JOIN US! FREE SEMINAR: PROPOSITIONS 60 AND 90

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Join us for a free informative discussion Wednesday November 7th from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at the Newport Coast Community Center. Tim Lappen, a noted Real Estate and family office Attorney, will be leading a roundtable discussion on the tax implications when you sell your home, and the benefits of PROPOSITIONS 60 AND 90 RSVP by November 5th to Allie@CanadayGroup.com !

Home price growth slows to 6% in July

The rapid appreciation seen across the country in the past few years is no more, according to the latest Case-Shiller report numbers…

Annual home price growth was 6 percent in July, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price NSA Index, released Tuesday. While that would seem to bode well for homeowners, annual appreciation actually was higher the month before, at 6.2 percent. That means price growth is indeed slowing, as observed yesterday by Redfin.

S&P Dow Jones Indices Managing Editor and Chairman of the Index Committee, David M. Blitzer says the slowdown can be seen across the country, as sales of single-family homes have dwindled over the past year. Despite a gain in housing starts, housing affordability has continued to decline, he said.

“Rising home prices are beginning to catch up with housing,” said Blitzer in a prepared statement. “Year-over-year gains and monthly seasonally adjusted increases both slowed in July for the S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller National Index and the 10 and 20-City Composite indices.”

“The slowing is widespread: 15 of 20 cities saw smaller monthly increases in July 2018 than in July 2017,” he added. “Sales of existing single-family homes have dropped each month for the last six months and are now at the level of July 2016.”

Regionally, Las Vegas, Seattle, and San Francisco reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities tracked by the index. Las Vegas saw a 13.7 percent gain, Seattle saw a 12.1 percent increase and San Francisco saw a 10.8 percent increase.

“Since home prices bottomed in 2012, 12 of the 20 cities tracked by the S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller indices have reached new highs before adjusting for inflation,” Blitzer concluded. “The eight that remain underwater include the four cities which led the home price boom: Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix and Tampa. ”

“All are enjoying rising prices, especially Las Vegas which currently has the largest year-over-year increases of all 20 cities,” he said. “The other cities where prices are still not over their earlier peaks are Washington DC, Chicago, New York and Atlanta.”

About the Index

The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index is a composite of single-family home price indices that is calculated every month; the indices for the nine U.S. Census divisions are calculated using estimates of the aggregate value of single-family housing stock for the time period in question.

The nine divisions are:

  • New England
  • Middle Atlantic
  • East North Central
  • West North Central
  • South Atlantic
  • East South Central
  • West South Central
  • Mountain
  • Pacific

CoreLogic serves as the calculation agent for the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.

 

For more Info on this article, visit: Inman.com

 

5 pro tips for using Instagram and Facebook stories in real estate

Katie Lance shares advice on how to connect with potential clients using these social media vehicles to build the know, like and trust factor before you even meet in person.

The real estate agents and brokers who are making the most out of Instagram and Facebook are not just posting in the feed periodically.

Even when posting consistently, one of the things that will help you get more traction overall with Facebook and Instagram is to use Stories.

Those little bubbles at the top of your social media news feeds are prime real estate and a great opportunity to showcase your story behind the story.

Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories are two emerging opportunities for real estate pros. But how can you use them effectively to group your business? Here are a few key tips (and mistakes you’ll want to avoid).

Tips for Facebook and Instagram stories

1. Be creative

Have fun with the text, the fonts and the colors. Being creative is really key, but I’d also say if you’re using Instagram for business, stay consistent with the colors on your website. For example, we use a lot of reds and blues because those are the colors that you’ll see on our website.

2. Think about the story behind the story

So maybe you’re posting to your Facebook and/or Instagram account a few times a week, maybe even once or twice a day, but what’s that backstory?

I love to share things on my Stories account — like things with my kids. I love to drink a great glass of wine. I love to share my garden.

But I also share the backstory of doing things for our business.

3. Look at your life as content

This doesn’t mean you have to capture every moment of your life, but as you’re out and about, look at your life as content.

As you’re in between appointments, leaving a listing appointment, just leaving your home inspection or out on a broker’s tour, take the opportunity to showcase that you’re out and about.

Don’t miss out on that simple opportunity. This idea of storytelling is so powerful.

We first saw it with Snapchat. Now we see it with Instagram Stories. Now, it’s on Facebook.

Keep in mind, when people click on your story, they’re not just passively looking at your content through the news feed. They’ve intentionally clicked on your story, which is entirely a whole different experience.

4. Don’t forget geo-tags and hashtags

If you want to get more traction with Instagram Stories, the biggest tip I can give you is, as you’re out and about in your community, put in the geo-location of the city that you’re in.

The reason for that is, when you’re out and about and you put in the geo-location of your city, your Instagram Story is likely to be seen by more people who happen to be viewing what’s happening in your local area. This is because when you geo-tag your Instagram Story, you can actually click on that, and you can open up the larger story that’s happening for your local area.

This is especially cool, not just for cities, but also if you happen to check in at an event or check in somewhere like a small business, because you can see what else is happening in your local area.

So geo-tag your Instagram Stories, and use hashtags when appropriate.

Don’t go too hashtag-crazy, though — use one or two hashtags as needed. One thing you can do on your Instagram Stories is shrink down those geo-locations and the Instagram hashtags so they don’t take up your entire story within Instagram Stories.

5. Don’t make it all about business

Make sure you interject a little bit about who you are personally, whether it’s your family, your passions, your hobbies or your interests. People really appreciate that. That’s how they really get to know the real you.

As I always say, people connect with you and refer business to you because of your experience and your expertise — but they really connect with you and refer business to you over and over again because they relate to you.

Ready to get started?

A few simple ideas for Stories

If you don’t know where to begin, try starting out with the following:

  • Showcase a sneak-peek behind the scenes
  • Showcase and highlight your local area — this will help you establish yourself as the local expert
  • Connect in real time with potential buyers and sellers and build the know, like and trust factor

Also remember: these Stories last 24 hours. You can download them to your device to repurpose the content if you’d like. And if you have a personal Instagram account, you can post your Instagram Stories right to Facebook too.

Lastly, Stories are viewable on mobile and desktop, which is even more reason to incorporate it into your strategy.

You might be a little nervous and anxious the first time you create your Instagram Stories and Facebook Stories, but the more you do it, the better you’ll get.

For more info on this article, visit: Inman.com

Don’t wait for another downturn: recession-proof your business today

 

Tom Ferry’s tips to dominate – even in a changing marketplace  

At our recent Success Summit, I spoke to 6,000 agents about the impending market shift coming to our industry. No one is forecasting a devastating, 2007-2009-type recession, but make no mistake: we’re due for a downturn and a return to a “new normal” market devoid of the incredible demand and appreciation we’ve witnessed lately.

“Bravo!” to those who’ve made it through the last recession. But, for those with less than 10 years in the industry, you’ve never witnessed anything like it. Behold — this type of paradigm shift will require all of us to adjust our mindset and tactics. With that in mind, here are five ways agents can continue to dominate in a changing marketplace over the next 18-24 months.

Ask yourself this important question

Are you a hobbyist, or are you running your own business?

Let’s face it, the majority of people who have a real estate license are hobbyists. They don’t treat their trade as a business. They don’t know their numbers. They’re not concerned with innovation and marketing.

But as we enter a changing economy, being a hobbyist simply won’t work. These agents will not survive.

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you do treat your trade like a business. Now is the time to make that commitment even stronger, ditch any of your “hobbyist” tendencies and shift your strategy to run your business by design.

Diversify your lead generation strategy

Let me tip you off about something: no one outside of your immediate family cares if you put in a half-baked effort to generate leads. People will simply find another agent to help them sell their house.

They don’t need you. But if you want to survive in a changing market, you need them. And that means doing a better job of marketing yourself.

It means operating from a marketing strategy and putting as many proverbial “lines in the water” as possible to attract buyers and sellers in your marketplace.

The very best agents have four to six diversified lead sources. Download 9 Ways to Win Every Listing in our free List & Win bundle, so you can succeed when the market shifts.

Commit to using a CRM

The best agents I know practically live inside their CRM.

Yet our research shows 64% of agents have absolutely no contact relationship management (CRM) solution.

News flash: Gmail is not a CRM!

You need an organized way to keep in contact with people. You need those people segmented into buckets. You need a systematized approach that dictates the frequency with which you’ll contact them.

Never forget the consumer has many choices.

If you’re not staying in communication and delivering value relentlessly, your days are numbered.

 

For more info on this article, visit: inman.com

You’re Invited: RE/MAX Fine Homes Realtors Meet & Greet

Where: Tommy Bahama’s Island Grille / 854 Avocado Avenue, Newport Beach

When: Thursday, August 9th / 4-6PM

In an effort to better help you, Lee Ann Canaday  has decided to open up her own escrow company. For the time being, she has partnered up with The Heritage Escrow Company, which is a subsidiary of First American Financial Corporation. Please All come to this to meet  and use Heritage as they are partnering with us in the “NEW” escrow Company!

How to find the hidden potholes on the road to agent productivity

A simple step-by-step to help you save time and money

It’s easy to get caught up in the lead rat race. After all, more leads = more revenue. However, that equation only holds true if your operations and processes can scale to meet the demand. And if those very processes that deliver your brokerage from lead to close don’t eat into your revenue with unseen, redundant technologies, inefficient processes and bulky workflows.

On the other hand, when you purposefully design your processes and introduce the right technology systems, you can not only handle more demand, you can accelerate the growth of your business.

Don’t just give your agents more leads. Give them more time.

The core focus of your brokerage operations is to maximize your agent productivity. And productivity is not just a measure of how many leads an agent can covert, but a culmination of factors over the course of their time at a brokerage.

How long does it take to hire and get an agent on-boarded?
How efficiently can they push a transaction to close?
How quickly are they compensated for their sales?

The time these processes take is valuable time — and money in your brokerage’s pocket and your agents’. To fully optimize each agent’s productivity, you need to examine and ultimately optimize your office processes. Here’s how

Perform a process audit and map your current workflow.

  1. List all the documents, contracts, addendums, etc. that need to be completed over the course of the transaction.
  2. Identify everyone who is involved in each step of the process, even for one moment
  3. Interview these people and understand how long each step takes and why it takes that much time.

Once you have gathered all the necessary information, you’ll be able to identify bottlenecks in your workflow. You’ll see where time can be saved and efficiencies can be found. Then, you can move on to designing a more streamlined process.

  1. Determine if a step in the process is required or nice-to-have. For example, a required process would be when a brokerage is mandated by law. A nice-to-have process is more a step that offers peace of mind or where the level of effort to do it is more burdensome than the benefit of doing the step.
  2. Uncover ways to decrease the time it takes to complete a step.For example, you might consider steps where data needs to be re-entered by an agent or transaction coordinator and build an integration to pull or push data between systemsLook for forms with commonly completed sections and create digital templates so the same document doesn’t need to be re-created in every transaction.
  3. Create standard digital task lists so agents will get more efficient with every transaction, and you can reduce your own need to follow up as your business grows.
  4. Explore technologies that can automate steps in the agent’s workflow and explore how to connect those technologies to reduce re-work.
    Gather feedback from those involved in the each step and modify if necessary.

Lastly, once you have re-designed your office processes, you’ll need to begin implementing your new processes and introducing any technology you’ve selected.

  1. Hold a fun launch event to help everyone in the office understand the changes.
  2. Solicit feedback every two to four weeks to understand how people are adjusting.
  3. Make adjustments to the process or technologies based on the feedback and continue to communicate those changes to the entire office.

For more info on this article, visit: Inman.com

US housing starts plummet 12% in June, marking 9-month low

1.27 million new building permits were issued last month

Residential starts plunged 12.3 percent to 1.17 million in June, the lowest in nine months, according to a new Housing Starts report from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released Wednesday.

Building permits fell 2.2 percent to 1.27 million while single-family home starts decreased by 9.1 percent and multi-family home starts dropped 19.8 percent. In total, 1.26 million new houses were completed in June, unchanged from last month but 2.2 percent above what it was in June 2017.

“It’s alarming that the single-family construction permit growth is decelerating at a time when homeownership is rising and millennials are reaching their peak age to really enter the market and buy their first home,” said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater. “The growing imbalance between demand and supply is the reason home prices continue to escalate.”

In May, the rate had jumped 4.8 percent to 1.34 million, leading many to believe that new housing development would continue growing. On Tuesday, the National Association of Home Builders released its monthly Housing Market Index, revealing that developers remain optimistic that the housing shortage would be a boon for new construction.

“The market has a long way to go to get back to a normal level of 1.2 million single-family starts,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at realtor.com. “If starts grow like they’ve grown in the last quarter, it’s going to take until March 2022 to get back to average starts at that level.”

 

For more info on this article, visit: Inman.com

National Average Rent Surges to Record High

After a brief slowdown in the growth of rental prices, they were back on the rise last month, with the national average rent soaring to an all-time high, RentCafé reports. In June, actual rents in the 250 largest U.S. cities rose 2.9 percent and reached an all-time high of $1,405. Renters, on average, are paying $40 more per month than they did a year ago. Renters in Orlando, Fla., saw one of the largest year-over-year increases, at 8.4 percent. Rents averaged $1,387 there in June. Rents in Las Vegas and Phoenix also rose 7 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively.

Demand for rentals is high, fueled by the growing trend of homeowners swapping their homes for rental apartments, says Doug Ressler, director of Business Intelligence at Yardi Matrix. “Generational and demographic changes, shifting employing opportunities, policy and economic influences are impacting the housing market and turning home buyers into renters nationally,” he says. Ressler adds that rapid home appreciation and rising construction costs are having a significant impact as well. “Student loan debt, smaller household sizes, larger down payment requirements, and rising interest rates are also contributing to this change,” he says.

RentCafe chart, highest increases. Visit source link at the end of the article for full text.

Source:
For more info on this article, visit: Realtor Magazine

Insights from Lee Ann Canaday!

Check out this week’s edition (June 15 2018) of the Orange County Business Journal to see insights from our very own Lee Ann Canaday and learn all there is to know about how to sell and buy homes from the very best in the field!

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