Ron and Tom start start with The Fed and will it be increasing rates by the end of this year and how that could affect the real estate market. They then discuss Blackstone's big bet the American Dream is dying, evidenced by their purchase of thousands of single-family homes to rent out. The conversation then moves towards the re-emergence of appraisal free loans and how that could mean transactions takes less time. Then things take a "Minority Report" turn with new real estate A.I. backed by Kobe Bryant.
In this episode of the podcast, Tom and Ron are talking about the latest and greatest in Real Estate news. There's a lot of interesting ground to cover this week, so they dive right in.
They start off the episode by taking on the topic of home buyer's remorse. A recent survey from Trulia found that almost half of Americans have suffered some sort of buyers remorse when they purchased their home -- though not the type of remorse you would expect. They actually wish they had bought a larger home! On top of that, most renters say they are remorseful that they haven't bought at all. Tom talks about how to look at the big picture when home shopping and trying to find larger homes by expanding your search -- not necessarily by spending more money.
Up next, Ron tells Tom about an article from the New York Times reporting on the worsening housing crisis here in California. We discuss the different ways governments are trying to alleviate the problem (Property Tax Initiatives, Zoning De-Regulation), while also going into how there is a growing YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) movement trying to get the developments happening where we need them most. It's a fascinating conversation about how residents of certain areas actually do themselves a disservice by not allowing growth. When it gets to be too late -- they are out of control of the process and could have had more of a say along the way.
Next up, we talk about a new trend in home burglars where they are casing their hits virtually through home listing photos left on Zillow. We discuss the dangers of leaving your listing photos online and not taking them down after the sale.
And speaking of home break-ins, we talk about Ryan Lewis (the other guy who isn't Macklemore) selling his 7 million dollar estate with the help of a video where a friend/musician pretends to break in and take a tour. We discuss what it takes to market your home with an original and clever video like this -- and the potential ways it could actually work against you if you're not careful.
It's an awesome news-packed episode and we hope you'll listen and enjoy!
We’ve reached Episode #025 of the Clarified Realty Podcast and we’re trying something a little new! This week Tom And Ron are taking a look at some of the latest news stories having to do with Real Estate.
The first news item they discuss is how home values, contrary to current popular opinion, still have not risen to meet what they were prior to the crash. For some areas, there is still a very long way to go. This also appears to have less to do with the quantity of jobs and more to do with the level of wages. Cities with higher wage jobs are also doing better when it comes to the values of their homes. Also, in a related story, Redfin is claiming that buyer demand is down. We dissect this idea and find that the headline is a bit misleading. We use this as a cautionary tale to show people that you shouldn’t always make decisions without having all the information first, as well as a more complete understanding of the big picture.
The second news story is regarding a lawsuit against Zillow and their “Zestimate.” A homeowner is having a difficult time getting the price she deserves for her home because the Zillow’s estimate is erroneously including homes from a cheaper area as comps. We discuss how even Zillow admits that they estimates are inaccurate and not to be relied upon.
The next item is really a combination of two stories. Ron brings up a survey that was done to gauge different generations’ knowledge of basic financial terms (like 401k, CDs, HELOCS). Tom is discourage to hear that the numbers are not adding up to what you would hope them to be. This brings up another article regarding a new mortgage website called “Morty” that allows buyers to be more involved in the process. Tom brings up the question — if most people “don’t know what they don’t know,” should they really be trying to do the job traditionally done by an expert? While both Tom and Ron are firm believers in educating their clients, at some point a line can get crossed and the client is actually hurting themself more than helping.
And lastly, we talk about the new 100 million dollar listing here in Los Angeles… Opus. The agent has made news recently because he is using naked women in his marketing video for the property. While Tom has no objections philosophically about this… He does think the video sucks and also sabotages the message that the agent really should be trying to communicate.
It’s a great episode with lots of fun and interesting topics. We hope you enjoy listening and that you’ll leave us some comments or give us a review on iTunes. We’d be forever grateful!