Harvard’s 5 Financial Reasons to Buy a Home

Eric Belsky is Managing Director of the Joint Center of Housing Studies at Harvard University. He also currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Housing Research and Housing Policy Debate. Last year, he released a paper on homeownership - The Dream Lives On: The Future of Homeownership in America. In his paper, Belsky reveals five financial reasons people should consider buying a home. Here are the five reasons, each followed by an excerpt from the study:

1.) Housing is typically the one leveraged investment available.

“Few households are interested in borrowing money to buy stocks and bonds and few lenders are willing to lend them the money. As a result, homeownership allows households to amplify any appreciation on the value of their homes by a leverage factor. Even a hefty 20 percent down payment results in a leverage factor of five so that every percentage point rise in the value of the home is a 5 percent return on their equity. With many buyers putting 10 percent or less down, their leverage factor is 10 or more.”

2.) You're paying for housing whether you own or rent.

“Homeowners pay debt service to pay down their own principal while households that rent pay down the principal of a landlord.”

3.) Owning is usually a form of “forced savings”.

“Since many people have trouble saving and have to make a housing payment one way or the other, owning a home can overcome people’s tendency to defer savings to another day.”

4.) There are substantial tax benefits to owning.

“Homeowners are able to deduct mortgage interest and property taxes from income...On top of all this, capital gains up to $250,000 are excluded from income for single filers and up to $500,000 for married couples if they sell their homes for a gain.”

5.) Owning is a hedge against inflation.

“Housing costs and rents have tended over most time periods to go up at or higher than the rate of inflation, making owning an attractive proposition.”

Bottom Line

Realize that homeownership makes sense for many Americans for an assortment of social and family reasons. It also makes sense financially.

Looking to sell, buy, or invest? Contact:
David Demangos

858.232.8410

Locally Known, Globally Connected

Luxury Home Marketing Specialist/Global Property Specialist 

David@AwesomeSanDiegoRealEstate.com
www.AwesomeSanDiegoRealEstate.com
Our Team Goes to Extremes to Fulfill Your Real Estate Dreams!

A Home’s Cost vs. Price Explained

COST vs. PRICE is often talked about. As a seller, you will be most concerned about ‘short term price’ – where home values are headed over the next six months. As either a first time or repeat buyer, you must not be concerned about price but instead about the ‘long term cost’ of the home.

Explanation:

A nationwide panel of over one hundred economists, real estate experts and investment market strategists projected that home values would appreciate by approximately 4% from now to the end of 2015. Additionally, Freddie Mac’s most recent economic commentary projections table predicts that the 30 year fixed mortgage rate will be 5.0% by the end of next year.

What Does This Mean to a Buyer?

Here is a simple demonstration of what impact these projected changes would have on the mortgage payment of a home selling for approximately $250,000 today:

Who do you know looking to Sell, Buy or Invest in Real Estate? Contact:

David Demangos

Global Property Specialist

858.232.8410
David@AwesomeSanDiegoRealEstate.com
www.AwesomeSanDiegoRealEstate.com
Our Team Goes to Extremes to Fulfill Your Real Estate Dreams!

#1 Reason You Should Sell Now

The price of any item (including residential real estate) is determined by ‘supply and demand’.  If the supply of an item is larger than the amount of people looking to purchase that item, the price will decrease. With winter right around the corner, now may be the best time to get the best price. #KCM2014 According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), historically there is a natural decline in buyers looking to purchase a home (also known as foot traffic) as the winter months approach. Shown in the graph below: NAR goes a step further to say that there is a direct correlation between “foot traffic” and “pending contracts/closed sales one to two months later”.

Home Sales Hit Highest Level of the Year

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their existing sales report earlier this week. The report revealed that “sales bounced back in September to their highest annual pace of the year”. As the chart below shows, after a very slow start at the beginning of the year, residential home sales have been increasing consistently.

Looking to buy, sell or invest in Real Estate? Contact:

David Demangos

858.232.8410
Locally Known, Globally Connected
Luxury Home Marketing Specialist
Global Property Specialist

David@AwesomeSanDiegoRealEstate.com
www.AwesomeSanDiegoRealEstate.com
Our Team Goes to Extremes to Fulfill Your Real Estate Dreams!

Tips to Sell Your Home in the Fall

If you are trying to sell your home this fall, consider making some home improvements to boost the chance of selling.

Check out these ways to keep your landscaping and exterior in top condition.

• Rake leaves frequently; not only does it look better, but keeping loose debris from walkways creates a safer environment for potential buyers.
• Mulch your garden beds. This will provide an added layer of protection for your plants as winter creeps in.
• If your summer flowers are fading or wilting after a long season, create a welcoming experience by replacing them with fresh mums and other fall friendly colorful flowers.
• Draw attention to your front entry by adding a fall wreath to your door.

Fun Halloween Decorations Ideas

Cobweb Cookies

To conjure up a devilish-looking dessert, frost slice-and-bake sugar cookies with white royal icing. Then, starting at the cookie's center, pipe circles of black icing; create cobwebs by alternately dragging a toothpick from the center to the edge, and from the edge to the center.

Creepy Crawlers

Scooped-out mini pumpkins become spidery votives, thanks to tealights and pipe cleaners 

Wicked Window

Use candlelight (the battery operated ones for safety) to create dark shadows in the corners. Here, the ghostly white tapers in a flea market candelabra enhance the creepiness of cobwebs and flying bats.

Super Bowl

Filled with cider, a hollowed-out peach pumpkin becomes an organic punch bowl. Four water-jug gourds act as feet.

Have a Safe Halloween!

David Demangos 

Global Property Specialist 

858.232.8410

www.AwesomeSanDiegoRealEstate.com

Our Team goes to Extremes to Fulfill your Real Estate Dreams

Finding the Right Agent is Crucial

The information delivered by your neighborhood real estate agent in the past is now available on the internet. You no longer need agents for information regarding which homes are for sale or what houses in your neighborhood sell for. You can easily find that information online. This information itself is no longer what you need from your real estate professional. However, you still need someone to deliver a thoughtful analysis of this information.

“There’s a large gap between information and actionable knowledge.”

In other words, information by itself is essentially useless.

What’s truly important is being able to understand, analyze, and use the information for the best outcome. And that’s what a real estate professional’s job has become!

What you really want is someone who can…