5 Reasons That Real Estate Transactions Fall Apart

Real estate deals fall apart for many different reasons. Here are five of the most common.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

Real estate deals can fall apart for many different reasons. Here are a few of the most common:

1. The deal falls apart pre-contract. If a buyer likes a home a lot but lowballs their first offer, a lot of sellers will decide right then and there that they won’t accept the offer. However, keep in mind that a real estate professional should be able to guide you in making a fair offer.

2. The deal falls apart post-contract. The offer has been accepted at this point, but then maybe the buyer decides they don’t want to buy it anymore. It could be because of something found in the home inspection that you can’t come to an agreement on.

A contingent offer isn’t always acceptable to a seller.

3. Contingencies get in the way. Maybe the buyer is dead-set on selling their current home before buying the new home. A contingent offer isn’t always acceptable to sellers, because a lot of the time, it’s out of our control. If the buyer does have a good chance of closing on their home, you can feel better about it.

4. The buyer is denied financing. This is another automatic deal-killer. Maybe the buyer loses their job, has health issues, or made a large purchase before the loan was finalized. This could all lead to them not being able to get the financing they need.

5. The final inspection. I’ve seen this happen plenty of times before. A buyer will come in to look at a home on the final day before closing and find out that certain repairs were not completed properly or there is a structural issue that is uncovered.

These are just some of the reasons a deal may fall apart. If you have any questions for me about buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What’s in Store for Our Market in 2019?

To get a good sense of where our market is headed in 2019, I’ve made a slideshow presentation with all the latest numbers and trends.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

What’s in store for buyers and sellers for the rest of 2019? In the video above, I’ve provided a comprehensive slideshow presentation with all the most important numbers to answer that question.

For your convenience, I’ve also provided timestamps of the presentation so you can skip ahead to the section(s) that interest you the most:

2019 Economic Forecast

• 0:35 - The two things Realtors have been praying for 
• 0:45 - Why our economy is our biggest strength 
• 1:05 - Employment numbers and consumer confidence figures 
• 1:18 - Inflation remains low  
• 1:21 - The numbers from our 2018 financial markets 
• 1:33 - Interest rate fluctuations and their impact on affordability 
• 2:17 - Projected home price appreciation moving forward in 2019 
• 2:29 - The difference in net worth between renters and homeowners aged 65+

The California Housing Market

• 2:45 - Sales numbers and our rate of price growth from August 2017 to August 2018 
• 3:06 - The peak price months of SoCal counties compared to August 2018 
• 3:22 - Our growing rate of inventory 
• 3:37 - Sales vs. active listings growth in different price ranges 
• 3:41 - The average days on market from 2005 to 2018 
• 3:45 - The number of listings with price reductions from 2010 to 2018 
• 3:48 - Affordability for repeat buyers and first-time buyers 
• 3:56 - Our share of international buyers  
• 4:04 - The average length of time homeowners are owning homes 
• 4:16 - The percentage of homeowners who choose renovating instead of buying 
• 4:25 - The percentage of sellers moving out of California and where they’re moving to

Our 2019 Market Forecast

• 4:50 - U.S. economic outlook 
• 5:12 - California housing market outlook

As always, if you have any questions about this or any other real estate topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.

4 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Fear a Market Crash

Here’s why you shouldn’t be afraid of a market crash.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

Here are the four reasons why you shouldn’t fear a market crash:

1. The economy is getting better. During the market crash of 2008, we found most homes were overleveraged, there was uncertainty in the market, and discounts were causing some neighborhoods to lower too far in price. There were 541,000 foreclosures. Now, we only have 216,000 foreclosures nationally—this may sound like a lot, but foreclosures are unavoidable, and we’ve more than halved the number.

2. Most homeowners now have equity. During the crash, people were taking out enormous amounts of equity for refinancing. In 2000, we only had $26 billion worth of refinances, but the crash saw over $321 billion worth. As of the third quarter of 2018, we only have about $38 billion. People are being more wary of refinancing and banks are having stricter policies.

These factors have greatly lowered the chances of experiencing a market crash.

3. Lending standards have changed. Since the crash, banks and the government have put tighter restrictions on how lending is to be done. NINJA loans (no income, no job or assets) have been pretty much eliminated.

4. Affordability has improved. Between 1985 and 2000, the monthly mortgage payment percentage was at 21%. In 2006, it hit 25.4%. Now, it’s at 17.5%.

These factors have greatly lowered the chances of experiencing a market crash anytime in the near future. If you have any questions or need more information, feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.