‘Million Greenback Itemizing’ agent Josh Altman speaks solely to Fox Information Digital about his new partnership with Dwelling Worth Lock, as consumers can cowl as much as 10% of their residence buy worth if bought inside three years of a market downturn.
EXCLUSIVE: When superstar actual property agent and investor Josh Altman will get a product partnership pitch, he says 99% of the time the reply is “no.”
However on Wednesday, Altman begins a brand new gig as an advisor and spokesperson for a instrument he calls a “recreation changer” for shielding first-time homebuyers in probably the most costly and aggressive housing markets within the nation.
“Actual property, for my part, is the perfect funding, not funding. It’s at all times the perfect funding,” Altman solely instructed Fox Information Digital. “Once I heard about Dwelling Worth Lock, there’s a pair completely different the explanation why I beloved it and I imagine in it, and now I’m a part of it. Primary – it helps the plenty.”
By teaming up with California-based insurance coverage supplier Dwelling Worth Lock, Altman — finest identified for his 15 years on Bravo’s “Million Greenback Itemizing” — mentioned he needs to convey confidence again to homeownership, significantly for first- or second-time consumers buying houses beneath $2 million.
CALIFORNIANS TEMPTED TO LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND FOR MIAMI’S SCORCHING REAL ESTATE MARKET
After a trial run in Sacramento, the corporate now presents homebuyers a assured “security internet” by masking as much as 10% of the acquisition worth if the house is bought inside three years throughout a market downturn. The customer safety will launch in Los Angeles, Orange County and the San Francisco Bay Space, with plans to increase to Arizona and Texas.
“Million Greenback Itemizing’s” Josh Altman has partnered with Dwelling Worth Lock to guard residence purchases if a market downturn hits. (Getty Photos)
“Shopping for a house needs to be thrilling, not terrifying,” Dwelling Worth Lock CEO Oliver Tickner mentioned in an announcement. “For too lengthy, on a regular basis consumers have carried all the chance. We constructed Dwelling Worth Lock to flip that script — to pave a means ahead even when headlines learn ‘keep put.’ Not solely does having Josh on board convey credibility to our product, however it underscores our shared perception that confidence, not worry, ought to outline this market.”
“The affordability issue of actual property has actually modified … A purchaser on the market with a median-price residence of about 1,000,000 bucks in California, we’re speaking a couple of down cost of about $250,000. That’s sum of money. So there’s little or no room for error,” Altman mentioned.
“The California home-buying market is at all times tough, proper? And that’s what we delight ourselves in — navigating our consumers and sellers by means of that market,” he added. “It’s a must to notice shopping for and promoting a home is a really scary course of … defending them and defending their funding is a very powerful factor you are able to do.”
Josh Altman instructed Fox Enterprise that there is going to be a “complete new group” of those that transfer into the Pacific Palisades.
“In fact, you hear of mortgage insurance coverage. Guess who that protects? It protects the financial institution, the lender. So I am extra [in], due to what I do for a residing, defending the client. I would like them to be in place the place, in the event that they ever have to promote within the first three years of buying a property, it makes it simpler for them to get out of that property.”
Based on the California Affiliation of REALTORS® 2025 forecast, the statewide median residence worth is projected to rise to $909,400 in 2025 — up from about $869,500 in 2024 and $814,000 in 2023. In the meantime, estimates offered by state builders to nonprofit CalMatters present that building-code updates in California over the previous 15 years added between $51,000 and $117,000 to the development price of every single-family residence.
“In California, it is costly. There is no query about it,” Altman mentioned. “Due to the house costs, lots of people have been priced out. And for the reason that pandemic, we have simply seen it proceed to rise and rise … And it doesn’t matter what the taxes are, it doesn’t matter what the mansion taxes are or something like that, primary, charges are nonetheless aggressive … It’s telling that homes are shifting, the offers are simply getting more durable.”
In Los Angeles, Realtor.com information exhibits the median residence worth is greater than $1.1 million. | Getty Photos
Altman says early leads to California have been “an enormous success” and that “you shouldn’t be shopping for a house beneath $1.5 million with out this.”
“That is one other layer of safety, not for the lender, not for every little thing else, however for the precise homebuyer. And that is why it is a recreation changer,” he mentioned. “It is such a small payment that anybody ought to have the ability to get this.”
“Being in actual property up to now 12 months … every little thing has modified … There’s our trade as a complete and even on the company facet, it is consistently shifting: the brand new guidelines, the brand new ordinances, the brand new legal guidelines, no matter it could be. I’ll inform you, although, that that is simply one other factor that is getting into the best path of defending the client and vendor,” Altman expanded.
“I have been hand holding individuals for 20 years now — defending them and defending their funding is a very powerful factor you are able to do. Once I put money into actual property, it doesn’t matter what it’s, I at all times attempt to be as conservative as attainable. And that is how you must at all times go into any actual property deal.”
Although he’s sometimes the face of multimillion-dollar offers, Altman expressed eagerness to assist consumers make what he calls “the largest funding of their life.”
“Whether or not it is a $500,000 deal or a $50 million deal, it is the identical deal,” he mentioned. “Rich individuals, they’ve many various instruments on the right way to put money into actual property, the right way to hedge their bets, how to ensure their losses are towards the achieve elsewhere, it doesn’t matter what it’s. However that is extra for that homebuyer … on the subject of the plenty of America that it is defending.”
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Josh and Heather Altman of Bravo’s “Million Greenback Itemizing: Los Angeles” share their keys to managing an everchanging housing market full of uncertainty.
For skeptics who might imagine California’s market continues to be too dangerous or query the necessity for a back-up plan, the superstar agent urges consumers to arrange for the surprising — and deal with confidence over worry.
“We are able to have a look at the way forward for the market, we are able to guess, we are able to go off of knowledge, however on the finish of the day, should you discover a residence that you just love, you should purchase it. However you simply gotta just remember to can afford it – and at all times plan for a conservative exit, versus what all people’s telling you what is gonna occur available in the market.”
