Pending home sales surged a record 44% in May

Economists polled by Reuters were expecting pending contracts to jump by 18.9% in the US... they were off by a mile!

National pending home sales soared 44% in May after falling 22% in April, according to new data released by the National Association of Realtors—it’s a strong indicator that the worst of the coronavirus recession may be over for the housing market.

May’s gains are the highest month-to-month since the National Association of Realtors started tracking the data in January 2001.

I'm happy to report that I was able to contribute to this recovery by selling a few homes since the start of the pandemic.

I believe this bounce back in the housing sector will lead the way for a broader economic recovery.

Burbank has had 13 property sales so far in the month of May

There were 34 property sales in Burbank for the same dates last year, 5/1/19 - 5/16/19.

The Secret of List Price vs Sale Price

There is no rule on what the list price of your home should be.

You can literally put the list price at $1.

I don't recommend doing that because you will get 1,000 offers and you will have to sort through them all to see who the real buyers are.

What can you do to find out if property tax is included in your monthly mortgage, RIGHT NOW?!

An impound account is an account maintained by the mortgage company to collect insurance and tax payments that are necessary for you to keep your home but are not technically part of the mortgage.

Some lenders require this, other lenders don't.

Check with the lender to see what their policies are before choosing to work with them.

Should I put an offer on a home during the pandemic?

During the stay-at-home order, take advantage of less buyer competition and sellers that are willing to negotiate.

Once the order is lifted, I believe bidding wars will come back and sellers will once again be fully in control.

Get a good deal on a home that listed after 3/20/20

Look at listings that hit the market after the stay-at-home order was put into effect.

Use date 3/20/20 and after.

These home sellers were fully aware when they put their home on the market that the stay-at-home order was in full swing, and they decided to put their home on the market anyway.

This tells me that these homeowners need to sell, are highly motivated, and are ready to negotiate.

If you have been facing bidding wars over the last year... if you are tired of putting in offers over the asking price... now is the time to strike!

Once the order is lifted, I believe the bidding wars will start again and the sellers will be back in full control.

Home prices lower because of the Corona virus?

Some home sellers want to get the deal done and are flexible on their selling price. However, the majority of home sellers are not so flexible.

What I am seeing, based on my own research on the MLS, is that there have been several escrows that have been canceled ever since the stay-at-home order has been issued.

The owners of those homes have either chosen to put their properties back on the market, with the same asking price or have chosen to put their listing on "hold - do not show" status.

Housing data from the National Association of Realtors tend to run about a month behind. Therefore, I expect to get some hard data from them on how today's home prices are currently being affected around May 2020.

Episode 36 of The #AskDanielLosAngeles Show

On this episode, I answer the following four real estate questions:

1) Are home prices lower right now because of the coronavirus pandemic?

2) Should I submit an offer on a home during the pandemic?

3) Will future home prices fall because of the pandemic?

4) What should be my home selling strategy during this pandemic?

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Realtors can show properties again

Residential real estate has now joined the list of essential services during the coronavirus crisis.

Agents can now resume showing property, do property inspections, take listing appointments, etc.

These activities must be done in conformity with current health guidelines. Real estate licensees must follow all CDC and local health mandates.

In addition, no open houses should be held and showings should be done virtually, if at all possible.

90-day pause on your mortgage payments

Four of the five largest banks in the U.S. have agreed to let California residents skip mortgage payments for 90 days if they have lost their jobs or are struggling financially due to the coronavirus pandemic.

JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and U.S. Bancorp, along with about 200 state-chartered banks and credit unions, voluntarily agreed to waive mortgage payments for California residents who are having trouble paying bills because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Bank of America has also agreed to waive payments, but only for 30 days👎.

Your mortgage company will not automatically set you up with this plan. You have to call them to sign up!

Previous owner didn't disclose high noise level. Can I sue?

During your inspection contingency period, take a nighttime drive around the neighborhood of the home you are buying.

If you determine the property is in a noisy area, you may want to consider backing out of the deal using your inspection contingency.

Don't wait to see if there is a lot of noise after you close escrow... it will be too late.

Real Estate is on hold right now

You can still submit an offer on a property right now, but if your offer gets accepted, you can't do any inspections 😕

Check the neighborhood noise level before buying a home

Before buying a home, check out how noisy a neighborhood it is.

During escrow, the seller will give you a disclosure letting you know that some levels of noise may be acceptable to some, and not to others.

They want you to do your own inspections and satisfy yourself that the noise level is not going to bother you.

If you sign that disclosure paperwork, the seller is protected from you coming back and suing them stating that you never told them about the excessive noise levels of the neighborhood.

Episode 35 of The #AskDanielLosAngeles Show

On this episode, I answer the following four real estate questions:

1) Can I sue the previous homeowner if the neighborhood where the home is located in turns out to be very noisy?

2) The buyers for my home want to move in before we close escrow. Should we let them?

3) I need to drill a couple of holes to install a security camera outside my condo door. Do I need to have that approved by the HOA?

4) Is doing a final walk through a requirement?

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3% of sellers have recently canceled their listing

I'm not seeing a panic with home sellers over the #coronavirus.

Only 3% of sellers nationwide have decided to remove their home from the market and cancel their listing.

I bet most of these homeowners that canceled decided to refi at historic lows rather than sell.

I'm sure some canceled over corona fears.

I would assume that during regular times, cancellations hover around the 1% - 2% range. Inventory of for-sale homes is still low, but over the next few weeks, you can take advantage of lower buyer competition over corona fears.