Real Estate Weekly December 17, 2021

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This Issue

COMMON SCENTS FOR SELLERS - AROMAS THAT MAY HELP YOUR HOME APPEAL TO BUYERS PAGE 5 CAN WE INTEREST YOU IN MOVING HERE? PAGE 7

DEC 17-23, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS Common Scents for Sellers, Aromas that may help your home appeal to buyers...............................................P5 Q&A Ask Our Broker.......................................................................P6

Can We Interest You In Moving Here?...............P7

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December 17, 2021

STAT Real Estate Stat

$353,900 The median sales price for homes sold in the United States in October 2021—up 13% year over year.

Source: National Association of Realtors

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December 17, 2021

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Now could be the time to sell a new home and earn a slice of the real estate pie.

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home.”

Rees suggests eucalyptus, sage, or lavender scents in the bathroom to create a spa-like, calming environment.

“In the kitchen, consider a citrus scent, which is clean and inviting. Lemon and grapefruit have long-lasting aromas that are perfect for an open house,” she says. “A secret I use is adding citrus essential oils to water in a spray bottle and spraying the home and furniture before showing.”

Meanwhile, in the garage, Rees likes to use a room freshener spray called “Freshly Cut Grass”; and a fresh linen scent works wonders in the laundry area, easily created by leaving a few fabric softener sheets exposed to the air.

Regardless of which olfactory-friendly emanation you choose, be careful not to overdo it, which can cause headaches, allergic reactions, and deals to fall through.

“Your aroma needs to be unique without being overbearing but also linger between room to room,” advises Philip Salem, a New York City-based real same can be true of selling the need to cook or bake estate agent with Compass. your house,” explains Carol and possibly burn something—which is a smell that “Be cautious with sprays Horsford, CEO/broker of can sink a possible sale fast. and air fresheners, as they Farnam Realty Group in can sometimes smell too “Another trick is to pour New Haven, Connecticut. some artificial vanilla flavor- sterile and make it seem like “It has to be clean, organized, and smell good to ing in an oven-safe contain- you are covering up a bad smell.” er. Put it in the oven and instill a desire to want to Also, refrain from using bake at 350°F just before live there.” too many scents throughout Horsford’s favorite home- a showing or open house, the residence. it will give off the scent for-sale smells come from “That can become overof freshly baked cookies,” the kitchen: apple pie, bearing and produce the recommends Venus Brown, cookies, pumpkin pie, same effect as smelly odors, a Realtor with Samson and freshly baked bread. distracting visitors from the Properties in Oxon Hill, Fortunately, you can repurpose of touring your create these and other scents Maryland. “I find that the with candles, air fresheners, smell of vanilla connects to home and leaving with a good memories and makes good feeling,” Brown causprays, and other artificial tions. people feel the safety of means, thereby bypassing

Common Scents for Sellers Aromas that may help your home appeal to buyers

By Erik J. Martin our home showing is only a few hours away. Is the yard tidy? Check. Have the bedrooms been de-cluttered?

Check. Are the bathrooms and kitchen clean? Check.

Have you conjured up the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies? Better get on that quick!

While it’s not necessarily recommended to whip up a batch of Nestlé Tollhouse yummies (especially as COVID-19 continues to linger), the aromatic residue of this baked treat can make

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December 17, 2021

a strong impression on a prospective buyer. The clean and distinctive tang of citrus wafting through the air is another excellent choice.

“Selling a home is a play on the senses. You want the potential buyer to imagine themselves living there, feeling safe, and creating a vision of their future,” Josie Rees, a Realtor with eXp Realty in San Antonio, says.

“If a seller creates a warm and inviting environment, the buyer is more likely to pay top dollar for the home. That’s why smells are extremely important during

an open house or private showing. Smells connect us to memories, and buyers want to feel connected to the home. Aromas are often the quickest way to do that.”

The scent of cookies hot from the oven may remind us of treasured holidays spent with family, while the smell of freshly cut grass can take us back to our childhoods, adds Rees.

“When you go out on your first date, you are trying to sell yourself—right? You get all dressed up and put on cologne or perfume. The

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What Happens to Real Estate Prices if Mortgage Rates Turn Higher?

Question:

What happens to real estate prices if mortgage rates turn higher? Is it possible to have both higher rates and higher prices?

Answer:

It’s surely possible to have both higher home prices and higher mortgage rates if demand is sufficient.

Real estate affordability generally has five components: property prices, mortgage rates, income, location, and the amount down. Let’s look at the five factors.

Property prices: Real estate values have soared during the past year. Existing home prices, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), reached a record $352,800 in September—up 13.3% in a year and the 115th straight month of year-over-year gains.

Mortgage rates: While home values have soared, mortgage rates have fallen. Figures from Freddie Mac show that the typical mortgage rate was 2.9% in September 2021 versus 4.63% in September 2018. That’s a huge decline in three years. If you finance $250,000 at 4.63% over 30 years, the monthly cost for principal and interest is $1,286. The same loan at 2.90% has a monthly cost of

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$1,041. That’s a monthly savings of $245 or $2,940 a year.

However, interest rates are widely predicted to increase in 2022. For example, in October the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) forecast that mortgage rates will reach 4% by year-end.

Lower rates make homes more affordable—up to a point.

However, price increases in today’s market have been so substantial that affordability has not kept up, even with big rate declines during the past few years.

Income: You can see a widening affordability gulf, both with home purchases and with rentals. A March 2021 study from the Mortgage Bankers Association found that in the 50 largest metro areas, “household median incomes appreciated, on average, 0.8% per year net of inflation in these cities between 2001 and 2020. On average, rents appreciated 175% faster than median incomes with the largest differential in growth rates estimated to occur in Seattle, at 376%.”

According to the Pew Research Center, from “2000 to 2018, the growth in household income slowed to an annual average rate of only 0.3%.” Meanwhile, costs for just about everything have shot up, including real estate, making homes less affordable.

Location: While national affordability measures are

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Q&A

ASK OUR BROKER

By Peter G. Miller helpful in a general sense, you’re buying one property in a given community with localized prices and incomes that may be very different from the national averages.

The typical income that produces average affordability nationwide is not going to be sufficient to buy a home in Boston, DC, or San Francisco. Alternatively, with more remote workers, having a Manhattan salary and a smalltown location can produce wondrous affordability.

Down payments. You can increase affordability with a bigger down payment and less borrowing. This sounds logical, but for many households, it’s not especially practical. For instance, you can buy a $365,000 house with 20% down and finance with a $292,000 mortgage. With less financing, there’s a smaller monthly mortgage payment than buying with 3% down and financing with a $354,000 loan.

The catch, of course, is that to buy with 20% down you need $73,000 for the down payment plus closing costs.

Not a lot of people have that kind of cash. The typical down payment in 2020, according to the National Association of Realtors, was 7% for first-time purchasers and 13% for

repeat buyers.

Email your real estate questions to Mr. Miller at peter@ctwfeatures.com.

December 17, 2021

Can We Interest You In Moving Here?

By Marilyn Kennedy Melia

thousands of jobs to boost the local economy, Evan Hock, co-founder of makemymove.com explains. housands of home shoppers are no longer Smaller cities are spending small amounts to lure limited to search parameters in a specific remote workers, who bring in dollars and keep the geographic area. Remote workers without area vibrant. the hassle of a commute now have the freedom to Hock explains, “We started the site to help remote find a home that offers certain advantages, whether workers and keep track of the growing number of it’s lower living costs, proximity to open spaces, or communities—now at about fifty—offering individuals perks.” For instance, West Lafayette, IN, home to a family-friendly environment. Lately, smaller cities and towns are vying for these workers, hoping to lure Purdue University, offers remote workers a $5,000 rethem to put down stakes within their boundaries by location stipend; the stipend is available for approved offering them cash incentives and other perks like free applicants who move from out of state with full-time remote work. La Villa, TX, offers a free lot worth passes to local attractions. approximately $3,000 to build a home to qualifying For years, large cities courted large employers like Amazon, spending millions in tax incentives to bring applicants.

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Many areas providing incentives offer low cost-ofliving. But some companies peg remote workers’ pay to costs where they live. Still, if the success of early, pre-pandemic, incentive programs is an indication, offers should continue as long as there are significant numbers of remote workers.

The Remote Shoals area of Alabama offers up to $10,000 to remote workers who move and stay at least twelve months. “We have now received applicants from all 50 states,” says Adam Himber, vice president of Shoals Economic Development Authority.

Like many other programs, Remote Shoals requires applications, and only qualifying applicants are approved.

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700 N Reed St, #40 SedRo woolley

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Located just outside the Mount Vernon City limits, this wooded 1 acre plus lot could be a building site for a stick built, modular, or manufactured home, with plenty of room. Tract has been surveyed (LeGro and Associates) and wetlands have been delineated (Oscar Graham and Pat Bunting). Power and PUD water are available at the street.

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Beautifully remodeled 1995 Nashua 52 x 28 doublewide manufactured home: 1350 square feet offers amazing kitchen including range, refrigerator, and dishwasher; a multitude of beautiful cabinets; pantry; and lots of counter space; formal dining room; spaciouslivingroom;threebedroomsand2fullbaths.Mastersuiteofferswalkincloset; master bath offers double sinks and tub for relaxing plus separate shower. Separate utility room. Nice decking; generous sized yard withstoragebuilding.Greenbelttoprotectfishandwildlifeadjacent Danya Wolf tothesouthoflot.MLS#1849202 (360) 708-8294

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4,500 SF of property bisected by N. West View Rd has an access road and additional possibilities for your needs. Besides the 2 bed 1 bath manuf. home the lot has a detached 750 SF garage/shop, out buildings and RV parking. And the large covered deck is perfect for watching eagles, seasonal waterfowl & spectacular sunsets! MLS# 1848508

John Hunter (360) 202-3086

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(360) 708-1117

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Danya Wolf Designated Broker/ Owner (360) 708-8294

3780 E. College Way, Mount Vernon

www.skagittraditionrealty.com 171204-1

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