Over The Edge for Habitat
For the second year, the Ransom-McKenzie Team has supported Habitat for Humanity Riverside’s Over the Edge fundraiser. Last year, all three team members went Over the Edge and we raised $5,000. This year, we shot for the same goal with just Connie going over the edge.
We once again raised $5,000 to support Habitat’s great efforts in the Inland Empire to provide affordable housing to at-risk families here. This event is a fun opportunity to raise awareness for a dire need in our community while having a good time experiencing the thrill of rappelling off of one of Downtown Riverside’s tallest buildings, Regency Tower on Orange Street. This year’s thrill was even more exciting because Connie, at 82 years old, was the oldest participant to go Over the Edge in Riverside. She made it look incredibly easy too!
Selling real estate in Riverside, The Ransom-McKenzie Team knows what it takes to be able to afford a home. Connie, together with her team members Charlotte and Bob McKenzie, (who are also her daughter and son-in-law), welcome the opportunity to help people find affordable, safe housing in the community. 
Habitat for Humanity’s mission statement clearly states that they “believe that everyone should have a safe, decent and affordable place to call home”. This is why we feel it is so important to not only raise money for Habitat for Humanity but to also raise awareness of the need for affordable housing in our region.
Through the fundraising efforts of the Over the Edge event, Habitat for Humanity Riverside raises funds to help bring their mission to fruition. Prospective homeowners put in sweat equity, and go through extensive life skills training in order to qualify for the Habitat for Humanity’s housing programs. This investment of time and effort gives the new homeowners a feeling of accomplishment as well as pride as they turn the key to open the door of their new home for the first time.
The Ransom-McKenzie Team is proud to be able to be part of this community-building organization. Working together with community partners like Habitat for Humanity helps to make Riverside a great place to live.
The Ransom-McKenzie Over the Edge Team on site. (L to R) Sarah Beresford, Bob McKenzie, Charlotte McKenzie, Roger Ransom, and Connie Ransom
Riverside Food Lab Coming Soon!
Have you seen the twinkling lights on the new marquee at the corner of the Fox Theater’s parking lot? The words “Food Lab” gives a hint about what is happening inside the space at Market and 6th Streets in Downtown Riverside. The marquee’s message states that the Riverside Food Lab (RFL) is preparing to open in the Spring of 2018.
RFL is one of many unique developments from Arteco Partners, a Pomona based, innovative “re-developer” specializing in the “adaptive-reuse of historic structures and in-fill development in mixed-use downtown neighborhoods.” While this building is a newer structure, it is in the heart of the historic downtown.
The Riverside Food Lab concept is a communal food hall with 14 artisanal eateries and bars. Arteco’s President and co-founder Jerry Tessier is excited to bring this idea to Riverside.
“Downtown Riverside, given all the current and planned developments – from the Fox Performing Arts Center to the coming Imperial Hardware Lofts project — is the right venue for this type of niche development. And with the 14 different eateries and bars inside the Riverside Food Lab, you can go with a group of people or you can even just go on a date, and you don’t have to decide what you’re eating before you get there.” – Jerry Tessier
Start your morning with coffee from Augies and end the day with craft beers at Beer Farm. In between there’s ramen, raw juice, creole, BBQ, acai bowls, waffle treats, “Chicano style” Mexican, Lebanese, and wood fired pizzas. These are just the first 11 vendors to join the RFL family.
Besides local food vendors, the RFL plans on local artists creating murals for the walls, and will bring live music and special events to the adjacent patios adding flavor and color to the festivals and events already taking place in our City of Arts and Innovation.
Excitement is growing – stay tuned as more vendors join RFL by ‘liking’ them on Facebook, or visit their website at riversidefoodlab.com.
We love letting our friends and clients know about things going on in and around Riverside. Subscribe to our blog, and visit our webpage at RansomMcKenzieTeam.com to keep in touch!
Holiday Traditions, Time to Share
Happy Holidays!
We love spending time in the kitchen with family and friends. Never is this more special than during the holidays. Our holiday traditions include a number of favorite cookies and sweets that come out only during the holidays. Our Christmas cookies are made every year, just as they have been since Charlotte and her sister Leslie were kids.
Multi-Generational Households May Be The Answer To Price Increases
Multi-Generational homes are coming back in a big way! In the 1950s, about 21%, or 32.2 million Americans shared a roof with their grown children or parents. According to an article by Realtor.com, “Nearly 1 in 5 Americans is now living in a multi generational household – a household with two or more adult generations, or grandparents living with grandchildren – a level that hasn’t been seen in the U.S. since 1950.”
Feeling Stuck in Place?… You Aren’t Alone
Whether you are a renter who is searching for your dream home or a homeowner who feels like your only option is to renovate, you have at least one thing in common: feeling stuck in place.
Median Days on the Market Drops Again!
Throughout this year the median days on the market (DOM) has consistently gotten lower every month. When compared to year over year figures from 2016, there is often a 50% drop in the number of days on the market.
Inventory Shortage = Inventory Mismatch
The inventory of existing homes for sale in today’s market was recently reported to be at a 3.6 month supply according to the National Association of Realtors latest Existing Home Sales Report. Inventory is now 7.1% lower than this time last year, marking the 20th consecutive month of year-over-year drops.
Historically, inventory must reach a 6 month supply for a normal market where home prices appreciate with inflation. Anything less than a 6 month supply is a sellers’ market, where the demand for houses outpaces supply and prices go up. As you can see from the chart below, the United States has been in a sellers’ market since August 2012, but last month’s numbers reached a new low.
We’ve seen this trend in the Riverside market as we continue to hope that more homes will come on the market each month. One of the unusual things about this market though is that home prices are not skyrocketing. They are increasing, yes, but not the way the economic tables tell us they should be. Why is this? We found this interesting explanation in today’s Keeping Current Matters blog offering.
Recently Trulia revealed that not only is there a shortage of homes on the market in general, but the homes that are available for sale are not meeting the needs of the buyers that are searching.
Homes are generally bucketed into three groups by price range: Starter, Trade-Up, and Premium.
Trulia’s market mismatch score measures the search interest of buyers against the category of homes that are available on the market. For example: “if 60% of buyers are searching for starter homes but only 40% of listings are starter homes, [the] market mismatch score for starter homes would be 20.”
The results of their latest analysis are detailed in the chart below.
Nationally, buyers are searching for starter and trade-up homes and are coming up short with the listings available, leading to a highly competitive seller’s market in these categories. Ninety-two of the top 100 metros have a shortage in trade-up inventory. Riverside is one of these areas as well. Trade-up inventory, especially if the buyer is looking for a single story home, is very hard to come by.
Premium home buyers have the best chance of less competition and a surplus of listings in their price range with an 11-point surplus, leading to more of a buyer’s market.
“It leaves Americans who are in the market for a home increasingly chasing too fewer options in lower price ranges, and sellers of premium homes more likely to be left waiting longer for a buyer.”
Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist doesn’t see an end to this coming any time soon:
“Competition is likely to heat up even more heading into the spring for house hunters looking for homes in the lower- and mid-market price range.”
What Should You Do?
Real estate is local. If you are thinking about buying OR selling this spring in Riverside, sit with a local real estate professional who can share with you the exact market conditions in your area. The Ransom-McKenzie Team lives and works in Riverside. We can help you to understand the local market, and advise you on how to move forward with your selling or buying plans. Give us a call today at 951-237-2044.
The Civic Side of Homeownership
Are you involved in your community? As Realtors, Charlotte and Connie believe in the value of participating in events and organizations in your home town. The Ransom-McKenzie Team would like to take a moment to share with you this current data which relates to home ownership and civic involvement.
The National Association of Realtors recently released a study titled ‘Social Benefits of Homeownership and Stable Housing.’ The study confirmed a long-standing belief of most Americans:
Today, we want to cover the section of the report that quoted several studies concentrating on the impact homeownership has on the civic participation of family members. Here are some of the major findings on this issue revealed in the report:
Bottom LinePeople often talk about the financial benefits of homeownership. As we can see, there are also social benefits of owning your own home. The City of Riverside is a great place to get out and get involved. Charlotte & Connie are involved in a number of organizations and would be happy to help you find the right group to help you get involved. Give us a call today to discuss your civic involvement at 951-237-2044. |
Winter Buyers are Serious
The Ransom-McKenzie Team has been busy already this winter. We’ve been experiencing a high volume of buyers who are ready to buy, now. While winter is often perceived as a down time for real estate, we’re currently seeing trends that indicate this might be a mis-guided perception. Winter buyers are Serious buyers.
Riverside is gorgeous during the winter months!
A recent study of more than 7 million home sales over the past four years revealed that the season in which a home is listed may be able to shed some light on the likelihood that the home will sell for more than asking price, as well as how quickly the sale will close. It’s no surprise that listing a home for sale during the spring saw the largest return, as the spring is traditionally the busiest month for real estate. What is surprising, though, is that listing during the winter came in second!
“Among spring listings, 18.7 percent of homes fetched above asking, with winter listings not far behind at 17.5 percent. While 48.0 percent of homes listed in spring sold within 30 days, 46.2 percent of homes in winter did the same.”
The study goes on to say that:
“Buyers [in the winter] often need to move, so they’re much less likely to make a lowball offer and they’ll often want to close quickly — two things that can make the sale much smoother.”
Bottom Line
If you are debating listing your home for sale within the next 6 months, keep in mind that the spring is when most other homeowners will decide to list their homes as well. Listing your home this winter will ensure that you have the best exposure to the serious buyers who are out looking now! The study used the astronomical seasons to determine which season the listing date fell into (Winter: Dec. 21 – Mar. 20; Spring: Mar. 21 – June 20; Summer: June 21 – Sept 21; Autumn: Sept 21 – Dec. 20).
Downtown Riverside is Growing Up
A vibrant downtown is dependent on creating a good balance of retail and living spaces where people can enjoy not only unique shopping and dining experiences but also can a walkable neighborhood where places are easily accessible. We have watched Downtown as Riverside has become a vibrant economic driver for the city. However, our downtown still lacks spaces where people can live in the Downtown corridor.
The good news is Downtown Riverside will be experiencing a boom of development in the next three years adding over 500 residential, loft style units and nearly 40,000 square feet of unique commercial and office space. The developments include places such as the Mission Inn Lofts, The Stalder Building, Imperial Hardware Lofts, and the Culver Lofts. All of these loft spaces will be centered around our downtown core. Artist renditions of the Mission Inn Lofts and the Imperial Hardware Lofts are shown here:
Bringing more residential living to the heart of Downtown will contribute to the already growing enthusiasm and activity taking place there.
In addition to more residential options downtown, there are also plans to bring more Urban Food venues to Riverside. The 12.000 square foot space adjacent to the Fox Theater is being developed into an Urban Food Hall that will be called the Riverside Food Lab. This location will feature up to 15 vendors and will focus on locally owned stores, no corporate chains allowed. Hopes are to have the Riverside Food Lab up and running in time for the Festival of Lights in 2017. Another unique food venue in the works is Chow Alley. It will feature outdoor dining across from the Historic County Courthouse. The food purveyors here will serve out of cargo style containers, creating a food truck court atmosphere in the heart of the downtown business district.
Check out the City of Riverside’s video about these exciting things coming to downtown Riverside.
There is a lot happening in Riverside! We’re excited to be on the cutting edge of this much-needed development.
