How Is the 2017 Market Doing So Far?

How are the Porter Ranch and San Fernando Valley real estate markets doing so far this year? Tune in for our market snapshot to find out. 

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Here is your market snapshot for Porter Ranch and the San Fernando Valley. 

We are two months into 2017 and our housing inventory is very low. Of course, we had low inventory in 2016, but look at these numbers: 

In January of 2017, there were only 47 properties for sale in all of the 91326 area code and only 45 for sale in zip code 91344. We have seen a good number of houses come on the market, but most of those are selling if they are priced appropriately. 

Since the beginning of the year, the number of homes for sale in 91326 has ranged from 35 to 41 out of 11,500 single family units. When you look at how many months of supply are actually on the market across the San Fernando Valley, you’ll see that most neighborhoods have between 1.5 to 2.2 months of inventory, which is really low. 

When you look at the actual number of active listings in the entire San Fernando Valley, you will see that there are about 2,300 properties for sale. In order to have an even market, we need 7,500 homes on the market. 

Homes that are priced correctly will sell quickly.

We have talked a number of times about why inventory is so low right now. Buyers are still out there in full force but they are not desperate. These buyers are willing to hold out if the house is not priced correctly. The homes that are priced properly and show well are the ones that get sold. 

Since home values have gone up so much over the last couple of years, buyers are much pickier. If your home is priced correctly though, you can still draw multiple offers and sell within one to two weeks. 

According to the California Association of Realtors, you can expect home values to increase between 3% and 5% over the next year. Based on the first two months of 2017, it looks like that prediction will happen. 

If you have any questions about our current market or about the home buying or selling process, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Why Is a Living Trust So Important?

Having a living trust is an important topic. That's why I've brought in Michael Crupi of The Trust Pros to help me explain the benefits. 

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Why is it so important to make sure your home is in a living trust after you buy it? Today I'm joined by Michael Crupi from The Trust Pros to help me explain this topic.

As Michael says, when you get fire insurance, it insures against the potential hazard of your home burning down, but there's not a contingency built in for other types of hazard in your life, and that's where a living trust comes in. You want a living trust to have a plan to cover all other contingencies. Also, in the unlikely event that something happens to you and your spouse, you'll have a written plan that says exactly what will happen in the event of some other catastrophe. 

So what's the difference between a trust and a will? 

As Michael says, a will covers just one contingency, saying "If I die, here's where my stuff goes." A will also guarantees that your estate will be overseen by probate, meaning California courts will oversee your estate. They will send letters out asking if anybody wants to contest the will, and if anyone does, it can tie up your estate for years. Everything is public knowledge when you have a will. A living trust makes that all go away. 

With a living trust, estate transition is instant and private without any court intervention.

The transition of the estate to the beneficiaries is instant and private and there's no intervention by the courts, Michael added. In addition, there's a whole section of living trusts that covers other issues that a will doesn't cover. For example, a will has a power of attorney for financial, where you put someone in charge and say "If I get sick and I can't run my business, then my spouse will run it." Well, if your spouse is also sick, then you'll appoint someone else to run the business of your life and pay the expenses. 

There's also power of attorney for medical, where you make all decisions in advance and input that contingency, so that way, if your spouse is no longer here or incapacitated, you choose an alternate to that person. There's a whole component to a living trust that a will doesn't even touch on.

Thanks to Michael for joining us to talk about this very important topic. If you have any questions for him, you can reach him at 866-993-0299 or email him at MichaelCrupi@aol.com. He'll actually make a visit to your home!

As always, if you have any questions about the greater Los Angeles market or you're looking to buy or sell a home, you can always give me a call or send me an email. I'd love to help!