I have been thinking a lot about what value I add to my clients as a realtor lately. I understand the market and am able to pass that information on in a way that makes it relevant to you. I promise that I will go back to doing that in my posts as well. What I think I am going to do is split my posts so that it is half about the market, and half about what I am doing with my clients that I believe is above and beyond what the normal realtor does.

I think it is important to know that you are not just a transaction to me. If you become my client, my goal is to make you my client for life. Whether or not you have bought or sold a house from me recently you will get a call from me every quarter to check in and see if there is anything that I can do to add value to you. That question can mean anything. I have some clients who ask me for referrals. I have some clients who talk to me about what is going on in their lives. I have some clients who ask me questions that I never thought I would have been asked.

I have clients who celebrate with me. Just this week a client who I helped buy his home texted me several pictures of the kitchen remodel that I knew he had been working hard on. It is beautiful! I love getting to celebrate with my clients. I think a huge differentiator for me is that I will check in with you long after you have done business with me just as much as I did before you did business with me. You are more than just a sale to me.

Now on to the market:

Things slowed down in August, as they always do. With back to school and the State Fair in play, everyone is focused elsewhere unless they have to buy a home now. What is interesting is that usually once September hits and kids are back in school things have been picking up in years past. So far, 2018 is hitting the pause button longer. A simple indicator of this is our housing stock. As of today (September 19th, 2018) there are currently 3,921 active listings on the Des Moines Mutliple Listing Service (MLS) and 1,921 listings under contract on the MLS. These numbers are significant for a couple of reasons.

1. That is the widest gap we have had since the beginning of the year. For most of 2018 listings under contract have only been trailing listings on the market by three to five hudred units. Many times they have been within 100 units of each other.

2. That is the highest number of active listings that we have seen in months on the Des Moines MLS.

What does this mean to you?

If you are a buyer you have more to choose from and you are less likely to get into multiple offer situations. You can take your time (in most instances) and not be frantic at every moment.

If you are a seller you have to pay attention to your competition even more and make sure that you are positioning yourself in the market to be the home of choice. We are still in Seller’s Market inventories for more areas than not around central Iowa. We are trending more towards a balanced market in the last two months though. If you are thinking about selling, it would be good for you to get on the market sooner, so that you don’t have more competition later.

I love doing what I do. I love looking at the market, and I love building relationships with the people that I get to help. Let me know how I can help you. Call me today. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.

I would love to hear your feedback on this new format. Anything you like or not? Anything you would add or change?

~Ryan Lynch

Are you thinking about buying a new home before the end of 2018? If you are a first time home buyer, you could be in luck. Wells Fargo is doing a program called NeighborhoodLIFT that could give you $15,000 (or more) to buy your first home. If you are buying in Polk County and a first time home buyer, you could be eligible.

If you are active military, a veteran, eligible surviving spouse, law enforcement, firefighter, emergency medical technician, or a teacher, you could be eligible for even more on top of that.

This is a really cool program that is first come, first serve. I know that you will need to apply for it at the end of September, and then you will have 60 days to find a home if you are eligible. If you think that you fall into these criteria (buying a home in Polk County in 2018, primarily first time home buyers) let me know. I can connect you with the people who can help you move towards this amazing opportunity.

Call me today. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.

~Ryan Lynch

I have been hearing a lot of questions lately about mortgage interest rates, so I thought information is always the best way to help people. Here are some interesting numbers for you (everything here is Principal and Interest only, Taxes and Insurance would be added in as well):

Average Rate Right Now on a 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage: 4.6%

Average Monthly Payment on a $250,000 home (P&I Only): $1,281.61

Average Monthly Payment on $250,000 at 4.7%: $1,296.59

Average Monthly Payment on $250,000 at 4.9%: $1,326.82

Average Monthly Payment on $250,000 at 5.1%: $1,357.37

For rates jumping 0.5% in this example means an extra $75.76 per month in payments on the same value of home. That equals $909.12 per year. Over the life of a 30 year loan, that equals $27,273.60.

I want to make sure you understand two very important takeaways from these numbers. Number one, a half of a percent increase can mean a good chunk of change over the life of your loan. Number two, we still have a long ways to go before we are above historically low interest rates. What do I mean by that? I actually started in banking in 2005. At that time people were FREAKING OUT about interest rates going as low as 5%. It was almost impossible to conceive of rates being so low. I simply point this out to say that we are still among the cheapest mortgage rates that have ever been. Getting down into the 3% range is simply something that we are very lucky to have seen. Perspective is key here.

The long and short of this is that I tell everyone I talk to that I want to add value to them. Give me the chance to prove it. If there is something that you need help with, let me see if I can help. I have even had people just start talking to me and I give advice. I love to help!

Call me today. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.

~Ryan Lynch

I have had a lot of people recently finding out that they could have used me much sooner than they thought. I thought I would point this out to try and make your life easier at some point. You do not need to wait to ask me questions until you are “ready to go”. Here is just a small list of things that you can use me for long before you buy or sell a home:

+ Have me over to give you ideas on what to fix up or update – Have me over one or two years before you are thinking about selling and I can give you ideas that you can spread out over time, so that it doesn’t cost you time and money all at once.

+ Call me for connections – Just a few ideas: mortgage people, contractors, cleaners, insurance people (plus some off the wall ideas: head hunters, health insurance, chiropractors, fitness coaches) – I know a lot of people, and I am happy to help.

+ Call me to value your house – For a home equity loan or line of credit, for taxes, for insurance, just to know, etc.

+ Call me to set up a market search for you – I have had people set up searches years before they actually go to look at houses. This way when they are ready to buy they know more about what is normal in the market and what a diamond in the rough looks like.

+ Call me if you need help with anything. Anything! – I know a lot of people and the people that I know are good people. You are one of them. They want to help. (Update from my email about our friend at Vermeer: He got double digits leads within a week. He got interviews within a week. The best news of all, Vermeer called him and said they had a job for him so he gets his job back and to work for the company that he didn’t want to leave in the first place. YAY!) I love connecting people and helping people. Put me to the test and let me know how I can help you.

The long and short of this is that I tell everyone I talk to that I want to add value to them. Give me the chance to prove it. If there is something that you need help with, let me see if I can help. I have even had people just start talking to me and I give advice. I love to help!

Call me today. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.

~Ryan Lynch

Yesterday was my birthday and I spent the day focusing on gratitude. This will not be a normal blog post from me, because I thought that one of the things I should do is tell you how grateful I am for you. If you read this post, or have read any of my previous posts: Thank you. If you have called me and asked me a question: Thank you. If you have used me to help you buy or sell a house: Thank you. If you have used me to make any part of your life simpler: Thank you.

I love getting to help people. Thank you for giving me the chance to maybe add some small value to your life. Thank you.

~Ryan Lynch

If you are thinking about buying or selling a house in the Des Moines area, you need to know what you are walking into. Here are some very relevant statistics for you (all numbers are as of June 30th, 2018):

Months of Inventory for Resale Properties – 1.8 months

Months of Inventory for New Construction – 7.6 months

Active Listings for Resale Properties – 2,223

Pending Listings for Resale Properties – 2,036

Active Listings for New Construction – 1,334

Pending Listings for New Construction – 617

Just look at those huge differences. For a refresher, 0-4 months of inventory is a Seller’s Market, 4-6 months is a Balanced Market, and 6+ months is a Buyer’s Market. Resale houses are in a strong Seller’s Market. New Construction houses are in a strong Buyer’s Market. Resale properties have 91.5% as many houses under contract as there are active houses for sale. New Construction properties are at 46.2% for the same ratio.

What does this mean to you? If you own your home and are thinking about selling it, you are most likely in a very strong position. I am repeatedly seeing houses that are adding $10,000, $15,000, and $20,000 in value PER YEAR!!! Where this is not necessarily true is if you have a resale home over $350,000. At that point you are competing against A LOT of new construction and buyers have a lot to choose from. No matter what your situation, you will need help to navigate the insanity that is this market.

If you are thinking about buying you need to know your inventory levels and how they can be dramatically different by even just a matter of blocks. There are pockets around the Multiple Listing Service where you will have more inventory than you know what to do with and you should adjust your offer strategies accordingly. There are many more places where you need to decide now if you are going to make an offer or not. Getting help will make sure that you aren’t disappointed by missing out on your dream home or paying too much for it.

Call me today. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.

~Ryan Lynch