Moving Checklist
Are you moving soon? You already have so much to do when moving, why add the stress remembering who you need to notify of an address change and when? Below is a list places and business to remember to notify. Before Moving contact these companies to notify a change of address to either transfer services or to cancel services. Cable/Satellite Pest control Home security Electric/Gas Water Sewer Trash/Waste Telephone After moving contact important government agencies of your change of address. Internal Revenue Service Department of Motor Vehicles Social Security Administration Department of Federal Affairs S. Customs & Immigration Services Voter Registration Office Many of these companies can be notified of a change of address through your online accounts. Credit card companies Investment brokers Banks/Credit unions Lenders (automotive, home, personal, etc.) Credit reporting agencies Contact the people and companies to confirm your magazine subscriptions, medical bills, and schools are current with your new address. Professional associations Church/Clubs Licensing/Certification boards Schools/Daycares Medical (doctor, dentist, optometrist, pharmacy, etc.) Magazine/Newspaper subscriptions Friends and family Colorado Springs Real Estate Professionals – TEAL Pro Team backed by EXIT Realty Mountain View Natalie Olmsted and Jennifer Mencl are motivated REALTORS® specializing with Future First Time Home Buyers and Last Time Home Sellers located in the following areas; Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Monument, Peyton, Fountain, and surrounding areas. Natalie and her team strive to provide you the very best service to make your real estate experience stress free. Call Natalie Olmsted at 719.287.8067.
History of Homeownership in the US
Owning property has always been a core value in American culture and is considered to be a part of the American Dream. So, I thought it would be interesting to learn about some of the events and government policies that have impacted homeownership in America. 1785 – Land Ordinance of 1785Thomas Jefferson pushed for legislation that helped define property lines and a system for purchasing land that was the basis for how real estate and ownership are described and transferred today. 1862 – The Homestead ActSigned by President Abraham Lincoln, this act encouraged citizens to settle the western territory. Settlers who paid a filing fee and completed five years of continuous residence received ownership of 160 acres of public land. Homesteaders also had the option of purchasing the land from the government for $1.25 per acre. The Homestead Act led to the distribution of 80 million acres of public land by 1900. 1864 – National Bank ActProvided the basic governing framework for the national banking system today. 1917 – The Own Your Own Home CampaignThis campaign was launched by the National Association of Real Estate Boards. It was taken over by the U.S. Department of Labor in 1917, becoming the first federal program designed to encourage home ownership. 1929-1941 – The Great Depression (1929-1939) & FDR’s New DealPrior to the 1930’s the selection, construction and financing of housing was generally left up to individuals and was not considered a responsibility of the federal government. However, the Great Depression played a major role in changing the government’s involvement in American housing. By 1933, 40-50% of all home mortgages in the United States were in default which was one of major contributors to the banking crisis in the early 1930s. As part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, the government stepped in to help distressed homeowners and banks. FDR’s new plan gave us the: Home Owner’s Loan Corporation (HOLC) – HOLC was merely a temporary plan developed specifically to deal with the emergency of the rising number of defaults and the program ended in 1951. However, it’s important to mention because prior to HOLC & the FHA, mortgages required a 50% down payment and terms were generally 5 or 10 years long and had large balloon payments due at the end. HOLC changed the lending practices by introducing long-term, low-interest mortgages and the establishment of uniform national appraisal methods throughout the real estate industry, all of which are used still today. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) – Unlike HOLC, the FHA was developed to be a long-term plan and it adopted many of the ideas from HOLC such as longer-term mortgages with drastically reduced down payments. This reduced the monthly payment, and by using amortized loans, the loan was paid in full at the end of the loan period. The FHA went a step further by insuring loan, meaning if the borrower defaulted on the loan, the government would step in and pay the lender. This prompted lenders to issue more loans because they assumed very little risk. And finally, the FHA also established minimum construction standards to ensure the dwelling would be free of major structural or mechanical deficits. This in turn ensured both the owner's satisfaction with the property and the actual value of the property. Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) – Fannie Mae bought mortgages from lenders such as banks, increasing the lenders' funds for more mortgages and construction loans. The New Deal housing policies removed much of the risk from home lending. The government didn’t step in to take over the housing industry. However, through the FHA and Fannie Mae, they were able to support private sector banks with the assurance that construction and home loans would be repaid with government funds should the loans fall into default. As a result, banks were more willing to give housing and construction loans which led to the post-World War II housing boom. 1944 – Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill of Rights)The GI Bill helped veterans pay for college and buy homes. The Veterans Administration (VA) still insures low- to zero-down payment loans for veterans, active-duty service members and their spouses. 1961 – JFK Overturns Segregated Housing PoliciesPresident John F. Kennedy issued an executive order prohibiting segregation in federally owned or funded properties. 1965 – The Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD)President Lyndon B. Johnson, created the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of his War on Poverty program. Today the agency is responsible for national policy and programs that address America's housing needs, improve and develop communities, and enforce federal fair housing laws. 1968 – Fair Housing Act of 1968The Act was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson and banned discrimination in housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), familial status and disability. Late 60’s – American Homeownership reaches to almost 65% 1970 – The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac)Freddie Mac was created to expand the secondary market for mortgage and to increase the supply of money for mortgage lending. 2000 – Homeownership reaches 67.7%, a record high. 2004-2009 - The Subprime Mortgage Crisis, The Great Recession & The Bail Out (The Stimulus Package)In the early 2000s, mortgage interest rates were low (around 5% at that time) in direct response to the 2001 Dotcom bubble and the 9-11 World Trade Center Attacks. At that time there was less government regulation on the financial industry and new financial innovations including subprime and adjustable-rate mortgages allowed unqualified buyers to obtain home loans. As long as interest rates stayed low and housing prices increased, these new loan tools worked. So, as more buyers entered the housing market, home prices started to rise. However, from 2004-2006 the federal reserve began to steadily increase interest rates in an attempt to maintain stable rates of inflation in the economy. Risky borrowers who were in these new loans couldn’t make the increased payments caused by the increased interest rates and in 2007 the bubble burst. Home prices fell more than 30% and approximately 3 million homes were lost to foreclosure. The Great Recession led to the following policies: Housing & Economic Recovery Act (HERA) - The Federal Housing Finance Agency was founded to oversee Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and & the Federal Home Loan Bank System. The Housing and Recovery Act (HERA) addressed some of the most important shortcomings of the mortgage lending industry following the 2008 financial crisis and housing collapse. The purpose of HERA is to prevent the circumstances that could result in a repeat of the crisis, including predatory lending. The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) - More commonly known as the Stimulus Package. The Obama Administration responded to the recession and housing crisis with a multi-billion-dollar stimulus program, including an initiative to help homeowners avoid foreclosure through refinancing and reduced monthly payments. First-time home buyer tax credits and other housing stimulus programs were established to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. 2011 – U.S. housing prices bottomed out in March, having dropped by 33%. 2018 – Home prices have recovered most of the ground lost during the Great Recession’s housing bust. 2019-2022 – The COVID-19 Recession & Current Housing BoomThe COVID-19 Recession and current housing boom is a unique tale of supply and demand. The credit tightening that resulted from the Great Recession hurt home builders as well as consumers. As a result, from 2010-2019 the US had the lowest number of homes built in a decade since the 1960s. Then when the COVID-19 shutdown hit in March 2020, home building supply chains were horribly disrupted. The pandemic also caused many potential sellers to not list existing homes for fear of contracting the virus and with interest rates hitting a historical low, many sellers opted to refinance rather than sell. All of these factors led to an extremely low of inventory of houses. Meanwhile, the Millennials, America’s largest living generation, reached the apex of their prime homebuying years in 2019. When COVID-19 hit, swift government policies were put into place. Stimulus checks and extended/expanded unemployment benefits offset the unemployment spike that occurred. This meant buyers had money to buy, and now that they were working from home, they wanted bigger homes. When you couple that with historically low interest rates, you get a huge increase in housing demand. High demand and low inventory caused housing prices to rise. Whether or not this will lead to another bubble burst is hard to say, but with rising interest rates we are starting to see a small shift in the market. Colorado Springs Real Estate Professionals – TEAL Pro Team backed by EXIT Realty Mountain View Natalie Olmsted and Jennifer Mencl are motivated REALTORS® specializing with Future First Time Home Buyers and Last Time Home Sellers located in the following areas; Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Monument, Peyton, Fountain, and surrounding areas. Natalie and her team strive to provide you the very best service to make your real estate experience stress free. Call Natalie Olmsted at 719.287.8067.
Seller's Representation: Why it Matters & What are the Options
There are two basic ways a real estate broker can work with a Seller. They can act as a transaction broker or as a seller’s agent. So, what’s the difference? Transaction BrokerAccording to the Division of Real Estate’s definitions of working relationships, “A transaction-broker assists the buyer or seller or both throughout a real estate transaction by performing terms of any written or oral agreement, fully informing the parties, presenting all offers and assisting the parties with any contracts, including the closing of the transaction without being an agent or advocate for any of the parties. A transaction-broker must use reasonable skill and care in the performance of any oral or written agreement, and must make the same disclosures as agents about all adverse material facts actually known by the transaction-broker concerning a property or a buyer’s financial ability to perform the terms of a transaction and, if a residential property, whether the buyer intends to occupy the property. No written agreement is required.” Although a transaction broker does not advocate, they must still use reasonable skill and care in carrying out statutory duties and responsibilities including: Use reasonable skill and care, deal honestly and fairly, provide proper disclosures, respect the confidentiality of the parties, account for property or things of value, and disclose material defects. A transaction broker may write contracts, prepare CMA’s and inform customers of possible choices; however, they cannot provide recommendations (such as which choice to make or what price to offer). Seller’s AgentAccording to the Division of Real Estate’s definitions of working relationships, “A seller’s agent (or listing agent) works solely on behalf of the seller to promote the interests of the seller with the utmost good faith, loyalty and fidelity. The agent negotiates on behalf of and acts as an advocate for the seller. The seller’s agent must disclose to potential buyers all adverse material facts actually known by the seller’s agent about the property. A separate written listing agreement is required which sets forth the duties and obligations of the broker and the seller.” An agent works FOR their client. They owe their clients the fiduciary duties of obedience, loyalty, disclosure, confidentiality, accounting and the use of reasonable skill and care. This relationship allows the real estate professional to provide professional, ethical and expert real estate services by promoting the interests of their clients, seeking a price and terms that are acceptable to their client, and counseling their client about any benefits or risks the agent knows about. A good analogy I once heard is that a transaction broker is similar to a referee, whereas an agent is more like a coach. Most sellers prefer the additional duties an agent provides because it gets their property sold at the best price and terms possible. And, most real estate professionals prefer to work as agents rather than brokers because it allows them to provide the best possible service to their clients. However, it is entirely up to you and your real estate professional as to which way you want to work together. Colorado Springs Real Estate Professionals – TEAL Pro Team backed by EXIT Realty Mountain View Natalie Olmsted and Jennifer Mencl are motivated REALTORS® specializing with Future First Time Home Buyers and Last Time Home Sellers located in the following areas; Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Monument, Peyton, Fountain, and surrounding areas. Natalie and her team strive to provide you the very best service to make your real estate experience stress free. Call Natalie Olmsted at 719.287.8067.
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