Blog - Stovall Team, Fountain Valley, CA, Real Estate

Tips: Selling a Home With Pets

By Micah Stovall | Published: February 8, 2013

Do a good “down to the bone” deep cleaning. Before your house goes on the market, make sure that it gets a huge deep cleaning, behind all furniture, all closets, under all beds, etc.
Have a quick pre-showing clean-up routine. After your house is cleaned “to the bone,” it’s much easier to tidy up in a hurry.
De-clutter. Find a quick spot for all of your pet friendly items. Dog bowls, toys, bones, should have a quick hiding spot for showings. Try a bin in a pantry for example.

Sources: Stovall Team, and www.about.comSelling a House with Pets at Home, Sell a House Where Pets Live

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Home Selling Season Hits Early

By Micah Stovall | Published: February 7, 2013

There are indications of an unusually early start to the 2013 season as buyers rush to get off the sidelines before home prices and mortgage rates go higher. Could the chilly December-to-February months, which traditionally see fewer buyers out shopping for houses com-pared with the warmer months that follow, be more active than usual?

And if so, what does this mean to you as a potential home seller or buyer?

There is growing evidence, anecdotal and statistical, that there are more shoppers on the prowl in many parts of the country than is customary for this time of year, more people requesting “preapproval” letters from mortgage companies, more people visiting websites offering homes for sale and more people telling pollsters that they expect home prices to continue rising and that the worst of the housing downturn is long past. There is even data showing that during holiday-distracted December, there was a jump in visits to homes listed for sale.

Polling by Fannie Mae, the government-backed mortgage investor, may shed some light on what’s motivating buyers. In a survey of 1,002 adults in December, Fannie found the highest share of consumers in the survey’s 21/2-year history who expect home prices to rise during the coming 12 months. Forty-three percent expect mortgage rates to jump, and 49% believe that the cost of renting will increase.

Roll all this together, says Doug Duncan, Fannie’s chief economist, and you can see why consumer sentiment “could incentivize those waiting on the sidelines … to buy a home sooner rather than later” — pushing spring behavior into midwinter.
What’s missing from this equation? More owners listing their homes for sale. Inventories of available homes are down in most markets, mainly because many sellers are under the impression that it’s still a buyer’s market filled with low-ballers who won’t pay them a fair price. In many parts of the country, that is last year’s news. In 2013, it’s simply no longer the case.

Sources: Full Article can be found in LA Times Business Section, Real Estate 20130120,0,6866407

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Ask STOVALL TEAM

By Micah Stovall | Published: February 6, 2013

Q: We are looking to sell our home and move to another within the next 18 months. Based on your real estate experience, can you please answer a couple of questions for us?
A: Start by determining an approximate value for your home.
Call Micah at 714.343.9294 or Steve at 714.393.5377 for your free pre-market evaluation. Contact the Stovall Team for a comparative market analysis, an informal but accurate estimate of value based on the recent selling prices of similar neighborhood properties. The Stovall Team will visit your home to determine how your property compares with other similar sales in your area over the past 90-120 days.
Next, we will perform a pre-sale evaluation. This will help you maximize your net proceeds by pointing out items that will insure the highest possible return when you sell. We want to make sure your home is in the best condition possible before showing it to prospective buyers, this will insure that you’ll obtain top dollar. These items will include general repairs, painting, flooring upgrades or carpet cleaning and updating of outdated fixtures, etc. Dollars spent on pre-sale upgrades will return a much higher net at sale, if attended to prior to going on the market. We will also suggest a termite inspection be performed as to save you from unsuspected expenses.

The “curb appeal” of your home is also extremely important. It is the first impression that buyers form of your property as they drive or walk up. So make sure the lawn is pristine– the grass cut, debris removed, garden beds free of weeds and freshly planted or pruned, and hedges trimmed. We will help with a gardener referral if needed.
There is a balance when making pre-sale repairs and upgrades, especially if there are few homes on the market but many buyers competing for them. The better your home presents itself the more you’ll receive at escrow’s close. In any and all market types, the better your home presents itself the higher your return on investment, we will help you balance your costs to maximize your return.

Finally we will help you with the final staging just prior to going on the market. ll Team offers professional design services to each of our clients. This service has proven most valuable for our past clients. This service is always complimentary and part of our marketing package.

Call Micah at 714.343.9294 or Steve at 714.393.5377 for your free pre-market evaluation.

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‘Fiscal Cliff’ Deal Favors Housing Recovery

By Micah Stovall | Published: February 5, 2013

The housing market is on firmer ground today, as two major tax provisions survived the “fiscal cliff.” Congress did not touch the mortgage interest deduction, and it ex-tended tax relief for one year on mortgage debt forgiveness. “An extension of the tax break is positive for home values by reducing the number of foreclosures and helping more troubled borrowers stay in their homes,” wrote Jaret Seiberg of Guggenheim Partners. “That means less supply on the market.”

Under a law signed in 2007, debt relief on loan modifications, short sales, and foreclosures were no longer taxable; that break expired at the end of 2012. The fear was that if the tax break was not extended, home owners would not agree to short sales (when the home is sold for less than the value of the mortgage) because they would then face a tax bill. They would also not agree to principal reduction loan modifications, which have proven to be far more successful than other modifications that leave the principal balance as is. Under the $25 billion mortgage servicing settlement, borrowers have received $6.3 billion in mortgage principal relief through September, according to the settlement’s monitor, Joseph A. Smith, Jr.

The average loan balance reduction, $150,000. Banks completed 13,351 principal reduction loan modifications in November alone, according to Amherst Securities Group, a 62 percent jump from September.

Short sales also surged toward the end of the year, thanks to streamlined procedures and a more aggressive stance by the big banks, again in part due to the mortgage servicing settlement. More than 98 thou-sand short sales were completed in the third quarter of 2012, according to RealtyTrac. The “fiscal cliff” deal also allows borrowers to deduct the amount they pay for private mortgage insurance, which has become increasingly prevalent in today’s tighter mortgage market.

All of the above will help to lower the number of fore-closures and support the slow rise in home prices. The number of homes in the so-called “shadow inventory” (properties that have seriously delinquent mortgages, are in foreclosure, or are owned by banks but not yet listed for sale) fell to 2.3 million in October, according to a new report from CoreLogic. That represents a seven month supply at the current sales pace, and is a 12 percent drop from a year ago.

“We expect a gradual and progressive contraction in the shadow inventory in 2013 as investors continue to snap up foreclosed and REO properties and the broader recovery in housing market fundamentals takes hold,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic in a release. What would not have been the case, had tax relief on debt forgiveness in short sales and principal reduction modifications come to an end.

Sources: cnbc.com

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Monarch Butterfly Day at Mile Square Regional Park, Saturday, Feb 2, 2013 10am-2pm

By Micah Stovall | Published: January 31, 2013

Monarch Butterfly Day Saturday, February 2, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

On Saturday, children and their families will have the chance to experience butterfly overload during the fourth-annual Monarch Butterfly Day at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley.

The event, recommended for those ages 4-12, is meant to provide children with information about the monarch butterfly and will have two experts on hand inside a butterfly-filled tent. My wife and mother-in-law took our girls last year and they had a wonderful time.

Inside the tent, children will experience the thrill of having a butterfly land on their hands. There will also be more than 150 types of vegetation that attract butterflies, which people will be able to plant in the Butterfly Garden at Mile Square Park’s Camp Sycamore.

Monarch Butterfly Day runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and also features puppet shows, face painting and a nature walk, according to park ranger Jeff Hentzen, who is one of the people organizing the event. Last year’s butterfly day attracted about 700 kids, he said.

Saturday, February 2, 2013 • 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Mile Square Regional Park @ 16801 Euclid Street, Fountain Valley, CA 92708

cost is FREE • Parking: $5 per vehicle

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Freddie Mac Housing Predictions

By Micah Stovall | Published: January 9, 2013

Thinking of Moving in 2013? Let The Stovall Team Help You Reach Your Goals!!!

Freddie Mac predictions for US real estate in 2013 The housing market is expected to continue its rise in the New Year, according to Freddie Mac’s U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for December.

Continuing to keep home affordability low, mortgage rates will likely remain near their record lows in the first half of 2013, Freddie Mac reports. However, the all-time low rates are expected to start inching up slowly during the second half of the year. Still, mortgage rates are expected to stay below 4%, Freddie Mac reports.

Some other forecasts for the housing market in 2013, according to Freddie Mac’s report:

Home values are expected to increase 2 to 3 percent next year.
Household formation is expected to increase to a net 1.20 million to 1.25 million household in 2013. Housing starts are expected to reach near the 1 million annualized pace by the fourth quarter.
Vacancy rates are expected to drop to 2002 and 2003 levels for apartments and single-family homes for-sale “as household formation outpaces new construction.”

“The last few months have brought a spate of favorable news on the U.S. housing market with construction up, more home sales, and home-value growth turning positive,” says Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “This has been a big change from a year ago, when some analysts worried that the looming ‘shadow inventory’ would keep the housing sector mired in an economic depression. Instead, the housing market is healing, is contributing positively to GDP and is returning to its traditional role of supporting the economic recovery.”

Source: Freddie Mac Media

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