Linda Stewart, Realtor

05/23/2023

Why Buying a Vacation Home Beats Renting One This Summer

For many of us, visiting the same vacation spot every year is a summer tradition that’s fun, relaxing, and restful. If that sounds like you, now’s the time to think about your plans and determine if buying a vacation home this year makes more sense than renting one again. According to Forbes, “. . . if the idea of vacationing at the same place every year makes you feel instantaneously relaxed, buying a vacation home might be a wise move.”

To help you decide if making a move like this is right for you, let’s explore why you may want to consider purchasing a vacation home today.

Benefits of Owning Your Vacation Home

>>You don’t have to worry about finding a place to stay.
>>It’s an investment.
>>Vacation homes may provide tax benefits.
>>It could potentially turn into a retirement location.

How a...



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For many of us, visiting the same vacation spot every year is a summer tradition that’s fun, relaxing, and restful.

05/22/2023

Why Buyers Need an Expert Agent by Their Side

The process of buying a home can feel a bit intimidating, even under normal circumstances. Here are just a few of the ways a real estate expert makes a big difference:

>>Experience
>>Education
>>Negotiations
>>Contracts
>>Pricing

All of these reasons combined may be why 86% of recent buyers used an agent according to the latest from NAR. NAR also has this to say about why an agent is so essential today: “A great real estate agent will guide you through the home search with an unbiased eye, helping you meet your buying objectives while staying within your budget. Agents are also a great source when you have questions about local amenities, utilities, zoning rules, contractors, and more.”

What’s the Key To Choosing the Right Expert?

It starts with trust. You’ll want to know you can trust the advice they’re givi...



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The process of buying a home can feel a bit intimidating, even under normal circumstances.

05/21/2023

Do today’s rising costs have you considering moving to a smaller home? Downsizing can have a lot of benefits. Not only are smaller homes generally more affordable, but they also typically come with lower bills and less upkeep. If that sounds appealing to you, DM me today.



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05/20/2023

Are you thinking about buying a home this year? If so, you should know there’s still a limited number of homes for sale. That’s why we’re seeing an uptick in multiple offer scenarios again today. Use these tips to make sure you put your best offer forward so you can stand out from other buyers. Ready to check out options in our area? Let’s connect.



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05/19/2023

The Impact of Changing Mortgage Rates [INFOGRAPHIC]

If you’re looking to buy a home, you should know even a small change in mortgage rates has an impact on your purchasing power. These charts show how rates generally affect your monthly payment. The best way to navigate changing mortgage rates and make an informed buying decision is to rely on the expertise of a local real estate professional and mortgage lender.



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If you’re looking to buy a home, you should know even a small change in mortgage rates has an impact on your purchasing power.

05/18/2023

Powerful Job Market Fuels Homebuyer Demand

The spring housing market has been surprisingly active this year. Even with affordability challenges and a limited number of homes for sale, buyer demand is strong, and getting stronger.

One way we know there are interested buyers right now is because showing traffic from ShowingTime is up. And though there’s less traffic than the buyer frenzy of the past couple years, we’re not far off that pace. There are a lot of interested buyers checking out available homes right now.

But why are buyers so active at a time when mortgage rates are higher than they were just last year?

>>The Job Market Is Growing at a Stronger-Than-Expected Pace
It might surprise you just how strong today’s job market is. What might be even more surprising is the fact that it appears to be getting stronger. 88,000 more jobs were created in April...



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The spring housing market has been surprisingly active this year.

05/17/2023

What You Need To Know About Home Price News

NAR will release its latest Existing Home Sales Report tomorrow. The information it contains on home prices may cause some confusion and could even generate some troubling headlines. This all stems from the fact that NAR will report the median sales price, while other home price indices report repeat sales prices. The vast majority of the repeat sales indices show prices are starting to appreciate again. But the median price reported on Thursday may tell a different story.

Here’s why using the median home price as a gauge of what’s happening with home values isn’t ideal right now. According to the Center for Real Studies at Wichita State University, “The median sale price measures the ‘middle’ price of homes that sold, meaning that half of the homes sold for a higher price and half sold for less. While this is a go...



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The National Association of Realtors (NAR) will release its latest Existing Home Sales Report tomorrow.

05/16/2023

The Worst Home Price Declines Are Behind Us

If you’re following the news today, you may feel a bit unsure about what’s happening with home prices and fear whether or not the worst is yet to come. That’s because today’s headlines are painting an unnecessarily negative picture. Contrary to those headlines, home prices aren’t in a freefall. The latest data tells a very different and much more positive story. Local home price trends still vary by market, but here’s what the national data tells us.

If we take a year-over-year view, home prices stayed positive – they just appreciated more slowly than they did at the peak of the pandemic. To get a more detailed picture of some of the trends in the market, we need to look at monthly data.

In the first half of 2022, home prices were climbing, and they peaked in June. Then, in July, they started to decline. A...



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If you’re following the news today, you may feel a bit unsure about what’s happening with home prices and fear whether or not the worst is yet to come.

05/15/2023

One of the first steps in the homebuying process is getting pre-approved for a mortgage. Pre-approval helps improve your chances of buying the home that’s right for you by giving you an idea of what you can borrow, helping you set your budget, and letting sellers know your offer is serious. DM me to learn about other steps you can take to start your homebuying journey.



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05/14/2023

Why Today’s Housing Market Is Not About To Crash

There’s been some concern lately that the housing market is headed for a crash. And given some of the affordability challenges in the housing market, along with a lot of recession talk in the media, it’s easy enough to understand why that worry has come up. But the data clearly shows today’s market is very different than it was before the housing crash in 2008. Rest assured, this isn’t a repeat of what happened back then. Here’s why.

>>It’s Harder To Get a Loan Now
It was much easier to get a home loan during the lead-up to the 2008 housing crisis than it is today. Things are different now as purchasers face increasingly higher standards from mortgage companies.

>>Unemployment Recovered Faster This Time
While the pandemic caused unemployment to spike over the last couple of years, the jobless rate has...



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There’s been some concern lately that the housing market is headed for a crash.

05/13/2023

The Best Time To Sell Your House Is When Others Aren’t Selling

If you’re thinking about selling your house, you should know the number of homes for sale right now is low. That’s because, this season, there are fewer sellers listing their houses for sale than the norm.

Looking back at every April since 2017, the only year when fewer sellers listed their homes was in April 2020, when the pandemic hit and stalled the housing market. In more typical years, roughly 500,000 sellers add their homes to the market in April. This year, we saw fewer than 400,000 sellers entering the market in April.

While there are a number of factors contributing to this trend, one thing keeping inventory low right now is that some homeowners are reluctant to move when the mortgage rate they have on their current house is lower than the one they could get today on their next h...



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If you’re thinking about selling your house, you should know the number of homes for sale right now is low.

05/12/2023

The Worst of the Home Price Declines Is Behind Us [INFOGRAPHIC]

While home prices vary by local area, they’ve already hit their low point nationally, and now they’re starting to rise again. Last July, prices started to decline, but around February, they began climbing back up. If you put your plans to move on hold waiting to see what would happen with home prices, DM me to discuss if now’s the right time to jump back in.



Message me if you would like to talk about buying or selling.

While home prices vary by local area, they’ve already hit their low point nationally, and now they’re starting to rise again.