Andy Medina - Las Vegas Realtor

  Do You Know How Much Your House Is Really Worth? Want to know something important you probably don’t have a professional check for you nearly as often as you should? Spoiler alert: it’s the value of your home. Because here’s the reality. Your house is likely the biggest financial asset you have. And if you’ve lived in it for a few years or more, chances are it’s been quietly building wealth for you in the background – even if you haven’t been keeping tabs on it. You might be surprised by just how much it’s grown, even as the market has shifted over the past few months. What Is Home Equity? That hidden wealth in your home is called equity . It’s the difference between what your house is worth today and what you still owe on your mortgage. Your equity grows over time as home values rise and as you make your monthly payments. Here’s an example to help you really understand how the math works. Let’s say your house is now worth $500,000, and you have $200,000 left to pay off on your l...

  Why Now May Be a Key 2025 Moment To Sell Your House Mortgage rates are finally heading in the right direction – and buyers are starting to jump back in. According to the data, buyer demand picked up considerably once mortgage rates hit a new low for 2025. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports that applications for home loans were up 23% compared to the first week of September last year . If you’ve been waiting to sell, or your listing recently expired because the market was slower than you hoped it would be, now’s the time to reconsider your move . Buyer demand is the highest it’s been since July – and you don’t want to miss this window. When Rates Drop, Buyers React Here’s what’s happening. The 30-year mortgage rate dropped to 6.13% earlier this week. And that’s the lowest it had been since October 2024 . That decline followed weak job growth and other economic indicators that are fueling speculation the Federal Reserve may cut the Federal Funds Rate multiple time...

  What a Fed Rate Cut Could Mean for Mortgage Rates The Federal Reserve (the Fed) meets this week, and expectations are high that they’ll cut the Federal Funds Rate. But does that mean mortgage rates will drop? Let’s clear up the confusion. The Fed Doesn’t Directly Set Mortgage Rates Right now, all eyes are on the Fed. Most economists expect they'll cut the Federal Funds Rate at their mid-September meeting to try to head off a potential recession. According to the CME FedWatch Tool , markets are already betting on it. There’s virtually a 100% chance of a September cut. And based on what we know now, there’s about a 92% chance it’ll be a small cut (25 basis points) and an 8% chance it will be a bigger cut (50 basis points): So, what exactly is the Federal Funds Rate? It’s the short-term interest rate banks charge each other. It impacts borrowing costs across the economy, but it’s not the same thing as mortgage rates. Still, the Fed’s actions can shape the direction mortgage rates ...

  Patience Won’t Sell Your House. Pricing Will. Waiting for the perfect buyer to fall in love with your house? In today’s market, that’s usually not what’s holding things up. And here’s why. Let’s be real. Homes are taking a week longer to sell than they did a year ago. According to Realtor.com : “Homes are also taking longer to sell. The typical home spent 60 days on the market in August, seven days longer than last year and now above pre-pandemic norms for the second consecutive month. This was the 17th straight month of year-over-year increases in time on market.” Part of that is because there are more homes on the market. So, with more options for buyers to choose from, they aren’t getting snatched up quite as fast. But there’s another big reason: price . The Average List Price Isn’t Going Up – and That Matters Today, a lot of homeowners are overshooting their list price. They remember the big climb in home prices a few years ago, and they don’t realize how much has changed. O...

  Mortgage Rates Just Saw Their Biggest Drop in a Year You’ve been waiting for what feels like forever for mortgage rates to finally budge. And last week, they did – in a big way. On Friday, September 5 th , the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to the lowest level since October 2024. It was the biggest one-day decline in over a year. What Sparked the Drop? According to Mortgage News Daily, this was a reaction to the August jobs report, which came out weaker-than-expected for a second month in a row. That sent signals across the financial markets, and then mortgage rates came down as a result. Basically, we're seeing signs the economy may be slowing down, and as certainty grows in the direction the economy is going, the markets are reacting to what is likely ahead. That historically brings mortgage rates down. Why Buyers Should Pay Attention Now But this isn’t just about one day of headlines or one report. It’s about what the drop means for you. This recent change saves ...

  Why 50% of Homes Are Selling for Under Asking and How To Avoid It If your selling strategy still assumes you’ll get multiple offers over asking, it’s officially time for a reset. That frenzied seller’s market is behind us. And here are the numbers to prove it.  From Frenzy to “Normal” Right now, about 50% of homes on the market are selling for less than their asking price, according to the latest data from Cotality . But that isn’t necessarily bad news, even if it feels like it. Here’s why. The wild run-up over the last few years was never going to be sustainable. The housing market needed a reset, and data shows that’s exactly what’s happening right now. The graph below uses data from Zillow to show how this trend has shifted over time. Here’s what it tells us: 2018–2019: 50–55% of homes sold under asking. That was the norm. 2021–2022: Only 25% sold under asking, thanks to record-low rates and intense buyer demand. 2025: 50% of homes are selling below asking. That’s much c...