Weekend Projects: Do a Mini Fridge Cleanout

A couple weekends ago, we cleared out space in our homes to make room for the inflow of new items that may be coming our way over the holidays.

The exercise is a great way to make sure that our storage spaces don’t become over-burdened. Besides looking junky, having too much stuff makes it harder to enjoy the good things you do use, and it makes it harder to use your space and your belongings efficiently.

Nowhere is this more true than the refrigerator, where disorganization and overcrowded conditions mean frustration and money down the drain. I’m sure I’m not the only one who buys Costco pesto and breaks into it only to realize there’s already a half-full jar in the back of the fridge!

With holiday cooking just around the corner, let’s take some time to clear out our refrigerators. This way we’ll know if we still have Crisco and cream cheese or if we need to replenish. We’ll also make room for the casseroles and sides and dips and cartons of eggnog and all the winter things so we can store and serve without shoving and cramming and a million quick trips to the store.

This Weekend: Do a mini fridge cleanout.

We’re not going to empty out and thoroughly clean the fridge this weekend. We’re just going to clean it out, and, as we do, take mental notes about what we have and don’t have.

To do this, try the following:

Make a rough plan of what you think you’ll be cooking over the next few weeks, along with ingredients you will need. Write down what you can.

Clear out leftovers that are too old, produce that’s no good, and any condiments or other foods that are past their use-by dates.

Put the remaining items back where they belong. If you have fridge zones or labeled shelves, make sure that everything is in its place.

Wipe out any obvious crumbs or spills.

Revisit the list you made in the first step, cross out what you have on hand, and add the remaining items you need to your shopping list.

Enjoy a fridge that’s ready for the most wonderful time of the year.

Find more weekend projects on Apartment Therapy.

Related Links

• How to Improve Your Home’s Exterior Before Listing

• New-Home Costs Rising at Unparalleled Rate

• Do Decks Add Value? 5 Backyard Features That Are Worth It

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

Search Homes in Colorado

Search Homes in Oklahoma

Search Homes in Oregon

How to Improve Your Home’s Exterior Before Listing

There are several tasks to take care of before putting your home on the market.

For example, you need to take the time to boost your curb appeal. After all, you want to make a good impression on your potential buyers. If they arrive at your home and notice an unsightly exterior, they may be hesitant to step inside your home. It is important to keep the following ideas in mind for boosting your curb appeal.

Clean Your Exterior

Start by spending several hours cleaning your exterior. You should put away any toys and outdoor equipment, and be sure to clean up after your pets. Remove the leaves and debris from your lawn, driveway, and pathway. You can also rent or borrow a pressure washer to use on your windows, siding, and gutters. If need be, you should also sweep and declutter your porch.

Maintain Your Landscape

It is also important to ensure your greenery is healthy and visually appealing for your buyers. You need to mow the lawn and pull the weeds, and you also need to trim the branches, hedges, and bushes as needed. Do you enjoy gardening? This is a great time to show off your gardening skills. If you are short on time, you can always add a few planters of beautiful flowers.

Decorate Your Porch

Once you clean up your exterior and landscape, consider adding a little pizzazz to your porch. Your porch needs to appeal to all buyers, so it is best to keep it simple but welcoming. Utilize your space with outdoor patio furniture, or add a touch of nature with a few outdoor plants.

Upgrade Your Fixtures

Now is a good time to see if you need to upgrade any of your porch elements or fixtures. You may need a new set of address numbers or a new mailbox. It may also be time to upgrade your porch light. Finally, you may decide to welcome your potential buyers with a new door knob and knocker.

Repair Your Roof

The last thing you want is for your buyers to notice a damaged roof. Even minor damage can turn away a buyer who is not prepared to take care of a roof repair. If you think there is a problem with your roof, be sure to have it inspected and repaired by a group of professionals.

When you take the time to boost your curb appeal, you are raising the property value of your home before putting it on the market.

Get more tips like this on RISMedia’s Housing Call.

Related Links

• “Climate-risky” vacation homes saw surge in past two years

• New-Home Costs Rising at Unparalleled Rate

• Do Decks Add Value? 5 Backyard Features That Are Worth It

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

Search Homes in Colorado

Search Homes in Oklahoma

Search Homes in Oregon

New-Home Costs Rising at Unparalleled Rate

They’ve jumped 42% over the last three years, data shows. What are builders doing to bring some relief to the market?

Inflation is pushing up homebuilding costs at an unprecedented rate, according to Bank of America’s Who Builds the House? report. Supply-chain disruptions and labor shortages are adding pressure to rising prices.

The average cost for materials to build a single-family home jumped 42% from 2018 to 2021, adding thousands of dollars to the price of a new home, according to the report. The median sales price of a new home in April reached a record $450,600, a 20% hike from a year earlier, Commerce Department data shows.

The higher material costs have been passed along to home buyers, who are facing the double whammy of rapidly rising mortgage rates. First-time buyers, in particular, are increasingly becoming priced out of the new-home market, with only about 10% of new homes in April on the market priced at less than $300,000, according to the National Association of Home Builders. A year prior, that share was 25%.

As buyers back away from the new-home market, builders are slowing production. Housing starts have fallen to a 13-month low, and single-family construction dropped 9.2% in May, according to the Commerce Department.

“Residential construction material costs are up 19% year over year, with cost increases for a variety of building inputs, except for lumber, which has experienced recent declines due to a housing slowdown,” says NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. What’s more, “The increase for mortgage rates for the first half of 2022 has priced out a significant number of prospective home buyers.”

Some builders are reducing their prices. For example, the share of new-construction homes with price cuts has quadrupled compared to a year earlier in metro areas like Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tenn., according to Redfin data. Price cuts in new construction have tripled in Phoenix and doubled in Tampa, Fla.

Stuart Miller, executive chairman of homebuilder Lennar, told CNBC that he expects prices will readjust moving forward due to higher mortgage rates, which have nearly doubled over the past year. Rising material costs combined with accelerating mortgage rates have left buyers facing “a little sticker shock, and that will likely lead to a pause … and then some reconciliation,” he said. “But there is still a housing shortage across the country. We’ll adjust prices as need be. … Pricing may come down a bit to accommodate affordability. But America still needs homes, and we’ll continue to fill that void.”

Building Material Woes Continue

Framing lumber and engineered wood have experienced the largest price increases among materials, according to the Bank of America report. Lumber prices have been volatile over the past year; prices hit an all-time high in 2021, adding $18,600 to the average cost of a new home, according to the NAHB. However, lumber prices have fallen in recent weeks and are trading at yearly lows, though they are still higher than in 2020. Still, housing analysts say it likely will take time before consumers see any savings due to the price dip.

Other material costs in home construction also have contributed to rising prices, such as upticks in concrete, flooring and paint. The price of exterior paint jumped 14.5% in the first five months of this year, the NAHB notes. Window and door shortages, which have been blamed for many construction delays, also have added to costs. The plumbing sector has been hit hard by a labor shortage that is also leading to delayed timelines, builders note.

Further, inflation is adding to consumer costs in household furnishings, which saw prices climb 9.3% annually in January, according to the Labor Department. Appliances were up 8.5%, and floor coverings up 7.2% in the same time period.

Read more.

Related Links

• “Climate-risky” vacation homes saw surge in past two years

• 41% of People Regret This Kitchen Reno, But You Don’t Have To

• Do Decks Add Value? 5 Backyard Features That Are Worth It

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

Search Homes in Colorado

Search Homes in Oklahoma

Search Homes in Oregon

“Climate-risky” vacation homes saw surge in past two years

The purchase of secondary homes with increased climate risk rose over 40% across flood risk, storm risk, and high heat risk in 2020 and 2021, compared to 2018 and 2019, according to a recent ClimateCheck study by Redfin.

While this does echo an overall increase in second home purchases during the pandemic, with a 37% increase in the same time frame, homes that fell under elevated climate-related risks saw even larger purchase rates compared to pre-pandemic levels.

These include a 45% increase in secondary homes at high flood risk, a 40% increase for those at high storm risk, and a 39% for high heat risk.

While rising mortgage rates and inflation has slowed the demand. for housing and slowly begun to decrease home prices across the country, this data shows that many Americans “now own at-risk second homes, which has implications for the future.”

“The threat of climate change isn’t the top concern for a lot of homebuyers, which means they often prioritize factors like warm weather and proximity to the beach over avoiding natural-disaster risk. Second-home owners, in particular, have another place to live if disaster strikes—another reason climate danger may not feel like a pressing issue,” stated Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari, in a release.

“But house hunters should be aware that purchasing in a disaster-prone area not only puts them and their home at risk, but their finances as well. Home values in climate-endangered places may fall in the coming years as consumers learn more about the risks to properties in these areas,” Bokhari said.

The Redfin report also found that, due in part to large migration into states like Florida and Arizona, which face significant heat and/or storm risk, more people have been moving into than out of counties with the largest share of homes at risk for natural disaster.

It says that nearly all (94%) of all second homes purchased in the past two years face high heat risk, with storm risk facing 78% of those homes. Other risks include high flood risk (26%), high fire risk (23%) and high drought risk (21%).

In other recent proptech news, June rate hikes pushed rental demand and multifamily building tech. PLACE also announced new CTO and CMO hires.

Keep reading on Housing Wire Media.

Related Links

• How home-price growth has damaged the housing market

• 41% of People Regret This Kitchen Reno, But You Don’t Have To

• Do Decks Add Value? 5 Backyard Features That Are Worth It

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

Search Homes in Colorado

Search Homes in Oklahoma

Search Homes in Oregon

How home-price growth has damaged the housing market

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index just recorded 20.4% year-over-year growth nationally and a record 21.2% growth for its top 20 city composite, and now you know why my most significant concern for housing was home prices overheating, not crashing like people have warned about from 2012-2021.

From S&P: The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 20.4% annual gain in April, down from 20.6% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 19.7%, up from 19.5% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted a 21.2% year-over-year gain, up from 21.1% in the previous month… Nine of the 20 cities reported higher price increases in the year ending April 2022 versus the year ending March 2022.

This data line lags the current housing market as it’s a few months old. Since the summer of 2020, I have talked about how to cool down home sales: we need the 10-year yield to break over 1.94%. This happened in March, and thankfully so. Imagine if mortgage rates didn’t rise this year. We are still showing double-digit home-price growth trends in the recent data as it takes time for higher mortgage rates to really increase supply back to normal levels.

However, as you can see below, the damage has been done with home-price growth. I developed a specific home-price growth model for the years 2020-2024 which said that if home-price growth grew at 23% for five years we would be fine, with total housing demand —both new and existing homes together — getting to 6.2 million or higher.

Well, guess what? America did a Hulk Smash on my model in just two years. Whenever you see vertical home-price growth over a period of time, it’s never a good thing. This either means you had a massive supply shortage or you had a credit boom.

Since 2014, we’ve not seen the credit housing boom that we saw from 2002-2005. Even today, the MBA purchase application index is below 2008 levels. The housing market can’t replicate the type of massive credit expansion we saw from 2002-2005, so the price-growth story has more to do with inventory collapsing to all-time lows.

It’s not just home price inflation either; shelter rental inflation has also taken off. When supply is low and demographics equal demand, don’t make it complicated, folks. People always need somewhere to live. If they’re employed, they’re either buying a home or renting.

Still, we can see the damage being done in the past few years as total housing inventory collapsed to all-time lows, and we are working our way back to just the historically low levels of inventory of 1.52 – 1.93 million.

For some time now, I have been focusing on that 1.52-1.93 million total housing inventory data as that is the level of inventory that would change my thesis that this is a savagely unhealthy market. The reality is that inventory collapsed to all-time lows right when our most prominent demographic reached their peak home-buying age. I believe once we get between 1.52-1.93 million, the housing market can be sane again, even though those levels were the historically low levels of inventory going back to 1982. I present my case for how we can break into that range next year on a podcast with Altos Research.

Hopefully, you can understand why we needed higher rates last year and early this year to try to cool the price-growth market. The reality is that home sellers and builders had too much pricing power. Also, certain investors felt no fear post-2020. The percentage of home flipping has grown since 2020, even beyond the housing bubble years, and we see some growth in total investor demand, however, as seen below, Institutional investors are still a small percentage of homebuyers.

Keep reading.

Related Links

• What’s Next in Front Yard Gardens: 7 Curb Appeal Strategies

• 41% of People Regret This Kitchen Reno, But You Don’t Have To

• Do Decks Add Value? 5 Backyard Features That Are Worth It

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

Search Homes in Colorado

Search Homes in Oklahoma

Search Homes in Oregon