Weekend Warrior | August 17 - August 18, 2024

Hey, Hey, Hey Weekend Warriors! 

We got to announce some super fun news heading into the weekend, our branch office is now OPEN in Chandler and we couldn't be more excited to share this new space with our clients and community. We're located right on the corner of Ray and Cooper in Chandler and we'd LOVE for you to stop by - but be sure to let us know you are coming because these days, we are on the GOOOOOO. You know the feeling now that school has started - well, a recent interest rate drop made it feel like the first day of school with lots of people wondering how they can take advantage of that. Last week we were waiting for some new numbers but we've got them now - so read on and find out what this all means for you! And please, please please WHATEVER YOU DO - don't miss signing up for our upcoming events! We've got FREE movies, a volunteer day at the Welcome to America Project, and TWO sessions for all of our families on legacy planning - it is never too early to start ❤️ . We are so lucky to get to do what we do - thank you for letting us be in community you with you - now how can we help? 

Big News with Rates This Week 📊   

Buyers are winning this week with the recent rate drop as we’ve gotten three more folks under contract this week with a handful of offers out for other buyers hoping to take advantage of better terms BEFORE everybody jumps back in. Even sellers who have been cautiously optimistic as they watch their neighbors homes go under contract are hoping to dip their toe back into the market - knowing they’ve got a smaller buyer pool in the 3rd quarter but expecting that to continue to grow as the year goes on. 

Lots of noise hit the industry in regards to the costs associated with buying a house and we’ve had the opportunity to have incredible conversations with our community about how we’re keeping these costs low. Not only have the sellers covered the cost for EVERY ONE of our buyers who have gone under contract since August 1st to have representation from our team, but many of them have also gotten money that they can use towards their title, escrow and lending fees at closing. Ultimately, when a buyer finds a house that they love - our job is to work out two big numbers for them in the negotiations - how much money they’ll need to buy the house up front and how much money they’ll pay monthly to live in the home. We take both of these numbers into account, and get to work. 

As we round out the second week of August, we are feeling the pressure to help our community take advantage of what we know to be a fleeting balanced market - it is not often that we are truly in balance here in Arizona and it is an opportunity we’re not willing to pass up. 

On a $400,000 loan, the rate change of 7.5% to 6.5% from April to August drops the monthly principal and interest payment from $2,797 to $2,528, saving a buyer $269 per month. Combined with a 2/1 rate buy down courtesy of the seller, the buyer pays the equivalent of 4.5%, instead of 5.5%, for the first year, dropping the monthly principal and interest payment to $2,027, saving an additional $501 per month. 

That’s a total of $770 in monthly savings to the buyer as a result of the recent rate change this month and more than half of sales with seller-paid incentives. 

But wait, WHAT IN THE HECK is a 2/1 buy down?

Temporary 2/1 buy downs are contributions by the seller used to supplement 10%-20% of the buyer’s payments for 2 years. They typically cost around 2-2.5% of the loan amount.

We need your help, East Valley! We’ve donated the funds to provide furniture and home baskets to the Welcome to America Project, a Tempe based nonprofit organization, that welcomes resettled refugees with vital resources. We were connected to this organization through our friends at Hands on Greater Phoenix and now we’re asking for your help to put the furniture together and assemble these baskets for the families. 

On September 12th from 10am to 1pm we’ll be getting together so sign up at the link below and let us know if you can make it. It’s amazing what we can do when we get together to make the world a better place. Snag your spot and together we can truly make a difference in our community! 🌎 

What Have You Heard? 

This month we saw big changes in the real estate industry that mostly centered around increased transparency with buyer and seller clients and the requirement to have an employment agreement signed with a buyer’s agent prior to viewing property. Our buyer and seller strategy sessions remain some of the most comprehensive in the industry and we are confident that clients of the Amy Jones Group will continue to be some of the most prepared consumers stepping out in the real estate market. 

Here's a few of the questions we've been asked...

Do we have to sign something before seeing an open house? No, but you do need to have your real estate professional with you. The big change in the industry only requires that you sign an employment agreement with a real estate professional prior to viewing homes so that you know what services that person is providing to you. This is similar to the practice of choosing a real estate professional to sell your home and signing an employment agreement with them that outlines what they will do to sell your home and their fee for service. If you do not have your real estate professional with you at your first visit to a model home for example, however, the builder can choose to NOT let you have any representation which means the builder's agent will be representing the builder and not you. 

I don't know how my agent got paid before, I just thought the seller did it. Will they not do that anymore? Great question, and a big reason why this change came into place. Buyers often did not know how much their real estate professional was paid or how. Now during your buyer strategy session which we do with all of our clients, we will be sure to go over ALL the costs of purchasing a home including the fee for service for all of the professionals involved in helping you get to the finish line - mortgage lender, title and escrow, and real estate - as well as the costs you can expect after closing like your mortgage, HOA, and utilities. We will also go through different strategies for bringing your cost to close and monthly payments down either through seller concessions, lender credits, rate buy downs, or a mixture of a few of these!

We know that change can be hard and news stories can be confusing (and often misinformed) so tell us, what questions do you have? We are working hard to reach out to all of our clients and make sure they understand the news and answer any questions they have about the home buying and selling process. If we haven't sat down yet to chat, shoot us a text and let us know that you've got some burning questions that need answers. We appreciate you and want to be your resource for this or the best pizza place in the area - ALL things real estate and community. 

😲 In Case You Missed It!