Welcome to the 575^th Weekly Update and Happy World Smile Day!

First off, THANK YOU for a great month last month during September. I appreciate the opportunity to help each of the referrals you sent our way, and it resulted in one of the best months in the past three years. THANK YOU!

Again, we wanted to put our reminder here about our network of AWESOME trusted, locally owned, and operated companies to connect you to in order to help. Whether you need help with a handy man project, HVAC help (is it time to inspect your furnace?) or you need a dumpster for your next project, just give us a call so you don’t have to worry about a contractor who goes very, VERY slow!

Now, back to the update. This week, rates worsened and of course we're hoping for improvement in the coming weeks. The rates are shown just above the trivia question. If you have questions about how these rates apply to your situation, let's talk. But gang as usual, there is LOTS GOING ON, SO LET'S GET STARTED!

CRAZY STORIES

I remember reading a play in high school called, “Waiting for Godot,” by Samuel Beckett. As the name implies, the story is about two guys waiting for … you guessed it Godot. A few people come by while they wait by a small leafless tree, but they are just standing there…. waiting. There are A LOT more themes to it, but I remember as a teenager noticing there wasn’t much action, adventure, or excitement AND there was no payoff to the plot. *Spoiler Alert* Godot. Never. Came.

This crazy story seems like the shopping equivalent of Godot… which this guy, just ain’t sure about. Turns out, there really are websites built around shopping for something that simply NEVER shows up. Meet South Korea's "dopamine sites," where you can shop online without buying a thing. Sites like Dopamine Shop and FoodNeverComes copy the whole routine. You search for items, read reviews, fill your cart, enter your address, place the order, and even track the delivery. Then nothing happens. No money leaves your account, and no box ever lands on your porch.

The writer of the article tested it for a week and "ordered" a Patek Philippe watch, a Hermès handbag, a Tiffany diamond ring, and a Cartier bracelet, worth more than $74,000 combined. Experts say the fun is in the ritual, not the delivery. Browsing, comparing, and dreaming about what you might own feels good all on its own. One researcher said people get the anticipation and the choices without the bill that follows.

If that sounds familiar, think about that time you had a full cart sitting online for days... I guess you know the feeling. The experts say this habit is universal, and South Korea simply turned it into a service. Unlike your buddy, Godot, at least these shoppers know EXACTLY why nothing is coming, and they are evidently happy about it. Check it out below!

Evidently our attitude toward raccoons as a society (aka the famous Trash Pandas) is softening and shifting. The Atlantic recently dug into the growing idea that raccoons are quietly domesticating themselves. Scientists found that city raccoons have shorter snouts than their country cousins, a classic sign of the same slow process that turned wolves into happy golden retrievers like our unofficial mascot Nola. Raccoons living near people have also become calmer, more curious, and less likely to bolt when we show up. Researchers think friendlier raccoons simply eat better and raise more babies, so kindness keeps winning out.



But, don't go rushing to adopt one, though. Experts warn raccoons stay wild at heart, get destructive once grown, and carry real health risks like rabies. So, gang, enjoy them from a respectful distance, ideally without leaving your Wickle’s Pickles jars unguarded. Click your racoon friends' picture to the right to read more

REAL ESTATE TO BEHOLD



As the temps cool, and birds and people migrate South, let’s do an ALL-FLORIDA Real Estate to Behold Section. With basketball season soon upon us, it remains challenging to keep track of where players landed after each season at each level. Good news, hoops fans, Giannis Antetokounmpo has a new home to match his new team. After 13 seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, the man known as the ‘Greek Freak,’ was traded to the Miami Heat. Giannis wasted no time putting down roots. He picked up an eight-bedroom mansion in Pinecrest for a reported thirteen point five million dollars. The home sits on more than an acre and comes with a media room, a guest house, and a private pool with a jacuzzi. Here's the fun part. The house sits directly across the street from a home once listed by Tyler Herro, the very player Miami sent to Milwaukee as part of the trade. Talk about neighborhood AWKWARDNESS! Giannis has said Milwaukee will always hold a piece of his heart, but it sounds like South Florida is officially home now.

Add another tech titan to the Florida migration. Mark Zuckerberg is trading California for Miami, reportedly dropping around $200 million dollars on a waterfront mansion on the exclusive Indian Creek Island. The nearly two-acre property comes with a private dock big enough for his $300 million superyacht to pull right up. Zuckerberg will have plenty of company in the neighborhood, joining names like Jeff Bezos and Tom Brady in one of the most guarded communities in the country. Florida's lack of a state income tax certainly does not hurt either. The move fits a bigger pattern, too, with other tech billionaires like Larry Page and Sergey Brin also scooping up Miami real estate lately, probably all huge Giannis and Heat fans, OR MORE LIKELY the sun and the lower taxes is the draw!

Next up, Miami's skyline is about to get a serious luxury upgrade. The supercar maker, Bugatti just unveiled plans for its first branded residential tower in the United States, a sixty-story building rising along the Miami River in Brickell. The tower will hold 183 homes, including four signature penthouses, with sweeping curves inspired by Bugatti's sports cars. The price tag on the project comes in around six hundred fifty million dollars, and sales are expected to open in early 2027. If Bugatti's Dubai tower is any hint of what is coming, get ready for eye popping numbers. That building already sold a single penthouse for a record one hundred fifty million dollars. Bugatti joins a growing club of car brands building homes in Miami, alongside Porsche, Aston Martin, and Bentley. Turns out horsepower and home ownership go together better than we thought, but also could be that Giannis or tax thing! Click below to read more. 

THE ECONOMY AND REAL ESTATE

Wanted to include a few pieces of good news, starting with New Home Sales from last week. The Census Bureau released that data and showed that new home sales increased to an 8-month high in August the best activity of the year. New home sales jumped 6.4% in August, hitting a seasonally adjusted rate of 684,000 homes. Builders are getting creative to make it happen, cutting prices and offering incentives to bring buyers off the sidelines. The typical new home now runs $393,700, down almost 6% from a year ago, and most homes sold last month came in under $500,000.

The regional story is a mixed bag. Sales more than doubled in the Midwest and ticked up in the South, but they fell sharply in the Northeast and West. Mortgage rates are still a headwind, with the 30-year average climbing toward 7% as global events push up longer term rates.

Even so, this report is a genuine bright spot. Builders are working through their unsold inventory faster than they were a month ago, and buyers willing to negotiate are finding real deals out there right now.

We have done more and more rental property loans for clients so wanted to include this here. A recent report looked at all 50 states plus D.C. and ranked them for three different investor types: Growth, Income, and Fundamental. GREAT NEWS for folks looking for steady, low drama markets, Alabama landed in second place nationwide for Fundamental Investors, right behind North Dakota. Hope there isn’t TOO much trash talk between Fargo and Birmingham Chambers of Commerce.

That is a strong showing for the Magic City here. The ranking rewards affordable home prices, stable employment, and steady price growth over time, rather than fast appreciation. Alabama earned its spot with a healthy mix of affordability and job stability, plus an impressive 28.85% growth in household income over the past five years, one of the strongest gains among any state in the top group.



What does this mean for our area? It is a vote of confidence in Alabama as a place to buy and hold real estate for the long run. Investors chasing quick flips might look elsewhere, but anyone wanting a market with fewer surprises and solid fundamentals now has real data backing up that choice, and Alabama is leading the pack.

We’ve heard from buyers wondering if prices were going to drop in the near term and with rates going?.,vc up, that concern has been brought back up. There have been plenty of click bait headlines and stories recently, so gang, let’s read what the experts across the industry have to say. Keep reading the blog from KCM that breaks down the newest housing forecast survey, and whether any kind of crash is really on the way.

Half of buyers are scared prices are about to crash. The other half are hoping they will. A recent survey from Clever found 58% of Gen Z buyers are actually rooting for a crash, just so homeownership feels within reach.

So what do the actual forecasts say? Every quarter, Fannie Mae surveys more than 100 housing experts on where prices are headed. The newest results are in, and even the pessimists are not calling for a crash.

What the Newest Numbers Actually Say

The panel's latest forecast has prices climbing every year through at least 2030, averaging 14.7% growth over the next 5 years. Even the pessimists still expect a 6.6% increase by 2030 (see graph below):

These are national numbers, so your area could run hotter or cooler, but the big picture is clear. Prices are not crashing, and historically, they RARELY do.

How This Quarter Compares to the Past

This survey runs 4 times a year, so we can track the panel's mood. A year ago, experts expected 2.1% growth this year. Now they are forecasting 2.5%, so the near term outlook improved. Further out, 2027 through 2029 cooled slightly, with each year now expected a bit less growth than before (see graph below):

Every bar still points up. The growth has just moderated as the market settles into a more normal pace.



What It Means for Your Next Move

Run the numbers on a $400,000 home bought in January, and the panel's forecast puts you up about $58,000 in equity in 5 years from price growth alone (see graph below):

That is real wealth you could be building while others sit on the sidelines waiting for a crash the experts do not see coming.

Bottom Line

Whether you are bracing for a crash or hoping for one, the verdict is the same: prices are expected to keep rising, not fall. Let's talk about what that means for your market and your plans.

Let's Connect!

RATES:

Pricing and rates remain erratic and volatile. Confirm rates & pricing directly with your loan officer.

Check out the trivia below and remember, there is a drawing to enter to win a gift card. This is your chance to enter for a chance to win the gift card awarded every other month. This trivia question is for the September & October drawing/card.

TRIVIA QUESTION

Last week we had an article about Merriam-Webster Dictionary adding nearly 1400 words to their lexicon. With tomorrow, October 3^rd being Mean Girls Day, we regret to inform the cast that using FETCH as an adjective, still hasn’t happened.

What character in Mean Girls was trying to “make Fetch happen?”

 A) Regina George

B) Cady Heron

C) Glenn Coco

D) Gretchen Wieners

E) Karen Smith

Click here to EMAIL ME YOUR ANSWER.

**Email your answer to me to have your name entered in a drawing for a gift card at the beginning of even months and YES you can go back and answer previous weeks’ questions if you have not answered them already AND if we have not unveiled the answer yet***