The numbers: A shortage of properties for sale and high mortgage rates have stalled contract signings on U.S. homes in April.
Sales remain unchanged from the previous month, according to the monthly index released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The number didn’t meet Wall Street economists’ forecast, as they had expected pending home sales to rise 0.8% in April.
Aside from a limited number of for sale listings, the 30-year mortgage is back above 7%, both of which are making homeownership expensive for the typical home buyer.
The 30-year was averaging at 7.03% as of Thursday morning, according to Mortgage News Daily.
Pending home sales reflect transactions where the contract has been signed for an existing-home sale, but the sale has not yet closed. Economists view it as an indicator for the direction of existing-home sales in subsequent months.
Big picture: The housing market is facing a major crunch as there’s not many options for home buyers on top of rising interest rates and making mortgage payments more expensive for would-be buyers.
Unless rates fall enough to entice homeowners with ultra-low mortgage rates to sell, or there’s a sudden burst of inventory, the sector will likely see the crunch persist. Meanwhile, builders — one of the few players creating housing units — are pretty upbeat about their future.
What the realtors said: “Not all buying interests are being completed due to limited inventory,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “Affordability challenges certainly remain and continue to hold back contract signings, but a sizeable increase in housing inventory will be critical to get more Americans moving.”
“He’s my little ball of sunshine,” Mallory Bartels says of her 13-year-old Boston terrier, Buddha. With his shiny black coat and white spots on his paws that look like socks, Bartels describes him as a sweet pup with a playful personality.
Buddha’s zest for life was apparent when he jumped off the couch in Bartels’ home near Seattle. The leap landed Buddha in urgent veterinary care with a ruptured disk and paralyzed legs that required spinal surgery.
On top of being “a bawling mess” at the vet, Bartels also received a vet bill for over $5,000. “I didn’t have savings or cash to pay for it,” she says.
According to the American Pet Products Association, Americans spent nearly $36 billion in veterinary care, surgical procedures, medication and other products through vet clinics in 2022. The APPA expects that number to increase by $1 billion in 2023.
How do pet owners pay for emergency pet care? Here are options plus tips to prepare when Fido or Fluffy takes a tumble and needs urgent help.
Ways to pay for emergency pet care
Savings
Savings is one of the best ways to pay for emergency vet care, says John Boyd, a certified financial planner and the founder of MDRN Wealth in Scottsdale, Arizona. He suggests clients have an emergency fund that totals three to six months of living expenses and includes money for pet care.
The type of pet can influence how much to put away. “If you’re like me and you have a Great Dane, and they’re prone to stomach issues that could cost up to $2,000, factor that into the equation when it comes to how much to save,” Boyd says.
Vet financing plans
Many vets and pet clinics offer financing plans, typically through a third party that partners with the vet. Some plans offer 0% interest financing and a quick approval process. Read the fine print to check the interest rate on the plan, and note that approval may require a hard credit check that will cause your score to dip a few points.
CareCredit Card
CareCredit is a financing option that specifically covers health care expenses for your family, including pets. You can apply online, and CareCredit typically offers 0% interest for six, 12, 18 or 24 months for expenses of $200 or more. However, if you don’t repay the full amount by the end of the promotional period, you’ll be charged interest retroactively from your original charge date.
Bartels used an existing CareCredit credit card to pay the vet bill for Buddha’s surgery. Because the account was already open, Bartels was outside the initial 0% interest period. She understood she’d be charged interest on the vet bill she put on CareCredit.
Credit cards
A credit card can be a convenient way to pay for emergency veterinary care if you have the available credit. However, credit card rates can be high, so paying off any accrued balance as soon as possible is important to avoid high-interest charges.
To save on interest, Bartels transferred her CareCredit balance to a credit card with a 0% annual percentage rate for 12 months. She paid a balance transfer fee, which was offset by the savings in interest. She had to add the monthly payments to her household budget, but the balance transfer card gave Bartels breathing room to pay it off.
Pet loans
Banks, credit unions and online lenders offer personal loans that can help pay for unexpected veterinary expenses. Personal loans typically have interest rates from 6% to 36% and two- to seven-year repayment periods. Depending on how much you qualify for, loans start at $1,000 and go up to $50,000 or more. For quick cash, such as in the case of a pet emergency, some lenders provide next-day funding.
For borrowers with strong credit, a personal loan may have a lower interest rate than a credit card to pay large vet bills. A shorter loan term can mean higher monthly payments but less total interest cost. Use a personal loan calculator to estimate monthly payments based on the rate and term.
Local animal welfare organizations
Animal welfare organizations in your local area can be another option for caring for your pet. These organizations typically provide services at a lower cost than a regular vet, thanks to private funding and donations.
Regarding pet care, “we understand that not everybody has the money all the time, and we try to meet people halfway,” says Erin Johnson, clinic manager for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In addition to preventive care, vet assistants at the SPCA offer a minor-needs clinic for pets that are feeling unwell, have an infection, are in minor pain or need an X-ray.
While the SPCA can help with minor injuries, Johnson recommends knowing where your nearest urgent care vet is in case of a major accident. “Have a relationship with a full-service vet so that when something does go wrong, you have somebody to go to,” Johnson says.
What about pet insurance?
Signing up for new pet insurance won’t help if you’re uninsured in an emergency, but depending on the plan and provider, pet insurance can cover a future accident.
Boyd says pet insurance can make sense if you don’t have enough emergency funds or if you have cash flow but not savings. In that situation, monthly premium payments can help provide coverage and peace of mind if something happens to your pet.
On the other hand, if you have savings for pet emergencies, “I would ditch the pet insurance and just self-insure, essentially,” Boyd says.
Buddha back in action
“He’s just been like a little pillar in my life,” says Bartels, who was relieved to have Buddha home after his operation. Although his spinal surgery was successful, the costs didn’t end. Bartels bought an orthopedic bed for Buddha to recuperate more comfortably and stairs to make it easier for him to go up or down from furniture.
Having learned the hard way about sudden emergency bills, Bartels opened a separate checking account for Buddha’s expenses. She deposits money monthly and uses the checking account’s debit card to pay for vet trips, food and other Buddha-related purchases.
“It helps me feel more comfortable that if we were put in the situation again, we’d at least have a cash buffer to help us out,” Bartels says.
Northwestern Mutual invests nearly $3 million to help increase community access, inclusivity at prominent Milwaukee attractions Grants will support Milwaukee Public Museum, Discovery World, Betty Brinn Children’s Museum and more MILWAUKEE, May 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Today, leading financial services company Northwestern Mutual announced nearly $3 million in grants to increase community access to Milwaukee’s leading … [Read more…]
American Express is offering 200,000 points after you spend $15,000+ on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
Card Details
Annual fee of $695 is not waived the first year
Card earns at the following rates:
5x points per $1 spent on purchases made with airlines or hotels booked directly from AmericanExpress Travel website
1.5x points on qualifying purchases of $5,000 or more
1x points on all other purchases
$200 airline incidental credit per calendar year
Lounge access:
Centurion lounge access
International American Express lounge access
Delta SkyClub lounge access
Priority pass select membership
Airspace lounge access
Marriott gold status
Hilton gold status
Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓
No foreign transaction fees
View these other hidden benefits
SoulCycle benefits
Our Verdict
This also has no lifetime language as well, meaning you can get the card/bonus even if you’ve held the card before. We’ve seen massive targeted offers of 260,000 or 230,000, but for the regular folk 150,000 or 160,000 or 170,000 have been the best offers available. Very good deal if you’re eligible.
As one of Atlanta’s top luxury agents, Debra continues to surpass client expectations as demonstrated in her sales volume performance for over 17 years. Debra uniquely differentiates herself as a leader by utilizing her proprietary, cutting-edge marketing strategy to provide her listings mass exposure through a distinctive and unique complementary blend of press marketing, search engine optimization, and technology coupled with superb video production and photography.
The result is maximum exposure for her client’s homes, featuring them on high-authority channels like Yahoo Finance, Reuters, Bloomberg, FOX, ABC, NBC, and more. Debra is also an exclusive partner with The Pinnacle List and the exclusive Atlanta agent for Haute Residence Magazine. These partnerships result in her clients’ properties being regularly showcased in both selective print and online features. She is known as a Luxury Agent social media influencer through her YouTube channel with viral luxury real estate videos that engage with millions.
Her genuine enthusiasm for real estate, professionalism, and confidentiality as well as providing top customer service set her apart. Debra delivers uncompromising professionalism and ultimately a positive experience for her clients as Buyers and Sellers in the Atlanta luxury real estate market. With a record 2021 sales volume of over $70 million, she continues to surpass the luxury real estate competition in Atlanta while delivering exceptional service each and every time.
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After falling for the first time since November 2022 in March, pending home sales remained unchanged in April, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Year over year, pending home sales were down 20.3%, an improvement on the 23.3% annual drop recorded in March.
“The housing market looks different than it does during a typical spring, when the market is usually in full gear,” Lisa Sturtevant, the chief economist at Bright MLS, said in a statement. “Elevated mortgage rates and economic uncertainty, along with still-low inventory, means that new pending sales were down more than 20% from a year ago, and were lower even compared to 2019 levels.”
The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index maintained its reading of 78.9 in April. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.
“Not all buying interests are being completed due to limited inventory,” Lawrence Yun, the chief economist of NAR, said in a statement. “Affordability challenges certainly remain and continue to hold back contract signings, but a sizeable increase in housing inventory will be critical to get more Americans moving.”
Regionally, the Midwest (78.4), South (99.6), and West (62.2) all recorded pending home sales increases in April, with the West recording the largest increase at 4.7%. The Northeast (59.1) was the only region to post a monthly decrease, falling 11.3% in April. On a yearly basis, the West posted the largest decrease at 26.0%.
“Minor monthly variations in regional activity are typical,” said Yun. “However, cumulative results over many years clearly point towards a much greater number of home sales in the South. The South’s pending home sales activity is similar to that of 2001, but the Midwest’s activity has decreased by 22% in that same period, and the Northeast and West regions are both about 40% lower than they were in 2001.”
Looking ahead, Sturtevant believes the real estate industry will be keeping a keen eye on some of the ongoing discussions in the nation’s capital.
“A big wildcard in the housing market right now is the debt ceiling debate. While it would be unprecedented, if an agreement is not reached and the government defaults on its debt, mortgage rates likely will spike, which could significantly reduce homebuyer demand. Even the extended negotiations are beginning to rattle markets and bring down consumer confidence,” Sturtevant said. “Between the debt limit impasse and the next meeting of the Federal Reserve, all eyes will be on Washington. The strength of the summer housing market could be dictated by the actions that the government and the central bank take—or fail to take—over the next two weeks.”
Applications are open for the 2023 iOi Pitch Battle! It will take place at the fifth annual iOi Summit on August 29-30 in Miami, Florida. The winner will be awarded $15k, a booth at NAR’s annual conference in November, a meeting with the Second Century Ventures executive team, have their company featured in an upcoming edition of REALTOR® Magazine, and will present the winner of the 2024 iOi Pitch Battle.
Each entrant in the Pitch Battle will conduct a live, 4-minute pitch on their product or service, followed by a 4-minute rapid-fire question-and-answer session from a panel of judges. Entrants must explain how their new tech solution/service works to improve the real estate industry (commercial, residential, or both).
Buying a home for the first time can be cumbersome. You’ve never done it before, so it’s normal to feel a bit overwhelmed. Luckily, we’ve pulled together some of the common mistakes first-time home buyers make. Learn from them, and you may have a smoother home buying process.
Forgetting About Costs:
Your mortgage will probably not be the only cost when it comes to buying a home. Smaller costs like property insurance, taxes, electric and water bills, and other fees may start to pile up. Before buying a house, you may need to look further into your savings to figure out if you can pay for all of these additional charges.
Looking for a Home Before the Loan:
Once you find a house and decide to buy it, you don’t want to spend time wondering if you can afford it. Knowing your budget, and that you are a qualified buyer before you begin your search may make the process easier and more efficient. Once you decide that it’s time to buy a home, get pre-approved for a loan.
Not Hiring Professionals:
Moving isn’t as simple as packing up your stuff and renting a van. It takes a village to move into a new neighborhood. Your team can only be as good as your weakest link, so you may want to ensure that you have only the best players. Get your home buying team in place before starting the search.
Being Too Picky:
There’s nothing wrong with knowing what you want when it comes to buying a home. But if your “must-have” list get too long and too specific, you may end up looking for your perfect house for a very long time. Also, remember that you can make changes once you move in. It may be wise to take the time to figure out what you really need versus what you want. If you are unsure where to start, our checklist may help!
Lacking Vision:
Some of the open houses you attend may not look move-in ready. But plenty of homes have hidden potential. When you look for a home, try to look past the 70’s shag rugs and lava lamps. Imagine what the home will look like after you’ve moved in with all of your own belongings, or try to envision the structure of the home without the stuff inside it. This will be an important skill, especially if you’re looking to buy a fixer-upper as your first home.
Ignoring the Future:
If you plan on living in this house for a long time, you may want to think ahead. You may decide to have kids in a few years, and then you’ll have to worry about another set of questions. Will there be enough bedrooms? Is the house located in a good school district? These may be things to think about when buying your home.
So whether you’re just starting to think about buying your first home, or you’ve already spent some time looking, there may be a lot to learn from this list of mistakes.
In 2022, Southern California real estate once again lived up to its reputation as one of the weirdest, wildest, most dramatic markets in the country.
While the lower end of the market cooled as interest rates forced buyers and sellers to rethink their strategies, the luxury market raged on with significantly more blockbuster sales than last year.
Celebrities, tech moguls and CEOs spent fortunes on their dream homes. Battles were waged over the profits of mega-mansions. Here are the top sales of the year.
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$58 million
Sylvester Stallone kicked things off by selling his 21,000-square-foot mega-mansion in Beverly Park for $58 million — a blockbuster deal, but not quite a knockout for the “Rocky” star, who originally wanted $110 million for the trophy home.
The high-profile sale included a high-profile buyer: pop star Adele. She joins a bevy of stars in the affluent enclave including Denzel Washington, Magic Johnson and Mark Wahlberg.
$70 million
Michael Rubin, the chief executive of sports e-commerce company Fanatics, set an all-time record in Hollywood Hills when he shelled out $70 million for a property once owned by Ronald Reagan.
The sale redefined what a home could fetch in Hollywood Hills, which has historically seen sales top out in the $30-million range. The staggering price was due to the estate’s rare size and scale. Newly rebuilt, it sits on three-quarters of an acre above the Sunset Strip with unobstructed views of the city.
Records show the seller was Francesco Aquilini, a Canadian businessman best known as the chairman of the Vancouver Canucks hockey team. A regular in real estate headlines, he set the neighborhood’s previous price record when he sold a spec mansion for $42.5 million in 2020.
$70.4 million
Kim Kardashian got in on the action as well, buying yet another home in Southern California. The reality TV star has owned properties in Hidden Hills and Calabasas but picked up one in Malibu this time, spending $70.4 million on a bluff-top mansion once owned by Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber.
Set on more than 3 acres overlooking the ocean, the coastal estate centers on a 7,450-square-foot villa surrounded by a swimming pool, tennis court and meditation deck.
It was sold by hedge-fund manager Adam Weiss and “Yellowstone” actress Barret Swatek, who originally asked $99.5 million for the place.
$75 million
For months, rumors swirled on where Drake — perhaps the world’s biggest hip-hop star — would buy a home. The rapper toured the finest estates of Southern California but eventually settled for something off-market, quietly paying $75 million for a Beverly Crest mansion owned by fellow music star Robbie Williams.
Drake’s new place is comically large, clocking in at more than 20,000 square feet on more than 20 acres — a rarity for the area. Across those 20,000 square feet, it manages to squeeze in 10 bedrooms and a staggering 22 bathrooms, as well as an elevator, wine cellar, gym, game room and 11-car garage.
$91 million
Malibu’s massive year continued thanks to video game designer Jon Burton, who sold his 6.6-acre spread in Paradise Cove for $91 million — a nice improvement on the $36.5 million he paid for it in 2012, but a bit less than the $125 million he originally wanted.
The price jump is mainly thanks to a face-lift Burton gave the place during his decade-long stay. Listing photos show he remodeled the living spaces with rich woods and large windows, as well as amenities such as a movie theater, tennis court, swimming pool and mini golf course.
The biggest highlight comes out back, where the 17,000-square-foot mansion descends to 340 feet of beach frontage.
$100 million
Only three sales surpassed the $100-million threshold this year, and one of them belonged to Tamara Gustavson, daughter of late Public Storage founder B. Wayne Hughes. She wanted $127.5 million for her sprawling compound on a Malibu bluff and sold it for $100 million.
The buyer, records show, is Byron Allen, the billionaire media mogul who founded Entertainment Studios.
The stunning spread has the usual laundry list of amenities but adds a few custom spaces such as a wood-and-glass guesthouse outfitted with a gym and yoga studio.
The profits are a drop in the bucket for Gustavson, who has a net worth of $7.59 billion, according to Bloomberg.
$120 million
Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel finally closed his deal in Holmby Hills, spending $120 million on a property across the street from the Playboy Mansion. The sale process started last year, but he couldn’t close until the summer because the house wasn’t yet finished.
With the move, Spiegel joins one of the ritziest pockets in the country. The Playboy Mansion is the neighborhood’s most famous estate, but the area also holds iconic homes such as Owlwood and the Manor, which set the L.A. County price record at the time when it traded hands for $119.75 million in 2019.
$141 million
What more can be said of “The One”? When the country’s largest modern home was auctioned off for $141 million to the founder of Fashion Nova, it brought an end to a years-long saga of ambition and greed, a battle that’s been documented over and over again but remains hard to believe.
Once touted as a $500-million home, then listed as a $295-million home, then sold at a foreclosure auction as a $141-million home, the still-unfinished mega-mansion comes in as both a crowning achievement and utter disappointment. It ranks as the top sale of the year, and one of the priciest home sales ever in California, but couldn’t fetch anywhere near its original price, and leaves the buyer with millions more to spend to finish up the place.
In many ways, The One is the perfect encapsulation of Southern California’s luxury market, where developers chase bigger and bigger price tags for bigger and bigger homes until, oftentimes, it all blows up in a dramatic display for all to see.
Today, I’m going to talk about our move to Colorado. It kind of popped up out of nowhere but now we are right in the middle of it all. I can’t believe how quickly everything is moving along and I am extremely excited.
Out of all of the moves we’ve done, this one is definitely the largest. We’ve moved a few times now, but they have all been fairly cheap and short distance moves.
However, after collecting, hoarding, and buying things over the last 5 years, we have many more items to move this time around. Even if we were just moving across town it would be difficult with all of our stuff.
Moving to Colorado will be our longest move as well as our most expensive. I’ve heard of people spending over $10,000 moving, and that is something we didn’t want to come anywhere close to.
Below are some updates for our move to Colorado, including our moving expenses and what’s left on our moving checklist.
Related:
Moving supply costs.
Moving supplies weren’t as expensive as I thought they would be. I highly recommend you shop around, as I found widely varying prices for moving supplies.
For instance, many moving companies charge around $5 per box, whereas places like Home Depot and Lowes charge between $1 to $1.50 per box. There are also moving box sets that usually end up being a better deal, such as with this one.
We also bought bubble wrap and lots and lots of tape. Our total cost for moving supplies was around $100.
We could have completely skipped any costs for moving supplies if we would have looked around though. You can often find free moving supplies on Craigslist, at stores, and so on. We would have gone this route but I will be honest and say I was a little lazy since the move sprung on us very quickly.
The cost of moving to Colorado.
Up until last week, we were set on renting a moving truck and trying to figure out a way for everything to work out. However, things just weren’t going to happen that way.
Our main problem is that we have two cars and a moving truck to bring to the new house, yet there are only two of us. And this is why we didn’t think a company such as UHaul or Budget would work for this specific trip.
Yes, we could tow one of the cars behind a moving truck, but we need a fairly large moving truck for all of our things. Towing a car behind it on such a long move (over 1,000 miles) and through steep mountains just seems like too much for us.
Then, Wes’s dad the other day said the company he works for uses UPack to move their employees, so I decided to look them up.
After debating for some time, we made the decision to use UPack for our moving to Colorado needs.
UPack was the easiest and cheapest option for us. UPack is a company that moves your stuff for you. They drop off a moving trailer at your home, you load it up, they pick it up a few days later, then they drop it off at the location you are moving to. They handle all of the actual moving, which is exactly why we chose them. We can make the whole 15 hour trip with only stopping one night, but I know if we drove a moving truck ourselves then it would require much more planning, more stops, and possibly even paying for car shipping because we would have to find a way to bring our second car to the new house.
Going the UPack route is pretty similar in pricing to renting a moving truck as well, and much cheaper than hiring a full-service moving company. I priced out several rental moving truck companies and once I priced everything out, it was very comparable to the pricing that UPack gave me. This is because once you factor in the extra lodging, the higher gas costs because we would have to drive a moving truck, insurance costs, and more, renting a moving truck quickly added up.
A UHaul moving truck rental would have been around $2,500 including the rental truck, insurance, gas, etc. Then, we would have had to still pay for extra lodging and somehow still transporting our second car to Fruita as well. I’m assuming that would have made our moving cost somewhere between $3,000 to $3,500 for the extras. The UPack expense from St. Louis to Fruita is $3,000, so it was an easy choice for us since it meant much less work on our end and a much safer way to move.
My Moving Checklist.
Moving to Colorado hasn’t been as stressful as I originally thought. While there are many things we have already completed on our moving checklist, everything seems to be going smoothly even with all of the tasks that are left. If you need a thorough moving checklist, UPack has one that I found very helpful.
What’s left on our moving checklist:
Arrange for the drop off of the moving trailer at the new house (and pickup a few days after). This is one of the more important things on our moving checklist because I need my stuff, of course!
Turn the internet off at our Missouri house. We’ve already cut cable.
Confirm with moving truck unloaders about what time they should be at the new house. Since it’s only me and Wes (and I am extremely weak), we need someone to help us bring all of our heavy furniture into the house.
Wait for Charter internet at the new house. Yes, this is getting installed within the first hour of moving into our new house. After spending all of that time actually moving to Colorado, I will need internet quickly set up so that I can continue working. I just can’t go without it!
Notify companies of our move. There are still a few more places we need to inform, such as our car insurance company, our bank, and more.
Run through the house one last time. Before we move, we need to run through the house and make sure nothing is left behind and we also need to make sure it’s perfectly clean too for the home sale.
New driver’s license. We also need to license our cars.
New health insurance. This is the last task on our moving checklist but also very important. Our current health insurance is only good at certain Missouri healthcare providers, so we definitely need this.
How much did your last move cost you? How did you try to save money? Are we crazy for moving to Colorado at the last moment? Is there anything I am missing from my moving checklist?