Smart Home Trends for 2018

Smart Home Trends for 2018 By Celina Vazquez

Homes are getting “smarter.” From greater connectivity across all technology platforms and devices to complete automation and AI, consumers are finding more and more options to utilize Smart Home devices and products than ever before. Beyond a novelty, homeowners are seeking new and innovated products to provide greater security and ease-of-use at home and on the road.

Once the purview of the wealthy, most homes now use some kind of Smart Home technology every day. In 2018, look for the following trends:

• Products are more accessible as the average price point continues to drop.
  
• Voice control is the future. From turning lights on and off to answering the door from
  your office, audible controls and access is more responsive and simpler to use.
  
• Kitchens and baths are joining the fun. Manufacturers’ offer self-cleaning toilets and
  refrigerators who can read their own contents and populate a shopping list on your
  phone app.
  
• Greater demands for scheduled automation. Alexa for instance offers a “wake up
  routine” which can turn on lights, heating/air conditioning, start the coffee and provide a quick news update, all with one command.
  The biggest trend change in the last year is that smart technology has gone mainstream. Watch for more products and services as consumers continue to drive innovation. 
  

www.celinavazquezrealtor.com

Home Value Calculator

Here

To See More Blogs Like This One Please Visit My Website

Click Here

Looking For A New Home, Introducing Our New Neighborhood Pages With Listings from Over 60 Cities and Zip Codes.

For More Info Please Call 909-697-0823

or Visit

www.celinavazquezrealtor.com

5 Reasons Why You Should Not For Sale By Owner!

5 Reasons Why You Should Not For Sale By Owner!

5 Reasons Why You Should Not For Sale By Owner! - In today’s market, with home prices rising and a lack of inventory, some homeowners may consider trying to sell their homes on their own, known in the industry as a For Sale by Owner (FSBO). There are several reasons why this might not be a good idea for the vast majority of sellers.

Here are the top five reasons:

1. Exposure to Prospective Buyers 

Recent studies have shown that 94% of buyers search online for a home. That is in comparison to only 16% looking at print newspaper ads. Most real estate agents have an internet strategy to promote the sale of your home. Do you?

2. Results Come from the Internet

Where did buyers find the homes they actually purchased?

• 51% on the internet
• 34% from a Real Estate Agent
• 8% from a yard sign
• 1% from newspapers

The days of selling your house by just putting up a sign and putting it in the paper are long gone. Having a strong internet strategy is crucial.

3. There Are Too Many People to Negotiate With 

Here is a list of some of the people with whom you must be prepared to negotiate if you decide to For Sale by Owner:

• The buyer who wants the best deal possible
• The buyer’s agent who solely represents the best interest of the buyer
• The buyer’s attorney (in some parts of the country)
• The home inspection companies, which work for the buyer and will almost always find some problems with the house
• The appraiser if there is a question of value

4. FSBOing Has Become More And More Difficult

The paperwork involved in selling and buying a home has increased dramatically as industry disclosures and regulations have become mandatory. This is one of the reasons that the percentage of people FSBOing has dropped from 19% to 8% over the last 20+ years. 

The 8% share represents the lowest recorded figure since NAR began collecting data in 1981.

5. You Net More Money When Using an Agent 

Many homeowners believe that they will save the real estate commission by selling on their own. Realize that the main reason buyers look at FSBOs is because they also believe they can save the real estate agent’s commission. The seller and buyer can’t both save the commission.

Studies have shown that the typical house sold by the homeowner sells for $185,000, while the typical house sold by an agent sells for $245,000. This doesn’t mean that an agent can get $60,000 more for your home, as studies have shown that people are more likely to FSBO in markets with lower price points. However, it does show that selling on your own might not make sense.

Bottom Line

Before you decide to take on the challenges of selling your house on your own, let’s get together and discuss the options available in your market today.

Home Value Calculator

Here

To See More Blogs Like This One Please Visit My Website 

Click Here

Looking For A New Home, Introducing Our New Neighborhood Pages With Listings from Over 60 Cities and Zip Codes.

For More Info Please Call 909-697-0823

or Visit

www.celinavazquezrealtor.com

The Foreclosure Crisis: 10 Years Later

The Foreclosure Crisis: 10 Years Later

The Foreclosure Crisis: 10 Years Later - CoreLogic recently released a report entitled, United States Residential Foreclosure Crisis: 10 Years Later, in which they examined the years leading up to the crisis all the way through to present day.

With a peak in 2010 when nearly 1.2 million homes were foreclosed on, over 7.7 million families lost their homes throughout the entire foreclosure crisis.

Dr. Frank Nothaft, Chief Economist for CoreLogic, had this to say,

“The country experienced a wild ride in the mortgage market between 2008 and 2012, with the foreclosure peak occurring in 2010. As we look back over 10 years of the foreclosure crisis, we cannot ignore the connection between jobs and homeownership. A healthy economy is driven by jobs coupled with consumer confidence that usually leads to homeownership.”

Since the peak, foreclosures have been steadily on the decline by nearly 100,000 per year all the way through the end of 2016, as seen in the chart below.

If this trend continues, the country will be back to 2005 levels by the end of 2017.

Bottom Line

As the economy continues to improve, and employment numbers increase, the number of completed foreclosures should continue to decrease.

To See More Blogs Like This One Please Visit My Website 

Click Here

Looking For A New Home, Introducing Our New Neighborhood Pages With Listings from Over 20 Cities

For More Info Please Call 909-697-0823

or Visit

www.celinavazquezrealtor.com

It's a Seller's Market! Should I Downsize Now?

It's a Seller's Market! Should I Downsize Now? - A study by Edelman Berland reveals that 33% of homeowners who are contemplating selling their houses in the near future are planning to scale down. Let’s look at a few reasons why this might make sense for many homeowners, as the majority of the country is currently experiencing a seller’s market.

In a blog, Dave Ramsey, the financial guru, highlighted the advantages of selling your current house and downsizing into a smaller home that better serves your current needs. Ramsey explains three potential financial advantages to downsizing:

1. A smaller home means less space, but it also means less time, stress and money spent on upkeep.
2. Let’s assume you save $500 a month on your mortgage payment. In 30 years, you could have an additional $1–1.6 million in the bank to get you through your golden years.
3. Use the proceeds from selling your current home to pay cash for a smaller one. Just imagine what you could do with no mortgage holding you down! If you can’t pay cash, aim for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage and put at least 10–20% down on your new home. Apply the $500 you saved from downsizing to your new monthly payment. At 3% interest, you could pay off a $200,000 mortgage in less than 10.5 years, saving almost $16,000 in the process.

Realtor.com also addressed downsizing in an article. They suggest that you ask yourself some questions before deciding if downsizing is right for you and your family. Here are two of their questions followed by their answers (in italics) and some additional information that could help.

Q: What kind of lifestyle do I want after I downsize?

A: “For some folks, it’s a matter of living a simpler life focused on family. Some might want to cross off travel destinations on their bucket lists. Some might want a low-maintenance community with high-end upgrades and social events. Decide what you want to achieve from your move first, and you’ll be able to better narrow down your housing options.”

Comments: Many homeowners are taking the profits from the sales of their current homes and splitting it in order to put down payments on smaller homes in their current locations, as well as on vacation/retirement homes where they plan to live when they retire.

This allows them to lock in the home price and mortgage interest rate at today’s values which makes sense financially as both home prices and interest rates are projected to rise.

Q: Have I built up enough equity in my current home to make a profit?

A: “For most homeowners, the answer is yes. This is if they’ve held on to their properties long enough to have positive equity that will be sizable enough to put a large down payment on their next home.”

Comments: A study by Fannie Mae revealed that only 37% of Americans believe that they have significant equity (> 20%) in their current home. In actuality, CoreLogic’s latest Equity Report revealed that 78.9% have greater than 20% equity. That equity could enable you to build the life you’ve always dreamt about.

Bottom Line

If you are debating downsizing your home and want to evaluate the options you currently have, let's meet up to help guide you through the process.

To See More Blogs Like This One Please Visit My Website 

Click Here

Looking For A New Home, Introducing Our New Neighborhood Pages With Listings from Over 20 Cities

For More Info Please Call 909-697-0823

or Visit

www.celinavazquezrealtor.com

A Tale of Two Markets: Inventory Mismatch Paints a More Detailed Picture

A Tale of Two Markets: Inventory Mismatch Paints a More Detailed Picture - The inventory of existing homes for sale in today’s market was recently reported to be at a 3.6-month supply according to the National Association of Realtors latest Existing Home Sales Report. Inventory is now 7.1% lower than this time last year, marking the 20th consecutive month of year-over-year drops.

Historically, inventory must reach a 6-month supply for a normal market where home prices appreciate with inflation. Anything less than a 6-month supply is a sellers’ market, where the demand for houses outpaces supply and prices go up.

As you can see from the chart below, the United States has been in a sellers’ market since August 2012, but last month’s numbers reached a new low.

Recently Trulia revealed that not only is there a shortage of homes on the market in general, but the homes that are available for sale are not meeting the needs of the buyers that are searching.

Homes are generally bucketed into three groups by price range: starter, trade-up, and premium.

Trulia’s market mismatch score measures the search interest of buyers against the category of homes that are available on the market. For example: “if 60% of buyers are searching for starter homes but only 40% of listings are starter homes, [the] market mismatch score for starter homes would be 20.”

The results of their latest analysis are detailed in the chart below.

Nationally, buyers are searching for starter and trade-up homes and are coming up short with the listings available, leading to a highly competitive seller’s market in these categories. Ninety-two of the top 100 metros have a shortage in trade-up inventory.

Premium homebuyers have the best chance of less competition and a surplus of listings in their price range with an 11-point surplus, leading to more of a buyer’s market.

“It leaves Americans who are in the market for a home increasingly chasing too fewer options in lower price ranges, and sellers of premium homes more likely to be left waiting longer for a buyer.”

 Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist doesn’t see an end to this coming any time soon: 

“Competition is likely to heat up even more heading into the spring for house hunters looking for homes in the lower- and mid-market price range.”

Bottom Line

Real estate is local. If you are thinking about buying OR selling this spring, let’s get together to discuss the exact market conditions in your area.

To See More Blogs Like This One Please Visit My Website 

Click Here

Looking For A New Home, Introducing Our New Neighborhood Pages With Listings from Over 20 Cities

For More Info Please Call 909-697-0823

or Visit

www.celinavazquezrealtor.com

Rancho Cucamonga Home For Rent 10115 Bedford Drive Coming Soon

Rancho Cucamonga Home For Rent 10115 Bedford Drive
Coming Soon

Rancho Cucamonga Home For Rent 10115 Bedford Drive Coming Soon - 

10115 Bedford Ave Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 By Celina Vazquez from Celina Vazquez on Vimeo.

Celina Vazquez Broker/Realtor presents this beautiful single story house located in the #City of #RanchoCucamonga that features 2 bedroom, 2 #bathrooms and 2-car #garage with direct access. Large #living room with light berber #carpet and large windows that allows the natural light in. The dining room is next to the fully remodeled #kitchen with gorgeous light granite counters and large island with stainless steel sink in and sitting area.  Gorgeous #kitchen with custom cabinets, granite counters, stainless steel appliances and stunning backsplash tile.  Multi-cycle #dishwasher, high-performance microwave, and 4-burner stainless steel stove. The master-suite has double closets, sitting area and large master bath with granite counters.  Great #backyard with #beautiful patio.  Cucamonga Elementary #School, #RanchoCucamonga Middle School, and Chaffey High School are the designated schools for this area. The Victoria Gardens  Mall is just 10 minutes away.The #VictoriaGardens is a beautiful shopping center pedestrian-oriented, open-air concept, mixed-used town center with stores such Macy’s, #JcPenney, #BassProShops, #Express, Banana Republic, #bebe, Brighton and many more. Great restaurants to dining in such #BRIO Tuscan grille, #California Pizza Kitchen, The #Cheesecake Factory, #CrepesDeParis, #Lucille’s Smoke House, Bar-B-Que, #LunaMexicanGrill, #YardHouse and many more. To see this home contact Celina Vazquez at 909-697-0823 or by email at celina@celinavazquezrealtor.com

909-697-0823

www.celinavazquezrealtor.com

BRE# 01736989

To See This Home On My Website 

Click Here

10115 Bedford Ave Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 By Celina Vazquez from Celina Vazquez on Vimeo.

The Great News About Rising Prices for Homeowners

The Great News About Rising Prices for Homeowners - Recently there has been a lot of talk about # home prices and if they are accelerating too quickly. As we mentioned before, in some areas of the country, seller supply (homes for sale) cannot keep up with the number of buyers out looking for a # home, which has caused prices to rise.

The great news about rising prices, however, is that according to CoreLogic’s US Economic Outlook, the average American # household gained over $11,000 in equity over the course of the last year, largely due to home value increases.

The map below was created using the same report from CoreLogic and shows the average equity gain per mortgaged home from June 2015 to June 2016 (the latest data available).

For those who are worried that we are doomed to repeat 2006 all over again, it is important to note that # homeowners are investing their new-found equity in their # homes and themselves, not in depreciating assets.

The added equity is helping families put their # children through # college, invest in starting small businesses, allowing them to pay off their mortgage sooner or move up to the home that will better suit their needs now.

Bottom Line

CoreLogic predicts that home prices will appreciate by another 5% by this time next year. If you are a homeowner looking to take advantage of your home equity by moving up to your dream home, let's get together to discuss your options!

To View This Blog and Much More Please 

Click Here

For More Info Please Call or Visit: www.celinavazquezrealtor.com

909-697-0823

Here Are Some Home Listed in the 
Jurupa Valley Area

Is This the Year to Move Up to Your Dream Home? If So, Do it Early

It appears that #Americans are regaining faith in the #U.S. #economy. The following indexes have each shown a dramatic jump in consumer confidence in their latest surveys:

1. The #University of #Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index
2. National Federation of Independent Businesses' Small Business Optimism Index
3. CNBC All-America Economic Survey
4. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey

It usually means good news for the #housing #market when the #country sees an optimistic #future. People begin to dream again about the home their #family has always wanted, and some make plans to finally make that #dream come true.

If you are considering moving up to your #dream #home, it may be better to do it earlier in the year than later. The two components of your monthly mortgage payment (home prices and interest rates) are both projected to increase as the year moves forward, and interest rates may increase rather dramatically. Here are some predictions on where rates will be by the end of the year:

HSH.com:

“We think that conforming 30-year fixed rates probably make it into the 4.625 percent to 4.75 percent range at some point during 2017 as a peak.”

Svenja Gudell, Zillow’s Chief Economist:

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the 30-year fixed mortgage rate hits 4.75 percent.”

Mark Fleming, the Chief Economist at First American:

“[I see] mortgage rates getting much closer to 5 percent at the end of next year.”

Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist:

“By this time next year, expect the 30-year fixed rate to likely be in the 4.5 percent to 5 percent range.”

Bottom Line

If you are feeling good about your family’s #economic #future and are #considering making a move to your dream home, doing it sooner rather than later makes the most sense.