October 2023 Real Estate Newsletter: How Does a 2-1 Buy Down Work?

A 2-1 buy down helps home buyers save money on their mortgage payments for the first two years of their note/mortgage. Here is an example: We’ll say the prevailing interest rate is 7.25%. This (7.25%) is the interest rate that the home-buyer would have to qualify for. So, with a 2-1 buy down, the starting…

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September 2023 Real Estate News Letter: Are We There Yet?

This question comes up often. Sometimes, it feels like we’re going for a ride or… are we just along for the ride. Because, we don’t have any control over what the federal reserve is doing with interest rates and ‘the power’s that be’ are trying to get inflation to 2%…. and we Might be there!…

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August 2023 Real Estate Newsletter

Home Sales vs Home Prices: As mentioned in an earlier newsletter, the elevated mortgage rates and limited housing supply are suppressing home sales in California (and across the nation). Let’s not confuse the number of home sales with the price/value of a home. The number of homes that have sold is down year over year…

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July 2023 Real Estate Newsletter

What is a NORMAL Housing Market Anyway?  I’ve been in the real estate business since January 1995 (when I got my license) and as much as I can tell, the real estate market is constantly changing.. According to the sources at Buffini and company, a Normal/Balanced market is when neither the seller nor the buyer…

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June 2023 Real Estate Newsletter

Can I get Fire Insurance for my home?  Good question in California. State Farm was the most recent insurance carrier to stop accepting homeowner insurance applications in CA. (citing the growing risk of fire damage and the rising cost to rebuild). This being said, there are other insurance carriers that do offer homeowners insurance (ask…

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May 2023 Real Estate Newsletter

Spring Market Heating Up: With all the wet weather and cold temperatures earlier this year, the spring housing market was a little late getting started. As you will see, there is much more activity and home prices are on the rise again. As mentioned in an earlier newsletter, I felt that January of 2023 was…

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April 2023 Real Estate Newsletter

Spring has Sprung! The Poppies are up but the inventory on homes for sale is down. At the writing of this newsletter (3-28-2023), homes for sale in The Greater Antelope Valley Association of Realtors (GAVAR) are only at 600. To give you perspective on how low this is, we had 1,137 homes for sale on…

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March 2023 Real Estate Newsletter

A White Color Cut Out of a Family With a Car

Spring’s Around the Corner: I posted a video the other day on my Facebook page referencing the current real estate market. On November 17th 2023 there were 1,137 homes for sale in the Greater Antelope Valley Association of Realtors (GAVAR). Today, 3-1-2023, there are 631 homes for sale. This is approximately a 44% decrease in…

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