How the Election Affects the Real Estate Market

How does the presidential election affect the housing market? Don’t get drawn in by all the hype; always look to reputable resources if you want to know the truth about our housing market.

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How does the presidential election impact the housing market? Business analysts have watched elections for years and they have found that some things do change during an election year.

In fact, some of these studies found that the marketing and advertising done by the candidates’ campaigns have more of an impact on market uncertainty than the actual results of the election do. These negative ads fuel uncertainty among voters, and that uncertainty sometimes spills over into the business world, which causes myths to begin in the real estate industry as well.

I encourage you not to believe in all of the hype. I think that it is best to hear from the experts that service and analyze the real estate industry and have done so for decades.

According to the National Association of Realtors, inventory has been very low this year. However, even though 2016 got off to a slow start, we have seen the best growth since 2007. 

Not only that, at the beginning of the year, Fannie Mae said that consumers and businesses didn’t have much confidence in the economy. However, since the number of pending home sales and the number of mortgage applications have both gone up and interest rates have gone down, it looks like the market is trending upward at this time.

Our housing market is completely different than it was during the 2012 election.

Finally, you should keep in mind that since the last election in 2012, our housing market is in a totally different place. Back then, home values were just starting to rise as we exited the Great Recession of 2008.

In fact, 2012 was probably the first year that we started to see some gains in the housing market. Since 2012, home prices have increased by an average of $60,000 nationwide. Not only that, the unemployment rate was at 8% four years ago; today, the unemployment rate is hovering at around 4%.

Ultimately, you have to look at the facts and figures from reputable sources, like Fannie Mae and the National Association of Realtors, in order to see how the market is really doing. Don’t get drawn in by all of the hype that comes with presidential elections.

If you have any other questions about our current market, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

How Landscaping Affects Your Home’s Value

By focusing on your landscape’s design, varying the plants and shrub sizes and colors, and diversifying the plant life itself, you can increase your home’s overall value.

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If you’re a homeowner, you’ve probably wondered if the money you put into your landscaping is worth it. The answer to that question might surprise you.

Sometimes homeowners assume that an interior project is going to provide much more bang for their buck, but a recent study from Virginia Tech found that your landscaping is worth as much as 15% of your home’s value. For your landscaping to be worth that much, though, there are a few key elements you have to focus on:

1. The landscape’s design. 
2. Varying the plant and shrub sizes and colors.
3. Diversifying the plant life itself. 

In the aforementioned study, they found that if you key in on those three things on a $50,000 house and do them well, that home’s value could increase from between $8,500 to as much as $19,000. 

What do I mean by landscape design? I mean that you don’t want to plant a bunch of trees, bushes, and shrubs together without any kind of layout in mind. What you want to do is minimize the long-term maintenance and avoid that cluttered, overgrown look that often happens without any design plan.

Landscaping the right way can increase your home’s value by as much as 15%.

If you want your house to feature accentuated curb appeal, think about the space between your plants. Vary that space with both smaller and larger plants, shrubs, and trees. Vary the color of them as well. Not only will this accomplish an uncluttered look, but it will also give these plants room to grow. Additionally, mixing in some wildflowers here and there is always a great idea. Wildflower variety packs will give you a burst of color at different times throughout the spring and summer.

You can diversify your plants by making sure they’re not all the same style. For example, mix and match shrubs based on the kinds of leaves it has. Here in Tucson, you can’t go wrong with adding a cactus or some other kind of desert flora. 

The point of these strategies is to match the landscaping to your home size and your yard size. If you do this, you will get the most bang for your buck and never have to wonder again if you’ll be getting your investment back.  

For more tips on how to get the best bang for your buck on home improvements and other major household costs, follow us on Facebook or visit our website. If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me or give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you!

Are You Up to Date on Health Insurance?

I’m joined by Anna Monterosso of Halsi Insurance Group today to talk about health insurance and the upcoming open enrollment periods.

Today I'm happy to be joined by Anna Monterosso of Halsi Insurance Group who is going to tell us a little bit about open enrollment, Medicare, and some other healthcare information.

Fall is definitely health insurance season, Anna says, with three open enrollment periods coming up. The first is Medicare, which runs October 15th through December 7th, then, the open enrollment period for individuals under 65 runs November 1st through January 31st. Lastly, there's a special open enrollment exclusively for small businesses that runs from November 15th through December 15th.

This open enrollment for small businesses isn't really advertised much, but it's really valuable for them. If small businesses haven't offered coverage in the past due to cost, this open enrollment period allows them to offer benefits to employees without paying a minimum amount toward the premium or having to meet participation requirements.

Even with these dates approaching, rates always change, which Anna says is just the nature of the business. Changes really depend on the type of product, so what Anna likes to do with her clients is to go over them annually to look at increases or decreases in price, as well as changes in benefits. They want their clients to know what to expect.

Rates always change, so stay up to date.

So what does Anna recommend for people who are 65? Anna says it depends. If they are 65 and already on a Medicare product, they're going to want to wait until open enrollment to make any changes. Anna and Halsi would be a good group to call to schedule an appointment to review their current coverage.

If they're going to be 65 within the next few months, Anna recommends giving her a call three months before their birthday so she can sit down and walk them through the process from beginning to end; enrolling in Medicare for the first time does take time. They want to ensure they have the correct coverage in place in time for their 65th birthday.

Thanks to Anna for joining us today, and a big thanks to Halsi for all they've done. They've been in business in Tucson for more than 20 years and they have a real hands-on relationship approach to serving people. I think that's really what separates them from a lot of the other health insurance companies out there.

Health insurance is accessible to anyone, so if you're considering making a change in your policy or you want to get health insurance for the first time, give Anna a call at (520) 296-7881 to help you with any insurance information. You can also visit Halsi's website for more information.