2022 Outlook + Feature in Most Amazing Homes ✨ Stavros Group

Hi Friends,

What’s your favorite thing about living in Orange County? Is it the wide sandy beaches, the incredible mild climate, or just the coveted Southern California lifestyle in general? Whatever it is that draws you to this beautiful place, you aren’t alone!

For the past 10 years, housing prices have been steadily rising in the OC. This is mainly due to the housing shortage and high demand for real estate. In September, the median sales price for a detached home was $1,101,508 which is more than 20% higher than the same time last year. However, we’re starting to see a dip in sale prices which is forecasted to continue through 2022.

In addition to this, mortgage rates are also anticipated to increase in the coming months after a year of record low numbers.

What does this mean for you?

Whether you’re a buyer searching for your dream home or a homeowner who’s considering selling, reach out to me. I’d be happy to get you started on the process and to help you determine what the best timing is for you to maximize your investment!

Warmly,
Andy Stavros

One of our listings was recently featured on an episode of Most Amazing Homes with Jennifer Farrell. Click above to watch as I walk her through this amazing blufftop Laguna Beach estate.

Is real estate a
hedge against inflation?

See why buyers are willing to pay a premium for fully furnished homes

56 N La Senda Dr

Laguna Beach

5 BD | 7 BA | 5,042 SQ FT
Offered at $19,995,000

Co-listed with The Altman Brothers

600 Powell Pl

Newport Beach

3 BD | 2 BA | 1,705 SQ FT
Offered at $2,250,000

25151 Rockridge Rd

Laguna Hills

6 BD | 7 BA | 6,420 SQ FT
Sold for $4,025,000

Copyright © 2021 Stavros Group, All rights reserved.
12 Corporate Plaza #250, Newport Beach, CA 92660
Douglas Elliman Real Estate

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10 Major Benefits of Virtual Home Tours in Orange County

About 81% of marketers agree that interactive content is better at grabbing an audience’s attention. Instead of focusing on a hard sell, interactive content combines authenticity and quality content to help you stand out from other homeowners trying to sell.

In fact, offering virtual home tours is one of the best forms of interactive content you can utilize when selling your property.

With COVID-19 quarantines still underway, virtual tours can help you to reach buyers while they remain safe inside.

Meanwhile, virtual house tours can attract more potential buyers and give you an advantage in the marketplace. Still on the fence? Here are 10 benefits you can experience by offering house tours online.

Keep reading to learn more about how offering virtual home tours can get you ahead of the curve.

1. Generate More Interest

Over 50% of home buyers find their new homes through the internet. Many of these online homebuyers look for virtual house tours before voicing their interest. Virtual tours are most important to buyers who fall within the 52 to 71 age range.

By creating virtual home tours, you can reach more potential buyers.

With people staying at home in response to COVID-19, you can’t wait for people to schedule an in-person tour. Instead, you need to attract more people to your property. Adding virtual real estate tours to your listing can help you expand your reach.

As more people stay home, buyers are relying on the internet to research real estate properties. Using virtual tours will help you market your property even while buyers stay at home.

Appeal to Your Target Audience

In fact, providing visuals of the property is a better way to appeal to buyers. Virtual tours offer more details than simple sketches. By providing buyers with online home tours, you can add details that are bound to make an impact.

At the same time, you’re providing home buyers with helpful information that will help them make an informed decision.

Virtual house tours can help you reach your target audience, too. You can integrate customized features based on your audience’s expectations. Using a customized approach will increase your chance of closing a sale.

At the same time, you’re making customers feel special and valued. As a result, they’ll turn toward your property instead of another.

As you attract more visitors to your listing, you’re also increasing your property’s search engine ranking. Once you reach the top of a search page, you can earn more visitors than competing sellers. A higher ranking will also build brand trust, your credibility, and boost awareness!

2. Save Valuable Time

Listing a new property for sale by conventional means can result in hundreds of phone calls from potential buyers. You’ll need to complete in-person tours that may or may not result in a sale. Meeting each of these potential buyers in person can waste your valuable time and energy.

In many cases, some of these buyers are simply curious.

Often enough, curious buyers are only touring different homes. They don’t have the intention of making a reach purchase.

Virtual home tours allow buyers to determine their interest. They can explore a property straight from their phones or laptops. If they’re genuinely interested in the property, they can contact you for more information.

Encouraging prospective buyers to explore your online house tours first will help you determine the true buyers. Then, you can focus your time and attention on closing those sales.

3. Encourage Interactions

In addition to helping you attract more site visitors, virtual home tours can also increase your clickthrough rate. A higher clickthrough rate will increase your listing’s ranking on search engines like Google.

Virtual house tours encourage people to click around and interact with your content.

Visitors will click around to navigate their way through your virtual real estate tours. Meanwhile, they can also leave comments on your posts and ask questions about aspects of each property. For example, a prospective buyer can ask about the flooring and countertop materials.

Then, you or your real estate agent can easily respond in real-time.

These instantaneous interactions will help you discover prospective buyers. At the same time, you’re increasing the listing’s search engine ranking, allowing you to reach even more buyers.

4. Reduce Bounces

A high bounce rate can have a negative impact on your listing’s search engine ranking. The bounce rate indicates how many people leave the listing and how quickly.

Adding virtual tours to your listing can boost engagement and the clickthrough rate, which will decrease the bounce rate.

Search engines like Google will recognize that the listing is keeping visitors engaged and on the page. Google will prioritize your listing over ones with a low clickthrough rate and a high bounce rate.

Most virtual home tours take about a minute. That’s an additional minute you can keep people occupied on your listing. As each visitor’s dwell time increases, your bounce rate will drop.

Remember, the higher you rank on search engines, the more people will visit your listing.

5. Stand Out From Competitors

Many real estate agents aren’t aware of the benefits of virtual tours. Offering these tours before other sellers do will give you an advantage in the marketplace.

As one of the few people offering virtual tours in your target area, you can stand out from the crowd. You’ll attract the attention of prospective buyers before others can.

Your target audience will recognize the convenience you’re offering them. They’ll choose to explore your online home tours instead of touring another property in person. Then, you can get ahead of other sellers in your area by maintaining that advantage.

Failing to offer remote tours, on the other hand, can cause you to fall behind the curve. As your competitors recognize these benefits, they’ll start offering online tours themselves.

Get ahead of the curve and start attracting buyers to your property listing before your competitors can.

6. Increase Shares

Once your real estate agent posts your home online, you’ll want to generate as much traffic to your listing as possible.

Virtual house tours are eye-catching, engaging, and worth sharing. As more people share your online home tours, you’ll receive a backlink to your listing.

At the same time, you’ll improve your listing’s authority, which can further improve your search engine ranking.

The more backlinks you generate, the better for your ranking. Then, you can attract more visitors to your listing and generate more interest!

7. Get Social

You can also generate more interest by sharing your virtual tours on social media. A high-quality virtual tour can even go viral. The more people you impress with your house tour, the more likely they’ll share the tours with their friends.

Search engines like Google also use social media signals when determining search rankings. You can ensure your listing goes viral by creating unique, quality content.

You can also encourage social sharing by using emails. As you share your virtual home tours over email, people will send the email to others. As a result, you’re also extending your reach and marketing your property to other buyers!

8. Offer Ease

Cleaning and staging virtual house tours can take time and energy. You’ll want to make sure the entire house is in pristine condition before scheduling an in-person tour. With virtual home tours, however, you won’t have to waste valuable time.

Instead, you’ll have the convenience of providing buyers with a tour regardless of the property’s actual state.

In fact, virtual tours are one of the best ways to present any property. The listing will look attractive and explorable, even online. You can highlight different spaces, allowing buyers to navigate between one room and the next on their own.

At the same time, you’re creating a permanent open house by providing potential buyers with 24/7 hour access to the property. As a result, people will also see you’re reliable and ready to offer the information they need.

9. Highlight Key Features

The time homebuyers spend looking for the perfect home has decreased by three days year-over-year. That means you have a short window to make a strong first impression.

Decades ago, static newspaper and magazine listings were enough to grab a homebuyer’s attention. Now, agencies need to use photography, videos, and walk-throughs to attract buyers.

Today, you can use virtual real estate tours to provide buyers with all the visual information they could possibly need.

You can also customize these tours to highlight specific features for each listing. For example, if you can show off the latest home improvements you’ve made. Buyers can zoom in, examine details, and explore your properties day or night!

10. Improve Your ROI

Virtual house tours can increase your sales and boost your return on investment (ROI). Instead of wasting time and money with in-person tours, you can use virtual tours to pinpoint prospective buyers. You can focus on increasing the value of your home, too!

These tours can help you reveal key selling points for each property, increasing your chance of a sale!

Take a Tour: 10 Major Benefits of Virtual Home Tours

Want to sell your home as soon as possible? Experience these benefits of virtual home tours for yourself! By creating a virtual tour, you can attract buyers and sell your property in no time.

We’re here to help. Connect with our team today to sell your property using virtual tours!

Mortgage Rates Hit All-Time Low

Last week, mortgage rates hit an all-time low. Maybe you’ve heard, it’s big news. On March 5th, 2020, the national average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage clocked in at 3.29%. That’s the lowest recorded rate in the almost 50 years since Freddie Mac began keeping track in 1971. It’s a momentous occasion—historic, even.

Of course, there’s other, bigger, more somber news these days. The risk of global pandemic is wreaking economic havoc and pushing rates even lower. It goes without saying that these record-low rates aren’t exactly cause for celebration. Like the rate cuts that followed the Great Recession, today’s boon for borrowers follows another worldwide emergency. The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, dominates the headlines. It’s impossible to avoid, and for good reason: in times like these, it’s best to stay informed.

In that vein, we thought we’d take a look at how the spring real estate market is shaping up. While we can’t predict the future, we are informed by indicators like historically low mortgage rates and the current state of the market.

Record-Low Mortgage Rates

Here’s the good news: When rates are low, both buyers and sellers win. Before reaching the current low, mortgage rates began to fall during the global economic crisis of 2007-2008. Rates started 2007 well above 6% and averaged about 5% in 2008. By November 2012, they reached the previous historic low of 3.31%. After bumping back up to mid-3 and 4% in subsequent years, rates again began to drop in 2019. In a nutshell, buyers shopping for a mortgage have had it good for quite a while now.

Today’s all-time low average mortgage rates mean buyers can spend more on the principal of their loan instead of the interest. They can be approved for a larger loan, enabling them to buy “more house” with the same savings and income. Additionally, some would-be buyers who couldn’t afford to buy an Orange County home may finally get the chance they’ve been waiting for.

$500,000 loan at 4.29%
- Total cost of mortgage: $889,712
- Monthly payments: $2,471

$500,000 loan at 3.29%
- Total cost of mortgage: $787,328
- Monthly payments: $2,187

As you can see, mortgage rates greatly impact both monthly payments and the total cost of a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

The benefits of today’s all-time low mortgage rates extend to existing homeowners and sellers as well. When more buyers are shopping with more money to spend, listings receive more interest and competition. That means better outcomes for sellers. Existing homeowners can win by refinancing. Analytics firm Black Knight recommends refinancing on any loan that’s at least 0.75% higher than the current average. There are some associated costs, but you’ll save thousands more if you can refinance to a significantly lower rate.

In a vacuum, reaching the historical low mortgage rate could be considered great for everyone. It benefits buyers, sellers and existing homeowners. But, unfortunately, there are extenuating circumstances to consider.

Enter Coronavirus: Disease and Unease

Unlike low mortgage rates, the effects of a possible global pandemic on Orange County real estate are a bit harder to guess. What we do know is that COVID-19 is very likely to spread further throughout the country. Fears will heighten, schools may shut. The ultimate toll that the virus might take on our country’s populace is unknown, but it is expected to be significant. The economy will also take a hit, and it already has.

Around the world, stock markets are plunging as business has crawled to a halt in some regions and industries. Despite lower rates, buyers whose down payments or reserves are in stock may actually have less buying power. If the virus spreads widely throughout the United States, the Orange County real estate industry may also slow. Open house events at Orange County homes for sale will be less populated during a pandemic. On the other hand, foreign investors are reportedly eyeing US real estate as an even safer investment than before the virus broke out. Call it a silver lining to a particularly grey cloud.

We also know that the Orange County real estate market has been largely unaffected so far. Buyers and sellers who are motivated by external circumstance (ie. a new marriage, new baby, new job, death divorce, etc.) are still participating in business as usual. The most affluent sellers or those who are in no real rush may elect to wait. If the disease fades away, things may stay the same. If the situation gets worse, they may change.

For now, Orange County real estate is still chugging along. Homeowners, buyers and sellers alike can take advantage of historically low mortgage rates. For those with an externally-motivated reason to buy or sell, that motivation hasn’t changed. Those are good things. If you’re interested in buying or selling an Orange County home, or if you need a recommendation for a trusted Orange County lender, let us know. We’re happy to help. Most importantly, follow the CDC’s guidelines for disease prevention, and take good care of yourself.

In a Rush? 8 Tips to Sell Your Orange Coast House Faster

To sell your Orange Coast home fast demands intelligent, informed strategy and precise execution. There are many reasons why a Newport Beach, Laguna Beach or Corona Del Mar homeowner may want or need to sell, but unfortunately not all come with the luxury of time. Maybe you are relocating for work. Maybe a death or divorce in the family has forced an abrupt decision. Maybe you need funds for a new home build, or maybe your financial situation has changed and you can no longer afford your current home. In any case, you must make the most of the time you have to make your sale successful.

If you’re in less of a rush to sell your Orange Coast home, don’t click away just yet! Our tips for quickly selling Orange County real estate are still important for you to follow. After all, what seller wouldn’t want to both maximize their sale price and minimize their days on market? While the stakes may be higher if you’re crunched for time, it always pays to do things right. So, whether you have two weeks or two years to sell, read on for our top recommendations for a speedy and lucrative sale.

1. Don’t Overprice

We’re not the sorts who beat around the bush, so let’s get the big one out of the way: By far, the most important factor that can determine the speed of your sale is how much you’re willing to take for it. You’ve heard a home’s value is all about “Location, Location, Location!” But when it comes to closing a sale, it’s really “Price, Price, Price!”

As we covered in our article on the dangers of overpricing, pricing your home too high can have disastrous effects. An overpriced listing garners less interest from the very buyers who might otherwise make an offer. After languishing on the market, you may elect to make a price reduction; but a home priced right the first time is on stronger grounds to negotiate with buyers later. On the reverse, pricing your new listing at or below market value will lead to more buyer interest, busy showings, better offers, and a faster sale.

Some distressed homeowners opt for the extreme. House flippers and “We Buy!” street signs have long lured sellers with the promise of a cash offer and a quick closing. Without the necessary time or support to prep their homes for market, a seller might acquiesce and take the low-hanging fruit. It’s a sad tale, given that there is almost always a better option! Working with an experienced Orange Coast real estate agent can help you get a better offer, without having to deal with lowballing or scams.

So it’s abundantly clear (maybe even painfully obvious) that a lower-priced home sells faster. That’s just how selling things works, right? Then, what are some concrete steps a seller can take to increase both the price and expedience of their sale?

2. Look Superb From the Curb

They say not to judge a book by its cover, but that doesn’t hold as true when selling Orange Coast real estate. The proverbial “cover” of your home is its curb appeal, and it leaves a strong and lasting impression. Make it a good one, and you’ll sell faster and for more money.

Boosting your curb appeal has the valuable effect of enticing buyers inside to explore your home. If your exterior looks old and dreary, a fresh coat of paint and revitalized landscaping can make a stark and immediate difference. For a relatively low price compared to large-scale renovations, exterior updates will spark interest in prospective buyers and passers-by. You won’t sell fast if no one wants to come inside to see more! Don’t hamstring your sale from the outset with an unappealing facade.

3. Make it Pretty and Presentable

When you’re getting ready to list your home, try to view it through a buyer’s eyes. Is it warm and inviting, or cold and cluttered? Your goal should be to create an attractive space in which buyers can blissfully envision their future selves. We recommend and help our clients to use a professional staging service to get their home in selling shape. If for some reason that doesn’t work for you, though, there are still some things to keep in mind.

Before you hit the market, make sure your home is clean, decluttered, and depersonalized. It may be obvious to clean up your trash and dirty dishes, but what about your Tom Brady bobbleheads? Certain items like sports memorabilia, religious decor or political knick knacks should be packed away. Make your home appeal to the broadest possible segment of buyers, not just those who share your tastes and views. That extends to paint colors and other decor, too. Neutral color schemes in a clean and tidy space will make your home more appealing to more buyers.

4. Show the World!

You’ve cleaned and painted and prepped. Now it’s time to show it off! As soon as your listing is live, buyers who are looking for a home like yours will be notified through platforms like the MLS and Zillow. Their eyes will be drawn to your photo gallery first, so it’s important to have quality images.

Even if you’re something of an aspiring Ansel Adams yourself, it’s still a good idea to use professional photography services to sell your Orange Coast home. Yes, your smartphone can take some decent photos. No, they’re probably not as good as they could or should be. After pouring your time and effort into prepping your home for sale, why stop there? Hiring an experienced real estate photographer will ensure that your home is shown to the world in its best light (literally and figuratively).

5. Show Often and Get Feedback

Now that you’re on the market, it’s important to make your home available for agents and prospective buyers. Showings are easier if you’re not still living in the home, but your situation may not allow for that. Either way, your home should remain in a show-ready state at all times. Keep things tidy and personal items out of view. If you’ve already moved out, then your agent might set up a lockbox system to let agents show the home any time.

After a showing, make sure to get feedback from the buyer’s agent. Whether good or bad, it’s incredibly valuable to hear what their clients thought of your listing. Some agents may reach out on their own, but it also never hurts to ask those who do not. Armed with buyer and agent feedback, you can make the right adjustments to make your listing more appealing to the next group of visitors.

6. Set an Offer Deadline

If you’re in a rush to sell, then setting a deadline for incoming purchase offers will show buyers that you mean business. Make it clear in your listing that you will only accept offers until a specific date. You don’t need to specify exactly why that date has been set or even that you’re trying to sell quickly. Just set the date and let the offers roll in!

7. Get a Bridge Loan

Even if you feel you must sell immediately, there’s a secret weapon that can completely change your timeline: a bridge loan! A bridge loan is a short-term loan that leverages the equity from your current home to provide the funds you need to make an offer on a new one. With a bridge loan, you can move where you want and when you want to, but wait to sell your current home until the time is right.

Instead of scrambling to sell on short notice, a bridge loan gives you the breathing room to make well-informed and strategic decisions. Forced to relocate for work during the holidays? A bridge loan means you can wait to sell during the busy spring season when more buyers are browsing the market. Whatever your reasons for selling quickly, a bridge loan can change the whole equation and and alleviate the pressure on your schedule.

8. Choose Your Agent Wisely

Whether you’re in Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Corona Del Mar or elsewhere on the Orange Coast, selling your home can seem overwhelming. The good news is that you don’t have to do it alone! By hiring an experienced and trustworthy Orange Coast real estate agent, you’ll get the guidance and support you need to maximize your sale. At the Stavros Group, we have years of experience working in your neighborhood. We know the market, and we are well-regarded by our peers. We leverage our extensive professional network to find you the best deal possible on a timeline that meets your needs.

From setting a price to coordinating improvements and staging, we will be your trusted advisor and make sense of the process. If you’re thinking of selling your Orange Coast home, don’t hesitate to reach out and start the no-pressure conversation. We’ll discuss your options and present a detailed strategy to optimize the sale of your Orange Coast home.

Hidden Costs of Luxury Real Estate

Orange County Luxury Real Estate

Luxury real estate in Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Corona Del Mar, and greater Orange County is impressive, extravagant, and, of course, expensive. That should come as no surprise; it’s right there in the name! Luxury is defined as “conducive to sumptuous living, usually a delicacy, elegance, or refinement of living rather than a necessity.” But even if you’ve got the cash to buy a sprawling, lavish estate, there is more than the listing price to keep in mind. In this article, we’ll cover some of the hidden costs of owning a luxury home.

While you may have the resources to buy a luxury home, it’s important to be aware of externalities. Much like starting a family, it’s only prudent to be prepared before shouldering a new bundle of responsibilities. As your trusted real estate advisers, a crucial part of our job is to ensure that you’re as informed as possible. So let’s explore some examples of the expenses that come with buying a luxury home.

More Than You Can Chew: A Case Study in Luxury Homes

Sixteen years ago, rap artist and former beverage mogul Curtis James Jackson III, aka 50 Cent (Fiddy), purchased a grand Connecticut estate. Nestled 80 miles north of the wealthy town of Greenwich near NYC, the residence at 50 Poplar Hill Drive boasts 52 rooms across 50,000 square feet. Some of the property’s opulent features include a nightclub, two private pools, both indoor and outdoor basketball courts, and a recording studio (naturally). The home is larger than others in the area, which didn’t help when it was later listed for sale.

Fiddy bought the estate in 2003 from another famous face, one Mike Tyson of boxing fame. The sale price then was $4.1 million. After a few years of owning the property, Fiddy listed the home for sale at $18.5 in 2007. At such a dramatically increased price, the listing did not sell and was taken off the market. By 2015, Fiddy again listed the home for sale. This time, the price was $4.995 million, but again the home did not garner the asking price. Finally, he sold the property in 2019 for $2.9 million to Florida businessman, Casey Askar. That’s an 84% price drop from his 2007 asking price of $18.5 million.

Such a drastic decrease begs the question: Why did Fiddy sell? The answer is in the hidden costs. Reportedly upwards of $70,000 each month, the upkeep and maintenance costs of the lavish estate were simply too much for Fiddy to handle. From the 50,000 sq ft of 52 rooms, to the lawns and the pools, the estate at 50 Poplar Hill Drive required constant effort from groundskeepers and staff. Not to mention utility bills to keep the residence warm throughout the winter, or cool in the summer. In just five years, that monthly cost would add up to the total that Fiddy paid for the original sale, and he could no longer justify the expense.

A Luxury Home Takes a Village

If you’ve watched the popular period drama Downton Abbey, then you are one step ahead of ol’ 50 Cent in knowing that running a palatial estate is a team affair. There’s the estate manager, the household manager, the butler, the chef, the cooks, the gardener, the gameskeeper, the stewardess, the chauffeur, the parlormaid, the chambermaid, housemaid, laundrymaid—the list goes on. But while the costs are steep, they do come with perks: keep your house in order and you may even be graced by a visit from the Queen!

In all seriousness, your home need not be a sprawling estate to be considered “luxury.” In the simplest sense, a luxury home is one that is valued well above the average in a given market. In many US cities and metro areas, a price of $1 million is often considered the starting point for luxury homes. In markets like San Francisco and New York, where prices are substantially higher than the national average, luxury is said to start around $4 million.

On the bright side, you do get more for the higher price tag. Luxury homes, whether a charming San Francisco Victorian or a giant midwest mansion, tend to come with more square footage and fancier features than the average home. But of course, there’s a hidden cost there, too. For a large luxury property, simple tasks like cleaning your gutters or mowing the lawn become a considerable expense. Want to upgrade to smart devices and appliances? It’ll cost a pretty penny to do so across your whole home. While you may have the money to cover these additional expenses, it’s important to be aware of them when planning your home purchase.

Luxury Mortgage and Tax and Insurance, Oh My!

Let’s take a look at another famously fancy luxury home with hidden costs. When Yuri Millner, a Russian-born tech investor, bought his Silicon Valley home in 2011, the sale price of $100 million broke records in California and Santa Clara County. The Bay Area estate sits on 11 acres with structures of roughly 25,000 square feet, and includes a ballroom, a theater, a spa and a gym.

Interestingly, the taxable assessed value of the home has marked around $50 million by the Santa Clara County Assessor, just half as much as Milner paid. Yet that still means Yuri is on the hook to pay over $600,000 each year in property taxes. If Yuri has a mortgage, his payments will be whoppers as well. If he financed the home using a standard 30-year fixed conventional loan with 20% down and $80,000,000 in principal, his monthly payments would total nearly $400,000.

Of course, a Russian oligarch or any other billionaire likely is not concerned with middling expenses in the mere hundreds of thousands. But the fact remains that, as a home price grows, so too do its associated costs. Getting insurance for a $100 million home is nigh impossible, but insurance on a $5 or 10 million home is just plain expensive. From the tax man to your loan officer, you’ll be paying the pipers by the truckload.

Your Orange County Luxury Experts

Home ownership always comes with additional costs. But despite the increased expenses, buying a luxury property in Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, or Corona Del Mar can be incredibly rewarding. The stunning views, the lavish spaces, the fixtures and finishes each provide a magnificent setting for your modern lifestyle. We love matching our clients with the perfect home to fit their tastes and their budget. If you’re looking to buy or sell a luxury property, get in touch to start the no-pressure conversation and explore your options.

OK Millennials! The New Generation of Homebuyers

As the largest adult population group in the US, millennials wield $1.4 trillion in purchasing power, and more of them are aging and earning their way into the real estate market.

If you explored Twitter recently, you’d get the feeling that intergenerational squabbling has reached new heights. In a flurry of contentious posts, the trending “OK boomer” meme has highlighted the divide between millennials and baby boomers. Even cultural icons like William Shatner have joined the fray.

However, despite the often-strained, less-than-cordial relations relations between the two age groups, it is increasingly apparent that both sides agree on at least one thing: Just like their elders, millennials see home ownership as an essential part of the American experience.

Millennials Want to Buy Homes

Like any market, real estate is driven by supply and demand, and demand is strong among millennials. One 2018 study found that a whopping 9 out of 10 millennials are interested in purchasing a home. The same study showed that those millennials intend to act on that interest, albeit with some variance in their expected timelines.

Of millennials who plan to buy a home, just 4% expect to buy in the next year, while a whopping 85% want to buy at some point in the next 2 or more years. If economic conditions allow, we can expect to see many more homeowning millennials in the years to come.

The important question is whether millennials will be able to afford to buy the homes they so desperately desire. Despite 2019 seeing slower growth in real estate markets nationwide, making a competitive offer to buy a home is still out of reach for many younger buyers.

Recession: A Coming of Age Story

The Pew Research Center defines millennials as the population born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 38 in 2019). When the global financial crisis hit in 2007, younger millennials were in middle school, high school and college, and the older half were young professionals just beginning to build their careers. The difficult economic conditions in which millennials came of age have had lasting effects on their long-term earning potential and their overall economic outlook.

Millennials had a front row seat to the havoc wreaked by subprime loans, unscrupulous lenders, overextended borrowers and unchecked debt markets. Many parents of millennials struggled financially in the years that followed, and some lost their homes. With firsthand experience of the dangers of debt, it seems that millennials have vowed not to suffer a similar fate.

For example, credit card debt among millennials is significantly lower than that of previous generations. Millennials average $3,403 of credit card debt, baby boomers average $5,603, and gen-Xers average $6,752. Millennials also hold less mortgages and car loans. What millennials do have, though, are student loans—and boy do they ever: millennials hold an average of 182% more student debt than their college graduate counterparts in 1995.

In short, millennials are cautious. But while they remain wary of overextending themselves, that won’t stop them from buying their slice of the American dream. In fact, millennials already make up the largest proportion of the home-buying market.

How I Met Your Realtor®

Spending habits aren’t the only way in which millennials differ from their predecessors. In the same way that dating apps have digitized the world of romance, the internet and real estate apps are poised to revamp the traditional home buying experience.

The days of the Yellow Pages and lookie-loo buyers are fading into obscurity, replaced by a savvy and well-researched consumer base. According to the National Association of Realtors®, at least 81% of millennials who already own a home found their property through a mobile app. Millennial buyers tend to know what they want, and that includes fast and attentive service.

Millennials also want different types of homes than previous generations. They are trending away from 20th century McMansions, instead preferring smaller, more manageable properties. They are seeking features and amenities that suit their lifestyles, from pet-friendly yards to space for organic gardens. Millennials may prefer cozy locations within walking distance of local shops and nightlife, in lieu of a sprawling estate on the edge of town. From the way that millennials meet their agent, to the way they choose their home, technology and the internet age are pressuring the industry to adapt.

A Guiding Hand

At the end of the day, partnering with a veteran agent for expert guidance and tailored service is still key to buyer success. The home buying and selling process is sure to change further as young blood enters the market and new technologies arise. Those real estate agents who do not provide sufficient value to their clients will fall by the wayside. On the other hand, agents who leverage their market insight, their local connections, and their dedicated role as trusted advisers, will find continued success.

Whether you’re a first-time buyer looking to start building equity instead of throwing away rent each month, or if you’re a seasoned homeowner looking to make a move, we have the experience to help you succeed and the track record to back it up.

At the Stavros Group, we always aim to provide value to our clients buying and selling real estate in Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Corona del Mar and beyond. To get our clients to best terms, the best offers, and the best opportunities. We dedicate our waking hours to help guide you through one of the biggest decisions of your life, because it’s what we love to do. Don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know how we can help!

Three Nasty Surprises During Home Renovations

If you’ve remodeled or renovated a home (or seen it happen on TV), then you’re likely well aware that surprises are to be expected. While a home inspection at the time of sale should catch the obvious issues, some problems may fester deep within your walls or simply pop up throughout the proceeding years of use.

Granted, not every surprise during home renovations is the end of the world. You may, for instance, discover a trove of cash buried beneath your floorboards, or a long-lost love letter to a former resident. But such discoveries do not occur nearly as frequently as finding out that something else needs fixing and your budget just took a hit.

To prepare you for your own future renovations and remodels, we’ve outlined three of the most common and most aggravating surprises which you may encounter along the way. Starting off with…

Water Damage

The bane of any homeowner, water damage is always insidious, often silent and unnoticed, and potentially catastrophic. Within minutes, water can seep into your structure and begin to cause significant harm to any wet-sensitive materials. Walls begin to stain and blister, and wood floors may warp beyond repair. Within days, harmful mold and microbes begin to grow. Eventually, mold may become so prevalent that residents must be evacuated due to unsafe conditions.

Left unchecked, water damage may harm your home’s structural integrity and spread hazardous mold so extensively that entire portions must be torn down and rebuilt. While your homeowners insurance will typically cover these repairs, you are still potentially out of your home for weeks in the meantime. Not to mention the headache of dealing with insurance and contractors in an already stressful situation.

To prevent water damage, stay on top of your home maintenance both inside and outside. Clean your gutters and maintain trees and foliage with deep roots which might break a pipe. Check appliances for leaks, and if you spot any sign of water damage be sure to act quickly. The sooner you can stop the incursion of water where it shouldn’t be, the less damage your home will sustain. And if you discover mold and water damage during renovations, at least count yourself lucky that you discovered it when you did! While you’re at it, consider replacing any old galvanized plumbing with newer PVC or copper pipes.

Unsafe Materials

Back in the day, our walls were decorated with lead paint and insulated with asbestos. Only later did we come to know that these materials were entirely unfit to be used in our homes. Nowadays, safer materials are used, but many homes built at least several decades ago are still rife with these dangerous substances.

Left alone, asbestos and lead won’t cause you much grief. However, renovations which disturb these hazardous materials can spread dangerous dust and powder all over your home. Therefore, before starting any major home renovations, be sure that you know what you’re cutting into.

You can test for lead paint on your own using a home test kit such as these. To test for asbestos, you’ll need to contact a professional abatement service. If they discover problems, abatement service will run you roughly $75-200 an hour, according to HomeAdvisor. Lead abatement may cost you as little as $100 or as much as $20,000, depending on the size and scope of your project. Nevertheless, the price is well worth it for the safety of your family and guests.

Dangerous Wiring

Your home’s electrical wiring is hidden behind its walls, so these issues are often discovered in the midst of renovations. Common electrical hazards include defective or exposed wires, outlets close to water, old or corroded insulation, and outdated electrical design. The older your home, the more likely that its electrical grid is unsafe.

Like water damage, it is certainly a pain to discover electrical issues after you begin renovations, but you can at least be thankful that you’ve discovered them at all. Poor electrical wiring poses a significant fire hazard, and upgrading outdated systems means a safer home for you and your loved ones.

Installing new electrical wiring can be a tedious and costly process because it is all behind your walls. That makes renovations the perfect time to upgrade your electrical systems. While you’re at it, you can install new smart home features like a smart thermostat or lighting controls. Take advantage of the work you’re already planning to make your home more safe and more modern!

Get Help You Can Trust

The issues covered above are just three of the many surprises you may encounter during a home remodel or renovation. Most important of all, remember to add some breathing room in your budget to deal with unforeseen problems, and make sure that you trust your hired help.

As long-time local real estate agents, we are well acquainted with excellent and trustworthy services in your area, and we’d be happy to connect you with the help that you need. Let us know your plans – we always love to chat about real estate!

Some of the Most Unique Homes in America

Have you ever walked through an open house or a showing and seen a uniquely odd, custom feature to a home that made you scratch your head? Although the homes we list are some of the most beautiful properties we’ve ever seen, we have still seen our fair share of atypical custom additions. With this in mind, we thought it’d be fun to take a departure from the pristine luxury homes we typically present, to venture through some of the most eccentric and sometimes, flat out bizarre, architecturally designed homes across America. These unique homes are truly one of a kind!

Smith Mansion – Cody, Wyoming

Located in the beautiful Wapiti Valley, Smith Mansion is the former home of builder and engineer Lee Smith, who became enthralled with his building project after starting to build a home for his wife and children using locally gathered logs and wood. After completing the base of the home, he got inspired and continued to add on extra floors and balconies. Fed up with how much time and energy he was putting into the construction of the house, Smith’s wife divorced him. This, however, only fueled him to keep adding more layers of staircases and scenic terraces. Tragically, Smith fell to his death while working on one of the upper balconies. The Smith Mansion has since sat empty, collecting myths and legends about ghosts and madmen. However, Smith’s daughter, Sunny Smith Larsen, has begun a preservation campaign for the site in hopes of keeping her father’s creation from being destroyed.

Sculptured House – Golden, Colorado

Sitting on the top of Genessee Mountain, the Sculptured House was built in 1963 by architect Charles Deaton and is often called “the Flying Saucer House” or “the Spaceship House.” The futuristic, modern movement style home has appeared in a number of movies, TV shows, and photoshoots. It was most famously featured in Woody Allen’s science-fiction comedy, Sleeper. Deaton ran out of money while working on the home, so the interior is less interesting than the exterior. It remained unlived in until 1999 when the home was purchased by entrepreneur John Huggins, who worked alongside Deaton’s daughter to finish the interior. Today, the house is not lived in, however, hosts private events on occasion.

House on the Rock – Spring Green, Wisconsin

During the 1940s, a man named Alex Jordan decided to build a house on Deer Shelter Rock, a sandstone formation within the scenic Wyoming Valley, after discovering a 60-foot chimney of rock. Jordan built the house as a weekend retreat, never intending it to be a tourist attraction. Peoples’ curiosity peaked as they caught wind of his construction and began visiting in order to see this architectural innovation. However, people kept coming to see the architectural wonder they had heard about. What started as a 14-room house, has turned into a complex of many buildings, exhibits and garden displays. It is said it can talk multiple hours to walk through the entire property, and there is so much to see, it can’t be done in one day. In December of 1988, Alex sold The House on the Rock to longtime associate Art Donaldson, a collector and a businessman, who continues to build on Alex’s dream of expanding and entertaining visitors from all over the world.

The Mushroom House – Perinton, NY

Located in the town of Perinton, NY, The Mushroom House (also called The Pod House) is a retro-modern designed home, which was fashioned after Queen Anne’s Lace. The notable design has been featured on TV and in books due to its whimsical appearance. The house was constructed for attorney-artist couple Robert and Marguerite Antell between 1969 and 1972 and was designated a town landmark in 1989. The unique structure sits in a wooded ravine adjacent to Powder Mills Park. The unusual design of the house features four 80-ton pods which rest on reinforced concrete stems. The larger pods spread out into smaller pods, which serve as the typical living spaces. With the exterior of the home being made of concrete, it is very soundproof. This one of a kind property is actually available for rent for $6,000/mo if it happens to call to you!

The Pavilion/Mushroom House – La Jolla, California

Located within the cliffs of Black’s Beach, this uniquely shaped home was designed and built in the 1960s by architect Dal Naegle for General Mills heir Sam Bell to serve as the guest home to the main house that is located at the top of the beach’s cliff. A 300-foot tram running down the side of the cliffs links the two properties. Originally called the Pavilion, the structure was built to withstand not only naturally occurring rock slides, earthquakes and waves, but also teenagers! It was purposely built on a remote section of the beach so as to avoid any disruptions. Now, more commonly coined The Mushroom House, the house was last said to be owned by UC San Diego, for use as a place for professors and administrators to take a sabbatical.

Flintstone House – Hillsborough, California

In 1976, the Bay Area architect William Nicholson built this unique 2,700-square-foot home using a building technique known as monolithic dome construction. Throughout the years, the home was updated a bit, with the exterior ultimately painted red, purple and orange. This led to it being dubbed “The Flintstone House” after the famous cartoon. The new owner has gone even further, as after purchasing the house for $2.8 million in 2017, Florence Fang decided to install 15-foot dinosaur statues; a giant metal woolly mammoth and giraffe; a garden of colorful, oversize mushrooms; and a rainbow and peacock sculpture. She has now found herself in a legal battle with the town of Hillsborough, who wants her to remove the animal statues, as they pose as ‘eyesores’. I guess her neighbors think it’s a “Yabba-dabba-DON’T”.

What do you think? Do you find these properties creatively cool or gratuitously obscure? While we assume most of you out there aren’t actively looking for a mushroom house or a property replicating your favorite cartoon, we do know everyone has their individualized needs and desires when it comes to buying a home. We are confident that we can find the perfect marriage of your unique tastes and what the current market offers to place you in your own unique home. If you’re looking to buy or sell, we’ll hope you’ll think of us!