‘The Year of Creativity’

Plus, YouTube house tours + 6 million homes

November 27, 2021 | Issue #19

Presented by  An easier way to buy, sell or refi your home LEARN MORE

Good morning! Since I was busy stuffing myself with turkey and brussel sprouts, Money Moves is a little shorter than usual this week. I hope you had a delicious Thanksgiving and that you talked exclusively about the housing market (just kidding). 'The Year of Creativity' Jose Velez / Money At the height of the pandemic, just 1% of listings advertised open houses. Honestly, as a cautious person living in a blue state, I'm surprised it was even that high. But I digress. The number of open houses has grown over the last year and a half, but not back to pre-pandemic levels and not before real estate agents were forced to find new ways to market. As many of us took to Zoom and Slack, the real estate industry leaned into virtual tours, 3D walkthroughs and virtual staging. Many agents learned to livestream and embraced social media. Now, what started as workarounds born out of necessity, are quickly becoming standard practices. "This was the year of creativity," says agent Rochelle Atlas Maize, who recently enlisted TikTokkers to help sell a $5.3 million house in California. "The housing market is booming, and old-fashioned walkthrough open houses no longer cut it." In her latest story for Money, Aly J. Yale details the latest tricks of the trade. Make sure to give it a read if you're planning to buy or sell a home anytime soon. The more you know and all. For more: Goodbye Open Houses, Hello TikTok Tours? How Homes Get Sold Now Sponsor's Spot Brokerage fees are cancelled Presented by  Real estate transactions are full of hidden fees and costs. Brokerages charge 6% just to list and sell a home—on a $500K house, that's an extra $30K! Better Real Estate will list and sell your home for 0% so you can keep more money in your pocket. Work with local agents who have local expertise and close faster, only with Better Real Estate.* Skip the fee: Find out how much you can save. Speaking of creative sales tactics Courtesy of YouTube If you're looking for a fun holiday weekend binge watch, check out Enes Yilmazer's YouTube channel. Every Monday, Yilmazer gives his 1.46 million subscribers an exhaustive look inside some of the most incredible properties around. In his most popular video, he tours a $37.999 million property in Calabasas, California, honing in on details like a TV hidden behind a water feature and pantry door that seamlessly tucks into the wall. According to The Wall Street Journal, Yilmazer started doing YouTube home tours to promote his fledgling real estate business — but eventually realized there was more joy (and plenty of money) in content creation. Now, real estate agents beg him to feature their listings. That's a lot of houses Existing home sales rose for the second consecutive month in October. Sales increased despite low inventory and rising prices, defying typical seasonal trends. Now, resales are on track to exceed 6 million this year, which would make 2021 the strongest year for housing since 2006. "Home sales remain resilient, despite low inventory and increasing affordability challenges," said National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, in a statement with the data this week. Adding, "Inflationary pressures, such as fast-rising rents and increasing consumer prices, may have some prospective buyers seeking the protection of a fixed, consistent mortgage payment." The question remains — how much longer can demand soar? At the end of October there were just 1.25 million homes for sale and the median sale price was north of $350,000. Happy hunting, P.S. Share your favorite home tour videos with me on Twitter @samsharf or via email at sam.sharf@money.com. P.P.S. Have a friend who loves real estate or is looking for a home of their own? Please forward them this e-mail or send them to the Money Moves subscription page. Money's Essential Home Buying Resources: Fall 2021 On the hunt? Check out Money's Mortgage Calculator, see The Best Mortgage Lenders and look at the latest mortgage rates Thinking of refinancing? Our list of The Best Mortgage Refinance Companies can help. You can also use our Mortgage Refinance Calculator or these refi tips Key question: How much house can I afford? ICYMI, one of our most popular real estate stories of the year (so far): 'FOMO Took Over.' Some Buyers Who Caved to a Hot Housing Market Now Regret It

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