By coinnews 
00:00 Speaker A
New home sales unexpectedly rising in the month of April, soaring 10.9% from the prior month versus an expected decline of 4%. So what does it say about the state of the housing market? Here with more, we’ve got Chris Tramont, who is the broker associate and owner of Exsteam at Real Broker. Great to have you here with us. So, just take us into your assessment of the unexpected rise in new home sales that we saw during the prior month.
00:38 Chris Tramont
Yeah, Brett. So, I, you know, it’s great to see that people are, are looking to buy even with the rates at this point. Um, we do have a massive shorting, uh, housing, uh, shortage here in the United States. Um, I think it, you know, it trends for people looking to purchase homes for new construction, and it reduces the competition nationally, um, when it comes to home ownership. Um, and I think the incentives that these builders are using, you know, interest rates, in-house finance, um, is a good sign for, for the real estate market.
01:58 Speaker A
What are we seeing in, in terms of the builds, the types of builds that are really being targeted because that is something that for everyone who’s evaluating everything from location all the way out to the pricing that they’re looking to get in, perhaps even some of the buy down, that all plays a major role in terms of how the buyer is actually coming in, speaking with some of these builders and saying, okay, you know, this is our price range and this is what we can afford to ultimately build out.
02:48 Chris Tramont
Yeah. So, I mean, all, there’s a lot of builders and, and they, they all operate differently. Like one of my builders, they have a cookie cutter, you know, three types of styles you can purchase, price points, um, and there’s upgrades that you can pay for, um, outside of the purchase. Um, you know, mainly you’re seeing colonials because they’re stackable, uh, which means you have 800 square feet on the main level, and it’s cheaper for the builder to build another 800 square feet on top. Um, you know, and then in Texas, they’re doing houses that are grand and, and vaulted ceilings and, um, you know, without basements, and the cost without, for to build a house without a basement is tremendously cheaper than a house, you know, say here in Connecticut, where I’m at, um, to build with a foundation. So, it, you know, buyers have more flexibility when they do new construction, and builders, most of the time, are willing to, to work with the buyer based on their budget, but they got, they got to be at a certain price point to keep the, the development, um, cohesive in, in terms of like how it looks and stuff.
04:54 Speaker A
So, for, for fluid buyer activity, what do you think the sweet spot is in the mortgage rate, especially coming off of some of the readings that, that have us off of last year’s levels, but still at least at a rate where there’s still a lot of builders out there that are saying, okay, we’re going to offer this buy down just to alleviate some of that pressure.
05:28 Chris Tramont
Yeah. So, the, the buy downs are a great thing to, to help offset pressure for a limited amount of time. Most of these buy downs, they’re only good for, I think a year and a half, sometimes two years, but the, you know, the rate goes back up to what it was originally when the, when they purchased the property. Um, it does help them. Um, really, it’s, it’s not all, all about the rate. It’s actually more about taxes and, and homeowner’s insurance, um, that have a huge impact on that mortgage payment. The rate, believe it or not, isn’t that, you know, bad. It’s, it’s really the, the cost of that, the closing cost, the insurance and the, and the stuff that impacts, um, the mortgage payment.
06:51 Speaker A
Certainly. So, as we’re thinking about different areas, and, and there’s some notable migration, especially within the, the Sunbelt areas here, how are buyers who are kind of looking at some of these new properties and, and having to make decisions sight unseen, what is, what is your advice for how they should go through that process?
07:26 Chris Tramont
Yeah. So, the, but I’m familiar, very familiar with sight unseen. I, I help a lot of military families, uh, move to, uh, my area because we have a sub-base here. Um, the site unseen process, you know, the, the agent that they hire to help them find a house, you know, really has to be thorough and very transparent, and you must utilize video. Um, video record everything from the showings to the meetings, to, uh, you know, the inspections and, and, um, and that kind of stuff, and also connecting them with, you know, the proper vendors, like the home inspector and the attorneys and title company, um, contractors. Um, yeah. So, it’s, it’s, it’s super important, uh, to, if you’re going to be purchasing site unseen, um, to first off, find the an agent that knows what they’re doing and, and, uh, how to, you know, operate a site unseen transaction, um, and then use video. Like use video for everything and to keep everything transparent.
08:57 Speaker A
Is there any kind of legal language that you need to also have in consideration if you are purchasing site unseen?
09:10 Chris Tramont
Yeah. Here in Connecticut, we have a site unseen addendum, and it basically, you know, relieves any liabilities on us as the broker, um, in terms of if they’re not happy when they finally arrive and, and, uh, they, but, you know, they, most buyers will do a final walk through to confirm everything that was done was done the way that they wanted. Um, and sometimes it’s not, it doesn’t appear the same way in person as it did on video. And, uh, so we have an addendum that protects us as brokers, um, you know, if that circumstance comes.
10:00 Speaker A
Chris, thanks so much for taking the time with us today. We really appreciate it.
10:04 Chris Tramont
Hey, thanks, Brett.