---
title: "03 - Making Homeownership More Affordable"
url: https://stacklist.com/card/41945fc1-436a-4575-896e-0111d2fdea95
stack: https://stacklist.com/stack/e0aa7518-e055-42ed-8cd9-cf54197d1077
summary: "Andrew Lynn, owner and broker of ERA One Team Real Estate, discusses strategies to make homeownership more affordable despite income gaps, highlighting seller concessions, builder incentives, and creative financing options in the Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia market. He notes that inventory is moving faster with homes selling in 29 days on average, with 14% selling above list price as sellers become more realistic with pricing."
tags: "homeownership, real-estate, affordability, housing-market, florida, incentives, buyers"
key_entities: "Andrew Lynn (person), ERA One Team (organization), Redfin (organization), Northeast Florida (location), Southeast Georgia (location), United States (location), homeownership affordability (concept), buyer's market (concept), seller concessions (concept)"
classification: "video"
acp_version: "0.2"
token_counts_approximate: 2881
visibility: public
agent_accessible: true
status: "final"
---

# 03 - Making Homeownership More Affordable

[ 00:00] We go now to Andrew Lynn. He is the owner and broker of ERA one team and a multi-generational member of the northeast Florida and southeast Georgia family. Andrew Lynn joins us now. Good morning, Andrew.

[ 00:16] Thank you. Good morning.

[ 00:17] A new report by Redfin showed that Americans need to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably afford a typical home that, that is for sale in the United States. Do you think that's accurate?

[ 00:30] I do. I do. And looking at the medium size of, uh, income in our area is around 75 to $80,000. And I do believe that is, that is correct. Um, I do get asked all the time, you know, is this a buyer's market? Is this a seller's market? And I think the answer is yes. You know, the answer is yes, it is because a lot of sellers are now coming to the realization of, uh, offering concessions, lowering the price. So that does help with buyers getting into homes and sellers being able to, uh, move product and move and relocate.

[ 01:03] So if the average income in our area is far lower than the average needed to buy a home, what are people doing?

[ 01:12] So again, people are pricing their home correctly. 14% of homes are selling over list price. Uh, which tells me that sellers are becoming realistic, uh, to price their homes correctly to sell, which in return allows the affordability for homes to sell and buyers to get into a home. One of the other trends that we're seeing locally is that builders are positioning their homes with incentives to close. And they can be as much as, you know, um, 10 to $30,000 to allow a buyer to get into a home. Um, and we've also seen recently, uh, allowing seller, sellers and builders both, um, offering rent, um, concessions, meaning paying for buyers to get out of their rentals to get into a home. So there's a lot of incentives out there that allows, um, people to get into a home to make it affordable.

[ 02:11] So Andrew, just to break that down in depth a little bit, you're saying that there are now incentives. So if somebody is renting and they are renting with the thought that they will eventually buy a home, but they are in a lease situation and maybe have six or seven months left on their lease, you're saying that they can now kind of negotiate because sellers and builders are offering if the buyer asks or the potential buyer asks to kind of buy them out of their lease.

[ 02:40] Absolutely, absolutely. And that and we're seeing that. That's just one example that sellers and builders are getting creative, um, to move product. And just to give you some other stats locally, uh, of where we are that that goes back and reflects what we just discussed is the inventory rate has dropped this time last year to 3.1%. That's 21% below this time last year. And what that tells us is people, sellers, builders are moving inventory, um, into your original question as far as affordability and income. That is true. However, sellers are getting creative to buy down the rate to incentivize a buyer. That makes it more affordable to bridge that gap to get people in. Another stat just to give you in, uh, your listener some information. This time last year, the days on the market, which means homes listed home sell or goes under contract is down, is 29 days, meaning the inventory has gone down. The the inventory continues to go on the market and come off because sellers are getting creative and builders are getting creative to get the inventory moved to get a buyer into a home. They recognize that gap that you mentioned earlier and that is significant because

[ 03:58] I think the last time that you and I spoke, I think that was around 41 days. So we're seeing a decrease. Is the one thing I don't hear you talking about at all is, uh, interest rates. My guest is Andrew Lynn. He is the owner and broker at ERA One Team Real Estate and he's been, and he and his family have been in our area for generations. Not a newcomer by any stretch of the imagination. Are interest rates a factor?

[ 04:30] They are, um, and today they sit around 6.6, 6.7, um, today currently, uh, and I was just listening to, um, the, uh, the news about potential two rate hikes, three rate hikes, um, and I think that's kind of been built in with where we are with the 10 year, um, note. And so I do, although I do think we'll have a couple of rate hikes. They're not going to really affect the 30 year mortgage rate. Um, and then going back to what I mentioned earlier, sellers are buying down interest rates, the builders are buying down interest rates. So we are still seeing buyers enter the market. Um, and I will say Northeast Florida is very strong. Southeast Georgia, Northeast Florida is very strong as far as people relocating here. The, uh, demand is still very high. So we're really seeing that, um, that demand stay steady in this market that we're in. Um, so I do think the rates will stay where they are for the next six months to 12 months. However, I do see, um, the number of homes being sold nationally will slowly increase over the next 12 to 24 months.

[ 05:39] And that is because of the concessions being made by buyers and builders or because sellers are feeling more confident.

[ 05:47] I think I think the confidence in the market and as things kind of settle down globally, I think that's going to continue. There are also, uh, just for you and your listeners to know, there are a couple bills, one specifically in Congress that, that is being proposed that is called the More Homes on the Market Act. Uh, it has a bipartisan support. But what this bill does, which again, I think up in D.C. and locally, we're all trying to look how we, how do we unlock inventory? How do we, how do we unlock opportunities for buyers to enter the market? And this will do that. Um, and from what I understand, it does have bipartisan support. And what it is, is if you are a single person currently and you sell a home, you get up to $250,000 tax free, um, when you sell a home, that will be bumped up to a half a million. And if you're married, currently that number is a half a million and that will get bumped up to a million. So the thought is in Congress is if this gets passed, that it will unlock inventory for people to transact and put their homes on the market.

[ 06:56] So more of an incentive because they're they have more capital gains to shield from taxes. If that's correct.

[ 07:05] Okay, if that's what I'm understanding correct. Correct. And then and then lastly, I will tell you, um, statistically talk to a mortgage, um, officer and from a national standpoint for the first time in a long time. And you and I discussed this previously on the air. There's a lot of people in the country who have a 3% mortgage and, uh, there's also people who have a 6% plus mortgage or currently today we are in a balanced market. That number is 50/50. 50% of people in the country have a 30, uh, 3% mortgage and 50% have a 6% range market. So where months before and a year before that was more in that 3% camp had that. So we are becoming entering a time where sellers are sitting on a 50/50 guideline as far as where they are on their rate, which will translate, I believe, for people to start transacting and moving, um, and which will also increase inventory on the market, giving buyers more choices.

[ 08:10] So that means people who are sitting on their home and want to sell it, but are just waiting for that great interest rate that they had, you know, back in COVID, um, like I had a, I think it was 2.2% when I bought my home during COVID. We won't, we probably won't see that 3.something percent again, at least for the foreseeable future. And so you're saying not, not a reason to sit on it.

[ 08:37] No, no.

[ 08:39] Likewise, not a reason to sit on on not purchasing a home because rates are 6% because you think that they are probably going to go up.

[ 08:48] Uh, slightly. Yes, I do. Uh, and exactly to that point of maybe not waiting, right, on the buyer side is this time last year, um, the medium sales price in our area went up 8%. So just on a percentage basis, on an interest rate basis went up to $420,000. So if you waited, you didn't get that bump.

[ 09:09] So is that within a year, is that a direct result of demand increasing?

[ 09:14] Within a year. Because it's, there certainly appear to be more homes available on the market, or I should say more residences available on the market with all of the development that has taken place.

[ 09:27] Um, I think it's the strong demand for our area, the affordability in our area. Uh, you and I discussed too previously, when you compare northeast Florida to the entire state of Florida and specifically central to south Florida, the trend is we are extremely affordable compared to the rest of the state. And I think that also is a factor of the demand and the, um, for the basic, for the demand in the area and our lifestyle and weather.

[ 09:59] I am going to ask you for some tips for buyers and sellers, but before we do, if someone is interested and likes what you're talking about and wants to get in touch with you either for buying or selling, how do they do that?

[ 10:12] Yep. So our website is, uh, era1team.com, era1team.com. Uh, phone number is 9046411400. Love to hear from you. And if you are interested in a career in real estate, it's join era1team.com, join era1team.com. Um, and for tips and tricks, you know, I, I, um, this is a buyer's market and a seller's market. But if you are a buyer and you are a first time home buyer, I would really encourage you to sit down with a real estate professional. Excuse me. And discuss your options, discuss your needs, discuss what your goals are. Um, and be patient with that process. Find out what you can stay under, what you want to, what your goals are. Um, and I, I've had this conversation multiple times with clients and our team. Um, we live in a doordash society where people want their final home today, this year. Um, and that might not be the case for everybody. Get into a home that is affordable, that you can, that you want to be in. Live there for a couple years. If you can rent it out and buy another home, great. If you can take that equity and transfer it into another home, that's how that's a proper way to do it. Don't get over leveraged. Um, but going back to your question as far as the buyer side, ask for concessions. Get with your professional and understand what is needed from you and what you can ask for from the seller because sellers are, are, um, giving, um, in in some manner, um, to those needs. And I will it's into the sellers. If you're selling your home, homes are selling at and above list price. If they are priced right, um, they showed like a, like a new home. Um, they will sell and they will have multiple offers. We are still hearing and seeing that. But if you're not, um, it will sit. It will, it will wait.

[ 12:13] Andrew Lynn, thanks so much for your expertise. We look forward to talking with you again.

[ 12:20] Thank you so much. Take care.

[ 12:22] You too. The necessary $110,000 income level is about 5% lower than last year's record high amount. Redfin estimates the median U.S. household earned about $88,000 in June. That's up 4% from a year ago. Affordability has improved in 24 of the 46 major metro areas analyzed by Redfin in that report. Seattle experienced the largest improvement with the income needed to afford the typical home dropping 7.4% from a year earlier as home prices fell.