rest of the county follow. This causes an abrupt change in numerical designation as they cross SW 12th Avenue (SW 5th Avenue turns west and becomes SW 18th Street, SW 4th Avenue turns west and becomes SW 20th Street, SW 2nd Avenue turns west and becomes SW 22nd Street, etc.) The most well known example of this confusion is when historic Coral Way being SW 3rd Avenue, makes a 45 degree turn onto SW 22nd Street as it crosses over SW 12th Avenue.
The Roads is served by Metrobus and Trolley throughout the area, and by the Miami Metrorail at:
- Brickell (SW 11th Street and SW 1st Avenue)
- Vizcaya (SW 32nd Road and US1)
Metrorail has stops throughout Miami with service to Greater Miami and Miami International Airport, all Miami-Dade County bus lines, Tri-Rail and Amtrak. The main bus station in Downtown is located next to the Arsht Center at the Adrienne Arsht Center Station.
For more information about The Roads please contact me directly
Coral Gables a City Where Homes for Sales Keep Increasing
As the Real Estate market continues to build up in South Florida, Coral Gables luxury homes and condominiums properties are getting listed for sale at more than $1M, the highest number of 2014 sales was in June, representing a 21.4% increase over May and an incredible 278% increase when compared to January. When it comes to luxury real estate sales in South Florida, summer is anything but slow season, maybe not especially when prices increased alongside the number of properties sold.
The average price per square foot for a property sold in June was $476, up $13 from May and a full $85 per square foot from January. In fact, 55 properties were sold or under contract for sale in June, representing over 25% of the entire available inventory.
Two projects are currently in pre-sale in Coral Gables:
-Merrick Manor, a 10-story, 180-unit development located adjacent to the famous Village of Merrick Park.
-Antilla Coral Gables, a 5-story, 45-unit project located in the northeastern corner of Coral Gables.
(If you need more info regarding either of this projects please contact me directly as I have direct communication with the developers)
For those that don’t know, Coral Gables is one of the nation’s earliest planned communities with a centralized business district, and is home to the iconic Biltmore hotel, one of only three national landmarks in Miami-Dade County. Coral Gables also has world-class shopping along Miracle Mile and the Village of Merrick Park, a diverse spectrum of art galleries, theaters and lots of fine dining establishments.
As a result, Coral Gables will continue to have in-demand properties that sell for a premium and should remain a sound investment.
Contact me for more info
Park Grove in Coconut Grove.
Park Grove in Coconut Grove.
Most ambitious architecture/project to date
The New Park Grove Condo Project is selling quickly; this luxury condo project is located in Coconut Grove more specific in the middle of a newly developed waterfront park. The condo project has 3 towers with great investment values.
Designed by OMA and rem KOOLHAAS, the striking towers of PARK GROVE set a new architectural standard in the quiet seaside enclave of Coconut Grove.
Park Grove Residences will blow everyone expectations with their high-end waterfront project. With amenities that will take you to the next level and to better your experience, The Park grove Condo offers pools, fitness, yoga, a private chef, yes a private chef and much more.
As the first Luxury Condo in Coconut Grove to be built after Grove at Grand Bay, makes this project most ambitious architecture/project to date
Contact me For more info about Park Grove and any other projects / new constructions in Miami or South Florida
Single Family Homes for the past 12 months in the 33145 area (Silver Bluff, Shenandoah)
Single Family homes for the past 12 months in the 33129 area ( The Roads, Brickell)
The ASSAL Team 