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TRID implementation remakes the home buying process

real estateEarlier this year I informed you about the upcoming Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CPFB) TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule that was to begin in August. The implementation date was moved to October 3rd for a number of reasons, including feedback from the lender community indicating that they needed more time for compliance.

Fast forward to the present, and we are several weeks away from implementation. Overall, lenders are ready to comply with new disclosures and procedures. Realtor® Associations have also been busy getting members up to speed on expected changes and how to cope with potential issues that may arise. However, many are bracing themselves for the initial implementation to see how transactions will be affected.

Some have offered a different perspective on how the initial implementation may happen. For instance, the CFPB requires lenders to provide new disclosures three days prior to closing; however, some lenders may superimpose a longer waiting period (such as five or seven days) so as to ensure their compliance with the new rule. So any delay would tack on those extra days. Additionally, I have been told by loan officers that the 30 to 45 day mortgage closing process will go by the wayside, and that home sale contracts should allow for at least 60 days to go to closing; as well as allowing for flexibility if glitches arise to ensure compliance with the new rule.

The settlement process will be different. Closing documents will no longer emanate from the title company, but instead will be prepared by the lender and sent to the buyer and seller. Closing will occur at least three days later. Lenders are vetting title companies to ensure compliance with the new rule. As a result, an unintended consequence may be that home buyers will not be able to choose their title attorney like they are used to (as provided by RESPA and state law); and will have to choose from a list of lender “approved” title companies. Hopefully the lenders are not steering buyers to title companies where affiliated business arrangements exist, as that is an entirely another issue that the CFPB is pursuing.

If you’ve bought or sold a home in the past, the current contracts may seem somewhat familiar. However, as of October 3rd, new contracts and addenda will be in use to address the new rule; making it a new experience for everyone. If you’re planning a sale or purchase after October 3rd, make sure your agent is familiar with the new contracts and addenda so as to ensure they are managing timelines properly and understand how contingencies are affected.

The lingo will change too. If you’re borrowing money from a lender, you will no longer be a borrower; but instead you’ll be called a “consumer;” and your lender will be referred to as the “creditor.” Your good faith estimate will be a “loan estimate.” The time tested HUD1 with which we are familiar seeing at closing, will no longer be in use; and in its place will be the “closing disclosure” sent to the buyer and seller.   You will no longer look forward to your settlement day, but instead you will look forward to the “consummation.”

If you are planning to be in the market, you can familiarize yourself with expected changes to the buying/selling process by visiting CFPB’s “Know Before You Owe” (consumerfinance.gov/knowbeforeyouowe).

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Copyright © Dan Krell

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Disclaimer. This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Readers should not rely solely on the information contained herein, as it does not purport to be comprehensive or render specific advice. Readers should consult with an attorney regarding local real estate laws and customs as they vary by state and jurisdiction. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.

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Real estate agents, emotional intelligence, and sale price

Can real estate agents with high emotional intelligence get you a higher sale price?

home for saleWhen it comes to selling a home, the prescribed course of action is to set the right listing price and prepare the home to be shown. Real estate gurus proclaim these as the two most important items to making the most money from your home sale. And although these are widely accepted goals to getting your home on the market, recent research may actually counter the conventional wisdom about pricing and staging; while a new line of thinking suggests that you’re choosing the wrong agent too.

Staging, as we know it, has been a staple of home sales for almost forty years. And listing agents almost always discuss it during their listing presentation. Research has already proclaimed that furnished homes sell in less time than vacant homes (see Chien-Chih Peng’s study published in the June 22nd 2004 issue of The Appraisal Journal), but does staging add perceived value to the price? Well, Lane, Seiler, and Seiler (2015. The impact of staging conditions on residential real estate demand. Journal of Housing Research, 24(1), 21-35) conducted the first study to determine the virtues of home staging. Their results suggested that home staging does have some impact on the home buying process, as you might expect; “…we find a neutral wall color and good furnishings do significantly influence a buyer’s perceived livability and overall opinion of the home.” However, the study’s main conclusion was that staging a home does not significantly impact sale price.

If you think that pricing a home is a straight forward process of gathering and extrapolating the latest neighborhood data to your home, think again. There may be more going on in your head than you realize. A recent study by Loveland, Mandel, and Dholakia (2014. Understanding homeowners’ pricing decisions: An investigation of the roles of ownership duration and financial and emotional reference points. Customer Needs and Solutions, 1(3), 225-240) suggested that home sellers make different home pricing decisions based on the length of ownership, anticipation of financial gain, and emotional experiences in the home. It seems that the longer you have owned your home combined with a greater financial gain or positively associated memories, may incline you to over-price your listing and likely maintain a higher price; while those who have a shorter time of ownership combined with less financial gain or bad memories price more reasonably, and are more likely to make larger price adjustments.

So maybe getting the most money for your home comes down to your agent. After all, research confirms that experienced real estate agents sell homes faster and for more money than rookie agents. And yet, subjective conceptions of agent traits may guide you to choose your agent, regardless if your assumptions are valid or erroneous.

Forget savvy, forget aggressiveness, forget connectedness, or any preconceived notion about what personality traits your agent needs. A recent pilot study of licensed real estate agents by Swanson and Zobisch (2014. Emotional intelligence understanding among real estate professionals. Global Journal of Business Research, 8(5), 9-16.) suggested that the key underlying trait for real estate success and financial gain is emotional intelligence (EI). The concept of EI is complex, and is often confused with typical personality traits such as sanguinity or purpose. Rather, EI is the ability to be aware of, and command emotions in oneself and others. Those with EI are thought to be empathetic and able to acknowledge responsibility for actions and emotions. Additionally, those with high EI are likely to better understand and manage others’ motivations – which is fundamental to negotiation.

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Disclaimer. This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Readers should not rely solely on the information contained herein, as it does not purport to be comprehensive or render specific advice. Readers should consult with an attorney regarding local real estate laws and customs as they vary by state and jurisdiction. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.

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Will stock volatility spill into real estate market

houseAfter a few days of steep stock market declines, I, like others, wonder if there will be spill over into the real estate market. Many have forgotten the consequences of the dot-com crash of the late 1990’s, and the brief housing market slowdown that followed in 2000. One thing is certain – there is no consensus from the financial talking heads about the meaning and impact of the equity markets on the economy; some are optimistic, while others caution for rippling effects across other sectors.

MarketWatch’s Steve Goldstein estimated that $1.8 Trillion have been lost in the market over the past week (Households just saw $1.8 trillion in wealth vanish as stocks fall; marketwatch.com, August 24, 2015). And because many rely on their 401k and other equities investments for down payment funds on their home purchase – housing may be impacted. If mortgage rates increase, as anticipated earlier this year, combined with a lack of down payments; home prices could be pressured downward.

In the face of a stock market meltdown, the good news is that the housing market has been gaining momentum, such that existing home sales are as strong as just before the housing decline! According to a National Association of Realtors® (realtor.org) August 20th press release, existing home sales “are at the highest pace since February 2007.” July existing home sales increased 2%; which is the tenth consecutive month showing year-over-year gains. Additionally, median home prices increased 5.6% compared to the same time the previous year.

Pending home sales, a forward looking indicator of homes under contract, have also been strong. An NAR July 29th press release indicated that pending home sales increased 8.2% year-over-year during June; which is the tenth consecutive month for such an increase. Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist, surmised that “Strong price appreciation and an improving economy is finally giving some homeowners the incentive and financial capability to sell and trade up or down…”

Locally, the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors® (gcaar.com) reported that Montgomery County single family home sales increased 13.3% year-over-year during July; while pending home sales increased 13.2% year-over-year. However, July’s median home sale price for Montgomery County single family homes dropped slightly, from $460,000 to $458,000.

An interesting detail is that although home sales continue to increase, the NAR August 20th release reported that some buyer pools are shrinking; first time home buyers, cash buyers, and individual investor buyers have decreased compared to the same time the previous year. In light of this, some are beginning to question the validity of NAR’s recent existing home sales data reporting. In addition to dwindling home buyer pools, ZeroHedge pointed out a data discrepancy between increased home sales and decreased mortgage applications by (rhetorically) asking the NAR, “where are the buyers coming from… and how long is this sustainable?” (Existing Home Sales Extrapolation Surges To Highest Since Feb 2007; zerohedge.com, August 20, 2015).

ZeroHedge alluded to NAR’s history of predictions of strong home sales and rising home prices through 2006. Of course, the NAR announced in 2011 of about five years worth of home sale data revisions, calling it “re-benchmarking.” According to the NAR, “data-drift” was revealed in existing home sales data compiled from MLS boards; that was due to a number of factors, including: double listings, and inconsistencies.

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Disclaimer. This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Readers should not rely solely on the information contained herein, as it does not purport to be comprehensive or render specific advice. Readers should consult with an attorney regarding local real estate laws and customs as they vary by state and jurisdiction. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.

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Homeowners do better than renters

million dollar homes

Many years ago, buying your first home used to be a rite of passage that usually coincided with starting a family. Your first home was not just a place to live; but was considered an investment that was expected to grow and provide a “nest egg” for your later years.

Several generations later, a lot has changed. We view investments differently, and have become amateur number crunchers trying to get the most of our money. But what was once considered a sound long term investment has now been deemed as poor judgment.

Of course to real estate investors, housing is a commodity; they take risks to reap rewards. Short term real estate investors (“flippers”) are often viewed as opportunists, buying homes at a discount and selling at retail value. The flipper’s goal is to have a quick turnaround between the time of acquisition and resale (flip), avoiding as much carrying cost as possible. The risk for the flipper is very high, especially in fickle markets; but the payoff can be very rewarding. It is not unusual for a flipper to lose money on a project because of delays, unexpected costs, and/or poor timing.

Long term real estate investors acquire homes to be used as rental properties, banking on the properties’ appreciation when it comes time to sell. Although the financial reward for this investor is long term, the risk is considered to be leveraged over time as well. However, unexpected costs and loss of rent can make such an investor rethink their plan and cut their losses.

For the rest of us, however; housing may not be such a great investment after all, according to many financial pundits. One such pundit, Morgan Housel (of Motley Fool fame), wrote about his meeting with Robert Shiller (of Case-Shiller fame) to give some telling insight about home values (Why your home is not a good investment; usatoday.com; May 10, 2014). Shiller told Housel that the housing market is “a provider of housing services” and “not a good provider of capital gains.”

According to Shiller, home prices from 1890 to 1990 (adjusted for real inflation) are “virtually unchanged.” Housel further added that home prices between 1890 and 2012, adjusted for real inflation, “went nowhere;” and decreased 10% from 1890 to 1980, when adjusted for real inflation. Shiller even suggested that “real” home prices could decrease over the next 30 years, due to a number of factors including obsolescence and advances in construction techniques.

With all the stats and figures, are those who touted the investment value of long term home ownership – wrong? Not necessarily. The consensus is that home ownership offers stability as well as many other benefits including: a place to live, a place to raise a family, and belonging to a community. These intangibles may be responsible for the research conclusions by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, that indicated there is an association between home ownership and growing wealth; where home owners fared better than renters (Herbert, McCue, and Sanchez-Moyano; Is Homeownership Still an Effective Means of Building Wealth for Low-income and Minority Households? Was it Ever? Joint Center for Housing Studies Harvard University, September 2013).

Is buying a home a bad investment? Housel pointed out that even Robert Shiller owns a home, and (at the time of the interview) indicated he would buy a home if he were in the market.

by Dan Krell
Copyright © 2015

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Disclaimer. This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Readers should not rely solely on the information contained herein, as it does not purport to be comprehensive or render specific advice. Readers should consult with an attorney regarding local real estate laws and customs as they vary by state and jurisdiction. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.

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The shared economy under pressure – localities put the squeeze on Airbnb

real estateAre you interested in cashing in on the “Airbnb” trend? Make sure you are in compliance with local zoning code and other legal requirements.

What started out as a web platform in 2008 to help people advertise their short term rentals during tough economic times, has become what seems to be a glamorous business. Besides becoming a phenomenon of the shared economy, Airbnb has also become vernacular – where the use of “Airbnb” refers to anyone offering a short term rental.

Rooted in the sharing of underutilized resources, the shared economy has become big business. People are creating incomes from sharing their homes, sharing their cars, and even sharing talents and skills one project at a time.

It may have been subtle in its growth, but the shared economy has become substantial. And considering that wage growth has been a letdown since the great recession, and the labor force participation rate is the lowest it has been since 1977 (bls.gov); it’s no accident that the popularity of Airbnb and other components of the shared economy (also known as “peer to peer” economy and is often mentioned in combination with “gig economy” or “online economy”) have become part of our daily lives. As the economy struggled the sharing economy grew; and entrepreneurs have grasped at the opportunity to create the likes of Uber, Fiverr, and Airbnb that established specific internet platforms that bring consumers and sellers together.

And as some blame the shared economy for taking away from traditional businesses, the Airbnb phenomenon has been criticized for adding drag to a struggling housing market (consider that the fourth quarter 2014 home ownership rate is the lowest since 1995) by keeping would be home owners renting. But the reality is that the shared economy has always existed; and expands during times of economic uncertainty (you can look at the growth of boarding homes in the 1930’s during the Great Depression). The growth of shared housing is not necessarily the choice that most would consider a preferred lifestyle, as much as it is a personal response to current economic conditions and opportunities.

And while the popularity of temporary shared housing has become a glamorous trend for some, many are trying to cash in. In addition to renting out empty rooms in their homes, some are even buying homes to be used as short term housing. Today’s boarding home is an alternate option for business-persons and tourists visiting cities where hotel rooms are expensive or in short supply.

Although operating an Airbnb would not necessarily attract protest the likes that Uber has seen, it does have the attention of local governments. Although San Francisco and New York were the first to regulate Airbnb’s, Santa Monica CA has recently implemented some of the toughest regulations on short term rentals. Andrew Bender reported (New Regulations To Wipe Out 80% Of Airbnb Rentals In California’s Santa Monica; forbes.com; June 15, 2015) that the new regulations could wipe out 80% of Santa Monica’s operating Airbnb’s by requiring the owner to: stay in property with renter; obtain a business license; and collect an occupancy tax.

Locally, Montgomery County is also trying to grasp the idea of the Airbnb. Changes to the zoning laws earlier this year prohibit such activity in a home, and yet recently enacted legislation regarding room rental and transient tax provides for taxation of short term rentals in homes.

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Copyright © Dan Krell

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Disclaimer. This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Readers should not rely solely on the information contained herein, as it does not purport to be comprehensive or render specific advice. Readers should consult with an attorney regarding local real estate laws and customs as they vary by state and jurisdiction. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.

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