Hey, everybody, Jon Sump here at The Home Brokerage again, bringing you our next step in what we call our home selling process. This is step number two, establishing a price for your home. How do you establish a price for your home? Is it just what you want? I wish it could be that simple, but that's not actually the case. So when you meet with myself or any other realtor, they're going to bring out with them to you what's called a CMA or comparative market analysis. In this package, you should have at least two or three homes that are on the market that are somewhat comparable to yours, as close as possible. Two to three, four that are in escrow to similar as yours as possible, and as many as three or more that are sold that are comparable to yours as possible.
And you use that as somewhat of a guideline in pricing your home. Now, I mean, the thing about pricing a home is you've got to understand is this, it's not really an art, and it's not really a science because no two homes are exactly identical unless you're buying them brand new. So what how do you price the home so you get it sold? Well, if you look at this little chart right here, you'll see that this actually came from the National Association of Realtors. And what it talks about is you look here, you see where it says market value. That's a price that a buyer and a seller are willing to come to agreement on, where buyers are willing to pay and the seller is willing to accept. However, and that's kind of where you kind of get by looking at all the comps to get it as close to that as possible.
But if you're 10% above it, you drop the percentage of buyers by half that would even be interested in looking at it. A lot of times buyers that are qualified for what your home's real value is at that market price can't even look at it when you overprice it because it's out of price range. If you go much more than that you'd drop the percentage of buyers down to only 10% of what's available in the market of buyers for your home. So when you're looking at it, you want to think about it like one of the things I tell my clients is this, "When you're pricing your home compared to the other homes that are on the market or in escrow, and then have sold similar to yours, what price would cause you to want to take a look inside that home?"
And that's probably pretty close to what a buyer would want to do, so keep that in mind when you're looking at selling your home. It's really important that you price it properly to attract people to your home. It doesn't mean you going to sell at that price, but price it aggressively where you can actually get the most people into your home as possible. So again, hopefully, this has been helpful. Again, here's the biggest tip, when you don't have very many people coming through your home, your price is too high. You have people coming through your home but no offers you're only a little bit too high. If they're coming through your home and writing offers in the first week to 30 days, you're right on the market, okay. Hopefully, this has been helpful. As always, please like and share. Check out our YouTube Channel and make it a great day.
Hey everybody Jon Sump here at The Home Brokerage, as you may or may not already know and our brand new The Home Brokerage Show. We're doing a whole new series on The Buying Steps and Process of Buying Your Home. So if you don't already know or you have some confusion about the process, stay tuned to these upcoming videos. As you'll see up here in our link on YouTube, you'll be able to find all kinds of stuff there as well.
So what is the number one step that's most important in you buying your next home? Finding the right realtor, right? Somebody that understands you, that gets you, understands exactly what you want. Well, here's the thing. It's like, I'm sure you've heard a lot of people talk about this in other types of relationships. We can't read minds. I can't read your mind. I wish I could. It would make life so much easier.
Here's what the most important part is. Taking the time for you and I or you and your realtor to sit down and get to know exactly what you want. Laying it out item by item, by item, what you want in a home, what you have to have in a home, and what you wish you could have in a home. Putting it in, prioritizing it and all that so we can actually get out and hunt it up together. Yeah, sure, you can find stuff online, but it's not always going to be what you're looking for. And a lot of times we come across the deals before they hit the market and can give you a heads up before you can find it on the internet. Happens quite often, more often than you think. So most importantly, make sure you choose your realtor.
A good realtor upfront is going to put you with a great lender that's going to make sure you get to a great escrow and title company that's going to handle your process smoothly and without any hiccups. I am a stickler. You can ask anybody that's ever worked with or for me, or that I've helped buy a home, I make sure that we only work with the best in the industry because I want you served the best period. So make sure you get the realtor. Make sure that realtor has a ton of experience and is solely looking out for you and what you want in your best interest in a home. Any questions or concerns, please feel free to give me a call. And as always, if you like what I had to say, like and share below. Don't forget to check out our YouTube channel up above and make it a great day.
Hey everybody. Jon Sump here with The Home Brokerage bringing you our latest market update for October, which basically covers all the steps I've come in for up through, I believe it's the 19th of September that we'll be talking about right now and the overall market. One of the things we're going to do is you're going to be seeing a lot of slides as we go through here. And I'm leaving a little bit of time on the slides so you can actually see the numbers if you'd like the numbers. But you'll see from this first slide here, we're still basically a sellers market.
What that means is the inventory is still really low compared to where it should be. I think we're probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 to 40% of the inventory we should have right here. If you'll notice here on this slide, we have a number of homes for sale at that time, for September, was about 737. The number of homes sold was about 355. And the number of homes that went into escrow was about 399. So as you can see we're running with some really tight numbers as where they should be. The average price per square foot stayed pretty consistent, although it is going up still. If you look at this next slide it's gone basically from a year ago at $198 a square foot average for Stockton and Lodi to $210 a square foot as of September.
So our value's still increasing but because we don't have very much inventory. But it's not a huge increase, it's still a good increase. The next slide that you're going to see here is regarding the days on the market. You'll see right here, our days in the market is averaging right around 35 days, which is pretty decent. That's for most homes, the overall average. And the percentage of listing price to sold price, as you'll see up here, is at 97%. So we put a home on the market, they're selling an average of 97% of what they're asking for. We have, our numbers are way better than that, but that's what the average is going on in MLS.
The other thing you're going to notice on this next slide coming up here is the average for sell price is depreciating. So asking prices are starting to come down, but the sold price is appreciating. So we're starting to see that where the two lines come together, they're going like this, they're trying to come together now. But the asking price for September average was 424 is the average homes for sale. But the homes that actually sold average was 364. So that doesn't mean that they're buying a home that's 424 for 364, what that means is there's a lot more houses above the 424 range than there is below it. And that's pretty much what's going on is right now we have a huge, our inventory shortage is really showing up in the mid to low range, but the higher end homes basically 400 and above, is having a lot of competition with all the new homes going on.
And along the eight mile road corridor in Lodi and whatnot around the Stockton area, because most of those homes start at 400 and go up from there. So that is causing a little bit of a slowdown between the 400 and $500,000 range and up is slowing down. But the median sold price though still is up just a little bit, about 2% from last year at this time. The next slide you're going to see here, this is exactly, well don't put slide up yet Don. First, what you got to understand about the, why I say it's a sellers market. So you basically, if it's a market that has, a buyers market is anything about four to six months of inventory. A neutral market is between three to four to five months. And a seller's market is zero to three months. And right now as you'll see on this slide here, we're at 2.1 months.
Now that's come up quite a bit from August and even going back to May, but if you look at the slide, we're teetering back and forth between a neutral market and a sellers market because of the inventory shortage. So with all of that said, let's see. The last thing I wanted to cover was what interest rates are doing today. Just got off the phone with my lender and he indicated that as of right now, conventional loans are being quoted on average about three and a half percent but FHA loans are at three and a quarter. That's 3.25. So if you're thinking about buying, it's a phenomenal time because of interest rates. You're thinking about selling depending on your price range, it's a great time to sell. And if you're thinking about moving up, so selling your home and buying the next one, it's perfect timing, just like my computer for you to do that right now. Any questions or concerns, feel free to call me anytime. Don't forget to like, share, check out our YouTube channel and make it a great day.
Hey, Jon Sump here again with The Home Brokerage and The Home Brokerage Show, bringing you my tip of the week. This week is about HOAs and CC&Rs, what are they, what does it matter to you.
Well, let's start with HOAs, it should matter a lot. HOAs are anything that could be from a condominium complexes, things like that have HOAs where you pay a fee, and those fees can be anywhere from minuscule to pretty substantial fees. I've seen them as low as $75 a month and I've seen them as high as almost $400 a month. You've got to make sure you understand what you're getting into before you even start looking in a particular area.
Ask the realtor. Most realtors should know. If they're a good realtor they'll know the HOA costs. If they're not and they don't know, call me, I'll tell you. Those HOAs usually go for ... In a condominium complex, they cover the outside of the property so the outside walls, in some cases the roof also but not always. Some cases you're responsible for your own roof. It also usually covers the maintenance of the grounds, the driveways, the cement, the fencing, all that's usually covered in HOA fees.
Now there's also what's called CC&RS, which stands for codes, covenants and restrictions. What those are, are the rules of the place. In some areas ... Like, I had a friend of mine that lived in an area that had HOA, could not have a boat that could be seen from the front yard. He parked his boat in the backyard but it was a ski boat and had one of those bars on the top where the rope tied onto and that could be seen from the front yard and therefore he kept getting fined.
One of the things you want to keep in mind, you're looking for to make a purchase and that purchase is going to be in an HOA, drive the area and then you'll get a feel for how they want it to look. Make sure you can live that way. If you've got a bunch of cars, it might not be a good idea for you to go into an HOA. If you don't have a lot of cars and everything you do recreationally will fit behind your fence where people can't see it, then maybe it's okay.
The other thing is, in some HOAs with their CC&Rs, restrict the type of color you can paint your home, restrict the type of planting you can do in the front yard. There's all sorts of information so make sure when you're getting ready to buy your next home that you understand the HOA before you get too emotionally invested in purchasing that home and you completely understand it.
You don't want to get into something and realize after you're in it that you hate being there because of that particular HOA or the CC&Rs. Not all HOAs are bad, a lot of them are great. They keep the area looking a certain way, which can be good for long term for the investment of your property. Also, there are some HOAs out there that are kind of harder to deal with. They're very, what's the word I'm looking for here, stubborn in the way they deal with folks so just keep that in mind when you're looking.
If you have any questions, concerns, please feel free to call me anytime. If you like this and this has been helpful, please like and share it, I really appreciate it. You never know who might be needing this information. Don't forget to check out our YouTube channel up above and, as always, make it a great day.
Hey, everybody Jon Sump here again with The Home Brokerage as you know. Welcome to The Home Brokerage Show. As you notice, we got a new title down here. We're going to be doing this new process on the step-by-step of the home selling process on Thursdays, and on Tuesdays starting next week we will be doing the home buying process step-by step-and the dos and don'ts in every step of the way for you. So step number one is obviously kind of the most simplest step, but it's also one of the most crucial steps. Step number one is meeting with and choosing your real estate agent. It's super critical at this point. When I meet with folks what I tell people is this, "Price doesn't matter. Terms doesn't matter. What matters is if we want to work together or not. Not every person is going to be right for every agent. Not every agent is going to be right for every person. Different personality styles, all of that.
But the most important thing is, is that you feel comfortable and competent that we can get the job done for you and get you what you need out of this whole transaction, okay? And manage it for you. If you don't have that confidence in the beginning, it's only going to go downhill from there, okay?"
So what are important cues to look for? The important cues to look for is that the agent knows the real estate market inside and out. The agent understands how to market your home because every home has a specific type of buyer that's going to buy it, and they got to understand how to market to the individual different types of buyers. So, once they've demonstrated how they're going to market and that they understand the market and all of that and you decide you want to work with them, that's step number one.
Make sure it's somebody that you could see yourself working with for it could be several months. So just really pay attention to that when you're getting started. And make sure that you don't just go and pick willy-nilly. Make sure they have the experience you're looking for. I mean, do you really want to trust your home to a brand new agent? Or do you really want to trust your home to somebody that's doing hundreds of deals a year that's not going to give you the time you need on your home? I mean just be careful that it suits your needs, okay? Any questions or concerns, you know how to get ahold of me. As always please like and share. Don't forget to check out our YouTube channel up top and make it a great day.
Hey everybody. Jon Sump up here with The Home Brokerage. Bringing you our Tuesday tip of the week. You're thinking about buying or selling a home and you want to make sure you get a real real estate professional. What does that mean? What that means is you want to know somebody that totally understands all the contracts, number one. Number two, you want to make sure it's somebody that has a lot of experience. Their experience and knowledge is for your benefit. If they don't have very much, you will be the one hurting over it.
Number three, that they're great in negotiating and can prove they're great in negotiating because everything in a real estate transaction from dealing with the buyer to the inspectors, to the appraisers, to everybody involved is negotiate. Number three, I mean, number four, sorry. One of the most important things is pricing a home. They got to understand how to price a home. If they ask you what price you want for the home, there's a problem.
Number five, understanding the market conditions currently. You can check out my market update videos. I know the market. I know what's going on all the time. And you need an agent that's just like that working for you. A few more things here. You don't want to be working with a part time agent. If an agent is part time, they can't do a great job for you, number one. If they do anything outside of real estate, that means they don't do real estate very well.
Number two, they have to have done several transactions, not just two or three transactions. That's their family they've helped. You've got to make sure they've done, 50, 60, 100 deals so that they have the experience level there to get you in your deal done the best for you as possible.
Hopefully this has been helpful. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to give me a call any time. And as always, you like it, like and share. Check out our YouTube channel and make it a great day.
Hey, everybody. Jon Sump here again with The Home Brokerage, bringing you another market update. This time, we're doing a recap on the September market update. As you'll see on this graph here for September versus August. September, the number of homes for sale was up 10.5%. The number of pendings dropped by about 6.5%. And then, the number of solds dropped 6%. So, overall, we're seeing just a little bit of a downturn in the pending and sales and an upturn in the homes for sale.
This is just for the month of September as compared to August. We'll have a more detailed update in about two weeks. Hopefully this has been helpful. If you have any questions, concerns, please reach out to me. And as always, do me a favor, click like and share, check out our YouTube channel. And make it a great day.
Hey, everybody. Jon Sump here with The Home Brokerage coming to you for a Thursday Thought of the Week. And this Thursday's Thought of the Week, sorry about that, is the things you should not do after applying for a mortgage.
Number one, really critical, do not change your jobs or the way you get paid at work after applying for a mortgage. Every little thing that I'm going to be talking about here can hugely impact the underwriting and getting your loan approved, so be really careful to not do any of these things.
Number two, don't deposit cash into your bank accounts. Just during this period. You get some cash from somewhere. Just leave it to the side until after you move in. Don't deposit it now because we're going to want to see a paper trail of where it came from.
Number three, don't make any large purchases, like cars, furniture, anything like that. Don't even co-sign for someone else at all, and I don't care ... Well, going back to the purchases, don't purchase any ... even if you're buying cash, don't do any of it until after the loan is closed and you're moving into your new home. Then you can go buy whatever you want, okay?
Like I said, number four, do not co-sign for anybody because it will go onto your credit and it will affect your loan at the end because they pull your credit report in the beginning to get you pre-qualified, but they're also going to pull it at the end to make sure nothing has changed. And if there's changes, guess what? You're not going to get that loan.
Number six, [inaudible 00:01:53] to it as well, do not apply for any new credit. So don't even go get a new credit card. Don't get like a car, furniture, appliances, nothing to do with your credit during this process.
Number seven, don't close any credit accounts. Leave them open. They won't understand why they're closed, and they don't ... Just leave them alone until it's done.
So the bottom line here is anything that has to do with your credit report, your finances, anything like that, don't mess with it other than what your lender tells you to do. Don't do anything else. If it's even a question, call your lender immediately. And if you like this, as always, share it, like it. Check out our YouTube channel above and, as always, make it a great day.
Hey, everybody. Jon Sump here at The Home Brokerage, bringing you our Tuesday Tip of the Week in selling your home. One of the most important things when it comes to selling your home is making it accessible. I can't tell you how many times I'm working with buyers and we're out looking at properties or I'm trying to get them into a property and they have a certain timeframe of day only it can be shown or it has to be scheduled two days in advance, all this kind of nonsense. I mean, either you want to sell your house or you don't want to sell your house, right?
So the number one thing is make sure you're working with an agent that has a lockbox for the area. I can't tell you how many times I go out and show houses with an out-of-area realtor from the Bay Area or something, that they're lockboxes don't even work here locally. We can't use them, but they put them on the house anyways. So make sure that the lockbox on there is accessible to all the local agents and make sure the agent has extra keys in their office of your home in case something that key gets broke or lost or something like that, make sure they have the extra keys.
When buyers are out looking for a home and they run across your home or they're trying to get into a home, they don't want to have to schedule three or four days in advance. They want to go look at it and make a decision, and you don't want yours to be off to the table because you have to set some crazy appointment only between the hours of 2:00 and 4:00 on a given day, number one.
Keep these things in mind. It's critically important to make sure that the buyers and the realtors have access to your home whenever they need it. Okay? Seriously. Anyways, hopefully this has been helpful. It is a very important point. Please take it seriously. If this has been helpful to you, please like and share it as usual. As always, make it a great day and don't forget to check out our YouTube channel.
Dre. LIc. #01264011
The Home Brokerage
400 E. Kettleman Ln. Suite 20
Lodi, CA 95240
Jon@TheHomeBrokerage.com
If you are ready to start your buying or selling process
give us a call. We're happy to answer all your questions.
