​If you find yourself in a multiple-offer situation as a buyer, here are three tactics you can use to strengthen your offer:

1. Shorten your contingency time frames. When you write your offer, you’ll have three contingencies: the home inspection, appraisal, and loan contingencies. The standard contingency time frame for the physical inspection, for instance, is 17 days, so we recommend shortening this to 10 days (usually the minimum number of days buyers ask for). The standard appraisal contingency time frame is 17 days, so you can shorten this to 14 days—the limit that lenders recommend because they need time to get everything ordered and make their report. The standard loan contingency time frame, meanwhile, is 21 days, so reducing this to 17 days makes a world of difference. It’s always best to ask your lender if they feel they can get you a conditional loan approval within this time frame. 

2. Offer your highest price in your initial offer. Many buyers hesitate to do this because they want to leave room to negotiate, but in a competitive market, sellers don’t always counter all offers. Put your best foot forward right away. This way, even if you don’t get countered, you at least know you offered the most you’re willing to pay. If you do get countered and have already offered your highest price, you can counter back with shortened contingency time frames or an added sum of a couple thousand dollars. 

3. Waive the appraisal contingency altogether. Here you’re stating that even if the property appraises below the price you offer, you're still willing to pay that price. For example, let’s say you offer $950,000 on a house, the appraisal comes in at $900,000, but you decide you don’t want to pay that much over the appraised value. You still have your loan contingency in place, which allows you to cancel because you technically can’t get your loan for 20% down (or however much you plan on putting down) if the house doesn’t appraise for $950,000. This caveat allows you to back out of the offer if you decide that the appraised value is too low. If you decide you still want to buy the home for $950,000, you would then have to bring the additional $50,000 over your down payment and closing costs (based on the $900,000 loan). 

If you have questions about this or any real estate topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to help you. 

If you would’ve told me when this COVID-19 pandemic first hit that, four months later, interest rates would be hovering at historic lows (2.5%) and listed properties would be receiving multiple offers, I would’ve said you were crazy. However, that’s exactly what's happening in our Ventura County real estate market. 

Let’s key in on four specific stats:

1. The sales-to-price ratio (how much homes are listed for versus what they sell for)
2. The average days on market (how long homes are taking to sell)
3. Current inventory
4. The median sales price increase since 2019

Conejo Valley (for homes under $1 million):

• Sales-to-price ratio: 99%
• Median sales price: $850,000 (2.41% increase since 2019)
• Less than one month of inventory
• Average days on market: 37 days

Moorpark/Simi Valley:

• Sales-to-price ratio: 100%
• Median sales price: $655,000 (4.38% increase since 2019)
• Just over one month of inventory
• Average days on market: 40 days

Ventura/Oxnard/Camarillo:

• Sales-to-price ratio: 99%
• Median sales price: $621,000 (5.04% increase since 2019)
• Just shy of one month of inventory
• Average days on market: 42 days

The bottom line: It’s a great time to sell your home. It’s also more important than ever to have your home professionally staged and properly marketed. If you’re a buyer, it’s a great time to lock in a historically low interest rate. The market is extremely competitive, so have your pre-approval ready and make your offer quickly. July was a solid month, and August is looking good too. 

Stay safe out there, and if you have any real estate questions or would like to buy or sell a home, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to help. ​

There are three different types of financing you can use to buy a home:

1. Conventional financing. Many people don’t know that you can use conventional financing and put down as little as 3%. With conventional financing, you’ll have a lower PMI (private mortgage insurance) rate if you put down less than 20%, but you’ll likely have a higher interest rate, so compare financing types before moving forward. It’s a bit more difficult to qualify for this type of financing, so if you have bad credit or a high debt-to-income ratio, this may not be the best option for you. However, if you have great credit and put 20% down, this is often the best financing for you.

​​2. FHA financing. FHA stands for Federal Housing Administration. With this loan, you can buy a home with as little as 3.5% down. This loan is easier to qualify for because you can have a lower credit score and a higher debt-to-income ratio than what you'd need for conventional financing. Typically the interest rate for FHA financing is lower than with conventional financing, but the PMI rate is often a bit higher. If you’re putting down 10% to 19%, your PMI insurance will come off the loan after 10 years.

3. VA loan. You can only qualify for this loan if you or your spouse is a veteran. You can buy a house with this loan for as little as 0% down up to any loan amount. Little known fact: You can get up to a $2 million loan, though you still have to have the income to qualify. This is a wonderful loan, easy to qualify for, they work with lower credit scores, and they allow a much higher debt-to-income ratio.

If you have any further questions about these financing options or real estate in general, reach out via phone or email. We would love to help you.

I’m explaining the three ways you can buy and sell a home simultaneously.

Looking to buy a home? Click here to search for a home.
Looking to sell a home? Click here for a FREE home valuation.

If you need to buy and sell a home at the same time, there are three ways to do it:

The first way is to put your house on the market, secure a buyer, then find a new property you want to buy. This is the typical way people buy and sell simultaneously. However, you may be asking how you’ll guarantee yourself a home to move into once you sell your current house. Well, when your home goes into escrow, we will add that this contract is contingent upon you finding another house to buy. If you don’t end up finding a property you love, your buyer can either wait longer, or they can back out of the deal and you’ll find another buyer. 

The second way to buy and sell at the same time is to find a home you love and want to buy first. You’ll write an offer, and if the seller accepts, they’ll give you a certain time frame in which to sell your current house. Then you’ll put your current property on the market and secure a buyer for it. You’ll end up closing on the same day, then we give a variance for possession so you have time to move out. 

The third way to buy and sell a home is to put your house on the market and sell it, then do a rent-back for 30 to 90 days, or find temporary housing. (A rent-back means you’ll live in the home a little longer, though you no longer own it.) This is one of the most competitive ways to buy and sell because you’ll have cash in hand when making an offer, rather than a seller having to worry about you finding a buyer for your current house.

If you have further questions about buying and selling simultaneously or concerning real estate in general, feel free to give us a call or send an email. We would be happy to help you.

If you have questions about our real estate market, today we have the answers.

Looking to buy a home? Click here to search for a home.
Looking to sell a home? Click here for a FREE home valuation.

Here are our answers to the top three questions we’ve been getting asked about our real estate market:

1. Will the real estate market crash in 2020? 

No, and there are two reasons why. From 2005 to 2008, the years preceding the Great Recession, homeowners refinanced a total of $824 billion in home equity. From 2017 to 2019, they only refinanced $232 billion. It seems that we’ve learned from our previous mistakes, and banks have tightened lending standards and specialized loan modifications to ensure people stay in their homes longer. 

Second, Americans are sitting on a tremendous amount of equity overall. 58.7% of all homeowners have at least 60% equity in their homes, which means they’ll be less likely to walk away from those homes. 

2. How do we ensure your safety when buying or selling a home?

There are four ways we’re protecting buyers and sellers: 

• Virtual meetings. We offer FaceTime and Zoom meetings for all listing and buying consultations.
• Virtual staging and production. This ensures that home sellers still have professional photos to showcase their property’s best features. 
• Virtual 3D tours. A buyer can walk through a house from the comfort and safety of their own home any time they like. 
• Virtual signings. We use DocuSign to limit physical interaction between buyers, sellers, and their agents. 

Additionally, if a buyer wants to see a house in person, we provide them with masks, gloves, and booties so that they protect themselves as well as the homeowner. 

3. How have sales and pricing been affected in our area?

In the 30 days leading up to this video, the volume of sales decreased by 36% year over year, but prices have risen 2.5%. This tells us it’s a great time to buy and sell. For sellers, there’s low competition. For buyers, interest rates are historically low. 

If you have further questions about our market or are thinking of buying or selling, don’t hesitate to reach out to The Buss Lampert Team. We’d love to help you. 

Looking back to 2019, the year in real estate proved to be a near replica of 2018. Virtually the same number of transactions, with 2223 escrows closed, but they sold at the blistering pace of 53 days on market average, ten days lower than 2018. The median price rose again, scampering up 6% to $785,000. This push was largely due to an over 20% year over year sales increase at the $750,000 to $1,500,000 price point. 

We start 2020 with less than a month’s inventory at the below $750,000 price point, ensuring heavy competition among first time buyers. Mortgage rates are tumbling in the first quarter as a result of alarming news headlines both over political challenges and health pandemic scares. After three rate cuts in 2019, the Fed may be reluctant to cut further, but their willingness to do so if necessity dictates, should bode well for buyers, as well as anyone looking to refinance or take out money for home improvements. The SALT deduction cap has not served as a significant deterrent to home ownership in our market, as the statewide housing shortage, is still felt acutely in our community. 

Changes at the state level in how accessory dwelling units will be approved are still being sorted out both in Sacramento and at the local level. Properties with lot sizes and configurations that work well for ADUs will likely become popular sellers over the next few years, both for families with multi-generational members, as well as investors looking to maximize their investment return potential. 

The Conejo Valley itself continues to be a highly desirable community, and with a negligible number of new construction options available, our resale market is expected to continue to see increasing prices, growing at roughly the same rate as last year. The inventory crunch at the lower end of the market shows no sign of easing, and the pace of sales will remain brisk at lower price levels. 

For details on how to help you in your home ownership goals in 2020, whether buying or selling, contact us today!

2019 was an extremely strong year. During the 3rd quarter sales and valuations sagged a bit but by late December we are seeing an upsurge in both prices and sales.