4 Reasons Why Fall Might Be the Best Time to Buy a Home

We have known through tracked statistics that Spring and Summer are the best times to sell a home.  The weather is warming up and schools are out, making it the perfect time for sellers to make the move. But when is the best time for a potential buyer to purchase their picture perfect home?

Surprise! It’s the Fall season.

Reason Number 1: Reduced Home Prices

Based in the facts, October is the best month to purchase a home. RealtyTrac's analysis of more than 32 million home sales over the last 15 years, showed that on average October buyers paid 2.6% below the estimated market value.  

The median home price in Orange County per the Orange County Register was $645,000. This translates into an estimated $16,770 discount. And that's nothing to sneeze at.

Reason Number 2: Reduced Competition

Similar to the crowds at our beautiful beaches in the summer, the real estate market tends to clear out as the season turns to Fall and 'pumpkin spice everything.' The majority of summer buyers have already found a home, meaning that multiple offer situations tend to be less likely.

During the holidays, many potential home buyers will drop out of the market until after the New Year. Bear in mind, that the number of available properties may also be less, but for the right buyer…patience and perseverance could lead to home savings to be better invested elsewhere.

Reason Number 3: Motivated Home Sellers

In general, sellers who are willing to have their homes on the market post summer selling season are generally people who are motivated to sell.  The key word here is leverage and it belongs to the buyer. Commonly, the longer that a property has been on the market is an indicator of how much negotiating power the buyer will have.

Reason Number 4: Year End Tax Credits

Nobody likes paying taxes, but if one of the reasons you are buying a home is for the tax benefits…you are in luck. You might be buying to make your accountant happy, but plan to buy your home before midnight on Dec 31st. Come April 15th, you may be able to get some great tax deductions, including closing costs, property tax and mortgage interest.

So that’s it folks. Four seasons in a year, four reasons to buy a home in the Fall.

Cheers!

Alex

Why You Should Be Proud of Your Scars

In movies, scars are often the key to determine who the bad guy is.  Think Freddy Krueger in Nightmare on Elm Street or even "Scar" in the Lion King. In real life, even good guys can have scars and it's rare to meet an adult that doesn't have at least one scar.  I have scars on my chin, back, knees, hands, arms and even my chest. I sound like a crash test dummy, but I have been busy living.   I was embarrassed about my scars when I was a kid.  In fact, I wouldn't go swimming in the pool without a shirt since I thought people would get grossed out by the scar on my chest.

As an adult, my perspective on scars have changed.  I believe that you should be proud of your scars.  On a physical level, it may share your daring nature or some other aspect of your personality.  For me, I was riding a bike without training wheels when I wasn't ready at age 5.  That was an exhilarating 15 seconds before I hit a bump in the sidewalk and went flying head first over the handlebars a cut open my chin on the pavement.  Those six stitches were the first, but they definitely weren't the last. 

Scars show an experience in your life that is part of your unique story.  A scar is only a reminder of where you have been, it doesn't signify where you are now or where you are going.  We are all in charge of our future and changes are always happening.  We are faced with new wounds, which will later become new scars.  Plus, scars make for great conversation.

My New Mantra: "I've lived and I have the scars to prove it"

Wishing You Wealth 

Should I Stay or Should I Go – Orange County Real Estate Insights

Recently, I have had a lot of friends ask me if they should stay in their apartment or buy a new home.   

Here’s my 2 cents:

With property prices expected to increase modestly in 2014, the push to buy for some would be homeowners has waned.  Interest rates are still very very low. In fact, my parents had an 11% interest rate on their investment property [And that was the “Good” rate].  We are in a scenario where it is a matter of “when” and not “if” rates will increase.   Mortgage rates have been low due to the Federal Reserve pouring money into the financial system to spur the economy.  When a family refinances their loan to a lower rate, the end result is reduced payments and more money in their pocket.  In our consumer based economy, the money doesn’t stay there too long.  Extra funds are used to buy clothes, dinners, cars and other items.

When the rates increase, it has the opposite effect on spending because housing is a basic human need.  

Let’s take a quick look at how the payment would change if the rates increased from 4% to 5%.

Loan Amount	Interest Rate	Monthly Payment
$400,000	4%	$1,909
$400,000	5%	$2,147

The increase in payment is $238 per month and becomes even more pronounced as the property price increases. You may have a great price on your rent right now, but you are neither building equity nor benefiting from potential price appreciation.  If homeownership is something that you are committed to, it may be a great time to explore your options.

Although last year’s story was that there was a lack of inventory, Orange County inventory is up 2% (140 homes to a total of 5,403). 

The bottom line is that homeownership isn’t right for everybody, but for those committed to taking advantage of the current market could come out on top.

Wishing You Wealth!

Alex

Why ONE Goal Makes ALL the Difference

We live in a fast paced world, where distractions surround us at every turn.  I was recently in Las Vegas attending a conference and there were advertisements literally inside the men’s urinals.  They were not advertisements above the urinals, they were advertisements encased in plastic that were mounted inside the urinals…but I digress.

I personally have lived a distracted life and been a “jack of all trades, but master of none.” I have accumulated goals and divvied up my focus between them.   In 2014, my goal is one goal.  I know it sounds funny, but my goal is to find one goal.  It’s often difficult since many of us have so many different goals. But the bottom line is that you are going to be the most effective when all of your energy is built around one goal that is your consistent focus.  If you had 5 or more goals, your focus and your effectiveness will be spread out. In a perfect world, you would then reach all five goals.  But we all live in this world and not a perfect one.  If you have just one goal, then your attention and energy will be fully invested and your goal will be that much closer.

There’s many different classes of goals.  Yours may be related to your career, your physical body or even a hobby.  The key is to choose your goal and implement a time frame for it.   Shorter term goals tend to be less than a year. Intermediate tend to be 1-5 years and long term goals are greater than 5 years. Keep your focus on it and remind yourself with a sticky note on the fridge or better yet, make it the background screen on your cell phone that you are spending most of your time looking at, when you should be working on your goal already.

Wishing You Success!

Alex

The Old Banana

Have you ever looked at a banana with spots and assumed that it was old, mushy and overly ripe inside? I usually don’t spend a lot of time talking about produce, but this is exactly what happened to me last week. A lone banana sat on my kitchen table and turned from bright green, AKA unripe, to yellow, AKA delicious, to neon yellow with dark spots, AKA too ripe/gross. I was pretty sure I had missed my window to enjoy it, so I let it sit there. Last Tuesday, I woke up late and didn’t have time for breakfast and took my inedible, geriatric banana with me to work. When I peeled back it’s tough, leathery exterior, I found that it was in perfect condition and tasty.

Here’s the infamous quote “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Since childhood, our parents, teachers and friends have given us this advice, but in the hustle of bustle of everyday life we often forget. Personally, there have been instances where I have judged solely on appearance. But I’ve learned through experience that a book’s cover can be misleading and we often miss the “fine print.” As in legal disclaimers and people alike, the fine print is only available if you take the time to read them. If I didn’t take the opportunity to read between the lines, I may have missed out on some of the most amazing relationships that have added and continue to add so much to my life.

When I was in boy scouts, one of our annual volunteering efforts was at the local convalescent home. Many of the elderly residents had no family and had been left alone in this world. We would do our annual visit during Christmas time. It didn’t take long for me to recognize, even as a child that they didn’t want presents, they just wanted your “presence.” They could care less about any gifts, but just wanted the opportunity to be listened to and heard. The first year, I assumed that I was about to be put into a room with a bunch of senile and irritable old people. This was hardly, the case. The majority of them had a youthful energy and had wisdom to share. Other times, I had assumed that teenagers are relatively simple and probably don’t know what’s important to them or have many goals, since I didn’t at that age. We need to learn to check our preconceived notions and judgments at the door. When you take the opportunity to learn about people, you may see an entirely different side than what you were expecting.

I have come to realize that there is beauty in nearly all people, if you open yourself up to it and stick around long enough to see it, you might also be blindsided and be amazed.

Wishing You Wealth in all its Greatest Forms,

Alex

Be Careful, It Might Be Contagious

I was thinking about my trip last year to New York. The flight out there was great, but on the return flight I had a two hour window to arrive in Chicago’s O’Hare airport to catch my flight back to Orange County. The plane out of La Guardia was delayed and I sat on the tarmac due to weather delays. Needless to say, I didn’t make it onto my connecting flight. United said that the rest of the flights were overbooked and would not be able to get me up in the air until morning. I opted to “sleep” in the airport. The airline wouldn’t provide me with a blanket or a pillow since I wasn’t on the plane and my luggage was headed to Orange County without me.

I watched the airport inhabitants turned from families to maintenance workers with mops and brooms. It was hard to find a quiet nook without the clang of rolling trash cans and vacuums. I settled on terminal 21. I laid there with my shoes on because as a child, I watched an ABC afterschool special, I feared that my shoes would be stolen like in a homeless shelter. I didn’t get much sleep and was pretty cranky until that morning.

In the morning, the first flight to Orange County was at 7:55am and I had a spot. As the time got closer to boarding, people started shifting about and looking at their cell phones and designer watches. As the boarding time came and went, people began to murmur. You could cut the tension in the air with a knige. Then one man turns to his wife and says “with how much we pay for plane tickets these days, you would think they would be able to look at a watch and take off on time.” Other people began complaining. Much like one domino falling in a row, you heard a chain of frustrated sighs across the terminal. At about 8:45am, they announced we would be boarding shortly. In anticipation, people stood up, crowded the doorway and began jockeying for position like horses approaching the finish line. Needless to say, people were now even more frustrated than before, because the contagious discontent washed over passengers like a tsunami. Being negative is contagious and spreads like cancer. Left untreated, it can be deadly.

As the time came to, those with small children were called to board. As my section was called I walked past the entrance and waiting to get to 17C. In first class was this toddler with headphones on watching a Disney movie on a portable DVD player. She smiled and giggled with carefree abandon. It was quite amazing to see passengers in front of me shift from disgruntled to happy at the sight and laughter of this young child. It served as a reminder that we are in fact contagious by association. We sometimes forget how much power we have to make someone’s day. The choice is yours, so choose wisely.

Wishing You Wealth in all its Greatest Forms,

Alex