The Savvy Synopsis

As the market heats back up, we review several décor styles to see if they are still trending or if you’d want to redecorate. While some of these come down to personal preference, some interior design decisions may be shifting in time. 

On today’s episode of the Savvy Realtor Podcast, Angie Cole shares her thoughts on several articles in the new related to real estate. What may be true from a national standpoint may change on the local level here in the Triangle. Which of these homebuying trends and decorating styles have you seen?

Now that the holidays are over and the new year has begun, people are ready to go search for a home. January is a busy time, and Angie’s team has averaged two new clients a day so far this year. So, will the bidding wars continue to be competitive among buyers? Angie feels like the seller’s market is strong as the area has appreciated well. For buyers, the rate It is a great time to buy or sell in the Triangle right now.

What are some of the interior design trends that are on the way out? Do you like these trends or are you ready to move forward and leave these in the past decade?

Whether you like some of these styles, you may want to consider what may help your home sell or things to consider as you decorate. What do you think of accent walls, rose gold, and the farmhouse look? 

Finally, iBuyers are becoming more prevalent in North Carolina. It offers more convenience and less hassle of selling a home, but may mean a lower offer. Depending on your situation, this might be a good option. Whether you are looking for an iBuyer or a traditional sale, Angie’s team is here to help!

Listen to the full episode to hear Angie’s thoughts on the latest real estate headlines or click on the timestamps below to hear her answers to these questions.

0:38 - In the News: January expected to be hot for home shoppers.

2:28 - Will the bidding wars continue to be strong in the Triangle?

4:40 - In the News: What decoration trends are going out of style?

5:04 - Will we see less accent walls?

6:14 - Rose gold was good, but now it’s gone.

7:45 - Has the farmhouse look has reached its peak?

8:54 - Are light neutral walls still in?

9:43 - Are the open floor plans closing up?

10:56 - In the News: iBuyers saw large increases in Arizona and North Carolina.

15:52 - What are the pros and cons of iBuyers?

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Show Transcription:

Note: This is an automated transcription. Please forgive the robots as they tend to make some (a lot of) mistakes...

Speaker 1: (00:02)
It's time for the savvy real tour podcast. I'm Walter Storholt alongside Angie Cole, the owner and broker in charge of aCole Realty serving you throughout the triangle, teaching you about the ins and outs when it comes to buying or selling a home. You can find the team online by going to eight Cole realty.com. That's a C O L E realty.com or by calling (919) 578-3128 that's (919) 578-3128 and now it's time for one of the top real tours in the triangle, Angie Cole and the savvy real tour podcast. Let's take a look at some of the headlines and the things making news in the real estate world here at the outset of 2020 came across an article, Angie that said January is expected to be hot for home shoppers and uh, they said that this month in general tends to be the second most viewed listings month across the entire year, which I thought that was kind of a interesting piece of information. And they say that combined with a sub 4% mortgage rates and low unemployment is still in play. That is just expected to be a really busy real estate season. Do you share that optimism for a solid start to 2020

Speaker 2: (01:13)
I do. I do, which I'm excited to say that um, there, there has been a lot of articles and just I guess research that of course has been done that people are saying in general 2020s supposed to be a really great real estate market. But we always tend to see every year after the holidays are over, you know, Christmas, Hanukkah, new year's, you know, all that good stuff has come and gone. All of a sudden, you know, there's a, the flood of buyers back in the market, you know, because we all have busy lives and so once I can kind of put that behind themselves, they then are ready to go and search for a home. And we hear the same kind of objection time and time again during the winter months is you don't, I just want to wait for the new year. I just want to wait for the new year. So we hit January and it is busy, busy. I know personally our team, we have average putting two clients under contract a day so far in 2020. Yeah. So we, yes, so two a day right now and hopefully we keep that up. But yeah, so that goes to show you, you know, we are very busy and buyers are in the market, whether it be us representing the buyer or us selling our listings. Um, but all of a sudden, you know, January hit and we are just slammed.

Speaker 1: (02:27)
Very cool. That is great to hear. Now, do you think that it's, it's not just going to be picking up and heat in terms of closings and going under contract, but what about, you know, the bidding Wars that we had, you know, in the kind of spring and early summer of last year and just how crazy it was in 2019 with all the bidding Wars and even going back to 2018 as well. Do you think that we're going to see that kind of re-emerge maybe here in 2020.

Speaker 2: (02:51)
You know, I, I personally don't think it's going to be as strong as what it was in previous years as far as the bidding Wars go. I feel like was a little bit of a kind of the fear in buyers that Hey, the fear of missing out. But I feel like now that we are all kind of comfortable with, Hey, this is the real estate market that we're in, that there's low inventory, it's more of a seller's market. I feel like buyers have become, I'm good. I would say a little bit more understanding of the market and they're taking their time a little bit more. So, you know, on some homes we are still seeing those bidding Wars, but I don't feel like we're going to see it as much as what we did in 2019 2018 I felt like with our team we sought the most in 2018 it started to taper off a little bit in 2019 and I believe as we're going into 2020, um, it will taper off even more.

Speaker 2: (03:43)
And so we are still in a strong seller's market but we're starting to see the market really just kind of even out as far as or heading more towards back to an even buyer sellers market. So you know, still super strong and it's an amazing time to buy a home because like you mentioned, you know the rates are just super, super low so it's a win-win. Also the market in general has appreciated like crazy here in the triangle. And so as a seller, you know, most of the sellers that I meet with, they are making a pretty penny on, you know, their investment and their sales. So it is a great time whether you're on the sale or the buy side of a real estate transaction.

Speaker 1: (04:23)
Yeah, it's a great point Angie. So optimism certainly to be had, but we may not see it go quite as crazy as it was about two years ago, but that's okay. It's still reason for positivity and celebration in many ways, so that's good. So yeah, January expected to be hot for home shoppers and probably beyond as well. Uh, I came across another article, Angie that said decoration trends are going to be going out of style in 2020 we'll not all decoration trends. They were listing some of the top decoration trends. So I want to see if you agree with these styles that are apparently being eliminated from the decorating priority list. Are we seeing these things disappear in, you know, new construction or in the renovations that you're seeing, all those kinds of things. The first thing they listed was the accent wall is apparently no more, no more good accent walls these days. Do you agree with that?

Speaker 2: (05:10)
Interesting. Huh? I'm really give this one a good thought. You know what I am seeing more of, just overall rooms being kind of more of like, okay, let's just wallpaper the whole entire room versus one accent wall. So I am seeing more of an all over kind of makeover or pop versus just an accent wall. So actually with that one, I am agreeing, I am agreeing that that trend is kind of fading just a tad bit.

Speaker 1: (05:35)
[inaudible] interesting. All right, so there's the actual,

Speaker 2: (05:36)
I haven't thought about it until you just brought it to my attention and now I think about it and you know, I say you're right. And you know, I, I think about all of the model homes out there and kind of the designer homes, you know, because they normally set the trends of you know, what people are liking right now and I am slowly seeing that accent walls are fading.

Speaker 1: (05:54)
Yeah. Okay. Interesting. We did an

Speaker 2: (05:58)
accent wall and last year. So you're outdated. I love me an accent wall so I'm not, I'm personally not hating on it. Um, you know, I am seeing yeah, it's not as the newness of it's gone. If that makes going out of favor slightly. Perhaps the next one on the list, I feel like just came in to style and now it's already going out of style. Rose gold number gold was like making a comeback and out of saying that no more, no more Rose gold Rose guilds gone. You know what? I think Rose gold is going out, but I don't think that gold is going out okay. You know, Rose gold can be difficult. I know, I know. For example, I got a, a Michael Kors, a Rose gold watch a long, long time ago and it's sad, but I don't think I ever put it on because I wouldn't put it on and I had trouble matching it.

Speaker 2: (06:42)
I know it's, that's a, I guess first world problems there. But um, but I get your point. Yeah, the Rose gold, you know, just like kind of a, a pinkish color can be difficult. I feel like to blend with all colors. So yes, maybe Rose gold is going out but not gold. So now the new like gold matte finish is super hot and popular. I see a lot of rooms being designed with the matte finish gold fixtures and then like the real deep blue and, but then a pop, a bright white trim that's really beautiful and common. Um, so I don't see gold. Gold just kinda came back. I don't see that going out anytime soon, but I do agree with the Rose gold. Um, I haven't seen that fat as much, honestly. I'm trying to think of where I've even seen that in a home.

Speaker 2: (07:33)
Of course. I know I can Google it, but I don't know that I would personally love that either. Yeah. So probably maybe a good thing. It's going out of style. Yeah. Right. Good distinction. Not the, not gold itself, just the right, right. Gold. Gold is still hot. Yup. The next one is not going to make fans of fixer-upper happy to hear the farmhouse style they say is reached the, it's, it's past its peak. It's reached the end of its life. The farmhouse style is going out of style in 2020. I don't know that I agree with that one. Seems like it's pretty hot. Yeah. I know. I'm one of the main, uh, builders that are representing Glenwood builders. I mean they are building the farmhouse style right and left and they are selling right and left. You know, they are definitely a popular style and just, it's a beautiful cause it brings um, the, the, you know, oldness you know, back to life.

Speaker 2: (08:21)
But then on the inside of the home you have the newness with the grays and the whites and so it's a good mix of kind of the, you know, the older style and the newness and just as that classy look. So yeah, I'm, I'm personally loving the farmhouse style stone. I think it's still, you know, sticking around, at least here in the triangle. I disagree with that one. I would definitely say that when a, I think gonna stay in favor for quite some time. I think it really depends on the area too. I can see in other markets, you know, definitely that would be short winded but not in North Carolina. Yeah, we like our farmhouse style light neutrals. I don't even

Speaker 1: (08:56)
know what that really is. A light neutrals is going out of style in 2020 they say,

Speaker 2: (09:01)
I'm assuming they're meeting like wall colors, like agreeable gray. Um, no, I mean in our market, I mean if, I mean you go into a new construction neighborhood and every single home has agreeable gray on the walls. Right. And so either a lighter gray or lighter tan, you know, kind of that nude color. I mean that's, that's what's in right now. So um, I am seeing a lot of people, you know, they'll maybe, you know, really just put an extra, I guess hint a color maybe into their dining or their master room and go with a a more bold color. But yeah, that, that light neutrals is still where it's at here, at least in the triangle. It is.

Speaker 1: (09:39)
Yeah. It's a great point and a really good one to make there. Last but not least, open floor plans going out of style in 2020. I feel like, I feel like that was actually a topic that we did maybe two years ago that said open floor plans are going out of style

Speaker 2: (09:54)
now and they've been strong. They have been strong, you know, we see, I mean I still see a lot of people that are buying, you know, much older homes, you know, maybe a home in the 60s and completely opening it up. So Nope, not locally, not in our Fayetteville and our triangle market. You know, the, the open floor plan is where it's at. That's what's selling, you know, people definitely want the openness from the kitchen into the living room. Now the dining room can be separated and be a little bit more the formal, you know, per se. But people are still loving that open area design of the kitchen opening to deliver an area for entertaining of course.

Speaker 1: (10:28)
Yup. Absolutely. So great. A great little list there. Decoration trends going out of style. Sounds like you're in agreement with two of them but not three of them. So we kind of struck some of those down and at least in our area. So there you go. Maybe you, maybe you listening out there feel a little bit differently, but that's a, that's our take on the matter. You're listening to the savvy real tour with Angie Cole, owner and broker in charge of eight Cole Realty serving you throughout the triangle and also throughout the greater Fayetteville area as well. One more article that I came across, Angie wanted to throw your way. I buyers, you know, the eye buyers popular in a, in some markets and uh, you know, you've probably seen these, these are the, you know, we'll, we'll buy your home without you having to list it kind of thing.

Speaker 1: (11:09)
Uh, you don't have to go through the traditional real estate realm. Well now we're starting to get some data on how pop to this actually is throughout the country and it was kind of interesting. It's not as big as you might think with how much marketing there is out there. The traditional route of buying and selling homes is still dominant. But there were a couple of cities across the country, Angie, that really saw some large increases in that eye buying activity. And it is several in Arizona. But then the other state that had a, some really high marks in this area was North Carolina. And in some of those cities I buying made up for more than 10% of all home purchases in those areas in the third quarter. And uh, so it's kinda interesting to see that, that data, and I'm sure you're kind of seeing the impact that it has had on the, on the local community as,

Speaker 2: (11:53)
yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1: (11:54)
I read an article that actually locally, um, I think it made up for 9% of the sellers in North Carolina actually believe specific to the triangle market. Yeah. A Knightdale was actually at the very top of the list, uh, 14 and almost 15% of, uh, of homes were purchased by buyers and the third quarter of 2019 and Clayton was also very popular.

Speaker 2: (12:18)
Okay. Yes. Which, you know, honestly makes sense. It especially Mark is that maybe aren't moving just quite as fast. You know, every seller's in a position for different reasons as far as why they need to sell their home. And if you're in a market, maybe that's not moving quite as fast as, for example, Raleigh and Cary, you know, the eye buyer option might be a great option for you. Um, you know, it's for that seller who, you know, needs to get out quick, who does not care to have showings on their home. You know, doesn't want people in and out of their home. Maybe they have a large family, a lot of animals, maybe they're not in a position to get their home show ready. But also on the flip side, it is the seller who understands that they will be taking a lower offer.

Speaker 2: (13:02)
Right? I'm of course going the traditional route of selling your home with a real estate agent. We can net you more by far. But with the I buy or option of, you know, receiving this kind of quick cash offer from a third party, you know, that will kind of a relieve all of the hassle of that comes along with selling a home. Cause I always tell people, you know what? Selling home is not fun, you know. But once again, it's whether or not time is on your side to wait around for that best offer to get you the highest price point. Or if you prefer to sell low in order just to get things moving and shaken and you know, it just depends on, you know, what your current situation is in regards to selling.

Speaker 1: (13:41)
Yeah. It's kind of interesting because if that's the caveat, right? If you look at it and this data showed it, the median sale price of I buy are homes, they were significantly less than the median for the city as a whole. Just as an example, we'll use the local areas in Knightdale they're showing the uh, median price of a sold home for an [inaudible] buyer is 200 K but the median overall two 45, it's a $45,000 difference there. Yeah. Clayton Clayton was pretty similar.

Speaker 2: (14:12)
Yeah. I think the biggest thing too is the eye buyer is not buying every home, right? It, they eye buyers are investors and so the purchase has to make sense for them. And so there are many homes out there where someone will reach out to get a an I buy or offer on their home and the the eye buyer, that investor will not place an offer because maybe it's out of the age parameters of when the home was built. Maybe it's too expensive of a home, maybe the systems are all way too dated. So there are a lot of kind of qualifications that come along with kind of getting that approval for I buy our offer because if the numbers don't make sense, if of course the [inaudible] buyer is not able to flip it and make a return on it, they won't do it. So that makes sense that the median price point of the I buy are kind of here and the area was more around the 200 Mark because that's kind of the sweet spot if you have to think about it. We have super low inventory in that 200 range. That's where we get into those multiple offers. So for an investor to pick one of those up quickly, flip it, you know, slap some paint on it, new flooring, realistic. Make a return that makes sense for them. It doesn't make sense for an eye buyer to go and purchase a $600,000 home that then might have the average days on the market of three to four months because time is money. It costing them now money the longer it sits. So it makes total sense.

Speaker 1: (15:39)
Absolutely. And uh, so what's your full takeaway of I buying? I mean, do you think this has been a positive development for real estate? What's kind of the, the role that, that you'll play in this whole, in this whole thing?

Speaker 2: (15:51)
You know, I, I wouldn't say it's been a positive for our real estate market in general because we have to remember it's not, it's almost like if a particular particular neighborhood is taken over by investors and all of the homes are now rented out, typically the neighborhood will not appreciate, okay, it's going to devalue the neighborhood. So is it a positive so-called for our market it's not. Okay. But this day and age, people are busy. People have a lot going on. They don't have the time to get their home show ready. Maybe they don't have the monies to invest into getting the show ready either. And so just the convenience of getting an an eye buyer and offer on their home that's quick, fast, they can choose a closing date. Some sellers are choosing to go that route. So it really just depends, depends on the individual situation.

Speaker 2: (16:39)
But although I don't think that it's great for our market and for the values, it is helping a lot of sellers to get out where they need to. And you know, that's something, at first I didn't love the concept, didn't love the idea because of course as a real estate agent it hurts us, right? We're losing some of our listings to these eye buyers. But you know what, our team, we have realized it's time to jump on the bandwagon. And that is something that we are implementing actually first of 2020 where our team two we will be offering, um, we will be acting as an I buy or an offering cash offers on homes where sellers are in a position that they just, they need to get out. They need that convenience and they don't have time to wait and allow us to get them top dollar with doing a traditional sale. So we um, we are, you know, you have to always stay ahead of times and that's where the market across the U S is at now. The, the I buy or is actively out there and it's time for us to be that person as well.

Speaker 1: (17:34)
I guess the nice benefit for you will be that, um, you know, not everything will be a be a nail, you know, for an eye buyer who just does I buying every home, every home is a nail, you know? Right. So the, the hammer going to hit the nail, that's their one option. But you're still have the traditional abilities to sell

Speaker 2: (17:50)
a home. So you'll be able to meet with folks. Exactly. Right. Decide what's best for their situation. 100% right. That's the thing we have, we have a, the, the average real estate agent and what they offer is a traditional sale, right? We then have the eye buyer and what they offer is a cash offer, but it's a low offer. But you know what, we can offer both. We can work with you and decide, okay, what is best for your situation? You know, are you needing to get out? Can you not deal with the inconveniences of showings but you're open to a lower than normal offer or you know, what is time more on your side? Do you have a little bit of time for us to work with you to get your home show ready and to get you then top dollar for your home? So it depends on your individual situation. But that's a great thing about our team is we are going to be able to offer both of those scenarios to you where the average real estate agent cannot average buyer cannot, um, they are working on one side or the other.

Speaker 1: (18:41)
You've been listening to the savvy real tour podcast. I'm Walter store Holt alongside Angie Cole. She's the owner and broker in charge of Aiko Realty here in the triangle. And if you have questions for Angie, we invite you to go online to a Cole realty.com listen to past podcast episodes on the website, read the blog and all the great information, including the option to find a home right there on the website. That's a Cole realty.com and you can also call Angie with your questions. (919) 578-3128