Owning a home—whether in Delray Beach, in Florida, or in any other state—is Americans’ most trusted way to build wealth. That’s the takeaway from Gallup’s poll, conducted this spring. It’s easy to agree with—but surprising for a number of reasons.
First off, the continuing bull stock market has now rewarded investors for a very long time. Thursday ended with the S&P 500 marking yet another all-time record. When “owning a home” has to compete with an alternate investment alternative that’s been on a rampage for years, wouldn’t you expect it to be the peoples’ choice?
There is also the fact that residential real estate price rises have slowed recently, moderating after a sustained stretch of dynamic growth. Whenever trends like that show signs of tapering off, it’s likely to give investors second thoughts. And then there’s the memory of the housing crunch from the last decade—a phenomenon that few have forgotten.
But if our Delray Beach neighbors are at all typical, “owning a home” is the clear winner as their best long-term investment choice. Despite the record highs notched by Wall Street in 2019, Gallup found that “more Americans continue to believe real estate is a superior long-term investment to stocks”—by 35% to 27%. And savings accounts or CDs aren’t even close (at 15%).
Gallup has been polling the “best investment” question for 17 years, but this...
They never fail to draw web readers—those “Top” lists of ways to get the best results when selling a home. Despite its name, Investopedia is a web site which devotes a fair amount of content to the ins and outs of residential real estate. In addition to the expected “Your Money” section, Boynton Beach homeowners can find a well-populated “Home Ownership” tab. That’s where they’ll come across a Top 7 list of “Ways to Improve your Home’s Sell-ability” by Dr. T.L. Canady.
The Top 7 are in the Selling Your Home section. They are notable for the emphasis they put on removing, subtracting, withdrawing, minimizing, etc. The less-is-more theme is worth bearing in mind for Boynton Beach home sellers looking to get the best result in the shortest time. Here the Investopedia list:
- Neutrality. “It works for Switzerland,” Dr. Canady points out—and it can almost certainly work for selling your Boynton Beach home, too. Steering clear of brash colors and design themes minimizes the number of buyers who might be put off.
- Less. Remove as much of everything as is sensible. That succeeds in opening up the space you are selling. Clearing away the dispensable furniture and décor items allows prospects to picture rooms decorated to match their own tastes.
- Smell. Avoid cooking strong-scented foods for 48 hours before a showing. And, for sure, eliminate pet odors.
- Details. Making inexpensive refurbishments (with cabinet hardware, light...
It might seem that some actions are perfectly obvious—and that among them are the many things you shouldn’t do immediately before moving to a new Boca Raton home. Yet, as moving day approaches, the multiplicity of tasks that are left to be done have a way of filling up the brain space usually reserved for sound decision-making.
A good example has to do with the living room furniture. It’s definitely one thing you should NOT do before moving:
1) Forget to measure the living room.
Making the assumption that all of your present furniture will fit nicely in the new living room is fraught with peril. The movers will want to know where to put the second couch you’ve just paid to have moved.
Ten other leading not-to-dos before moving:
2) Buy a puppy (especially a big, energetic one).
3) Put off notifying your old utilities/new utilities. (Unpacking by flashlight is ill-advised).
4) Not bringing the flashlight.
5) Wait until the last minute to notify the post office of your change of mailing address.
6) Not labeling the cartons (all of them).
7) Not bringing a marking pen to mark any unlabeled cartons...
Before a first-timer has experienced the complete home-buying process, given the number of unknowns that seem to be dependent on one another, they’re bound to be at least a little baffled. What if there are unseen problems with the house? What if the home loan company decides not to cooperate? What if—well, who knows what other snags could pop up? Common sense tells them there must be ways to address all the unknowns; otherwise, no one would ever be able to buy a home.
The most common way to deal with the unknown possibilities is to seek the help of an experienced Delray Beach Realtor® like yours truly. And in fact, the majority of the greatest risk factors can all be tamed by a single concept—one that is built into almost every formal offer to buy. The concept is the “buying contingency”—a built-in fail-safe every homebuying veteran knows well. There are usually multiple contingencies built into every offer to buy. Each one addresses a what-if circumstance that allows the buyer to either opt out or alter the offer. Here are five areas where contingency clauses serve to alleviate buyer anxiety:
- Financing. If a buyer isn’t planning on paying with cash, a home loan will have to be arranged. If it cannot be arranged in a timely manner, a financing contingency may relieve the buyer of being penalized for the failure to close.
- Appraisal. This is usually part of the financing situation. If the Delray Beach lender’s appraiser arrives at a value lower than what would warrant a sufficient home loan, this contingency may allow for a renegotiation of the price and/or a cancellation of the deal....
It was the Washington Post’s real estate reporter Michele Lerner who came up with the list of the most important “10 things” house hunters look for when they stop by Boynton Beach open houses.
The ‘ten things’ list is a useful one—and every bit as relevant for homeowners selling their own Boynton Beach homes. It’s valuable to be aware of which features are bound to get the closest scrutiny in open houses—which are usually preludes for serious shoppers’ later appointment showings.
The list of ten could be shortened into four major categories:
- Most of the ‘ten things’ will get a nod from any experienced Boynton Beach homeowner: they’re the structural elements that everyone who has ever born responsibility for a home will recognize as the most basic. The integrity of roof, basement, foundation, and fireplace are among them, as are the age and apparent condition of the mechanical systems.
- Some other features like window functionality and appearance of trim and fascia will reveal the quality of craftsmanship and the level of maintenance.
- Two of the ‘ten things’ dealt with water detective work. Plumbing bears scrutiny, as do evidence of flooding: foundation work, cracks in bricks (not just the mortar), or warping under sinks, cabinets, and vanities.
- The final group is actually just a single detail—one that...
The title alone was slightly chilling. Boca Raton readers didn’t have to be anywhere near senior discount age to furrow their brows if they happened to come across last week’s white paper, “Retirement Insecurity 2019.”
Worse yet, there wasn’t much in the National Institute on Retirement Security’s 28-page manifesto to brighten their mood. Fortunately for Boca Raton homeowners who are anywhere near retirement age, the picture that emerged left out at least one major contraindicating factor that Boca Raton Realtors® like me will be quick to point it out.
Washington, DC-based NIRS was forwarding the basic thesis—which is demonstrably valid—that the nation’s retirement infrastructure has undergone a decades-long process of systematic degradation. The traditional pension system has been replaced by individual accounts like 401(k) plans—or by nothing at all. Other factors magnify the problem—like changes in the Social Security retirement age and other adjustments.
Boca Raton homeowners probably share the sentiments revealed in this year’s NIRS poll which showed that Americans are worried about financial security in their older years—and convinced that leaders in Washington don’t understand how hard it is to prepare for retirement. Specific numbers are shocking; like, “When all working individuals are considered, the typical American has zero dollars saved for retirement” and “Among workers who have managed to accumulate savings in a retirement account, that typical account balance is only about $40,000...
According to an educator in NYU’s finance department, if your Delray Beach house has experienced the kind of growth that’s been typical over the past couple of years, your Facebook friends will be more likely to buy a home themselves. Improbable as it sounds, Dr. Johannes Stroebel says that his research shows this as a measurable probability because “friends’ experiences…influence personal behavior” when it comes to their housing decisions.
The results of Dr. Stroebel’s study emerged from a panel discussion held this month. The conversation took place in Washington, DC, as part of the annual Realtors® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo. Most of the headlines from that gathering centered around the midyear forecast by NAR Chief Economist L. Yun. He sounded the kind of optimistic note that will be music to local homeowners—particularly if they are planning to sell their own Delray Beach house anytime soon. After several years of wage growth that exceeds home price growth, the two are now aligning more rapidly than heretofore. The bottom line is that “home sales should be much stronger.” The continuation of low mortgage interest rates adds to that probability.
NAR optimism aside, the announced Facebook effect prompted further discussion. It was shown that renters whose Facebook friends experienced a 5% growth in their house prices over the past two years have a 3% greater chance of buying their own home within the next two years. The effect is more pronounced in “socially-connected counties,” where positive experiences “were even shown to increase the size of a home” that was purchased.
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For a lot of parents, the whole notion of charging a child rent for their lodging in the family’s Boynton Beach house seems like an all-but-unthinkable miserly idea. It might seem like an elevation of finance over family—something that crosses a basic societal norm. How in the world could a self-respecting parent place a price tag on providing shelter for their offspring? The issue is real for many Boynton Beach families—especially right now, the peak season for high school and college graduations.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal’s Beth DeCarbo provided a thought-provoking commentary on that subject. Its timeliness was framed by her rueful observation that a whole lot of this month’s graduates are “ready for their next big move…back home.”
It could be argued that the statistical support has grown less valid this year because even if “more than one-third of young adults lived at home in 2015,” the current job outlook is considerably brighter than it was (last Friday’s weekly Unemployment Claims were down another thousand). Still, it’s never been uncommon for young adults to need to return to the parental Boynton Beach nest while assessing prospects for their first steps into the real world. But what if employment is not a problem? How long is long enough?
The point of the article is that many financial advisers counsel that charging rent to longer-term returning progeny is the preferable arrangement—especially for the returning children themselves. One private wealth adviser points out that the practice teaches kids “to budget, to prepare for life.” The...
