The Voice for Real Estate: October 7, 2019

The future of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae - and what it means to you!

Should your clients remodel before they sell? We’ll bring you the latest data.

And, the biggest real estate event in the world is next month in San Francisco - will you be there?

These stories and more – on The Voice for Real Estate.

The Voice for Real Estate is sponsored by NAR’s REALTOR® Benefits Program. Your official member benefits program. Bringing you savings and unique offers on products and services, just for REALTORS®. Learn more at nar.realtor/realtorbenefits

Hi, I'm Stephen Gasque, with the National Association of REALTORS®.

The American Dream of Homeownership is one of the greatest ways for you and your clients to build household wealth.

And your ability to finance that home purchase with an affordable mortgage is critical.

That’s why NAR is turning its attention to the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: a proposal from the Trump administration aimed at reducing the government’s role in housing finance and taking Fannie and Freddie OUT of conservatorship.

[QUOTE]
Housing finance reform is incredibly important for Realtors®. Nearly half of all home purchases every year are financed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the vast majority of which go to the middle class. If housing finance reform is done wrong it could mean higher interest rates and an end to the 30-year fixed rate mortgage.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac serve an essential role in real estate. They ensure an adequate supply of affordable mortgage capital by packaging and securitizing pools of loans for sale to investors. That money then flows back to banks, which can lend to more borrowers.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has been acting as conservator of the two companies since 2008, when the nation’s sub-prime financial crisis resulted in billions of dollars in losses. Since then, there have been significant reforms and the companies have returned to profitability.

[QUOTE]
Over the last 10 years NAR’s members have developed their own plan to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The best part of the plan is that the majority of reforms have already taken place. Under the plan Fannie and Freddie would be converted to private utilities with a strong regulator and controls that would help drive homeownership, protect taxpayers, support the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, and provide mortgage access to credit-worthy borrowers across the country.

NAR analysts say reforms will take years. And REALTORS® will be involved every step, to ensure that 15- and 30-year fixed rate home loans remain accessible and affordable for people throughout America.

[WOOSH]

Every year, Americans spend $400 billion on remodeling their homes. Many of them - just before they sell.

And as you know, when they have questions about which projects will bring the best returns - and which one won’t - they turn to you. Their Realtor®. And you can provide them with the best answers, thanks to NAR’s new “Remodeling Impact Report.”

[QUOTE]
We look at the cost to actually do a project, the value you could recoup if you actually sold your home after doing that project, and then what consumers actually feel after they tackle a very big home improvement project.

Starting with the interior of the home - the projects that appeal to buyers most are:

• a complete kitchen remodel
• a kitchen upgrade
• replacement of the heating and cooling system
• new wood floors
• and a bathroom renovation

Four of those interior projects also ranked highest in terms of resale value, accompanied by the addition of a new owners’ suite.

Now, turning to home’s exterior, five replacement projects topped the list of projects most likely to appeal to buyers. They are:

• new roofing
• new vinyl windows
• new vinyl siding
• new garage door
• and new fiber cement siding

In this category, four of those exterior projects also ranked highest in resale value, along with new wood windows.

Of course, home renovation is not just about resale value. It’s also about enjoying your home more - even if you have no plans to sell!

[QUOTE]

We actually came up with the term joy score, and what it actually is, is it’s happiness and satisfaction - add them up and divide by ten - so it’s actually just a scale of one to ten - how much joy do you actually have from a project, and we know that complete kitchen renovation and a closet redesign actually has a perfect joy score of 10.

You can see all the highlights of the Remodeling Impact Report at nar.realtor.

[WOOSH]

More good news for Home Sales in America. In August, existing-home sales rose by 1.3% month to month, and 2.6% year-over-year. We asked NAR’s Lawrence Yun about the jump...and why home sales are getting better.

[QUOTE]

It seems like the buyers are responding to very low interest rates. It’s improving affordability, and the housing market, which had been underperforming, is finally coming around.

[WOOSH]

And finally today. . . it’s almost time for the biggest real estate event of the year! The 2019 REALTORS® Conference & Expo! Next month, November 8th through the 11th, in San Francisco.

If you’ve been to NAR’s annual conference but - you know. It’s an amazing experience, and an incredible value; filled with education, information and networking - designed to help you grow your business.

[QUOTE]
Annual Conference attendees make twice as much income from real estate as the average NAR member. This year we’ll have over 400 exhibitors on the trade show floor –bringing together the products and the services that keep you ahead of industry trends and prepare your business for the future.

And that’s not all! You’ll hear from athlete and entrepreneur Earvin “Magic” Johnson; You’ll meet tennis legend Billie Jean King; and you’ll enjoy the sounds of the Grammy-winning Pentatonix.

I’ll be at the conference interviewing REALTORS® ...and maybe you! For Real Estate Today, NAR’s official radio show and podcast. I hope to see you there! Register today at conference.realtor.

And that’s our show for the week of October 7th, 2019.

You can find more about everything we talked about today at nar.realtor.

Thanks for joining us, and we hope to see you again soon, as we bring you the latest news on The Voice for Real Estate.

Brought to you by the National Association of REALTORS® - your advocate for housing and property rights in Washington, across America, and in your neighborhood.

This is the Voice for Real Estate.