2011 Rebound: Affordability High, Investors Back

2011 Rebound: Affordability High, Investors Back This article from Realtor Magazine confirms what Cape Cod has already been seeing: bottomed out prices, cash investors, and the re-emergence of spec building.

The Top 10 Signs of Spring. #8: Crushing Disappointment

On Cape Cod when hot, sunny weather shows up unannounced in September, we call it 'Indian Summer'. We grab the shorts out of storage and run down to the beach. But in late February, when we've had but two or three  spring-like days and then get a light dusting of SNOW, we call it blasphemy. Happens every year. Do we ever learn? Noooo. If we took those kinds of thing in stride, what on earth would we have to complain about? We've already grieved the Patriots' humiliating defeat in the playoffs, and the Red Sox are just warming up their let-down game. In February, whining about snow is all we've got!

Top 10 Signs of Spring: #9 Birds!

Holy cowbird! This morning my kids and I were getting ready for the day and we heard a sound we haven't heard in months--birds. There was one call in particular ('fee-bee') that made both my daughter and me stop in our tracks and say 'Spring!'. So for the first half hour at the office today I did not contact clients, work on offers or even make myself a cup of coffee. I went straight to the computer and researched bird calls. Finally, I landed on it: the Black-Capped Chickadee. I never knew that they made any sound but the one that gave them their name. As if they weren't likable enough in their cuteness, now I have another reason to love this little bird. Click on the link below to hear the same beautiful spring song that we did:

Black-capped Chickadee, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Top 10 Signs of Spring: #10 Roadkill

"...Deaaad sku-unk in the middle of the ro-oad..."
I don't know why I remember this as a song from my childhood, or even if there are other lyrics to it. But I do know that when we start to see (and smell) flat black and white (and red, let's be real) pavement pancakes, it means that winter is winding down.
Skunks, which are plentiful here on Cape Cod and all over New England, are very quiet all winter. They don't quite hibernate in the cold winter months, they just kind of take a post-Thanksgiving nap that lasts about til Easter. But as soon as even one warm day hits, they start to get the munchies and even start looking for a date. On this balmy Valentine's Day this spring harbinger was probably doing just that. Poor guy. He may have given his life to do it, but today my smelly speedbump friend also gave me hope.

If You're Fond of Snowdrifts and Salty Roads

Gross. Yuck. Ew. This has been one of the stormiest, sloppiest winters I can remember on Cape Cod. #Tim Kelley, my childhood neighbor and NECN meteorologist, says that this month we're in for a storm about every 5 days or so. (We used to be friends... Although blaming him for bad weather is like blaming me for a bad market, so I guess I'll go easy on him.) 
The buyers who buy this month are either brilliant visionaries or very brave, slogging through slush to see a frigid, dormant beach cottage. It's hard to believe that in 6 months we'll be dancing tippy toe across molten beach parking lots and hermetically sealing potato chips against oppressive, crunch-killing humidity. 
I'm not really complaining, though. The rhythm of the seasons on Cape Cod for better or for worse always keeps our view of other times more rosy. Sure as shootin' there we will be in July, a flaccid compress on our sunburn, waxing poetic about this past winter's crackling fireplace, colossal snowmen and  maniacal runs down the sledding hill. It doesn't get any better than this. 

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No Kidding, Buyers. It's Time.

Prices on the Cape up 9% in six months.

We've all been hearing that now is the time to buy, but still people are holding out waiting for 'the bottom'. Well, folks, the bottom has come and gone. We are now on our way up, as evidenced by the rising of both interest rates selling prices. In six months Cape Cod has gained a half percent in rates and 9% in prices. The Wall Street Journal just named the Cape as one of the Hot Spots for buying vacation homes in 2010.

Let me spell it out for you: A lot of you have been shopping since this summer. If you were looking at a $500k house then, you could have gotten an 80% mortgage for under $2000/mo. Today, that same house is valued at $545k, and if you want that same $2k payment you'll need to come up with about $168k (or 30%). Summer 2011 will bring even more growth.

Don't get me wrong, this is still a very auspicious time to be a buyer. But the low interest rates, low prices and relatively high inventory were all symptoms of an unwell economy. As we recover, the rare opportunities that are in front of you now will fade. Get off that pot.

What do the changing interest rates really mean to ME?

With all the talk of interest rates going up or down and who benefits and who pays, it can be confusing to know how these economic changes affect you as an individual. In real estate here's what it looks like:Let's say you have been looking at houses since this summer and at that time your bank told you that you were pre-qualified for $280,000 on a 30-year mortgage with 20% down at 4.375%. That means that you could spend up to $350,000 on a house. This would give you a monthly payment of about $1400. However, today's 30-year rate is 4.875%, a full half percentage higher than it was in August. To keep the payment the same on a 30-year mortgage at today's rates, your house budget just shrank to $329,000.

If you are the seller with the $350,000 house, it's pretty easy to connect the dots from here. Your house just dropped $21,000 in value. If you want the house to stay marketable, you would be wise to reposition the property so it gets in front of the people who can afford it, or make enough improvements to it so that it is worth the extra $21k. Chances are if your house was on the market for any length of time at $350k, it might have been a little overpriced to begin with. Time is money; don't waste any of it waiting around. If you aren't getting this information from your Realtor, find it somewhere or hire a new agent. There are hard decisions to be made in this market and those decisions should be informed.