Scott Your Broker

Unless you are in a coma, you think about your future money. Every American wants their nest egg to last as long as needed. For decades, one of the top worries of Seniors is whether their savings and investments will last as long as they do. Let's face it, the idea of living a longer, healthier life only works if your money is right there with you. Every year, Gallup surveys  Americans to determine their choice for the best long-term investment. Respondents are given a choice between real estate, stocks, gold and savings accounts. For the sixth year in a row, real estate has topped the list of the best long-term investment! That has not always been the case. Gallup explains: "Between 2008 and 2010, covering most of the Great Recession period that saw plummeting home and stock values, Americans were as likely to name savings accounts or CDs as the best long-term investments as they were to name stocks or real estates." This year's results showed th...

Who is your trusted news source? Uncle Joe? Facebook?? Cable News??? If you listened to any of these 'trusted sources' over the last year you were probably told that because the Federal Reserve was raising interest rates, mortgage rates were going to skyrocket. "The Sky Is Falling! The Housing Market Will Crash!! The Good Deals Are All GONE!!! Well, if you listened to any of this fear mongering garbage you were sent down the wrong information highway. The Federal Reserve raising rates 'can' effect mortgage rates but it's not guaranteed or certain. But the reason why this is the case is for another blog, another day. The bottom line today is mortgage rates are falling! Interest rates for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage have been on the decline since November, hitting lows last seen in January 2018. According to Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey , rates came in at 4.12% last week! This is fantastic news for anyone who is plann...

For most people, understanding how your credit score is figured is right up there with me explaining to you how my color television works. I can use it just fine but I can't tell you how it does what it does. Often, the same mystery is surrounding most American's knowledge of what credit score is needed to buy a house. Recently, it was reported by Bank of America that 24%  of renters believe they need a 780-800 credit score to be considered for a mortgage. This perceived reality is wrong. Only 25% of Americans have a FICO score between 740 and 800. Here is the breakdown according to Experian: 16% Very Poor (300-579) 18% Fair (580-669) 21% Good (670-739) 25% Very Good (740-799) 20% Exceptional (800-850) I am a huge of fan of improving your credit score. Being able to borrow smartly and affordably is powerful and a better credit score gives you the leverage to do that. I have a previous blog that talks of ways to improve your credit. And I love CreditKarma   fo...

From almost the very beginning of this country, people have seen home ownership as part of the American Dream. Whether they were born here or they migrated here from another country, they wanted to own a piece of that dream. But with so many societal changes over over the last few decades, it is fair to ask if people in American still feel the same way about owning a home. The answer was a big as a house in two recent reports released earlier this month. In their market trends report, As Housing Trends Shift,So Does Renter, Buyer and Seller Sentiment, Trulia revealed that:           "After two years of no change, the share of Americans who say that home ownership is part of the their personal "American Dream" ticked up from 72% to 73% of Americans." At the same time, the National Association of Realtors released their Aspiring Home Buyers Profile. As the report explained:         "For both the home owner and non-home ow...

No one likes change. Period. With the unlikely exception of your bank account increasing with a lottery win, change is uncomfortable. And no one likes to be uncomfortable. Unless you're weird. And then you're just weird. So let's talk about the rest of us. "Change is inevitable...except from a vending machine." ---Unknown The U.S. has experienced several years now of a strong, growing real estate market. But the winds of change are blowing. Nationally, home prices increases in September slowed to the lowest rate in nearly two years, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Index recently released.  "Home prices plus data on house sales and construction confirm the slowdown in housing, David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement.  Home prices nationally went up 5.5% in September, down from the 5.7% in August...representing the second consecutive month of...

Nationally, home sales are below last year's levels, home values are appreciating at a slower pace, and there are reports showing purchasing demand softening. This has some thinking we may be entering a buyer's market after seller have had the upper hand for the past several years.  Our Local Market Locally, we are experiencing a market shift. August 2018 vs 2017, pending sales are down 9%, closed sales are down 3% and the total days are on the market is longer, up 18%. Prices are up from last year but that is also slowing. Things are changing. But what is happening and what does this mean for you as a upcoming home seller. The market has definitely softened. However, according to two chief economists in the industry, we are a long way from a market totally favoring buyers.  Dr. Svenja Gudell, Zillow Chief Economist:          “These seller challenges don’t indicate we’re suddenly in a buyers’ market – we          ...

You can't seem to walk down the block without someone talking about our real estate market. And everyone has their own description of the last 5 years. But I like to look at facts and numbers because well, for the most part, they don't lie.  CoreLogic recently released their Home Price Index Report . The main indicator used in the report to gauge the health of the housing market was home price appreciation. CoreLogic  measured home appreciation from July 2013 to July 2018 to show how prices of the last 5 years have fared. The graph below shows the 5 year change in price from 2013 to 2018.  As the graph shows, the highest price appreciation occurred in the lowest home price range with a whopping 48%, while the highest home price appreciated by a more modest 25%. This has been greatly fueled by the lack of inventory of homes available at the lower price ranges and high demand from first-time buyers looking to enter the market. Where were prices expected to ...