False Summit or False Peak? DMAR June 2021

The second half of May seemed to open up a bit. But, sorry, it was a false peak. Less inventory came on the market and more buyers went out looking for it. Inventory was down 6% from last month, and down 14% from last year inventory.

6718 homes went under contract, which was up 17% last month, and up 3% from last year.
Active listings dropped last month. In fact, there was a 20% drop and inventory fell below 2000 homes for sale the second time this year. Listings are spending and average of four days on market.

You have to be ready to pounce, offer 30K over asking, without any contingences and ready to close in 2 weeks.

26% higher close - higher end homes.
23% higher close -medium priced homes.
$700,000 average closed price detached.

We are nowhere near the peak. Same with rates. Rates turned up mid-month.
Inflation jumped 4.2% - the highest in 13 years. Core inflation jumped to 3%. This was the highest monthly gain - EVER. Get the rest of the insights by listening to this 9 minute episode. More false peaks are expected.

8 Steps to Self-Leadership with Ryan Leak

Author, Speaker, Coach Ryan Leak is back! His book, Chasing Failure has been published. 8 steps to learn self-leadership starting now!

We laughed pretty hard and learned so much! Here are the questions covered:

1. What's it like to be around me?
2.  Do you know where you want to go?
     - What's one word you'd use to describe you?
     - What's one word others would use to describe you?
     - What's one word you'd like others to use to describe you?
3. What credit can I give away?
4. What mistakes can I own?
5. How can I get better? 
6. When can I make time to invest in myself. 
7. Whom am I investing in for the future?
8. Who knows who I really am? 

The Lowest Rate Doesn’t Mean Your Lender is Serving You Best

Nicole gives you three examples as to what a creative lender can do for you. Creative is another word for experienced here. When you simply go with the lowest rate without any other thought to the best financial plan for your longer goal, you are selling yourself short and most likely costing you and your family a lot of money. 

Tune in to hear these quick examples.

Fact vs. Fiction - Reverse Mortgages

Gabe Bodner, Reverse Mortgage specialist at The Rueth Team joins Nicole for this episode.

#1 myth: you give up the title of your house with Reverse Mortgage.
Bank or lender takes over the house.

FACT:
You still own the house.

#2 myth: you can no longer pass the house to your heirs.

FACT: 
your heirs can inherit the home, pay off the reverse mortgage and inherit the additional equity above the reverse mortgage.

#3 myth: You're losing equity

FACT: Not losing but USING some of your equity.
Interest is added back to the loan through negative amortization. This does eat away at some of the equity, but based on interest rates on traditional loans, and growth and appreciation, you gain more equity than you are using and saving money on the loan if you need it.

#4 myth: You have to own your home free and clear

FACT: The existing mortgage balance can be absorbed or paid off.

This should be a loan of last resort. 
You have a better probability of financial success by utilizing a reverse mortgage sooner because it's a more efficient use of the equity in retirement.

Can I use a reverse mortgage for purchase OR a refi?
Yes.
If I pull money out for a reverse mortgage are you limited on what you can use it for?
The equity money can be used for anything you want, including acquiring more real estate, paying taxes, gifting, converting an IRA to a ROTH IRA.
The proceeds received are TAX-FREE because it's considered a loan.

Listen to Nicole's happy ending story of how one couple retired and bought two income properties wiping out their mortgage and bringing in steady income.

Some additional information you may find helpful.

Comparison between Home Equity Loan, HELOC, and Reverse Mortgage:

Key Differences
Reverse mortgages, home equity loans, and HELOCs all allow you to convert your home equity into cash. However, they vary in terms of disbursement and repayment, as well as requirements, such as age, equity, credit, and income. Based on these factors, here are the key differences among the three types of loans.

Disbursement
Reverse mortgage: monthly payments, lump-sum payment, line of credit, or some combination of these
Home equity loan: a lump-sum payment
HELOC: as-needed, up to a pre-approved credit limit—comes with a credit or debit card or a checkbook

Repayment
Reverse mortgage (deferred repayment) loans are due as soon as the borrower becomes delinquent on property taxes or insurance or under other certain circumstances.
Home equity loans involve monthly payments made over a set amount of time with a fixed interest rate.
HELOCs involve monthly payments based on the amount borrowed and the current interest rate.

Age and Equity Requirements
Reverse mortgage: must be at least 62 and must own the home outright or have a small mortgage balance
Home equity loan: no age requirement and must have at least 20% equity in the home

HELOC: no age requirement and must have at least 20% equity in the home
Credit and Income Status
Reverse mortgage: no income requirements, but some lenders may check that you can make timely and full payments for ongoing property charges, such as property taxes and insurance
Home equity loan: a good credit score and proof of steady income sufficient to meet all financial obligations
HELOC: a good credit score and proof of steady income sufficient to meet all financial obligations

Tax Advantages
Reverse mortgage: none, until the loan terminates
Home equity loan: for tax years 2018 through 2025, interest-only tax deductible if the money was spent for qualified purposes—to buy, build or substantially improve the taxpayer’s home that secures the loan
HELOC: same as for a home equity loan

Inflation Explained to Understand Why It Changes

Headlines regularly push the topic of inflation. We usually know it's bad if it goes up, but why? What causes the change, and what industries are affected by it that will affect my life? These are questions answered in this episode. 

so what is inflation? We know it can occur in any product or service including need base expenses and want base expenses. We also know that the Federal Reserve Bank monitors the inflation rates.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures what you and I feel at the grocery store, medical care, etc. Inflation rates have moved from 2.5 to 4.16 which is the largest increase since 2008. Food costs are rising twice as fast as pre-COVID. Retail sales are running out of steam after stimulus monies have been spent and sticker shock is settling in. This also pushes interest rates up.

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Earnest Money Guarantee is Your Secret Weapon Against All Cash Offers

Being competitive isn't strategic, it's a must. Competitive offer tactics can include:

• appraisal gap insurance
• short closing timelines
• waiving inspection items
• strong loan approval

Here are some loan approval options to make your offer stand out.

1. Prequalification is the very first and most common step with online and box lenders. This is the bare minimum.
2. Pre-approval submitting the loan documentation to the lender.
3. A pre-approval letter gives the listing agent and seller confidence that what you say you make is what you make, and what you say you have is true.
4. 10 Day Close Earnest money guarantee loan approval through the Rueth Team.
   You can keep shopping, but once approved and no changes to your status, the Rueth Team will guarantee your earnest money.

Sellers want the best experience selling so they can turn around and buy their next home. 

Tune in to this short and helpful episode. Learn more about this offer Nicole covers here >

DMAR May 2021 Taper Tantrums and Equity Cushions

While the economy roars back to life, real estate continues to be judged.
DMAR tells us that 2594 for sale - a lower than low figure. The previous low was 2015 with around 2400. Listen in for this recap.

• The months of inventory is currently  .51 months for detached homes, and detached inventory is currently at .46 months.
• Detached homes' median price is $585,000 in 11 counties, whereas attached are at a $376,660 median in 11 counties.
• With a substantial equity cushion, the Denver Metro area has been able to avoid the dreaded and predicted bubble.
• 2.5% of area homeowners have less than 10% equity, and 1.5% in the same region have negative equity.
• Builders have customers, but because lumber prices up 25%, steel up 160%, sheet goods up 400%, this has put a crimp in their ability to build homes ahead of inventory demands.

How to Build Your Top 25 Brand Advocates

We continue the Agent Ignite session with Dr. Bruce Lund as he helps us master the four-hour workday. Some of what he covers in this session includes knowing the difference between a promoter and an advocate. Understanding the levels of relationships in business: Connectors, climbers, somedays, aspirational, and experts. He has some actionable homework for you too. Get excited! Listen now.

The First 90 Minutes of Your Four Hour Workday - Mind, Body, Heart and 30 for the Spirit

Have you ever heard of the concept, "Eat the frog"? Eat the frog is basically, do the one thing that you really don't want to do first thing in the morning. So for a lot of us that is working out, and so I'm just a big believer. Here is a time system that works for success. Nicole's guest is Dr. Bruce Lund. He's here to get us started on the successful method of a four-hour work day by starting from the moment your feet hit the floor - the first 90 minutes, then going into the next 30 minutes.

Some of the point covered are:

Physical activity of some type, then move into the walk and talks later in the day after a light lunch.

Stimulating the mind by feeding it helpful information from people and resources you admire and trust, market stats you can share that will show you are of value to your followers and clients, inspirational tips, mediations.

Rely on people of influence rather than people of interest to inspire you. Get the ego out of it.

Practicing gratitude for at least 10 minutes a day. This can be making a list, or making a call.

Who is on your call list? Who is in your database? Take care of your time, your hear, body, mind and spirit by thinning out that list and putting them in the correct buckets.  You attracting high-maintenance people that commoditize you? They will ZAP you.

Listen to get the rest of the actionable items to take care of you, and then that will help you increase your success in all corners of your life.

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Strained Denver Housing Inventory, Understanding Headlines, and Cryptocurrency

Here's the quote that impacted me today. Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow." I'm going to get up and I'm going to try again tomorrow. I loved this quote because some days you just feel so beaten down, but I actually love this quote right now from the perspective of the first-time homebuyer. It just really struck out at me because I know we've been working through trying to get those first-time homebuyers under contract. Especially the first-time homebuyers who are FHA or down payment assistance or minimum down, or don't have the money to do the appraisal gaps or put in over asking.

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