Podcast - 6/16/23

I'm Tom.

I'm Jay.

of Jay Day and the Day home team of real estate teams with our weekly real estate podcast on brand new equipment. Jay, I bet we sound great.

We should, this is some high tech stuff that the station has brought in.

It is. It's quite the upgrade. I'm a little intimidated by technology, but it will carry us through any mistake that we make. Evidently the machines are going to clean it up.

Hey, it's like everything else. AI things are just taking over

Unbelievable. I know.

And going to make things a little bit easier.

So what about the real estate industry? Things are moving fast.

Yeah, so a lot of the news lately has been about mortgage rates. So I figured we would sort of chat about not just the mortgage rates, but we do have a low inventory and there's a reason for it, but there's something deeper than all of it. And really it's peoples' needs. And we're going to talk about what we're seeing. For those people that are thinking about selling their house, a lot of them are intimidated because if they're not going to be paying cash for the next property, they're going to have to get a mortgage. And most people have locked in one of those rates between two and 3%. So now if they're looking, they're going to be paying between six and 7%. So that's a big jump. However, the reality is that life happens. And to me, what we're seeing is one of the chief economist, one of the chief economists actually said first time and move up buyers are both active, the latter driven by life changes, divorce, marriage, hired, paying jobs, existing home unsuitable, all those types of things.

Jay:
So we talked about, and a lot of the sellers we're working with right now, it's a relocation situation or the buyers as well. They're relocating to the area. You don't have much of a choice. If you have that opportunity to get the job you've been waiting for, the job you really wanted, you're going to most likely take it. And that's going to involve either buying or selling real estate. So that's something we run into. The next thing is, and we saw this a lot more when the rates were lower, but upgrading. So some people decide they're going to sell because they want to upgrade, they want a home gym, they want accommodations for a sick family member, things like that. So that is another reason we see things happening. Another is downsizing. Some people are just hitting the stage where it's too much to handle, too much yard work, too much house to deal with, so they want to downsize.

Jay:
Another thing we're seeing a lot of, and it's pretty common, is a change in relationship status. Divorce, separation, marriage. And I mean, a lot of people think of it as divorce is a big one. Most people are going to end up selling or if they're separated because living under the same roof, going through a divorce and going through a separation is not an easy process and nobody really wants to do that. But then you have the other side where people are getting married and you're having blended families. So let's say that you had three kids and your new spouse has two. Your house may not have been big enough to handle five children. So there are reasons behind the whole thing with the relationship status. And one of the other big ones is health concerns. We're seeing, just because the real estate market has changed and interest rates are higher, that didn't slow down. People that have mobility issues, challenges, health issues, they need specific living modifications. And I have quite a few people I'm working with now that they're not in that situation, but they're in their early fifties and they said, you know what? I think I'm going to try and just get a house that's a one level. I don't even want a basement. I don't want to have the option for stairs. They're planning long term

Talking about themselves and not their parents.

Yeah, they're talking about themselves. I was just out with them two mornings ago, and it's so rare that we find homes now that don't have basements, that they're just on a slab, but that was one of their requirements. They're like, we do not need a lower level. We don't want it. It's going to be a risk because if we have it, we're probably going to go down there. And also they're like, why are we heating and cooling and area that isn't really needed? It's only two of us. Our kids are all out of the house. They're grown. And like I said, I was shocked because normally it's a older group that we work with that starts looking at that. Not people that are in their fifties, but I get it. They're like, we're just trying to plan. We want to be able to find something that works for us and just settle in.

When you're talking about, say somebody my age and been mowing and trimming and working, doing yard work and plowing and doing everything. And so I think, man, I'm ready for a condo life. Is there a shortage of condos as well as single family homes?

There's just a shortage of everything.

Of everything. I understand.

It really is. And I mean, there are some advantages with the condo life. And the interesting part is a lot of people think the condos are just like apartment buildings. Condo is a type of ownership where you own the inside and the outside walls and everything outside is owned by the association. And for example, there's a community up in Taneytown, Carroll Vista, they have triplexes, they have detached homes, and those are all condo where you don't have to cut the grass. You don't have to deal with shoveling the snow. Nothing

Is, have I heard it right, that when you own a condo, you own everything except past the layer of paint on your drywall

You own the inside. Well,

You own the inside

You own. So you technically, if you have a leak, you are responsible for that

I see. Okay.

Now it becomes a little bit different if the unit above you leaks into your unit. But if you're looking at a, again, they have town homes, they have detached homes that are condo ownership, and those are becoming more and more popular because again, you know, don't have to worry about the roof. You don't have to worry about the siding, you don't have to worry about cutting the grass. You don't have to worry about snow, all of these different things. But if you want, now I say if you want privacy, privacy is a challenge

That's a challenge

Because you're not going to get land.

No

There going to be,

Someone might live above you.

Yeah.

And so you're looking at that

Yeah or like I said, the detached ones, you have a neighbor, but you're not attached to them, but you're pretty close. So there are options out there for people. And we saw a big spike in that about 10 years ago where they were really, really being looked at, and then it slowed down a little bit. There was a whole lot of 55 and up communities that were coming out, and they still exist. And like I said, it's really interesting. There's some other communities that they just launched in Gettysburg that are geared towards the active adult is what they call it.

Well, there's a lot of people aging out, man. There's a lot of people up in that area above 55 right now.

Yeah and from the work you guys, when you moved from your one house to the other, you didn't really lose any yard work except not having to do

As much, not quite as much. Yeah.

But it's

Mean, there's some detail to be done there if you want to take care of it. Your house proud. Absolutely.

Oh yeah. And I know, you know, enjoy the gardening stuff, or at least you appear to enjoy the gardening stuff. It could just be your rest from

I love gardening.

Yeah

I love gardening, hate weeds, love gardening. Yeah.

It gets you to a place. And I'm sure you used to enjoy sitting on the riding mower and zoning out.

Sure. Yeah. No, no. But you know, mother nature wins every time, man.

Oh yeah

Yeah, old man time wins every time. Do we have a home of the week?

We do. I'll give you some details on this. The house of the week is 6958 Meadow Point Terrace. This is a four bedroom home located in the Meadows of Lake Linganore. The property offers a spacious kitchen, a living room area, as well as a bonus room on the main level that can serve as a formal dining room or an office. The fully finished walkout basement includes additional bedroom. There's also an attached two-car garage accessible through a long driveway. One of the highlights of the home is its privacy as it's tucked away from the street. The deck, the back deck provides a serene environment with soothing sound with the nearby stream. The property is also conveniently located, just steps away from the Indian cave walking trail. This home is part of the Lake Linganore community, which offers a wide range of amenities the residents can enjoy. Private beach areas, lakes, walking paths, community pools, playgrounds, all within close proximity, and the backyard of the property backs onto the woods and features that stream I mentioned earlier, making it a picturesque setting for anybody to call home.

I'm Tom.

I'm Jay.

Jay day and the home team of Real estate teams. Our weekly real estate podcast happens every Friday morning. Thank you for listening and tell your friends all about it.