by Janell Arant
In the last several years, homeowners have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of what comes with an absurdly imbalanced seller’s market, resulting from a high demand for housing with not enough inventory, which created unprecedented home equity gains.
Picture a typical spring storm – a little wind, a little rain turning to giant snowflakes that melt the next day, right? Maybe a few broken branches, but people are outside walking their dog and getting on with their day. Then, picture bomb cyclone...a culmination of extreme weather conditions all joining forces, never seen before in one storm.
Now picture your 2023/24 property taxes as that bomb cyclone (yes it’s a stretch but stay with me). In this scenario, the County Assessor’s office is the weather reporter, simply gathering the data and delivering the report to you, good or bad. The County appraisers gather sales data occurring during a select period of time, to value homes equitably so property taxes can be collected by the County Treasurer to pay for public services such as schools, roads, water, sewer, libraries, and public safety! All the things we need to run our cities well.
On May 1st the news of that bomb cyclone is hitting homeowner’s mailboxes in the form of a little postcard known as your NOV (Notice of Value) sent by the Assessor’s office.
For homeowners, it comes down to this: While unprecedented housing market conditions were great for earning equity, they are now going to be paying for it in their property taxes. BUT, it might be possible to reduce the amount owed, at least by a little, by doing some legwork + research! Protesting your property value is every tax payer’s right.
Please let me know if you have questions or would like help with the process. I’m here to be your local Real Estate Resource!
by the Audubon Society
In a few easy steps, you can bring these nectar-loving birds to your feeder.
Hummingbirds may be some of the smallest birds in the world, but fluttering those tiny wings can be quite a workout. Flapping away at up to 90 beats per second burns up calories fast; to maintain their momentum, hummingbirds need to eat—a lot! To satisfy their speedy metabolisms, these busy birds consume half their body weight in bugs and nectar, feeding every 10-15 minutes and visiting 1,000-2,000 flowers per day.
You can help these hardworking foragers get the nutrients they need by providing them with their favorite post-workout meal—nectar. This hummingbird sweet treat can be made right at home with a few simple ingredients. By filling your feeder with this DIY delight, you can complement nectar-rich plants and watch these beautiful little birds feed and flitter all day.
Materials:
• 1/4 cup refined white sugar
• 1 cup boiling water
• Bowl
• Spoon
Note: Please do not substitute honey, which can promote dangerous fungal growth, or use red food coloring, which is not necessary and could also prove harmful to birds.Steps:
1. Mix sugar and boiling water until sugar is dissolved.
2. Cool and fill feeder.
3. Hang up your feeder outside and wait for the hummingbirds to come.
***
You Can Help! Attract hummingbirds naturally by planting nectar-bearing native plants in your yard or community.
The housing market continues to favor sellers, and that will likely remain the case for the foreseeable future.
For buyers, the market remains highly competitive. Low inventory and high demand are leading to bidding wars and higher home prices, as well as an increase in multiple offer situations and a sharp decline in days on market from February to March.
However, numbers across the board show the market is cooler than this time last year, when interest rates were much lower. Higher interest rates will always have a significant effect on the market, both impacting buying power and keeping homeowners, most of whom are paying much lower rates on their current mortgage, in their homes unless they have to move.
Expect activity to continue gaining momentum, even in the slower areas, over the next several months, as March through July is the seasonal busy period for the housing market. Interest rates will temper that, though, and keep us below the craziness we experienced in the past few years.
This post-pandemic housing market is starting to look more like it did prior to 2020, but will continue to present things we have not seen before. While some have predicted a market correction or downtick, the market has shown an historic resilience, even from the greatest fluctuations in the market.
Navigating through it all successfully will come down to knowledge, creativity and lots of patience. This starts with having a great team of trusted advisors around you — from your financial advisor to your lender to your Realtor.
