October brings us into the fourth quarter of the year, the last three months to do all the things we set out to achieve. However, given the way our system works, we don’t get paid when we get the client to agree to the sale, we don’t get paid even at the point of sale, we get paid AFTER the transaction closes and sometimes even the second pay period after that transaction closes. What does this mean? Simply put, we have about 65 days left to meet a customer, help qualify that customer, have them find a house, get the offer accepted, go into contract, and then CLOSE, all before December 15th for you to receive that income this year! While all transactions up until December 29th will certainly count to your annual production numbers for 2023, it isn’t likely you will get paid for deals closing after December 15th in 2023.…
Posted On Monday, 09 October 2023 00:00 Written by
The median U.S. asking rent was little changed from a year earlier for the sixth straight month as an increase in the number of rentals made it harder for landlords to boost prices The median U.S. asking rent rose 0.4% year over year to $2,011 in September—the sixth straight month in which rents were little changed from a year earlier. That’s according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. Prior to that, rent growth had been slowing rapidly for roughly a year, coming back down to earth after a surge in prices during the pandemic.
The median asking rent fell 2% from a month earlier in September. “Rents have flattened because a boom in apartment building in recent years has flooded the market with supply, but they haven’t yet posted a substantial decline because there’s still demand for rentals—especially as high mortgage rates…
Posted On Sunday, 08 October 2023 06:43 Written by
A homebuyer on a $3,000 monthly budget has lost nearly $40,000 in purchasing power over the last year, as mortgage rates have risen from around 6.5% in October 2022 to nearly 8% today. The glimmer of hope for the housing market: a small September uptick in new listings. Mortgage rates hit their highest level in more than 20 years this week, pushing homebuyers’ monthly housing payments to all-time highs. That’s according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. A buyer on a $3,000 monthly budget, for instance, can afford a $419,000 home with a 7.7% mortgage rate, roughly the daily average on October 4. That buyer has lost $38,000 in purchasing power since last October, when they could have bought a $457,000 home with a 6.6% rate. And by that time, buyers had already lost a significant amount of purchasing power since the start of…
Posted On Friday, 06 October 2023 06:34 Written by
Leadership and the workforce is at a time of notable metamorphosis as Baby Boomers slowly but surely leave the workforce and the younger generations, including Millennials and Gen Z, bring about a true wave of professional digital transformation. Given the recent presence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current landscape of rapid disruption and change, the demand for Anticipatory Leadership is more crucial than ever. It is essential to guide this emerging workforce effectively both in the present and future.
I had the distinct opportunity to speak with a good friend of mine, Mark Sanborn, in a recent Opportunity Hour: Conversations with the Masters. Throughout our discussion, we delved into the transformations that the work landscape has undergone both in the lead-up to and during the pandemic. We also explored strategies for effectively leading the workforce of the future. With the increasing frequency of global disruptions and the anticipation of more…
Posted On Tuesday, 03 October 2023 00:00 Written by
They’re BACK!!! Remember those preapprovals that made a choice to stop looking for houses until the rates dropped and home prices went down? Guess what? THEY’RE BACK!!! Each week as rates have continued higher and as inventory of available homes remains tight, those who believed the “experts” on social media, that rates and home prices were soon to fall. Well guess what? People are discovering that it was a bad move to sit and wait. Think about those who didn’t want to buy when rates moved past 4%; I bet they wish they had a 4% mortgage now! Maybe some held on until rates went past 5%; I bet they would love that 5% rate in their new home right now! Remember those just a few short weeks ago who were distraught when thinking about a mortgage rate above 6%? I bet they would be thrilled to lock in that…
Posted On Monday, 02 October 2023 00:00 Written by
 Jennifer is Assessments 24x7’s VP of Certification, Coach/Mentor, professional Values Analyst, and instructional designer for client customization and resource development. She specializes in helping clients, coaches and facilitators understand unique assessment results, and assists individuals and groups in personal and professional development. Through educating others in improving communication, understanding critical thinking, embracing learning styles, evaluating emotional intelligence, and aligning behavior and values, Jennifer seeks to infuse others with a passion for learning and growing, encourage self-awareness, and impart simple, practical and applicable knowledge to help grow relationships and increase personal and professional effectiveness. Her career path has included individual and organizational development, secondary and adult education, customer service, corporate finance, and investor relations.She holds a Washington State Secondary Education Teaching Certificate, a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in Composition & Rhetoric, a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training, a Master of Science in Psychology, and…
Posted On Thursday, 28 September 2023 00:00 Written by
The town-and-country lifestyle is often depicted as simple, idyllic and inexpensive compared to big-city living — especially when it comes to housing costs. But is this accurate? To look at how costly buying a house in a town can get, LendingTree analyzed housing data to find the 50 U.S. micropolitan areas — which we refer to in this study as “towns” — with populations between 10,000 and 50,000 that had the most expensive median home values. Many towns across the country are chock-full of expensive real estate, with home values that rival — and, in some cases, exceed — those found in major metropolitan areas. In raw dollars, Vineyard Haven, Mass., Jackson, Wyo., and Breckenridge, Colo., are the towns with the most expensive real estate in the U.S. The median home values in these towns are $857,600, $670,100 and $641,900, respectively.  Relative to income, homes in Vineyard Haven, Jackson and Hailey, Idaho,…
Posted On Wednesday, 27 September 2023 06:37 Written by
We live in an amazingly uncertain world, but that uncertainty is brimming with certainty! I know this may seem contradictory, but it is true, and worth the exploration. Yes, we do live in constant uncertainty. What will happen with certain businesses or industries if the economy shifts, if technology disrupts, or if a new product or service falls flat? There is no doubt that uncertainty breeds fear, anxiety, and even a type of mental agility that treads water until you feel all is clear.
But buried in these uncertainties are trends and data all around us that give us rather obvious information on what is to come if you know how to look for it! We may not know for sure how AI ChatBots like ChatGPT will be used in the future, but we do know that their use will only increase exponentially in both the business world and our personal lives! This…
Posted On Tuesday, 26 September 2023 00:00 Written by
The Federal Reserve Board meeting is over and there was good news and bad news. The good news is that they didn’t raise rates and held them where they were as expected. The bad news, well, there was more than just a little bad news, is the comments weren’t as encouraging as many had hoped, and the Fed “Dot Plot Chart” shows that they believe the Fed Funds Rate will stay above 5% for the rest of this year, possibly another hike this year, and the bad news doesn’t end there. The projections for 2024 rates are surprising. While 9 felt the Fed Funds Rate would fall below 5%, with the low projected at 4.25%; 10 members still have the Fed Funds Rate above 5% with even one projecting a rate that is past 6%! I don’t believe you need to panic, the Dot Plot Chart has pretty much been…
Posted On Monday, 25 September 2023 00:00 Written by
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