Today we want to take a break from real estate to share a holiday message with you. We at the Shine Team have had an amazing year in 2018, and we want to thank all of our friends, family, clients, and everyone else in our community who’s supported us. To show our gratitude, we have some special wishes to share with you. To find out what we wish you this holiday season, watch this short video.
It’s a great day in Harker Heights and I just discovered a brand-new restaurant in the area that you guys are going to love. Juicy Joy Deli & Coffee is operated by the Cruz family and they have some of the most delicious food I’ve had around here in months. Their menu includes nine different kinds of avocado toast, plenty of fresh juices, and much more. Juicy Joy Deli & Coffee is located at 110 Farm to Market 2410, Suite B in Harker Heights, right by our office. To learn more about this wonderful restaurant and why I’m such a fan, watch this short video.
Years ago, we started the Wreaths For Vets foundation in an effort to honor all veterans who serve our country. The foundation operates solely on donations, so we would be ecstatic if you could donate to the cause.
This is a very special season for us at the Shine Team; back in 2006, our community opened up our very first veteran state cemetery here outside the Killeen area—the Central Texas Veterans State Cemetery. Though it took a long time, we were so excited to complete the project.
The very first Christmas after we’d finished, the national organization Wreaths Across America announced they were coming here to lay wreaths for our veteran cemetery. I was so excited to hear it that I rearranged my schedule so I could be there.
It was a lovely ceremony with lots of speeches and pomp and circumstance, but they only brought six wreaths. I looked out on the field and saw many graves without decorations. At that moment, I thought to myself, “This cannot be.”
This was December 15, and by that time, there were no more wreaths to be bought; they’d all been purchased for people’s homes or sent off to Iraq and Afghanistan to the troops overseas. However, I ran down to Austin and found a warehouse that still had them. After countless phone calls and research, I acquired almost 400 of them.
The next year, I called again and found out they had almost 900. I couldn’t personally afford that many, which was why I started a tax-deductible foundation called Wreaths For Vets. It’s a wonderful way for our community to participate in the effort to lay wreaths on every gravesite ever, forever.
Wreaths For Vets is a wonderful way for our community to participate in the effort to lay wreaths on every gravesite ever, forever.
There are around 8,300 military service members and their families buried at the cemetery, and we’ll be continuing that tradition this year, as well.
We’ll be preparing the wreaths on Saturday, November 17, the weekend before Thanksgiving. The weekend after Thanksgiving (November 24), we’ll go out and lay wreaths on every grave. It’ll take a lot of volunteers, so we need your help.
Wreaths For Vets is 100% comprised of volunteers, and all proceeds are garnered through donations—there are no paid staff members in the organization. If you’re a supporter of the military and want to help us honor and remember our fallen heroes, we encourage you to make a donation, which you can do on our website, www.WreathsForVets.org, or by sending your donation marked “Wreaths For Vets” to the Shine Team at 100 East Central Texas Expressway, Suite 302, Harker Heights, TX, 76548.
That money will be used to buy all the materials needed for the wreath-laying. One of the ways the Shine Team Realtors have chosen to participate in the program is we’ve started making donations for anyone who buys or sells a home with us. I’m proud to say that as of this month, we’ve had 400 buyers and sellers work with us, and we’ve made a donation in each of their honors.
Also, every year, friends of the Central Texas Veterans State Cemetery design a new T-shirt for the cause, and this year’s is fabulous. You can purchase one of your own on Saturday, November 17 during the wreath preparation, and we’d be happy to put one on hold for you if you can’t make it out this year.
Thank you for your continued support of the Shine Team, members of our armed forces, and our veterans all over the world. If you have any questions for us, you’re always encouraged to reach out to us. We’d be happy to hear from you.
To increase your odds of selling in this market, you might want to look at completing a few home improvement projects. These are the three that we recommend.
As we slowly shift to a buyer's market, it’s time to make some adjustments. For one thing, it's worth looking at some simple home improvement projects that can help ensure you sell your home quickly and at a top price.
The thing is, when it comes to selling your home, not all home improvements are created equal. That's why I've collected the three top home improvement projects that homebuyers love, according to a report by the National Association of Home Builders:
1. A laundry room. More than anything, homebuyers currently want a separate room for washing, folding, and ironing clothes so they can keep the mess out of their living space. If you have an unused basement, it makes a lot of sense to put the laundry room there because all of the utility lines will be accessible and you probably won't have to demolish anything. A new laundry room could cost as little as $1,000 and could contribute a lot more than that when you look to sell your home.
90% of buyers want energy-efficient windows in their home.
2. Exterior lighting. Exterior lighting is the most desired outdoor feature by homebuyers, appearing on the wish list of 92% of them. Your options for exterior lighting include spotlights, walkway lights, and pendant lights. Fixtures range in price between $65 to $132. Exterior lighting will present your home in the best possible light, impressing these potential buyers and increasing overall interest in your home.
3. Energy-efficient windows. Most homebuyers today care about energy efficiency. Specifically, 90% of them want energy-efficient windows in their new home. A set of energy-efficient windows will drive down the costs for your utilities, improve comfort inside your home, and increase your home's curb appeal.
That's why, whether you are planning on staying in your home for a while or are looking to sell quickly, energy efficient windows are worth considering. In fact, that's true for all of the above projects. If you have any questions about any of these projects or what else you can do to add value to your home before selling, don’t hesitate to reach out and give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to hear from you.
I was wandering over to the great little neighborhood of White Rock when I thought it would be a good idea to show off some of the special features homes in this area have. I have two friends who just moved in down the street, so I’ve gotten to see the homes up close and personal.
Beginning at 0:30 in the video above, scroll through the video to check out this home’s amazing features, including:
Monterey drag wall texture
A stacked rock fireplace
Two-inch, custom faux blinds
Light plugs under the soffits
An automatic, preset, full sprinkler system
The fall is a great time to make a move up.
Turntable shelving (aka Lazy Susan)
Kitchen island (with electrical outlets on either end and lots of storage)
Spacious kitchen drawers
Master bathroom (complete with privacy window and walk-in shower)
Two master closets
Whoever gets this gorgeous home will enjoy lots of space and utility!
If you have any questions about these homes or real estate in general, please feel free to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.
Sometimes it pays to go against the crowd. While the real estate market is definitely at a peak during the spring and summer, going against this trend and listing your home in the fall can have some great benefits. Now is a great time to sell a home. Here are three reasons why:
1. Buyers are more serious. Many have just been transferred here for work. Their new jobs are starting and they need to find a home. They aren’t going to be out looking for a month at a time. They’re going to be serious.
2. Some buyers have been looking all summer and still haven’t found anything. Your house might be the one that they are looking for, so don’t hesitate to get it listed!
The fall is a great time to make a move up.
3. There is a lot less competition in the fall. It's no secret that most homes are listed in the spring and summer. However, homes that are not sold by the end of the summer are often delisted or are turned into rental properties. Otherwise, they start to draw less interest because of the time they have spent on the market. If you list in the fall, you have the benefit of standing out, as well as facing less competition than during the "hotter" seasons. This opens the door for you to sell your home to these motivated fall buyers.
In addition, we’ve had very high temperatures this summer and the grass has been struggling. Selling in the fall will allow you to spruce up your yard and have it look inviting. Curb appeal is important, and selling in the fall will help your curb appeal greatly.
If you have any questions about why the fall is such an opportune time for you to sell or about the home selling process in general, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
This winter is likely to be a very important moment for many home sellers. That’s because three big trends are coming together to affect Lancaster County home prices right now:
1. Housing inventory remains extremely tight. The total number of homes on the market fell 10% year over year in the last quarter. This is the biggest drop since 2013, and it's part of a consistent pattern of very limited and decreasing housing supply. Of course, the fewer homes there are on the market, the easier it is to sell, and the higher the price you can expect to get. Home prices have increased almost 6.5% nationally since last year.
2. Buyers are increasingly optimistic. Despite the tight inventory, homebuyers are increasingly optimistic and continue to look for homes. Some of this has to do with the recent growth in income and job stability. Loosening lending standards are also making many home buyers eager to take advantage of current mortgage rates, which slipped under 4% recently.
It’s the perfect time to get in the real estate market.
3. The new tax reform bill will impact the market. The federal government recently passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which majorly overhauled our tax code. While it’s unclear how this will affect the real estate market as a whole, there are some changes that do not favor home sellers. As a result of the changes made to the tax code, the National Association of Realtors now projects slower growth for home prices in 2018, with an appreciation rate of 1% to 3%. By doubling the standard deduction, Congress has significantly reduced the value of mortgage interest and property deductions as tax incentives for homeownership. On the bright side, no changes were made in the rules surrounding capital gains for home sales, which is good news for home sellers.
When you put all three of these trends together, two big conclusions emerge. First, now is a very favorable moment for home sellers, thanks to the shortage in the market, the many eager buyers, and the high and rising prices. On the other hand, higher cost, higher tax areas will likely see prices decline as the result of new restrictions on mortgage interest and state and local taxes.
If you are looking to take advantage of the present moment to sell your home, please reach out by giving us a call or sending us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
