Tag: Home Owner

August 26, 2020

Create The Home Office Of Your Dreams

Whether you work full-time at home or occasionally need to conduct business in the evenings or on the weekends, a home office a great way to utilize an extra room. A dedicated workspace in your home can be designed to increase productivity and comfort. Here are 5 ideas to get you started.

Invest in a good office chair. Investing in an ergonomic office chair is essential. You may be spending anywhere from 30 to 50 hours a week sitting in it, so your back will thank you. Purchasing one with multiple adjustments is ideal so it fits you just right.
Switch up your lighting. Fluorescent lighting has been proven to be hard on the eyes. Make the switch to LED or halogen light bulbs in your home office and try to let in as much natural light as possible. Also, consider finding a desk lamp to reduce headaches and eye strain.
Keep essentials in reach and organized. Nothing says productivity like a clean, neat workspace. Select a desk with a lot of storage or install creative shelving to keep items like pens, pencils, extra batteries, calculators, notepads, and more stored within arm’s reach.
Decorate bright. Pick a color you love and use it to spice up the room. Use cheery yellow or red or relaxing tones like green and blue, instead of beiges and browns.
Aim for the view. If possible, place your desk so you are facing a window instead of a blank wall. Natural light can do wonders for staying alert and you can give yourself a short mental break when necessary by looking to the outdoors.

Call or message us if there is anything we can ever do for you. We would be happy to help.

Mario and Angelina Perales

July 29, 2020

Getting back to normal. Kind of…

I hope you and your family are staying healthy and safe. For us it’s been a rough few months with Mario’s mom getting sick and passing away on May 30th. Our kids all came home in May to be with their grandma and ended up staying till just last week. It was great having them here with us and much needed during such a hard time. Now that they have went home, we are slowly getting back to a sense of normalcy with daily life. The new normal anyways. Still hoping things begin to open up more, especially dine-in eating. It feels like forever since we have been to a nice restaurant. One thing that is almost back to normal is the real estate market. Below is some information on how things are shaping up around the country with three of the latest reports showing how strong the housing market is.

The residential real estate market is remaining resilient as the country still struggles to beat the COVID-19 pandemic. Three separate reports recently revealed how the housing market is still showing growth. Here’s a look at each one.

1. Ivy Zelman’s Real Estate Broker Survey

The survey explains that purchaser demand remains strong:

“This month’s overall homebuyer demand rating…was easily the strongest sequential gain in our survey history…Strength continues to be led by the entry-level…While high-end demand is less robust in an absolute sense, there has also been relative improvement, with contacts attributing incremental improvement to the stock market’s rebound, record low mortgage rates and luxury customers trading out of high-priced cities.”

2. The National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index

The index reveals that builder confidence has returned to levels last seen prior to the pandemic:

“In a strong signal that the housing market is ready to lead a post-COVID economic recovery, builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes jumped 14 points to 72 in July, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The HMI now stands at the solid pre-pandemic reading in March before the outbreak affected much of the nation.”

3. The realtor.com Housing Market Recovery Index

This index leverages a weighted average of four key components of the housing industry, tracking each of the following:

Housing Demand – Growth in online search activity
Home Price – Growth in asking prices
Housing Supply – Growth of new listings
Pace of Sales – Difference in time-on-market

It then compares the current status “to the last week of January 2020 market trend, as a baseline for pre-COVID market growth. The overall index is set to 100 in this baseline period. The higher a market’s index value, the higher its recovery and vice versa.”

The latest results came in at 101, with realtor.com explaining:

“The U.S. Housing Market has recovered from the immediate disruption caused by the COVID pandemic and returned to January 2020 growth levels.”

Bottom Line

Real estate brokers, home builders, and industry data all agree that the housing market has surged back to pre-COVID levels, showing growth, strength, and incredible resilience.

Call or message us if there is anything we can ever do for you. We would be happy to help.

Mario and Angelina Perales

June 2, 2020

Top Reasons to Own Your Home

June is National Homeownership Month, and it’s a great time to consider the benefits of owning your own home. If you’re in a position to buy, homeownership might help you find the stability, community, and comfort you’ve been searching for this year. Let’s connect today to determine if homeownership is the right next step for you and your family.

Call or message us if there is anything we can ever do for you. We would be happy to help.

Mario and Angelina Perales

May 19, 2020

Buying or Selling a Home? You Need an Expert Kind of Guide

In a normal housing market, whether you’re buying or selling a home, you need an experienced guide to help you navigate through the process. You need someone you can turn to who will tell you how to price your home correctly right from the start. You need someone who can help you determine what to offer on your dream home without paying too much or offending the seller with a low-ball offer.

We are, however, in anything but a normal market right now. We are amid one of the greatest health crises our nation has ever seen. The pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the journey consumers take to purchase or sell a home. To successfully navigate the landscape today, you need more than an experienced guide. You need a ‘Real Estate Sherpa.’

According to Lexico, a Sherpa is a “member of a Himalayan people living on the borders of Nepal and Tibet, renowned for their skill in mountaineering.” Sherpas are skilled in leading their parties through the extreme altitudes of the peaks and passes in the region – some of the most treacherous trails in the world. They take pride in their hardiness, expertise, and experience at very high altitudes.

They are much more than just guides.

This is much more than a normal real estate market.

Today, the average guide just won’t do. You need a Sherpa. You need an expert who understands how COVID-19 is impacting the thoughts and actions of the consumer (ex: virtual showings, proper safety protocols, e-signing documents). You need someone who can simply and effectively explain the changes in today’s process to you and your family. You need an expert who will guarantee you make the right decision, especially in these challenging times.

Bottom Line

Hiring an agent who understands how the pandemic is reshaping the real estate processes is crucial right now. Let’s connect today to guarantee your journey is a safe and successful one.

Call or message us if there is anything we can ever do for you. We would be happy to help.

Mario and Angelina Perales

May 5, 2020

#1 Financial Benefit of Homeownership: Family Wealth

While growing up, we were taught by our parents and grandparents that owning a home is a financially savvy move. They explained how a mortgage is like a “forced savings plan.” When you pay rent, that money is lost forever. When you make a mortgage payment, much of that money accumulates as equity in the home. So, what exactly is equity?

The equity in your home is the amount of money you can sell it for minus what you still owe on the mortgage. Every month you make a mortgage payment, and every month a portion of what you pay reduces the amount you owe. That reduction of your mortgage every month increases your equity.

A recent study by CoreLogic explained that homeowners gained substantial equity over the last twelve months, and are essentially sitting on large sums of cash in their homes. In the study, Frank Nothaft, Chief Economist for CoreLogic explained:

“The CoreLogic Home Price Index recorded a quickening of home price gains during the fourth quarter of 2019, helping to boost home equity wealth. The average family with a mortgage had a $7,300 gain in home equity during the past year, and a total of $177,000 in home equity wealth.”

For most families, their home is their largest financial asset. This increase in equity drives the net worth, or family wealth, of the homeowner. Renters are not earning that benefit. Instead, they’re building the net worth of their landlord.

Bottom Line

Home price growth will moderate during the pandemic. But once a cure is available, most experts agree that home values will again begin to appreciate at levels similar to what we’ve seen over the last several years. In the long run, our family elders will be proven correct: owning a home is a savvy financial move.

Call or message us if there is anything we can ever do for you. We would be happy to help.

Mario and Angelina Perales

April 28, 2020

2020 Homeowner Wish List

We hope you and your family are still hanging in there and doing well as we begin to reopen. It’s crazy how two months have gone by. Everyday feels like a week long. All we can do is go to the grocery store, Target or Home Depot. We’re dying to finally get out and do something. Since the virus didn’t take us out, we thought for sure one of us would have strangled the other by now. I guess miracles do happen! But seriously, the most important thing is to stay safe and remain healthy. All will return to normal soon.

Having nowhere to go has given us time to read and do more research.

This week we wanted to share some information about what buyers are looking for in a home. In a recent study by realtor.com, homeowners noted some of the main things they would change about their homes to make them more livable. Not surprisingly, more space, an updated kitchen, and a home gym rose to the top of the list. If you or someone you know are thinking of selling this year, having these items in your listing might make your house more desirable than ever to potential buyers.

Call or message us if there is anything we can ever do for you. We would be happy to help.

Mario and Angelina Perales

April 21, 2020

Spring Cleaning Tips

I hope you and your family have been able to stay healthy this last month. Who would’ve ever thought we’d be living in a time like this? As weird as it seems, I think we’re getting used to it. Just have to remain focused and stay positive. One thing I like is for work most meetings are done virtually through a Zoom conference call, therefore I only have to get dressed from the waste up to be presentable for work. Hopefully no one ever asks me to stand up (Haha). I have to say, I’m very grateful for this technology because it also allows us to stay connected with family and friends. When we’re not online, we’re watching TV but there’s only so much Netflix we can handle. This weekend we started doing yard work and cleaning the pool to be ready for warmer weather. The yard work is equivalent to exercising; so killing two birds with one stone. If you need ideas to keep busy around your house here are some below. By the way, if there is anything you need let me know how I can help.

Call or message us if there is anything we can ever do for you. We would be happy to help.

Mario and Angelina Perales

April 7, 2020

Homeowners Delay Mortgage Payments During Pandemic

How are you and your family doing through all the madness? Hopefully you are staying safe and healthy. As for us we are doing well. We are working from home and trying not to go out unless we have to. The kids are doing well, and luckily our oldest daughter Ana is able to work from home as well.

We thought we would share this link that shows how some people may be able to delay their home mortgage for up to a year. Hopefully this can help you or someone you know that is being affected by the Corona Virus outbreak.

https://money.yahoo.com/coronavirus-homeowners-delay-mortgage-payments-202251121.html

Call or message us if there is anything we can ever do for you. We would be happy to help.

Mario and Angelina Perales