Has the thought of selling your home cross your mind? Have you wondered when is the best time to sell? Well now just might be it! Over the last 10 years it has been shown that May is the best time to sell your house and get possibly the price for your home-who would have thought?!
We may not have made the list but it is a breath of fresh air to see that some areas are starting to see the home prices starting to come down. This is actually an interesting article to read and see what some areas home prices are currently. I mean, Tulido, Ohio has a median price of $115,000 - you can imagine what that will get you here in the Asheville area. One city I didn't expect to see on the list was Los Angeles, California but will the median home price being $985,000 I can understand why they are starting to see home prices fall there, granted its not much. Take a look at the article by clicking the link below. Cheers!
Dreading those long winters? Or those too hot to handle summers? Thinking that it is time for a change? Well, Asheville has you covered! CNBC just released an article about climate havens and possible relocations for people that are trying to get out of the extreme. We welcome all here but I here Burlington, VT is pretty amazing too :)
A few others named as possible climate havens are:
You’d be hard-pressed to find housing economists proclaiming that the ongoing housing boom is nearing a 2008-type bust. In fact, many say the opposite, based on the belief that the demographic wave of millennial first-time homebuyers, elevated wage growth, and limited supply will all continue pushing the market upwards. Every major real estate firm with a publicly available forecast, including CoreLogic and Fannie Mae, predicts that home prices will go even higher over the coming year.
Black Knight, a mortgage technology and data provider, showed Fortune an analysis on Friday that finds the typical American household would now have to spend 31% of their monthly income to make a mortgage payment on the average-priced U.S. home. That’s up from 29% just one week earlier, and up from 24% in December. Black Knight’s mortgage-payment-to-income ratio—which averaged 19.9% during the 2010s decade—hasn’t topped 31% since September 2007.
However, the Dallas Fed researchers don’t see this as a 2008 repeat. Sure, many new homebuyers are getting stretched financially in a way that resembles buyers during the last bubble. But that’s just new homebuyers. If you look broadly at homeowners, they’re doing quite well.
As of the fourth quarter of 2021, only 3.8% of U.S. disposable personal income was going toward mortgage debt payments. At the height of the 2000s housing bubble, that figure was nearly double at 7.2%. This time around, households’ balance sheets look healthier, and more homeowners have paid off their mortgage altogether. In addition, the shady lending practices of the aughts were regulated out of the market by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. Simply put: If a storm does come, homeowners, in theory, should be better positioned to ride it out.
Do your taste buds ever get bored? Or maybe you just want to live más? If so, consider this your official invitation to complete the AVLtoday Hot Sauce Challenge.
TL;DR: the AVLtoday team went on a mission to sample every hot sauce in Asheville (read: the 20+ that we were able to track down). Here’s what we tried + how we reacted to each of these potent, peppery little vials.
We be so impressed by the sauces we sampled from local chef + UNC Asheville graduate Colin Wiebe. City Editor Laura needed at least a minute to compose herself after trying the Carolina Reaper and Thai Chili-Garlic — and according to Colin’s website, those had heat levels of 7.8 and 8.7, respectively. If you really want to light up your taste buds, seek out the Tropical Reaper Sauce, which has a 8.8 heat level.
Did you know that our beloved Caribbean fusion restaurant also slings hot sauce? All three bottles — Hempress Rising, Sun is Shining, and Red-i — dazzled us with their lively flavors + thick robust heat. We were particularly impressed by the Hempress, which layers green delight upon delight with its blend of tomatillo, jalapenos, habaneros, and faint hits of thyme.
This is the local hot sauce we received the most emails about, which we think is a pretty high endorsement. The spiciest batch available from this maker is the Running with the Reaper, which contains the Carolina Reaper pepper (known for holding the Guinness World Record for spiciest pepper in the world).
The Mango Blaze — a smooth combo of spicy and tropical sweet which would pair nicely with fish tacos— was City Editor Laura’s favorite. There’s also Original, Green Glow, and Smokejumper available — whatever you pick, you really can’t go wrong.
You can find these sweet bottles at most farmers markets. | Photo via @serotoninferments
While not the spiciest around, these fermented sauces make for a quintessential farmers market purchase: they’re alive with bubbly probiotics and all go down quite gently. City Editor Laura loves drizzling the Red or Habanero-flavored hot sauce over eggs, toast, and hash browns. You can also snag the sauce in Green or Chipotle.
This creative suite of sauces, crafted by local musician + comedian Larry Williams, exudes tropical + refreshing energy withflavors like Jalapeno Kiwi, Molten Strawberry, Lemon Pepper, and Original. Multi-City Editor Emily S. especially loves the Lemon Pepper and recommends using it as a marinade for vegetables, fish, or poultry. Pro tip: Larry also makes his own ranch, BBQ sauce, jerk seasoning, and specialty cookies.
Fun fact: Ghost Dog also pairs nicely with pho. | Photo via @ghostdoghotsauce
If you’re a regular consumer of hot sauce and want something that will shock, go for Ghost Dog. The Scotch Bonnet Hot Sauce packs a punch with spritely citrus and the strong, vaguely sweet Scotch bonnet pepper. And if you’re a fan of ginger, go for the Ginger Fatali. Warning though: it brings a slow, menacing burn that may have you sweating (or crying) after a few seconds.
Yeah, you’ve probably guzzled a few (or way more) of this iconic breakfast chain’s biscuits and gravy. But this local franchise offers more than just comfort foods. The biscuit house’s Grilled JalapeñoHot Sauce tastes like a salsa verde kicked up a few notches. Other flavors include: Sweet Heat, Blueberry Jalapeño, and Cat Scratch.
This artisan small batch hot sauce, made by Rhubarb Chef Davis Taylor, has a subtle, elegant flavor with fruity, almost sour, accents. It would be the ideal sauce to liven up a picnic — or to accompany home cooked Southern meal on a porch in the summertime.
This 24-ingredient sauce is packed with a variety of sweet, salty + savoring notes, including sweet potato, peaches, garlic, and habanero peppers. This one is not overwhelmingly spicy, but certainly leaves a nice tingle on your tongue.
Flavor Sauce
Starts off with a lovely charred, sweet flavor — but don’t be fooled, the ghost, habanero, and jalapeño flavors will come for you in a few moments. There’s no website for the sauce currently, but you can text 828-777-5022 to purchase a $6 bottle or a 12-pack case for $64.
Bonus bottles we didn’t get to sample
We didn’t get a chance to try The Grey Eagle’s Cheerwine Habanero sauce or the products from Smoking J’s,but we’ve heard great things. If we can get our hands on these ones, we’ll update this page accordingly.
Know of any other fuego local hot sauces? Let us know who we’re missing.
And finally: if you scrolled all the way down here, congrats. Here’s special behind-the-scenes footage of myself and Multi-City Editor Emily S. losing our minds during the hot sauce tasting.
Before you can make the transition from renting your home to owning your home, you will need to have a substantial down payment, typically 5 to 20 percent of the home’s value. The American Bankers Association suggests the following tips to help save for it:
Develop a budget & timeline
Start by determining how much you’ll need for a down payment. Create a budget and calculate how much you can realistically save each month – that will help you gauge when you’ll be ready to transition from renter to homeowner.
Establish a separate savings account
Set up a separate savings account exclusively for your down payment and make your monthly contributions automatic. By keeping this money separate, you’ll be less likely to tap into it when you’re tight on cash.
Shop around to reduce major monthly expenses
It’s a good idea to check rates for your car insurance, renter’s insurance, health insurance, cable, Internet or cell phone plan. There may be deals or promotions available that allow you to save hundreds of dollars by adjusting your contracts.
Monitor your spending
With online banking, keeping an eye on your spending is easier than ever. Track where most of your discretionary income is going. Identify areas where you could cut back (e.g. nice meals out, vacations, etc.) and instead put that money into savings.
Look into state and local home-buying programs
Many states, counties and local governments operate programs for first-time homebuyers. Some programs offer housing discounts, while others provide down payment loans or grants.
Celebrate savings milestones
Saving enough for a down payment can be daunting. To avoid getting discouraged, break it up into smaller goals and reward yourself when you reach each one. If you need to save $30,000 total, consider treating yourself to a nice meal every $5,000 saved. This will help you stay motivated throughout the process.
US home prices have soared to new heights and keep on climbing, and now some researchers and economists are saying they have seen signs of a housing bubble brewing.
Home prices are rising faster than market forces would indicate they should and are becoming "unhinged from fundamentals," according to a new blog post written by researchers and economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Until recently, the possibility of a bubble wasn't widely supported. But after looking at housing markets across the US, the Fed researchers said new evidence is emerging.
"Our evidence points to abnormal US housing market behavior for the first time since the boom of the early 2000s," the researchers wrote. "Reasons for concern are clear in certain economic indicators ... which show signs that 2021 house prices appear increasingly out of step with fundamentals."
Bubble brewing
The behavior of homebuyers and sellers over the past two years has been anything but normal, the researchers pointed out. Prices are at record highs and continue to move higher because there has been record low inventory. Still, homebuyers keep buying. Interest rates fell to record lows during the pandemic, but that does not alone explain the housing market frenzy, they wrote.
Other factors have played a role in pushing the market into bubble territory, the Fed researchers wrote, including pandemic-related stimulus programs and Covid-19-related supply-chain disruptions and associated policy responses. The researchers specifically highlight the role of investors, who are aggressively buying up homes.
Investors now buy 33% of the homes in the US, which is a 5% larger share than the average over the past decade, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting. The business of ibuying -- in which a company buys a home for cash to slightly fix it up and resell it again -- is only 1.7% of the national housing market in the last quarter of 2021, according to Zillow. But in some cities, the share of homes going to ibuyers is as high as 11%.
Silver linings
A lot was learned from the last housing crash, which has led to better early detection and warning indicators of housing bubbles, the researchers wrote. If these concerning trends continue, banks, policymakers and regulators ought to be better equipped to quickly react to avoid the most severe, negative consequences of a correction.
In addition, they wrote, there is no reason to expect any resulting correction would impact homeowners or the economy as significantly as the last housing crash. Americans are generally in better financial shape, homeowners have stronger equity positions and excessive borrowing is not as rampant as it was in the mid-2000s.
Kitchen remodel? Jack & Jill master bath? A high tech home theater? What home renovations are you dreaming of doing? #thehelpfulagent #home #houseexpert #house #listreports #realestate #homeowners #happyhome #homereno #homestyle #realtor #realestateagent #investment #dreamhome #happyhomeowners
Weighing the benefits of buying against those of renting is something everyone needs to do. Let me help you with the buying benefits list. I can answer any of your buying questions. #thehelpfulagent #home #houseexpert #house #listreports #homeowner #househunting #investment #smartmoney #realtor #realestateagent #realestate
If your anything like me. I can not wait to get my hands back in the dirt and start planting my gardens again. Deterining when to plant in the spring can be harder than predicting the ups and downs of the real estate market. Part superstition and part science.
Every region is different depending on the altitude and terrrain. Below is an average date of the last spring frost. Living in the area we live its usually best to wait. Global warming has not helped at all either. Back in 2004 when we first moved to the area it snowed in May and as the years have gone by we seem to have less *snow* every year. Keep your eyes on the weather...spring is on its way.