The Most Stressful Event in Life

Tom, here.

This is Price-Reduced.com where we talk a lot about real estate and a little about life.

You can go to the source of this information using the links available to you with the transcript of this episode.

What does Italy, France, and now the U.S. state of New Jersey have in common? They all have programs to help Seniors age in place, to be able to stay where they have often called home for many years. Irene, the company in New Jersey helping make this happen, is becoming a popular alternative to the Reverse Mortgage.

Malaysia joins a host of other countries such as New Zealand, Canada, and Australia to have restrictions or bans on selling to foreigners. Why? Foreign capital often pushes prices beyond the reach of local residents.

Did you hear about the International Monetary Fund warning? Kind of like a Tsunami warning if you are located near the coastline. What coastline? The figurative coastline that includes the many cities around the world where the wealthy have purchased high end homes and condos. Or like mountain climbers who are all tied together to prevent a single climber from falling. However, should several of those climbers fall at the same time, then none of those connected will escape the downfall.  Prices reduced in the Luxury Home markets of London, Beijing, and New York. So according to the warning, what is affecting just a few areas now will continue to spread to more cities around the world.

While lower end properties continue to decline in value, in Perth Australia, the high end market has gone contrary to that trend by having a 1.5% increase in value over the last quarter.

The Economist has a great article with graphs reflecting what housing prices have done in 22 cities around the world. Can you guess how much values in these cities have increased in real terms over the last five years?  The answer is:  34%

So, are prices leveling off and decreasing in the U.S. as in other parts of the world? As in all things real estate, it depends on where you live. Redfin did a study of six cities in the U.S. where you can still expect a bidding war. Can you name them? Here is a hint. Four of the six most competitive markets are in California.

What starts in California, doesn’t stay in California. In fact, due to the size of its real estate market, it has been said that California is a precursor of what will happen around the nation. Southern California, with increasing home values, has still seen an 11.8% drop in number of sales year over year. What price range saw a 21% decrease in number of sales?  $500,000. and below.

Learn why one million more people moved out of California than moved in along with information about its housing crisis and where people are going once they leave.

What is more stressful than a job interview? 40% of Americans say this is the most stressful event in their life. I can’t say for sure, but my guess is this 40% probably hasn’t given birth in their lifetime.

Other stats? Thirteen percent thought they overpaid yet only 10% had buyers remorse.

Here is a not too often thought about segment of the first time home buyer market. What segment is that you ask? How about those senior citizens in their 60’s, 70’s or even 80’s or 90’s who never bought a home. Learn what questions they may ask, such as “should I take out a 15 or 30 year loan.”

Speaking of seniors, do you know what other trend they are becoming a part of? How about the tiny house movement. Many don’t need the space they used to have and becoming mortgage free is a bonus.

Speaking of Seniors, what is happening in the Portland Oregon market? According to the Business Journal, when it comes to the assisted living boom, there are 1,000. units currently under construction in Portland and throughout the state of Oregon. View the many projects under construction.

Speaking of a hot real estate market. There is another kind of hot in Portland.

If you live in Portland or have just passed through, the city brings to mind rain and lots of green scenery. Some areas are more level and others hilly. But the temperature across town is the same isn’t it? Not according to an Oregon Live Article where it shows temperatures can vary by as much as 20 degrees from one neighborhood to another.

In the last few minutes you have been listening to this podcast, or reading the transcript, chances are you have been distracted one or more times.

Career Builders found that 75% of the employers they surveyed said they lost 2 or more hours of productivity a day due to distractions with 43% saying they lost 3 or more hours a day.

The reason? Three of the top four were smart phones, the internet, and social media.

How often is the average office worker interrupted? According to a UC Irvine study, the average work is interrupted or changes tasks every 3 minutes and 5 seconds. Recovery time after each interruption? 23 minutes and 15 seconds.

So it takes me about 7 ½ times as long to recover my focus as I spend on maintaining it.

Is that statistical proof that rather than working seven hours and getting a one hour lunch break, I should go home after working one highly focused hour because the same amount of work gets done either way? Right?

Acknowledging that interruptions cost us time is the first step on the road to recovery.

What are some of the solutions we can grab hold of?

An article on rescuetime.com says to “schedule your interruptions”. Even though it might not work to set your kids down for the “ you can only interrupt me from ten to noon talk”, setting time aside to anticipate and work on those challenges that cause many of your interruptions, before that happens, makes a lot of sense.

Accomplishing one task at a time and building your focus muscle is at the heart of a New York times article. Several recommendations are given as to programs or apps that are available to disconnect us from social or internet temptations. They basically “distract the distractors”.

Whether in real estate or in life, it is those things we let distract us, that stop us from getting the house that we want or achieving the goals we set.

Thank you for listening to Price-Reduced.com and always remember, financially speaking, “When it comes to real estate, the best time to buy or sell, is when you don’t have to.