Cool Haus will serve their signature custom ice cream sandwiches to prospective homebuyers in this educational homebuyer event
SEAL BEACH, CA. (PRESS RELEASE) August 24, 2011 – Olson Homes is inviting the home shopping public a reprieve from the summer heat with a Treat and Greet this Saturday 8/27 from 12-2pm at Heritage Walk in Paramount and Rio Walk in Montebello.
The Cool Haus truck will then move over to Citrus Walk in Covina and Mosaic Walk in Garden Grove from 3-5pm. The Cool Haus gourmet ice cream sandwich truck will be serving their custom made frozen ice cream sandwich treats while hombuyers learn about the tax advantages of homeownership and tips from the experts on getting the best loan and financing options available today. The public is invited to attend any of these free events on Saturday August 27th. Call the sales office for more details on times.
The event was designed as an informal gathering where CPA’s and lenders will be on hand to educate home shoppers about the financial advantages and tax savings of homeownership in a casual, unhurried, and unpressured environment from friendly tax and loan experts. Everyone wants to know if it makes sense to buy now-these events will highlight why it is a great time to buy. Helpful financial experts will be on site to answer financial questions and walk buyers through the tax benefits of owning a home in today’s buyer’s market.
With 5 great communities throughout Southern California, Olson Homes has a new home community perfect for active an lifestyle.
Olson Homes is currently delivering new homes in the following communities: Mosaic Walk in Garden Grove, from the low $300,000′s, Rio Walk in Montebello, California priced from the $290,000′s, Willow Walk in Compton, California priced from the mid $200,000′s, and Citrus Walk in Covina, priced from the mid $300,000′s California , and Heritage Walk in Paramount, California offering new single family detached homes from the low $300,000′s.
About The Olson Company – Founded in 1988, The Olson Company is California’s leading developer of innovative and affordable in-town communities in established neighborhoods. The Olson Company creates uniquely designed communities which redevelop and enhance neighborhoods utilizing transit-oriented developments, live/work, mixed use developments, brownstones, single family attached and detached homes in partnerships with cities and other agencies.
Headquartered in Southern California with communities throughout the state, Olson is a recipient of America’s “Builder of the Year.” Further information about Olson Homes can be obtained online at Olsonhomes.com [Olson Homes].
Olson Homes Offers 6 New Home Communities with Loan Payments Comparable to Rent
Smart home shoppers are comparing the benefits of home ownership over renting and Olson Homes has 6 new communities in Southern California to help kick the rental habit
SEAL BEACH, CA. (PRESS RELEASE) April 12, 2011 – It happens this time every year. Thousands of landlords across the southland send notification to their tenants that an increase of up to 10% will be added to their current monthly payment for rent. While a common reaction will be to just bite the bullet and renew at the higher payment, many smart homebuyers are weighing the option of making a home purchase instead. For those individuals, Olson Homes is offering 6 new home communities with payments comparable to what the landlord wants for rent.
One of the best loan programs out there today is from FHA, which allows buyers to purchase a home with only 3.5% down and with flexible guidelines. However with two critical FHA guidelines about to change, securing these loans will become increasingly difficult. Financial institutions are urging homebuyers who plan to take advantage of FHA financing to lock in their purchases before now before the changes take effect.
Adding to the challenge is a second change the FHA will be rolling out this month and that is limiting the number of loans they will allow in a condominium community to only 30% which means the FHA is anticipating that they will be running out of loans before summer begins. With only a finite number of cases available many home shoppers will have to go with conventional financing. When the money runs out, most buyers will need to put 10% down for conventional financing. In this economy, that may put potential homeowners out of the market and right back into the rental market. Either pay the rent increase or move again in search of an affordable alternative.
There has never been a better time to kiss the landlord goodbye and say hello to a new home one can call their own! With interest rates set to rise, now would be the time to lock in an interest rate below 5%. That makes your monthly payment comparable to what you pay in rent.
With 6 great communities throughout Southern California, Olson Homes has a new home community perfect for your lifestyle. Which one will you choose?
Olson Homes is currently helping homebuyers kick the rental habit with the following communities: Mosaic Walk in Garden Grove, from the low $300,000′s, Rio Walk in Montebello, California priced from the 290,000′s, Willow Walk in Compton, California priced from the mid $200,000′s, Sycamore Walk in Garden Grove, California priced from the mid $400,000’s, Citrus Walk in Covina, California now forming an interest list with
new townhomes and flats from the mid $300,000′s, and Heritage Walk in Paramount, California offering new single family detached homes from the low $300,000′s.
About The Olson Company – Founded in 1988, The Olson Company is California’s leading developer of innovative and affordable in-town communities in established neighborhoods. The Olson Company creates uniquely designed communities which redevelop and enhance neighborhoods utilizing transit-oriented developments, live/work, mixed use developments, brownstones, single family attached and detached homes in partnerships with cities and other agencies.
Headquartered in Southern California with communities throughout the state, Olson is a recipient of America’s “Builder of the Year.” Further information about Olson Homes can be obtained online at Olsonhomes.com [Olson Homes].
Either way, it will be welcome relief for current homeowners as well as for potential real-estate investors. Reasons to be optimistic have been sadly lacking since the housing bubble burst in 2006.
For sure, last week we learned the widely watched S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index fell 1% in December, its fifth straight decline. The index tracks 20 major markets.
But that figure belies real reasons to be optimistic, according to some experts. If they are right, it might make sense to jump into real estate. The trick is avoiding getting burned again, and it doesn’t necessarily mean owning a home.
First, let’s recap the economic signs a bottom is close.
Houses Are a Good Deal
Housing is the most affordable it has been in decades, according to analysts at Moody’s Analytics. They don’t just look at house prices. They also look at incomes.
Nationally, the cost of a house is the equivalent of about 19 months of total pay for an average family, the lowest level in 35 years. Prices usually average close to two years’ pay, although that varies nationally.
At the peak, midway through the last decade, a home in Los Angeles cost the equivalent of 4.5 years’ pay. The average price has since fallen to just over two years’ income now. That’s well below its pre-bubble average of 2.6 years. This means average Los Angeles homes are cheaper in “real terms” than they were typically during the period 1989 through 2003.
The opposite is true around the Washington beltway, where it will take 26 months of pay to buy a home, versus the historical norm of 22 months.
In the end, it will be affordability that will drive people to buy homes.
“Pricing is down so much in some markets that when you analyze renting versus owning it makes much more sense to own,” says Michael Larson, a real-estate analyst at Weiss Research in Jupiter, Fla.
It is definitely bullish. But what about timing?
“Housing prices will probably bottom in 2011,” says Scott Simon, a managing director at money-management firm Pimco in Newport Beach, Calif. He foresaw the housing crash, helping his firm dodge losses that plagued Wall Street.
Mr. Simon says prices might dip another 5%. Still, in the scheme of things, that’s small. Consider this: In some markets, home prices have fallen by half or more since 2006.
For instance, in once-hot Miami you can snap up an average house for under $166,000, according to recent data from the National Association of Realtors. That’s down from $371,000 in 2006. Another 5% drop would take it to $158,000.
Investors Stepping Up
Here’s another sign the market is nearing a bottom: Investors have started to buy up houses and condos, in some instances paying entirely in cash. That’s a far cry from the heady bubble days when borrowed money seemed the key to riches. The bubble-era speculators who got burned tended to buy at the peak and borrowed heavily to do so. When the crash came, they quickly saw their wealth erased.
Take Miami again. Last year, more than half of all transactions were made entirely in cash, according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal. That compares with 13% of deals in the last quarter of 2006, the height of the bubble. Similarly, in Phoenix 42% of sales in 2010 went to all-cash buyers, up threefold since 2008.
It’s a sign that these investors are betting on a rebound. Investors buying at current prices are looking for deals, or so-called bottom fishing. They typically like to pay entirely in cash (or with a relatively small loan) to speed up transactions. That can be vital for an investor wishing to lock in a deal fast.
If this is a turn in the market, then it might make sense to go out and buy a home. But, warns Pimco’s Mr. Simon, “buy in areas you really know.”
Plan to Stay Put
Buy and hold. While the good news is that the worst of the housing crash might be over, the bad news is that the fast gains of the glory days of 2005 and 2006 won’t be back any time soon. So to cover the costs of buying and selling, and what could be a prolonged recovery, plan to own for more than 10 years, explains Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Chicago-based Harris Bank.
Also remember that borrowing money to buy a house can still be risky. If you pay for a $100,000 property with $20,000 cash and borrow the rest, a dip in the value of $20,000 would leave you with zero equity. On top of that, you’d have to pay to maintain and repair the property, something not necessary when renting.
Home Buying Without a House
There are other ways to benefit from a real-estate rebound than directly buying a house. Such investments include stocks, mutual funds or exchange-traded funds. Unlike homes, which typically cost tens of thousands of dollars, these financial investments can be made in smaller amounts and typically are easy to sell.
Weiss Research’s Mr. Larson says although new homes are oversupplied, home builders might benefit from a rebound as the situation rights itself.
Rather than pick individual stocks, he says, it probably makes sense for small investors to pick broader investments that hold many different stocks. In particular, he points to the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB), which tracks a basket of home-builder stocks.Mr. Larson also highlights specialized mutual funds such as the Fidelity Select Construction & Housing fund (FSHOX), which tracks home builders as well as home-improvement retailers like Home Depot and Lowes that would also likely benefit from a housing recovery.
A new batch of housing data has come out this week providing some insight into the new homes market. First was the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) on Monday. On Tuesday, there was the Census Bureau’s housing starts report. Both sets of data were (relatively) optimistic as they showed an increase in new home demand from previous months. Now we have our head start going into the new homes sales report next week. As a reminder, home sales have been struggling to come off the lows seen directly after the homebuyers’ tax credit ended.
Firstly, the Housing Market index came in with a reading of 16 for October versus 13 for September. Although it was only a modest increase to levels that are still quite low, it was still the first increase in five months. All four major regions were lifted during the month, while the component for sales expected in the next 6 months rose to 23 from 18. On the plus side, this data gives some forward insight into the month ahead, including homebuilders’ observations of traffic and expected sales. However, the data is also more volatile than that of starts and sales.
Housing starts for September increased by 0.3% month to month to 610,000 seasonally adjusted annual units, beating the consensus estimate for a slight decline down to 580,000 units. Single family units were stronger yet, increasing by 4.4% month to month. Permits decreased though, by 5.6% although single family permits were up slightly by 0.5%. Also of note is that on a year over year basis, although total starts are up 4.1%, single family starts are down 10.8%. This showcased the relative weakness of homes versus the continuing strength in apartments.
The chart below (click to enlarge) represents the correlation between the HMI, single family starts, and new home sales.
We project a seasonally adjusted annual rate of between 295,000 and 315,000 units for September new home sales. That is a modest pickup from 288,000 in recorded in August. There is also some more slightly good news in that the HMI implies yet better sales in October.
Still though, this is a very low rate of sales and going into the seasonal winter slowdown, it is certainly not going to be enough for the major homebuilders to turn a profit in the months ahead, on balance. We also have yet to realize the impact of foreclosure moratoria recently enacted by some of the major lenders which could serve to temporarily reduce the amount of competing foreclosed inventory, and could also affect consumer confidence (either positively or negatively)
NTREIS (North Texas Real Estate Information Service) has released the data for the Dallas Fort Worth real estate market for the third quarter of 2010. As they normally do, the Dallas Morning News has created an interactive map of areas in Dallas that break down the individual performance of real estate for various sectors of the Dallas market. The data includes the following:
Median Sales Price
Number of home sale transactions
The percentage change compared to the third quarter of 2009.
The median number of days on the market.
The median price per square foot.
The top performing areas included:
The Park Cities, with a whopping 41% increase in the number of transactions and a 3% increase in the median sales price.
North Dallas also had a 28% increase in the number of transactions, although the median sales price was reported to have dropped by 6% to $547,000.
Westlake had a 33% increase in the number of transactions and a 12% increase in the median sales price.
Many other areas of Dallas showed moderate increases in both the number of transactions as well as the median sales price of homes. Even most “red” areas on the map showed decent performance in the median sales price of homes, although the number of transactions declined significantly in many of those areas.
The Internet and technology are rapidly bridging the information gap between new home agents and buyers, empowering homebuyers with the tools and technologies needed to make informed decisions all from the convenience of their home PC or PDA. The days of being dragged from one new home development to another by a well meaning but all too human real estate agents may be over as technology and the internet make buying a new home online easy and informative.
One builder (www.TheWarrenSacramento.com) is betting on online technology to create buyer urgency, drive sales, reduce upfront sales and marketing costs, and obtain the number of reservations necessary to secure new construction funding, by incorporating First Release Homes Virtual Reservation Services, VRS™. This revolutionary online approach replaces the costly, traditional offline sales and marketing process by providing powerful online virtualization tools and technologies that provide a real world, home buyer experience online. “The VRS technology provides homebuyers with the tools necessary to replicate the offline home buying experience by offering virtual technologies that gives the buyer the same experience as if they physically drove to the new home development and individually walked the homes they were interested in touring.
Traditionally, the new home buyer would have to wait for either a new home development to be built, a sales office to be available and drive by the development to get a feel for the neighbourhood and location. Thereafter, the prospective buyer would then find out when the sales office is open, call to schedule an appointment with an agent for a tour. The challenge is if the development is not completed, the homebuyer would have to select a home from a paper floor plan, virtual tour, or walk the pre-built model homes and should they decided to purchase, hope and prey that their views from their new home are not obstructed and satisfactory, basically purchasing site unseen. However, if the development is built, the buyer will then likely have to spend several hours, researching, scheduling an appointment to meet with an agent, walking from home to home or take multiple trips back to the development with family members in order to decide on the perfect home.
“By utilizing our cutting edge VRS™ Service, Homebuyers can now research the new home development, take a virtual tour of the new home development, walk the neighbourhood, review local amenities and restaurants, take virtual tours of all the homes offered, check out the views from each home, see other homebuyers taking tours online in real time, have questions answered via live chat and ultimately purchase their pre-constructed home all online and without establishing a relationship with a buyers agent or leaving the comfort of their home computer. ” says James Uberti, VP of Sales and Marketing for First Release Homes, Inc.
For builders the benefits are upfront savings, the required interest necessary to secure funding via online reservations, reduced selling times, reduction of agent commissions, interest savings and HOA fees paid by selling out their project quicker than traditional sales and marketing methods. Builders and developers can now offer the same homes for a lower price while maintaining the same, if not higher profit margins, Said Uberti.
About First Release Homes, Inc.
First Release Homes, Inc., is one of the largest “coming-soon and just-released” new home resources for homebuilders seeking the best value and return on investment for advertising and marketing new homes and condos online. For more information about First Release Homes, visit them online or call 888-907-7770.
Showing off new construction trends, energy-efficiency practices and keeping people connected to a tepid residential real estate market are a few of the top goals of the Fall Parade of Homes that began Saturday (Oct. 16).
Organized by the Greater Fort Smith Association of Home Builders, the Parade of Homes will continue through the week and end Sunday (Oc. 24). The homes will be open from Noon until 6 p.m. each day of the Parade. (Link here for maps and more details on homes in the parade.)
The prices of the 29 homes in the show range from $109,900 to $425,000, and are located in Fort Smith, Van Buren, Alma, Lavaca, Greenwood, and Hackett.
“Many of these brand new homes feature the latest in green building technology along with the newest fashion in home design. Most homes will have the builder or a Realtor on hand during showing hours,” noted an association statement.
The association recently previewed its Showcase Home as part of the Fall event. The home, at 5512 Callaway Lane in the Williamson Place subdivision in south Fort Smith, is 2,180 square feet, with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. The $259,900 home comes with high-efficiency hot water systems, high-efficiency gas heating systems and a high-efficiency electric central system.
The new home construction sector in Fort Smith has been hot for most of the year. June marked four months of year-over-year gains in the number and value of new home construction in Fort Smith.
• August 2010: $2.923 million, compared to $2.092 million in August 2009
• July 2010: $1.878 million, compared to $2.425 million in July 2009
• June 2010: $5.159 million, compared to $2.261 million in June 2009
• May 2010: $4.789 million compared to $1.716 million in May 2009
• April 2010: $4.51 million compared to $4.49 million in April 2009
• March 2010: $5.976 million compared to $2.02 million in March 2009
A federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers is the primary reason for the strength, David Hughes, executive director of the Greater Fort Smith Association of Homebuilders, has said. The federal tax credit provided up to $8,000 for first-time home buyers and up to $6,500 to home buyers. Although there were exceptions for closing dates, the credit offer effectively ended in May.
However, the new home construction market has been off in Greenwood and Van Buren. For example, Van Buren issued 8 residential permits in September valued at $396,000, a big drop from the 27 permits valued at $1.72 million in September 2009.
Also, the number of new and existing homes sold during the January-August 2010 period in Crawford, Franklin and Sebastian counties totaled 1,242, down 2.43% over the same period in 2009, according to the Arkansas Realtors Association. The value of the homes sold in the three counties during the first eight months of 2010 totals $158.291 million, up 2.4% compared to the same period in 2009.
The Greater Fort Smith Association of Home Builders was established in 1955 as a local organization to promote housing. The Association has more than 200 local firms as members.
Are you considering buying a new home in a newly developed development? Are you tempted to the sparkle and style of new construction? Are you set to make the move to a newly built house, but don’t know what questions to ask?
buying new construction is significantly various than buying a used house. It isn’t always harder (in many ways it’s easier) but you do need to consider many factors and ask different questions.
With older construction, you need to bring in an engineer to inspect the house and look for defects. Every used house will have problems, and very often the repair will fall on the new housebuyer. From the seller’s angle, their offering it at this price for the condition it’s in; while the condition is not perfect, you’re not paying for new construction.
In other words, they’re charging less for a older home because it needs repairs.
New Home construction, in contrast, should be delivered in excellent condition. While you will certainly want to do a walk-through inspection prior to closing, the procedure is much simpler. During construction, you can very often inspect the progression of building as it is being completed. If you find something that is an issue, you are able to promptly correct it during the building phase as opposed to going back and fixing it at a later time. Since many repairs and existing homes are the result of the age-such as split foundations, sagging walls, leaky ceilings, and dripping pipes, damaged faucets, broken tiles, drafty windows, lack of insulation, etc., you will have very little of these issues with a newly built house.
While you may surely hire an engineer to inspect a newly built house, they’re usually looking for defects that usually are not present in a new house. Further, since most new homes have a warranty, you have a level of protection you would not have with a old house.
Don’t be misled by the cost of an old house. The asking price is just one piece of the picture. The remodels and repairs necessary to get the house in the way you want can add tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to the price of that home. Furthermore, you often need to come up with that money “out of pocket.” In contrast, the newly built house is in as good of condition as possible, which is built into the purchase price, and can be paid for with your mortgage.
Let’s look at an example: a new construction in Commack NY that is over 3400 sq.ft. is just over $1 million. The house is in brand-new excellent condition and ready to move-in. A similar “old” house in the neighborhood of the same size could be $950,000. While it may seem that you “saved” $75,000 on a old house, you’re purchasing a house that’s twenty years old, will last twenty years less, and already has twenty years of wear and tear. Since most homes have a useful life of 65-80 years, you’d be purchasing a house with less long term value.
With existing houses, you could need to renovate. The kitchen may need to be replaced, bathrooms replaced, and other repairs made. The used home may not be the exact layout you like. This may require structural changes to the home – which may demand six months of remodeling while you’re living in the house. These remodeling could cost $50-$100,000 and will be money you will need to produce out of pocket. Had you bought the new house for slightly more, you would not need to come up with an additional $75,000 out of pocket, would not need to live free six months of construction, and would have a perfect ready to occupy a home on the day you close.
So does this mean new homes are perfect? No. But generally speaking, they are the better option. When talking about something this size and the scale of the new house, there will always be problems. It is far easier to deal with those problems with a reputable builder during the construction process than it is to deal with them on your own after you have bought the home and have no one to turn to. Items such as a leaky faucet or cracked tile can easily be fixed or replaced by the builder at no additional cost whereas doing the repairs on your own with the used house needs time and cash on your part.
TIP: Be sure to work with a creditable builder in your area who you can turn to with questions and ideas. Try to produce as many ideas as possible at the very beginning of the process before construction; relocating walls after rooms have been constructed can be extremely expensive, whereas moving them before building is started will carry relatively low cost.
Discovery Homes will be celebrating the Grand Opening of the much anticipated Silverado at Schaefer Ranch community, in Dublin, on Saturday November 6th, beginning at 10 am.
Silverado will offer buyers five luxurious floor plans ranging from approximately 2,274 square feet to nearly 4,100 square feet.
Schaefer Ranch is located in the hills of Dublin among a series of nature trails that afford striking panoramic views & all the joys of nature, while still close to everything you love. Be among the first to choose from prime homesites, while enjoying food, fun & giveaways.
