The Double Comma Club

The July DMAR Market Trends data was released this week, and there are two notable trends. First, when comparing 2021 to pre-covid 2019, our seasonality is falling back into normal ranges. We have a healthy influx of listings which were up 8 percent, 2 percent more homes went under contract, and there were 7.5 percent more closings when compared to 2019, yet we continue to see three times the price growth. If I return to our current month-over-month or year-over-year and stop there, we are bleeding red. But the real story is in the green. Green month-over-month active listings are eluding to hope that more balance is on its way, yet green double-digit annual closed prices say that balance may not arrive too quickly. The second trend that stuck out is that year-to-date, homes priced over $500,000 are flying off the shelves compared to 2020 and 2019, with more homes at higher prices coming on the market, going under contract, and closing. Year to date 54 percent of all homes sold in the Denver market were over $500,000. In July, that number spiked to 74 percent. Where did all of the under $500,000 priced homes go?  

  Nicole welcomes Tracey Wilson of Investment Property Exchange Services. You can find him at ipx1031.com. Ipx1031 has provided its clients with superior qualified intermediary services for three decades. And each year they assist thousands of clients and their tax and legal advisors by providing proven exchange solutions that best achieve the client's goals of enhancing their business portfolios and preserving equity. But he'll tell you more about that at the beginning of this episode. This is a two-part episode. There is so much to learn. This first one covers the basics you need to know as an agent and as an investor, about a 1031 exchange to avoid capital gains taxes. He will give you guidance, no matter how creative you think you are, he will have solutions and some recommendations to keep you out of hot water with the IRS. Listen to this episode now.

Real estate investments are my favorite topic to talk about, but also my favorite type of loan to help a client with why because in an area where loan officer gets to be creative, often purchasing investment isn't cut and dry. It requires strategy and planning. If you've ever joined me from my building investment empire class in the second Thursday of each month.  And you know, I advocate purchasing a home as a primary, living in it for a year and then doing it all over again. Why? Because when you purchase a home as a primary, you can put as little as 3 to 5% down and that frees up cash when you compare it to purchasing it as investment property, which requires 15 to 25% down. 

Welcome to another episode of the Double Coma Club with your host Nicole Ruth of the Ruth team. The number one lending team in Colorado.  I want to share with you that we just hit another historic low in interest rates.  Really, that's what I'm thinking right now as I'm processing what just happened to the 15-year fixed. Now if you remember, we hit the historic lows 17 times last year into this year on the 30-year fixed. Now the 30-year fixed didn't hit and hold time historic low.  But the 15-year did in fact. It's lower than it was during that entire period of time. It just hit per Freddie Mac, 2.12%. Now Freddie Mac does typically have a point 8% discount on many of its loans as it does a national survey. So 2.12 is the national survey with .8 in discount. So what's point? 

Buyers and sellers are exhausted by the extremes. Nationwide, new listings are up a strong 5.5% year over year and an even more impressive 11% from last month. In the Denver Metro, our new listings were up 6% from last year, and 24% from May. This added 7,826 homes to the Denver market last month, lifting our 2,000 active listings to a less than healthy, but certainly welcome 3,122 at the end of June. That's a 50% lift in one month, although it's still shy of a healthy market. The average active listings for June is 16,098. Days on market is still 4 for both detached and attached.Mortgage purchase applications dropped to a 5 month low. Pending home sales slowed down to a 2% gain from last month's 17% month-over-month increase.

There are certain times in life where change is the best thing that could have ever happened. Sandra Thompson replacing Mark Calabria is one I will celebrate for a long while.  Why? Well, Sandra Thompson gave us all a gift this past week by undoing the FHFA Adverse Market Fee.  This is a huge win for everyone trying to capitalize on the equity they have built up in their homes.  Mark Calabria initiated the Adverse Market Fee in August 2020 stating that there was "additional cost and risk" to FHFA with homeowners taking equity out of their homes.  What he was really doing was increasing capital levels during last year's historic refinance boom.  

Spoiler alert: Your real estate agent will not like this tip - not at all. This is only 4 minutes. Take notes. We don't want t spoil the math or the surprise.

How do you start in your 20's investing in real estate? You start with the first one. It's the toughest. Let's think of money in terms of buckets.Your checking account feeds short term expenses Long term savings outside investments retirement Consider setting up automatic transfers. 1 month of expenses, then the remainder rainy day fund, build this account up first.50% monthly needs housing food - your short-term expenses for living and entertainment.30% rainy day20% retirement investment bucket. To invest in real estate, consider saving $125/month. By the time you graduate college, you can afford to buy a home.People who invest in real estate are 48x's wealthier than those who rent.

  This episode lumps together 4 episodes from the Real Estate Investing playlist on our YouTube channel. Catch these first four short episodes to get started, first with the logic and then to show how even with a modest income you can still build your retirement through real estate. This 17-minute episode includes: Good Buy, or Goodbye? Creative Investing Long Term Investments - Fact vs. Fiction Turning Rental Income into Retirement Income. Be sure to catch part two publishing next week.

Have you doubled your retirement fund this year? No one wants to get to retirement and realize they will run out of money before years. Or if they were honest, they may only have enough saved for a long vacation or small car, but not enough to be secure and continue to live their life as they want. In fact, the median American has only $33,472 saved for retirement. THAT ISN'T ENOUGH Did you know that the average homeowner in America gained $35,000 in appreciation during the last year? Add that to their retirement account and they just doubled their retirement savings. THAT'S the POWER of Real Estate. Join me every Tuesday at 8 am MT on Facebook and Instagram as I go LIVE to discuss opportunities like this. Money may not buy you happiness but it can create opportunities to create a life you love.