Client's Corner • December 15, 2024

Should We Meet This Month?

by Darren Upp

Go to my calendar and schedule a time that is convenient for you!

Just CLICK here –> Chat with Darren

What an amazing year it was for most! Particularly in the real estate world, we experienced another 8 or 9 months of unmatched growth and appreciation followed by a few months of slow down late in the year.

This is the time of year to enjoy the Holidays, spend time with family and reflect on the best things that happened for you this year. While all of us also hit some bumps in the road, we certainly had several blessings as well.

I’ve noticed that for this year, several of my clients have a new house at the top of their list for New Year’s Resolutions. Why? Because the market is starting to shift right now and for many, if they don’t make the move now, they may need to commit to another 8 years in their current residence. As is customary, we tend to see 4 or 5 years of lowering prices, followed by 4 or 5 years of recovery to get back to where we were to begin with. Right now, we appear to be at or just past the PEAK in home values.

The truth is, a move may be right for some families and not for others. It’s wise to sit down with us for 15 minutes or so to discuss the pro’s and con’s of each option. Many times, I find that it may be best to sit and ride it out for 8 or 10 years until prices recover. Other times, you may want to move to a home right now that better fits your needs. Your ultimate decision may come down to your current mortgage amount, where you plan to move, if you are moving to a higher priced or lower priced home and much more. I offer a totally free sit-down meeting with all of my real estate clients where they can get all the answers they need to make an educated decision. Most importantly, they know it will be a non-threatening and zero pressure meeting just to gain the knowledge you need to decide if now is the right time. I know that we’ll work together again whenever the time comes so we need to see if that should be sooner or later due to the market changes happening right now. I always want you to do what’s best for your family’s needs and your financial situation.

I always find that the month of December has me going out to meet with dozens of my inactive clients just to look at a real estate status check, see what their neighborhood values have been doing and to determine if they are in the right spot based on predictions of where the market may be going.

Some of our clients are interested in picking up a rental property or two. Others are looking for a possible condo in a vacation area within another state. Regardless of what the need is, we have connections to make it happen and can talk you through the “good and bad” to determine if it really makes sense for you to move forward on it.

With me being in real estate, I truly let my Holiday’s be a HoliDAY, not a HoliWEEK or HoliMONTH! We have to keep working!

I find myself going on lots of appointments meeting with my inactive real estate clients just to touch base with the family, see how they’ve been doing, any upgrades they’ve done to their home and to chat about the real estate market.

If you’d like to have a phone or a face-to-face meeting with no cost or obligation at all, just give me a text or call. That’s what I’m here for and I’m always happy to hear from you!

Sellers • December 11, 2024

Selling Your Home During Winter

by Darren Upp

Most people want to shy away from selling their homes in the winter, whether it be from the cold, the holiday craziness, or because they simply think that their home won’t sell for enough money. Although, winter may not be the most popular time to sell a home, this does not mean you need to wait for it to warm up to list your property. With some hard work and a good strategy, you can make your home stand out to potential buyers.

There are many reasons why you shouldn’t have to wait until Spring to list your home, as well as tips and tricks to make the process easier. One good thing about winter, is that it brings out serious buyers. Not everyone looking at houses intends to make a purchase immediately. Some people are contemplating moving and may just want to see what’s on the market. Since more homes tend to go up for sale in the spring and fall, that is when the window shoppers are likely to be out looking. However, the cooler weather & the crazy holiday season makes the “window shoppers” scarce.

Another good reason to sell your home in the winter is because the competition is less fierce. Spring is the most popular home-selling season, which makes the housing market crowded with options. But in the Winter, there are fewer homes for sale, therefore the competition over low inventory can make winter an ideal time to sell your home. The end of the year also brings about year-end financial bonuses and payouts. As a seller, year-end performance reviews could mean that people have more money to spend on a home. Selling your home in the winter might seem like a lot of work, but there are plenty of ways to smooth out the process. Light a fire and decorate for the holidays to make your home seem more inviting.

Don’t forget to keep the exterior clean of any ice or rubbish and try to show your home during day time so potential buyers can see the house in the best light. The biggest tip of all would be to price your home right. The competition for selling a home may be less due to the winter season but this does not mean you should price your home excessively high. Last but not least, make your marketing material count so you can get your house SOLD. We can handle all of that. Don’t be afraid to put you home on the market this winter. You might be surprised how easy selling with less competition can be and the profit margins can be MUCH greater!

Uncategorized • November 21, 2024

Tips to Make the Holiday Season Easier

by Darren Upp

Summer flew by, Halloween came and went, and before we knew it, we are prepping for the upcoming holiday season. As magical as the holidays are, with friends and loved ones coming together, it’s also a time of stress and never-ending to-do lists. There are plenty of things you can do to keep you and your families sane during the last two months of the year!

Keep yourself in check with lists. Instead of a last-minute dash to the store for gifts or last forgotten ingredients, start now by making thorough lists. Write out the names of those you want to acknowledge during the holidays and why—figuring out what you really appreciate about someone can make gift buying easier.

Stay on schedule. As much as you possibly can, try to stick with your normal routine during the holidays. Don’t stay out at late at holiday parties. Don’t pull an all-nighter wrapping presents or baking pies for Thanksgiving. Disrupting your schedule and losing out on sleep can make your mood deteriorate.

Do something different. This year, does the prospect of the usual routine fill you with holiday dread rather than holiday joy? If so, don’t surrender to it. Try something different. Have Thanksgiving at a restaurant. Spend Christmas day at the movie theater. Donate gifts instead of keeping them.

Keep your expectations modest. Don’t get hung up on what the holidays are supposed to be like and how you’re supposed to feel. If you’re comparing your holidays to some abstract greeting card ideal, they’ll always come up short.

Make room for those that matter most. It’s easy to feel the weight of social obligations during the holidays. We can get caught up in a fear of pleasing others and do what seems “right”. If you can’t make your boss’ party, maybe you can take him out for coffee or get a small gift instead.

As with everything, if you stay present in the moment and appreciate the experience, you won’t be overwhelmed with too much stress this holiday season.

Uncategorized • November 20, 2024

The Market Is Starting To SLOW!

by Darren Upp

If you’ve been watching the local news lately, you’ve likely seen that the real estate market is starting to slow. More accurately, I’d refer to it as a more “normalized” market as we’ve been red hot for years.

The truth is that we are just a few months short of having the longest economic recovery in American history. In turn, that means we are overdue for our next change in cycle.

We know that real estate generally goes in 4 to 6 year cycles so nearly every time there’s 6 years of appreciation, there’s 6 years of depreciation. Just recently, home values finally got back to the 2008 peak values and though they went a touch higher than that, we are starting a possible downward trend again. This is normal and expected.

This is nothing to be nervous about. It happens all the time. There’s no need to ever be “fearful” about the real estate market as they are simple cycles that we go through over and over.

It’s a mistake to believe that real estate is always going up or that your home will be worth more money in two years than it is right now. As a matter of fact, as of today’s date, you are nearly guaranteed to have a home worth LESS money in two years than it’s worth today.

This doesn’t mean you should move or that you should make any drastic changes at all. Frankly, you may want to stay put for a while. But it’s important to be an educated and knowledgeable homeowner that times that market correctly if you ever need to make a move up or down in value.

Let’s look at an example. We met homeowners back in 2008 that were thinking of selling but decided to wait another year or two before making the move. Of course, the home value was FAR lower and ended up being slashed by nearly 50% before it was all over. Now that’s not a problem at all if you decide to stay where you are. Just like stocks, you lose money if you sell low and can’t wait on a bounce back or recovery. But if that owner wanted to get that 2008 value when they sold, they had to wait until 2016 or 2017 to get back to that number. That was 4 years of depreciation and then 4 years of recovery to finally get back to the peak price.

If you look at the real estate history throughout all of the United States, you’ll generally see 4 to 5 years heading down, then 4 to 5 years heading up. That’s fairly normal. But you should know that if we are in fact at a PEAK IN VALUE, it may be 2026 or 2028 before we reach today’s values again (as history often repeats itself).

Again, this is only a problem if you are looking to possibly move somewhere within those middle years as you may take a hit on home value. But remember, this is just an example of what MAY happen in the real estate market. While many things can be predictive, they certainly aren’t guaranteed. Even though we are in the middle of what may be the longest economic recovery in American history, there’s a chance that upward trend may continue. However, the slowing of the real estate market is an indication that it may continue along that depreciating path.

I’m more than happy to speak with you about different options for you and your family. Simply give me a call and we can discuss your thoughts!

General Info • October 18, 2024

Volunteering In Our Community

by Darren Upp

Fall has arrived and we are nearing the Holidays quickly. You’ve undoubtedly noticed that everything is now flavored with “Pumpkin Spice” and the tastes, smells and sights are getting everyone into the Holiday spirit.

Inside my real estate business, I’m involved with a Mastermind Group of agents all over the country that try to give back to our individual communities as much as possible. Especially around Thanksgiving time, we’ve always looked at this as a time to reflect on how fortunate we are, what great families we all have and the love we should embrace for our fellow neighbors.

Unfortunately, we still have poverty in America. As a matter of fact, we have it right here in our area. This Thanksgiving, there will be families as well as single Mom’s and single Dad’s that can’t provide a bountiful feast for their loved ones. As you can imagine, nothing could be more disheartening or humiliating for the provider of a family, so we try to help out wherever possible.

Happiness, love and gratitude are things that are extremely important to me here in our community. I would encourage anyone that wants to create good will, good feelings and good examples for your children to just find a family or two that could use a little bit of cheer and help them out with a big family dinner or anything else that may be of assistance.

We’ve found these families by checking with local churches & charities, food banks and even running a few ads online to ensure we find good families that are simply down on their luck.

If you’d like to talk about this a little more, simply give me a call. Otherwise, help out anywhere you can!

Building Wealth • October 10, 2024

This Won’t Last Forever

by Darren Upp

I’ve been very happy to see that over the past few years, the mortgage lending guidelines have relaxed a good bit which makes homeownership more achievable for a larger number of people.

With those more normalized guidelines, also comes opportunity for those that are interested to break into the investing world with very little cash out of pocket.

We all know that nearly ALL massively successful and wealthy people have given credit to real estate for a large percentage of their empire. It seems that every time you read an article about a multi-millionaire, they’ll talk about how they started with just one or two rental properties and leveraged off of that to generate a huge portfolio of properties and millions of dollars. I’m sure you’ve seen those articles yourself.

The problem is that it can be scary if you are venturing into something you’ve never done before. After all, you certainly don’t want to make a mistake or get into something that costs you money.

That’s why you use a professional advisor! As a licensed real estate pro, we look at these things all day – every day. We’ve worked with new investors as well as seasoned pro’s so we know what makes the most sense and how to get started in the right direction. One thing I’ve always leaned on when discussing real estate investments is that absolutely EVERY SINGLE ONE of the wealthy individuals I’ve spoken to or learned from said that the one regret they have is that they didn’t start earlier. All of them let fear stand in the way of them acquiring their first transaction.

Many times, I hear that people simply didn’t realize that investments were so attainable. They thought that they’d need a huge down payment and a 750 credit score or some other unknown requirements that would keep them from qualifying. That’s not the case.

Lending guidelines change all the time, but it’s always been exciting to me to see that someone can acquire an investment property with a minimal down payment and nearly “average” credit. Best of all, they can earn a positive cash flow each month to give them some extra money but in the meantime, that tenant is buying down the mortgage so that you’ll eventually own that home free and clear!

We’ve heard from some families that are just looking to acquire a couple of rental houses so that they can leave something for their children once they pass on several years (hopefully decades!) down the road. It’s a nice little surprise for your children to find out that you left a house to them that’s owned free and clear and is consistently bringing in a large rental check every month!

Fortunately, these are things that can be done in a far away distant area and they require NONE of your own labor or time. Remember, it’s always smarter to use a property manager so you never have to lift a finger.

Let the professionals handle it and you just cash the checks each month while watching your equity position grow!

My job is to help your family in making smart moves in real estate. Want to chat about it?

Homeowner Tips • September 12, 2024

To Improve or Not To Improve

by Darren Upp

One of the biggest common misconceptions when it comes to your home is that all improvements will give you the value back and then some.

This is TOTALLY untrue.

I’ve met with homeowners that believe their home is worth $4,000 more than the others because they just replaced the air conditioner. No, your home is worth exactly as much as the others because it now has a working air conditioner. You’ve simply brought it up to par. Nobody would buy it at all when it wasn’t working and the only reason you replaced it is because it was broken or near broken.

It’s ridiculous to think I would get $6,000 more for my used car because the engine blew up and I spent $6,000 on a new one. No, now it’s worth the same as everyone else’s working car of similar specs.

If you spend $5,500 to put a beautiful deck on the back of your home, of course that increases the marketability and it increases the desirability. But that doesn’t mean you’ll get an additional $5,500 for the home. You won’t in most cases.

To be clear, you may get a little bit more money for the house, but you’ll also be getting your own enjoyment while you are living there.

I recently read a story about an owner that spent $13,000 for a privacy fence in his huge backyard and he was shocked to learn when he sold the next Summer that the home would be MUCH more desirable than the others, but he will only get an additional $5,000 for the home based on the beautiful fenced yard.

When you replace a roof or a hot water tank or any other mechanicals in a home, of course that’s an outstanding improvement. They would choose your home over those that have NOT done that improvement. But the fact is, you didn’t replace it to increase the value. You replaced it because the last one was bad, meaning the home was in ill repair. Yes, the buyers would choose yours, but they wouldn’t pay you dollar for dollar as to what you’ve invested.

On the flip side of that coin, most generally you’ll find that nearly ALL cosmetic or minor repairs will pay back huge dividends and may actually pay you back a multiple of what you’ve invested.

You already know that fresh paint and carpet goes a LONG way in creating more value within the home. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one case where they didn’t get their investment back in terms of price and marketability.

The same is usually true for countertops, window repairs, punch-out items and many other minor issues. That’s why we often recommend a pre-market home inspection so you can knock out any minor issues to avoid scaring off the buyer when they have their inspections done.

Be sure you get with me on any improvements so that you can have a bit of professional advice before you pull the trigger on the project. There are two things to look at. One is resale value and the other is your own enjoyment of those items which is really your main goal to begin with, even if you won’t get your investment back. But remember, there are several things you can do to INCREASE the value and get a multiple of what you’ve invested in repairs or upgrades.

Building Wealth • August 15, 2024

Could YOU Really Own A Few Rental Houses?

by Darren Upp

I speak to dozens of area residents that say they’ve always thought about investing in a few rental properties, but they had no idea where to start and more importantly, they don’t want to make a mistake.

We all know that wealth is created every single day through the ownership of rental houses (or an apartment building) and fortunately, these days you don’t need much money for a down payment to get your first investment.

Some people have thought about picking up a couple of houses just to have the extra cash flow each month while the tenants pay off the mortgage for you. Others have goals of getting the home paid off with 100% of the rent money each month so that they’ll have a small real estate portfolio to hand down to their children. You may be interested in the tax benefits, the diversification or even the ability to finally have a REAL passive income.

The one recommendation I always give is to NEVER try to handle it yourself. This is true for the acquisition of the home, as well as the monthly management and rental collection. It’s incredibly cheap to have a professional handle all of this so that all you need to do is look in your bank account and see that the money was deposited every month. Management can be a mess unless you are a professional.

The one thing I hear over and over is “I’ve always had real estate investing in the back of my mind but I’ve never pulled the trigger”. They’ve considered this in their 20’s, in their 30’s and beyond, yet haven’t taken action yet. Heck, if they would’ve bought a couple of properties way back then with a very small down payment, they’d all be paid for by now and you’d have a net worth over a million dollars!

There are many factors that allow you to get into investing these days, you may want to do some research on it. Give me a quick call and let’s chat about ideas.

Homeowner Tips • August 10, 2024

Does Curb Appeal Really Matter THAT Much?

by Darren Upp

You probably have a friend or two that’s working on some upgrades or repairs inside their home this month. It’s very common for us to want to improve the area in which our family lives. Everything from carpet to hardwood to fresh paint and sometimes even room additions or kitchen upgrades.

Many times, these small little additions can make it feel like a new home and can really brighten up the mood each time you walk into the room.

From a real estate value perspective, these upgrades can also increase your equity in the property if done correctly. As you push up the value of your home and make it more marketable, you not only get to enjoy it while you live there, but may also sell it for more money when the time comes to move.

It’s common to fix up the inside, but far too often, I see that people forget about the outside of the home. When you look at this from a resale perspective, you quickly notice that all home buyers shop online and they are generally choosing homes to look at or completely skip altogether simply based on the curb appeal. The picture is EVERYTHING so that front photo really matters.

With you and your family living in the home day to day, it can be a pretty good feeling to just paint the front door a different color or add a little bit of landscaping around the entrance. It gives you a fresh feel each time you come home and it helps you in enjoying the pride of homeownership.

As far as overall home value is concerned, the exterior can mean as much or more than the interior. Since marketability is a key factor in real estate, you want to make sure the curb appeal attracts as many people as possible. If you’ve casually browsed homes for sale online, you’ve undoubtedly skipped the ones with a bad looking front picture while you showed interest in those with a gorgeous snapshot of the front.

When the grass is green, the paint is fresh, the roof looks nice and the landscaping accentuates the home, there is something magnetically attractive about the property. And as you know, more interest in a home can mean more money!

All of my clients deserve to have as much equity as they can possibly create within their home. Even if you have no intentions of EVER making a move, it’s nice to know that your net worth is increased and you have something more valuable for whenever you decide to sell the place or hand it down to a loved one.

Coupling that with the fact that you get more enjoyment out of the property with some fresh digs, it makes home improvements (even basic cosmetics) a fun project to consider.

One key factor to remember is that these repairs, upgrades or improvements should all look professionally done. Nothing is worse than poor work in home repairs. It can be fun to take on a do-it-yourself project but most generally, you are better off getting a few quotes from professionals and getting it done by them. You can sit back and relax while the manual labor is dedicated to someone that loves their craft!

Client's Corner • July 19, 2024

How’s Your Social Media This Summer?

by Darren Upp

Many of my past clients stay in touch with me regularly and with social media exploding on the scene over the past decade or so, it’s never been easier to keep up with what our friends are up to.

Now that Summer is here, many families are considering vacations or staycations and spending some quality time together. When the kids are out of school and the weather is nice, it’s a great time to get back to our roots and enjoy our families in an unfamiliar environment or possibly even safely at home.

Just a few short years ago, it was considered an amenity for hotels, resorts or destinations to have Wi-Fi. Some even offered it at no additional charge and promoted it in all of their marketing. That’s not the case today.

Now, several families are seeking a REAL getaway! They are looking for places where they CAN’T be reached and there’s limited or even no internet connection at all.

It seems weird to see teenagers looking at each other and talking and playing games together like it was in the old days. Some teenagers are uncomfortable because they don’t know what to do with their hands!

Some of these destinations are promoting that there’s no Wi-Fi connections and they assure us that the world won’t end and nobody will die simply because you can’t check your social media or email for two days. I couldn’t agree more!

As I follow several of my clients on their social media page, I’m seeing a trend where rather than them posting what’s going on with their vacation every 26 minutes, they are spending all of their time with their family, then posting their best pictures once they get home and their quality time with their loved ones is finished.

Personally, I’d rather it be this way. I love seeing their “highlight reel” and great comments about the trip they had together.

Since I’ve seen this dozens of times over the past year or so, I’d feel confident in saying the photos look like they are genuinely having more fun together, rather than posing for the pictures that will be posted on social media.

I’m curious from a marketing perspective to see how these destinations and resorts promote themselves when it comes to internet access in the coming years. I’ve wondered if they’ll charge us a premium to block the internet, rather than a premium to access it.

Which would you choose if you were spending a few days on vacation? Internet or no internet? Email me and let me know which you would choose. Maybe we’ll do an informal survey here and I can report everyone’s answer totals back next month!

So shoot me an email and let me know where your DREAM vacation would be and if you had the option, would you accept WiFi or block it?

I know what my option would be as I enjoy the freedom I feel with being “disconnected” from the outside would, but I’m interested in your perspective, thoughts and comments.

I’m giving away a $20 Starbucks card to the best answer!

Should We Meet This Month?

Go to my calendar and schedule a time that is convenient for you!

Just CLICK here –> Chat with Darren

Selling Your Home During Winter

Tips to Make the Holiday Season Easier

The Market Is Starting To SLOW!

Volunteering In Our Community

This Won’t Last Forever

To Improve or Not To Improve

Could YOU Really Own A Few Rental Houses?

Does Curb Appeal Really Matter THAT Much?

How’s Your Social Media This Summer?

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