The article “9 Popular Gray Paint Colors You’ll Never Regret, According to Paint Pros” from Real Simple outlines expert recommendations for gray paint colors that are versatile and timeless. Gray is praised for adding depth and interest to rooms while remaining neutral and unlikely to go out of style.

The article highlights nine popular gray paint colors recommended by professionals from major paint companies:

1. Agreeable Gray (Sherwin-Williams) – A warm, versatile gray
2. West Coast Ghost (Backdrop) – A cool gray that can make spaces appear larger
3. Seize the Gray (Clare) – A neutral gray with no undertones
4. Balboa Mist (Benjamin Moore) – A slightly warm gray that pairs well with other colors
5. Cornforth White (Farrow & Ball) – A warm gray with brown undertones
6. White Metal (Behr) – A cool gray that works well in various rooms
7. Filtered Shade (Valspar) – A warm gray with a hint of lavender
8. Repose Gray (HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams) – A cool gray with slight warmth
9. Ghost Writer (Glidden) – A warmer “greige” (gray-beige) option

The article notes the importance of considering undertones when selecting a gray paint color and provides insights from paint experts on how each shade can influence a space.

Quote from the source:

“There’s a reason (OK, multiple reasons) why gray paint colors are so popular. They’re mostly neutral, yet add more depth and interest to a room than white. Gray is timeless—and you can rest assured that it’s a color that won’t go out of style anytime soon.”

Source: “9 Popular Gray Paint Colors You’ll Never Regret, According to Paint Pros” by Katie Holdefehr and Leah Lopez Cardenas, Real Simple (Updated on June 29, 2023)

As a real estate agent, one of the most challenging aspects I see homeowners face is pricing their property correctly. Recent market data underscores just how critical this task is, and why partnering with an experienced real estate professional can make all the difference.

The current market is showing clear signs of a pricing imbalance. We’re seeing a surge in home delistings – properties being taken off the market without selling. In fact, the national delisting rate has doubled from its normal level. This trend, along with an increase in price reductions, points to a significant gap between seller expectations and buyer willingness to pay.

Many new listings are entering the market with record-high prices per square foot. While optimism is understandable, this “aspirational pricing” is leading to longer days on market and, ultimately, necessary price corrections.

This situation highlights why working with a knowledgeable real estate agent is crucial. We bring:

1. Local market expertise: Understanding nuanced trends in your specific area.
2. Data-driven insights: Access to comprehensive market data to inform pricing strategies.
3. Objective perspective: The ability to balance emotional attachment with market realities.
4. Negotiation skills: Experience in finding the sweet spot between seller goals and buyer expectations.

As we navigate this shifting market, proper pricing is more important than ever. It’s not just about setting a high price and hoping for the best. It’s about understanding the market, pricing strategically, and maximizing your chances of a successful sale.

Remember, overpricing doesn’t just mean a longer time on the market. It can lead to your home being overlooked by potential buyers or, worse, being perceived as having issues due to price reductions or delistings.

By leaning on the expertise of your real estate agent, you can avoid these pitfalls and position your home competitively in the market. Our goal is to help you achieve the best possible outcome in your home sale journey.

Credit: This blog post is based on insights from the article “Skyrocketing Delistings and the Pricing Imbalance” by Mike DelPrete.

If you’ve seen the recent headlines about foreclosures increasing in the housing market, you might be getting flashbacks to the mortgage crisis of 2008 and feeling concerned. However, the data tells a different story than those alarming headlines would suggest.

Despite the media portraying it as dramatic, the reality is that today’s foreclosure increase is just a return to normal levels after the artificial lows caused by the COVID foreclosure moratorium from 2020-2021. During that period, millions of struggling homeowners were able to pause payments and avoid foreclosure thanks to that federal program.

Now that the moratorium has ended, foreclosure filings have understandably risen. But they are still nowhere close to the Crisis levels seen in 2008 when over 1 million homes per year were being foreclosed on. Current year projections are around 357,000 total foreclosures – a fraction of the previous crash.

The key difference from 2008 is that most homeowners today actually have significant home equity after years of rising prices. Back then, homeowners were underwater on their mortgages as prices plummeted, leaving them with no equity cushion when hardships hit. This time around, that equity is protecting homeowners and preventing the next foreclosure crisis.

A recent article from Bankrate explains, “In the years after the housing crash, millions of foreclosures flooded the housing market, depressing prices. That’s not the case now. Most homeowners have a comfortable equity cushion in their homes.”

So while the foreclosure rate rising makes for attention-grabbing headlines, it’s simply not evidence of another housing crisis brewing. It’s just a reversion to normal levels that were temporarily suppressed during the pandemic. With homeowner equity largely intact, there’s no reason to think this temporary foreclosure increase will lead to the type of market crash and pricing freefall we saw 15 years ago.

When you look at the full context instead of just the headlines, the data is reassuring that today’s housing market fundamentals remain strong despite the foreclosure rate increasing from ultra-low pandemic levels. No crisis here!

The Spruce has a good article about home decluttering. Here are the highlights of the article which provides 6 golden rules from professional organizer Sumner Canfield for effectively decluttering your home during spring cleaning:

1. Start small with a manageable space first before tackling larger areas.

2. Get rid of items you no longer use or need, even if you originally had good intentions for them.

3. Check expiration dates and discard expired food, medications, cosmetics, etc.

4. Digitize manuals, records, artwork, etc. instead of keeping stacks of physical papers.

5. Discard any single items that have lost their mates (socks, containers without lids, etc).

6. Regularly go through kids’ toys, clothes and supplies to donate anything outgrown or no longer used, enlisting their help.

The key is to start small, be ruthless about purging unused items, and maintain the decluttering process regularly, especially for kids’ belongings.

If you’d like to read the full article, you can find it here.

Maintaining a positive mindset in the face of daily challenges is crucial for me, and that’s why I steer clear of the news when it comes to the state of the world, my business, and myself. Perhaps that is why I am surprised the question about the possibility of another housing crash seems to linger. Let’s break down why the current market conditions differ significantly from those in 2008, and why we shouldn’t fear another housing crash.

Firstly, obtaining a home mortgage loan has become significantly more challenging today than it was in 2008. This means that individuals in precarious financial situations, who are more likely to struggle with house payments and face foreclosure, are not as easily able to secure a loan.

Secondly, the housing supply is much lower now than it was in 2008, with today’s market having less than one-third of the inventory of 2008. In contrast, the oversaturation of the market with too many houses, especially from short sales and foreclosures, was a primary factor that led to falling prices in 2008.

Lastly, a critical distinction lies in how people are managing their home equity. Unlike in 2008, where individuals were freely tapping into their home equity, the current scenario sees home equity at an all-time high. This financial stability provides homeowners with alternatives to foreclosure during times of financial hardship.

Below is an article from Keeping Current Matters (you can read the original article here) that goes into a little further detail on these three points.

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Why We Aren’t Headed for a Housing Crash

If you’re holding out hope that the housing market is going to crash and bring home prices back down, here’s a look at what the data shows. And spoiler alert: that’s not in the cards. Instead, experts say home prices are going to keep going up.

Today’s market is very different than it was before the housing crash in 2008. Here’s why.

It’s Harder To Get a Loan Now – and That’s Actually a Good Thing

It was much easier to get a home loan during the lead-up to the 2008 housing crisis than it is today. Back then, banks had different lending standards, making it easy for just about anyone to qualify for a home loan or refinance an existing one.

Things are different today. Homebuyers face increasingly higher standards from mortgage companies. The graph below uses data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) to show this difference. The lower the number, the harder it is to get a mortgage. The higher the number, the easier it is:

The peak in the graph shows that, back then, lending standards weren’t as strict as they are now. That means lending institutions took on much greater risk in both the person and the mortgage products offered around the crash. That led to mass defaults and a flood of foreclosures coming onto the market.

There Are Far Fewer Homes for Sale Today, so Prices Won’t Crash

Because there were too many homes for sale during the housing crisis (many of which were short sales and foreclosures), that caused home prices to fall dramatically. But today, there’s an inventory shortage – not a surplus.

The graph below uses data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Federal Reserve to show how the months’ supply of homes available now (shown in blue) compares to the crash (shown in red):

Today, unsold inventory sits at just a 3.0-months’ supply. That’s compared to the peak of 10.4 month’s supply back in 2008. That means there’s nowhere near enough inventory on the market for home prices to come crashing down like they did back then.

People Are Not Using Their Homes as ATMs Like They Did in the Early 2000s

Back in the lead up to the housing crash, many homeowners were borrowing against the equity in their homes to finance new cars, boats, and vacations. So, when prices started to fall, as inventory rose too high, many of those homeowners found themselves underwater.

But today, homeowners are a lot more cautious. Even though prices have skyrocketed in the past few years, homeowners aren’t tapping into their equity the way they did back then.

Black Knight reports that tappable equity (the amount of equity available for homeowners to access before hitting a maximum 80% loan-to-value ratio, or LTV) has actually reached an all-time high:

That means, as a whole, homeowners have more equity available than ever before. And that’s great. Homeowners are in a much stronger position today than in the early 2000s. That same report from Black Knight goes on to explain:

“Only 1.1% of mortgage holders (582K) ended the year underwater, down from 1.5% (807K) at this time last year.”

And since homeowners are on more solid footing today, they’ll have options to avoid foreclosure. That limits the number of distressed properties coming onto the market. And without a flood of inventory, prices won’t come tumbling down.

Bottom Line

While you may be hoping for something that brings prices down, that’s not what the data tells us is going to happen. The most current research clearly shows that today’s market is nothing like it was last time.