Advice for Homebuyers and Sellers This Winter

Although the days are shorter and the weather is colder, it’s still a great time to buy or sell a home.

Want to Buy a Home? Search All Homes
Want to Sell a Home?  Get a Home Value Report

 

The most common question we get this time of year is, “Should I be selling or buying a home during the wintertime?”

If you’re a renter whose lease is coming up, you should absolutely be a homebuyer this year. Interest rates are still really attractive for all buyers and there is a lot less competition from other buyers. As for home sellers, whether it’s the right time or not depends on you and your motivations. If you’re ready to make that change, you can get out into the market now. Although there are fewer buyers, there is a higher concentration of serious buyers and far fewer home browsers.


If you have any questions regarding buying or selling real estate, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d be glad to hear from you.

The Latest on Refinancing, Loans, and Interest Rates

Today I’m joined by Bay Equity Homes team members Erika Gabrys and Chris Krupar to discuss what’s been happening in the market this year.

Want to Buy a Home? Search All Homes
Want to Sell a Home?  Get a Home Value Report

 

Before we begin today’s topic, we’d just like to say thank you to all of our clients and referral partners who took the time to vote for us; We are grateful to be the winner of the Albuquerque Journal’s Readers’ Choice for this year, and we’ve also been named the winner of Rio Rancho Observer’s Readers Choice for 2019. That makes this the second year in a row that we’ve won this award, and we couldn’t be more excited.

August 2019 Albuquerque Housing Market Update

Here’s your in-depth real estate market update for the month of August this year.

Want to Buy a Home? Search All Homes
Want to Sell a Home?  Get a Home Value Report

 

What’s been going on in our real estate market this summer? Today we’ll share some key stats from the month of August as well as longer-range trends that we’ve observed over time.

To start, we’ll take a look at the year-over-year stats for August broken down by price range.

Feel free to follow along in the video above or use the timestamps below to navigate the market update at your leisure:

1:58 - Breaking down our year-over-year inventory levels by price range
3:01 - Our year-over-year pending sales
4:01 - How quickly are homes selling?
5:10 - The change in average sales price year over year
6:06 - Average home prices per square foot
8:57 - How market trends are influenced by external factors like wage growth and inflation
9:19 - The status of interest rates
9:54 - Home affordability in Albuquerque 

If you have any questions regarding today’s market update or anything to do with real estate, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d be glad to hear from you.

Maintaining a Good Credit Score

Professional guidance makes a world of difference when it comes to boosting your credit score.

Want to Buy a Home? Search All Homes
Want to Sell a Home?  Get a Home Value Report

 

Credit is a complex subject, so I recently spoke with a couple of experts (Sarah Gmyer-Maez of OneTrust Home Loans and John Gillette of PreQua Credit) to hear their take on what today’s consumers need to know about repairing their scores.

Of course, the best path to a high credit score is by taking good care of your credit to begin with. According to John, keeping your balance within 30% of your limit is best. It’s also a good idea to use the cards you’ve had the longest more often than the ones you’ve only just taken out.

If you have a relative with a card in positive standing, you may want to ask to be added on in order to supplement your credit history. You don’t even have to get a card of your own. You just have to be an authorized user on their account.

“

Professional guidance makes a world of difference when it comes to boosting your credit score.

”

Sarah, a professional lender, always recommends that anyone looking to improve their credit speak to a professional like John about their options. Professional guidance makes a world of difference when it comes to boosting your credit score.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me or my team a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

What You Should Really Use Zestimates For

You shouldn’t trust a Zestimate to accurately value your home, but you can trust it to accurately gauge the market’s movement over time.

Want to Buy a Home? Search All Homes
Want to Sell a Home?  Get a Home Value Report

 

When it comes to calculating a home’s value, Zestimates aren’t very accurate—they don’t know sale prices, and they’ve never actually been inside your house, so they can’t know what it looks like.

What Zestimates are good for, however, is gauging the market, because their algorithm can account for the movement of certain numbers, such as homes’ average price per square foot.

For example, let’s say a Zestimate claims your home is worth $250,000 one day, then six months down the road, says it’s worth $255,000. While that probably isn’t what your home is really worth, it’s a good indicator that there’s been some movement in the market overall.

“

It’s fine to use Zestimates as a baseline
for where our market is, but don’t rely on it
as an accurate valuation of your home.

”

The bottom line is this: It’s fine to use Zestimates as a baseline for where our market is, but don’t rely on it as an accurate valuation of your home. Your home is only worth what you’re willing to sell it for and what someone is willing to pay for it.

If you have any questions about this or any other real estate topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d be happy to help you.

P.S. Don’t forget to mark your calendars for May 10, because we’ll be giving away a $150 gift certificate to Albuquerque Uptown just in time for Mother’s Day. All you have to do to enter your name into the drawing is to give us a call at (505) 448-8888.

Announcing Final Numbers From Our February Market & Enter To Win

Today we’ll talk over some of the recent market numbers, as well as our giveaway! Stay tuned to learn more.

Want to Buy a Home? Search All Homes
Want to Sell a Home?  Get a Home Value Report

 

For today’s message, we’ll take an all-encompassing look at how our market performed in February this year.

First, though, we’d like to fill you in on an exciting new giveaway we’re holding.

The prize? A Nest programmable in-home thermostat. This is how our giveaway works: You’ll simply call us with the answer to one market-related question. The question is, “How many homes sold in February 2019 in the Metro Albuquerque area?” The answer will be somewhere in today’s market update. Once you know the answer, call us at 505-448-8888 to enter your name into the drawing. You have until Friday, March 22 to submit your name and give yourself a chance to win this beautiful Nest thermostat!

“

Don’t forget to call us
to enter into our drawing!

”

Cited below for your convenience are timestamps that will direct you to various points and analytics from our latest market update. Feel free to watch the full message or use these timestamps to browse specific topics at your leisure:

1:00 - Total dollar volume of closed sales in February 2019

2:07 - Closed sales in February 2019

2:47 - Pending sales in February 2019

3:08 - Homes for sale in February 2019

4:02 - New listings in February 2019

4:24 - Months’ supply of inventory in February 2019

5:37 - Average price per square foot in February 2019

Now that you have the sought-after answer to “How many homes sold in February 2019 in the Metro Albuquerque area?”, don’t forget to call us at (505) 448-8888 to enter into our drawing for your chance to win the Nest programmable thermostat. And, again, the deadline is Friday, March 22!

As always, if you have any questions related to real estate, please reach out to us as well. We look forward to talking to you soon!

2019 Market Predictions

Nothing too crazy will be happening in our 2019 market, but some things will certainly be changing.

Want to Buy a Home? Search All Homes
Want to Sell a Home?  Get a Home Value Report

 

Today we’ll be taking a look at what our market could hold throughout 2019. Though we don’t have a crystal ball, we can make fairly accurate predictions based on current numbers and trends we’ve been seeing in the market.

For your convenience, we’ve included timestamps of our conversation. Feel free to navigate to the section(s) you’re most interested in viewing:

(0:54) — Where our market is right now
(2:28) — How inventory levels and new home construction can be used for predictions
(4:34) — Though there will be new construction, it’s too pricey for entry-level buyers
(5:35) — Affordability is a predictor, and interest rates are expected to rise this year
(8:12) — How the predicted 5.3% rate will affect home payments
(10:43) — Home prices may continue to rise this year
(11:58) — Home appreciation nationwide is expected at 3.9% in 2019
(13:45) — We aren’t in a bubble and shouldn’t be worried
(14:35) — How millennials are expected to make up half of all homebuyers next year
(16:25) — A great story about one person’s move to New Mexico
(17:52) — Thanks for listening!

If you have any questions or need more information about our market, feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to hearing from you soon.