Much has been written about the millennial generation and whether or not they, as a whole, believe in homeownership as part of attaining the American Dream.

Unlike generations before them, millennials have taken longer to obtain traditional milestones, such as getting married,

Over the past few years, we have been in a strong seller’s market where bidding wars were common and expected.  A seller’s market is a market where the inventory of homes for sale cannot satisfy the number of buyers who want to purchase a home.

In some of the areas around us, first-time buyers have been met with stiff competition throughout their experience. 

Just like our clocks overnight Saturday, our local housing market will soon “Spring Forward”!  Similar to the tension in a spring, the lack of inventory available in our area has been holding back our local market.  

Many potential sellers in our area believe that waiting until spring is in their best interest.  Years ago this would have been the case but buyer demand doesn’t have as much seasonality to it as it did 20 to 30 years ago in our area.

If your goal is to buy a home of your own in 2019, here are 3 tips that will help make that dream a reality:

Many potential home sellers believe that rising interest rates have scared away buyers and therefore have not listed their property for sale yet.  But, the truth is that buyers who were unable to find a home last year are out in force, and there are more coming.

Nerd Wallet’s 2018 Home Buyer Report revealed that: Approximately 32% of Americans plan to purchase a home in the

In the most recent Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers from the National Association of Realtors, married couples once again topped the first-time homebuyers statistics in 2018 at 54% of all buyers.  This is very understandable as buying

One of the biggest challenges sellers face when getting their house ready to go on the market is decluttering.  Clearing out some of your more personal decorating choices allows buyers to imagine themselves living in the house.

Those homeowners who plan on selling their house this year may want to consider following KonMari Method of Tidying Up.  Marie Kondo, the inventor of the method has gained a lot of popularity with her new Netfix series.  She gives some great tips for sorting through the years of accumulated possessions that we all collect in our homes, especially if you will be downsizing to a smaller place.

The price for residential real estate, like the price of most items, is determined by the theory of “Supply and Demand”.  If many people are looking to buy real estate and the supply of real estate is limited, the price of real estate increases.

The supply of homes for sale dramatically increases every spring, according to the National Association of Realtors.  

As an example, here is what happened to housing inventory at the beginning of 2018:

If you are thinking of selling your house this year or buying a new one, I'm sure today's real estate headlines can be a bit confusing...perhaps even concerning.  Are home prices dropping or are they just rising at a slower rate?  What is really happening with interest rates?  What impact will this economy really have on the housing market?

As a seller or buyer, or both, in today's market, it is important for you to know what all of this will mean to you and your family if you go ahead with the move.  So here are three things that will be important for you to understand if you are selling or buying a home this year:

A long time ago, a gallon of milk used to be $0.30.  Gas was $0:12 a gallon.  But not anymore.  Houses were also much less expensive than they are now.  It was inflation that raised the price of all three of these items, along with the price of almost every other item we purchase.

The reason we can still afford to purchase items that we want or need, is because our wages have also risen over time.  The better measure of whether an item is more expensive than it was before is what percentage of our income it takes to purchase that item today compared to an earlier time.  Let’s look at buying a home.

The cost of a home is determined by three major components: