4 WAYS LAS VEGAS OPEN HOUSES CAN BEAT THE HEAT
If you happened upon the Weather Channel’s site last week and were greeted with headlines like, “Massive Heat Dome Inbound” and “Excessive Heat in the East and West,” it could have let you feel better about Las Vegas’s own weather. After all, what do you expect from August in Las Vegas? At least we weren’t under a massive heat dome… (or were we)? The fact is, no matter how uncomfortable the warm-up was here, the Weather Channel reported that “Russia and the Southern Ocean” reportedly had the worst of it. In Russia, fires were said to have broken out because of the heat spell. An anthrax outbreak was blamed on it. Since the “Southern Ocean” isn’t a country, it complained less than Russia. And with no anthrax at all, we here in Las Vegas should probably count our blessings. When it comes to holding open houses in Las Vegas, though, weather is always an issue. In the winter, really bad weather can derail open houses altogether: cascading re-scheduling has been known to result. Summer open houses are generally less risky, scheduling-wise…but when true heat waves send those massive heat domes our way, even uncomfortably warm weather can be countered via a few simple countermeasures. Four common suggestions for creating happier open house visitors: Move the air. Whether your home has central air conditioning, strategically-placed window units or splits, a swamp cooling setup or dehumidifiers, the comfort factor advances when inside air is on the move. Fan power settings should be set to minimize noise while assuring that the atmosphere isn’t stuck in one place. Adjust the shades. This is a rare circumstance when you can abandon the open house commonplace that advises maximizing sunlight. If it’s a hot afternoon, pull the shades lest the sun-facing windows magnify the blast furnace effect. Put out chilly refreshments. Let’s face it: those whose open houses happen to fall on 90+ temperature days could probably turn a nice profit if they let Junior run a lemonade stand out front. Even if Junior isn’t around, pitchers of ice water in the kitchen are a minimum. Instead of the standard chocolate chip cookies, consider putting out a tray of chilled watermelon cubes, or ice-cooled grape clusters. And if the neighbor’s kids have a lemonade stand going down the street, consider bribing them to move it onto your lawn (when a ‘free lemonade’ sign is added, open house success is in the bag)! For Las Vegas open houses with swimming pools—make the most of it! Short of inviting your visitors to jump right in, you can capitalize on what makes a pool such an asset. Consider setting your listing literature out there on the table beneath the welcoming poolside umbrella, with a few chairs inviting a sit-down. The prospects will be grateful for the breather…and won’t be able to help to drink in the poolside ambiance is at its best! We’re still in the summer selling season—which has been “hot” in more ways than one. Open houses can definitely do well in town, with a little creativity. For instance, there was the time And it’s definitely still a great time of year to give me a call!
HOME PRICE RISES LINKED TO HOMEOWNERSHIP POSITIVES
“Homeownership is the bedrock of the American Dream!” was long an unchallenged byword in American culture. Certainly most Las Vegas homeowners agreed during most of the 20th Century. That premise may have been rocked a little during the early phases of the Great Recession that shook the country starting in 2008, but as the housing recovery gathered steam, faith in the concept eventually returned for most folks. The economic advantages of owning your own Las Vegas home have been particularly dramatic lately, as historically low mortgage interest rates have made the benefits of homeownership on the family budget dazzlingly apparent. One of the further benefits was just offered in a seminar given by a prominent research economist. As you might guess from the description of the speaker, some of the details in the hour-long presentation tended to get a little obscure. When economists have something to say, often their verbiage is less than easy to fathom—so when a research economist speaks, the audience had better pay close attention. The impenetrability factor can be daunting. Nonetheless, since this talk was presented by the National Association of Realtors®, I thought its message would be worth tuning in on. The title of the summary was “House Price Growth When Children are Teenagers—A Path to Higher Earnings?” The question mark was a hopeful indication of the unbiased scientific nature of the research (and there’s no reason to doubt that)—but the body of evidence described doesn’t leave much question. The answer is “yes.” It’s the details that are somewhat challenging, but the compact explanation is that when house prices rise in a household with a 17-year-old, that teenager’s income as an adult can be expected to be above average. Likewise, a 17-year-old in a household that rents the family residence while house prices are going up has a higher likelihood of earning less in their adult years. No explanation is confirmed for why there is such an impact, except a suggestion that they are more likely to attend a top-ranked college. In any case, the effect was marked in a sample of 892 respondents: “For every 10% increase in home prices that occurred when children were 17 years old, the income of homeowners’ children as adults was 9% higher on average, while the income of renters’ children as adults was 15% lower.” The takeaway for Las Vegas homeowners is assuredly positive. It’s long been known that research shows many economic and social benefits to homeownership—among them a boost in the likelihood of educational achievement for children—probably because of the effects of a stable housing environment. Currently, since rising home values have been with us for quite a while, these latest findings of a positive outlook for “the economic trajectory of the homeowner’s children” is welcome news. Fostering homeownership in Las Vegas is my principal professional goal, so it’s good to hear confirmation of what seems clear on a daily basis (not to mention, another good reason to give me a call)!
FOR LAS VEGAS MORTGAGE SHOPPERS BAD NEWS ISNT ALWAYS BAD
If you keep track of the ebb and flow of U.S. economic news, you might also be aware of how it relates to some things that happen here. Particularly in the way Las Vegas’s mortgage rates have been responding to the ups and downs of announcements from Washington, the cause and effect relationship has settled into a fairly predictable tango. Last week was no exception, with a dip from afar leading to some more good news here. The less-than-buoyant news from Washington came in the form of what CNBC called a “weak” Gross Domestic Product reading for the second quarter. That news caused a drop in mortgage interest rates, which triggered an increase in home purchase applications (now 13% higher than a year ago) and a 10% increase in refinancing activity from the previous week. Any time Las Vegas’s mortgage interest rates fall, it of course it spells opportunity for both buyers and sellers here: the asking price for a home in Las Vegas is one thing, but sooner or later, most prospective buyers get down to what the monthly cost of buying will be—and at current historically low-interest rates, that number is often surprisingly affordable. Why a drop in the U.S. GDP—which is certainly not a welcome news item—should result in good mortgage news in Las Vegas is due to a mix of elements. The Wall Street Journal provided a few hints. After noting that recent data releases (retail sales stalled in July; wholesale prices fell) caused Treasury note yields to briefly hit their “second-lowest level in history,” they concluded that such news “suggests September and perhaps December rate hikes are less than likely.” Readers were on their own, left to grapple with why that should be. If previous history is a guide, they probably remembered that the Federal Reserve is afraid of weakening the economy by closing the taps on borrowing—which is what results from rate raises. Looked at another way (as economists always do), strong economic news spurs activity and borrowing, so lenders expect that higher rates won’t discourage loan applicants. When the opposite happens, only temptingly lower rates keep the borrowing cycle going. Las Vegas rate-watchers didn’t have to wade through the WSJ financial analyses, though. Local Twitter addicts were invited to follow along as well. It turns out that the Mortgage Bankers Association tweets all the time. By late Friday, they were welcoming the weekend with such TGIF mortgage tidbits as, “average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgage drops to 3.65%.” F The bad news wasn’t really terrible; in fact, it was moderated by some healthier employment statistics. All in all, though, the effect of the rock-bottom mortgage interest rate news gives Las Vegas buyers and sellers a strong reason for optimism—as well as an excellent reason to give me a call!
Categories
Recent Posts
