housing market: Should We Wait To Buy a Home?
- 08/29/22 08:30 AM
“Mr. Petrowsky,
We are getting a little freaked out with all the housing news lately. Some of it sounds like values are going to drop, some are saying that the drop will be pretty serious. Should we stop looking a wait a year a two and just bite the bullet and keep renting?”
More prospective home buyers are having similar thoughts. Can anyone blame them? Much of the news in newspapers, radio and TV make it sound like the real estate market is going to crash any minute.
Is the real estate market going to continue being as crazy as it has … (2 comments)
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housing market: “Hopefully the Results of the Midterm Election Will Give Many Hope”
- 11/03/14 09:21 PM
“Hopefully the Results of the Midterm Election Will Give Many Hope”
Just recently I spoke to a young man in his mid-20’s that had been referred by a co-worker. I have found that many in this age group are much more savvy than young adults just 10 years earlier.
It seemed like his goal was to get to know me, not always the case as I loved his questions. One of his questions, what affect will the upcoming election have? Wow, that is not something that I have ever been asked by someone in their mid … (18 comments)
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housing market: “Report Says: 41% of Homes Not Affordable”
- 04/08/14 11:07 PM
“Report Says: 41% of Homes Not Affordable”
So does that mean that 59% of homes are affordable? Since when are all price ranges of homes supposed to be affordable and the next question, affordable to whom?
If 59% of the home buyers in the market place have homes available to them that they can afford, that is a LOT of buyers. I just wonder how different these number would have been 10 or 20 years ago?
Over 50% of the preapprovals I have out right now are first time home buyers and each fit within … (23 comments)
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housing market: “Balancing Act, Buy First or Sell First?”
- 04/05/14 10:26 PM
“Balancing Act, Buy First or Sell First?” Currently a number of my clients have put their homes on the market and are in the process of looking for another home. However, a few want to find a home before they put their home on the market. There is always a reluctance for anyone to take a home off the market and have a “Hubbard Clause” and one can't blame them, especially if the market they are in is “Hot” and their home is correctly priced. This is what can go right. Pat and Deb put their home … (25 comments)
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housing market: “My Formula for Every House Flip”
- 08/26/13 10:48 PM
“My Formula for Every House Flip” You have to know your market, which means you need to know what the value of the home is going to be after all renovations. Without knowing this piece of information, none of the math will ever work. Once you know the value of the property, the first number you have to decide, how much profit you want to make, in our case the number is 20%. The second number that needs to become part of the formula is the cost of money, closings costs (for the purchase and sale) and commission. I … (18 comments)
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housing market: “Sub 700 Credit Scores on the Rise”
- 07/22/13 10:31 PM
“Sub 700 Credit Scores on the Rise”
I am always tracking credit scores and how they relate to mortgages. For the last couple of months, the information reported indicates that nearly 50% of all mortgages written had sub 700 credit scores.
There are many folks coming into the housing market that have had a foreclosure or short sale in the history. I am doing more and more preapproval for folks that have this kind of credit history. Unfortunately many are not even aware that they might … (20 comments)
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housing market: “Realtors Promoting Higher Interest Rates as Hopeful Motivator”
- 06/08/13 11:10 PM
“Realtors Promoting Higher Interest Rates as Hopeful Motivator” I received two different ads that Realtor referral partners are now running marketing pieces that speak to rates moving up. That if they don’t buy a home now, they might not qualify in the future. One response so far that I have done a preapproval for, but I'm sure there will be more. Rates are a motivator, but the next part of the challenge, with higher rates, some folks just won’t be able to qualify to buy certain price range homes. Many clients that I have preapproved for a particular price … (11 comments)
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housing market: “How This Homeowner Decided on a Realtor”
- 05/20/13 03:22 AM
“How This Homeowner Decided on a Realtor” A few years ago, I did a mortgage for Gladys and Bill and hadn’t heard from them since, but got a call this morning. They were both on the phone and wanted advice as to a Realtor to market their home, as it had been on the market for 8 months and only shown 3 times. I asked how they chose the previous Realtor. You just can’t make this stuff up. I asked 6 real estate agents to give them a price and the one selected was the one that thought they … (12 comments)
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housing market: “Home Ownership at Lowest Level Since 1995”
- 05/04/13 02:43 AM
“Home Ownership at Lowest Level Since 1995”
I keep reading about homeownership continuing drop. The only thing that makes any sense to me is the many homes that were foreclosed or sold as short sales and most of these folks have not yet “done their time” and can’t buy a home yet. Most of these want to own again and will continue coming back into the market.
Another factor that I keep seeing is the effect unemployment on housing. All the claims the current administration made about needing 4 more years to finish the job. What exactly does … (11 comments)
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housing market: “Surveys, Do They Really Tell Us Anything?”
- 03/23/13 10:50 PM
“Surveys, Do They Really Tell Us Anything?” I was reading the result of a survey of a group of housing experts. There was common agreement that home values with be back to “pre housing bubble” values by 2017. Anyone in the real estate business, throughout the country, knows it all depends on where you are and employment numbers in that area. Let’s look beyond the numbers. In many parts of the country, one third of real estate sales are made up of short sales or bank owned properties, in other areas very few. I speak to many folks … (16 comments)
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housing market: “Home Shoppers Better Start their Searches Pretty Soon”
- 03/21/13 10:09 PM
“Home Shoppers Better Start their Searches Pretty Soon” Many real estate markets are experiencing multiple bid situations and in many cases at higher than the asking price. I did a preapproval for clients that put their own home on the market last weekend, so they needed to get preapproved for a new purchase. The listing price was $449,900 which was giving them a healthy down payment for a new purchase. They weren’t sure how long it would take to sell their home, but wanted to begin the search for their next home. Too their surprise, the property was … (10 comments)
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housing market: “The Stock Market Reaches All-time Highs, How About Your Home?”
- 03/19/13 11:38 PM
“The Stock Market Reaches All-time Highs, How About Your Home?”
I am constantly reading articles that are titled like this, “Home values at highest level since 2007” and “Home values down 27% from the peak”.
Do those writing these articles really have a clue, not really. It all depends on where you are. Doing business in CT, MA, RI, VT, NH, ME, FL and NY. If someone is going to make statements about what is happening to real estate values, you better be talking about a very specific market and even then it is … (4 comments)
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housing market: “The Diminished Effect of Housing on the American Economy”
- 03/08/13 09:37 PM
“The Diminished Effect of Housing on the American Economy” This was a headline in a recent article in The NicheReport. The author was attempting to make a case for housing no long has much effect on the American economy. I want to let him to know what most of us already know, it has everything to do with the economy. Housing has a major effect on our economy, both good and bad. Very little was addressed about jobs. Again, jobs are completely connected to housing, both good and bad. If you want to see housing values increase at a … (15 comments)
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housing market: “Plans to Reduce Loan Limits are Possible in the Future”
- 03/01/13 02:42 AM
“Plans to Reduce Loan Limits are Possible in the Future”
I read two different articles over the weekend, both indicating that two different committees are recommending reductions in loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA. They are making these recommendation and others to get more of the private sector involved in the higher loan sizes.
I love how the current administration is talking about doing everything it can to improve anything housing related. If the intention is to lower loan limits, I don’t see what benefit that will have on housing.
… (11 comments)
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housing market: Large Investment Pools Buying Up Lots of Houses
- 02/20/13 03:01 AM
“Large Investment Pools Buying Up Lots of Houses”
Last week I hired a new carpenter, his name is Roger. During the interview process, he told me he was working for a company that is being hired to make houses livable, that were purchase by a conglomerate. He didn’t know the name of the company and told me, he really didn’t care.
He told me, that the budgets to repair were stupid and it was almost impossible to really make some of these homes truly livable, but the company didn’t really care. The instructions were, clean them up, paint … (8 comments)
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housing market: The President Not Truly In Touch with Housing
- 02/14/13 09:46 PM
“The President Not Truly In Touch with Housing”
I listened to the President’s State of the Union address. What he said and what is reality are worlds apart.
Unemployment at near 8% and I don’t see these numbers changing anytime soon. How does this help housing? As a result of Dodd-Frank, the future QM rules which limit the debt ratio to 43% or less for folks wanting to purchase or refinance, will take about 25% away from the market. How does this help housing?
The growing Federal deficit is totally out of control. I have already … (9 comments)
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housing market: “Managing Multiple Offers”
- 01/31/13 11:34 PM
“Managing Multiple Offers”
I am an active buyer of real estate, most of the time single family homes that I buy to renovate and then resell. I consider myself knowledgeable about the process and don’t expect any special favors. Having said that I just don’t understand the process sometimes.
Example #1: I bid on a HUD property 3 times over a 12 month time period. I made the same bid the first two times. Each time the listing agent came back saying that it was a multiple bid situation, so come back with your highest and best offer. The first two … (8 comments)
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housing market: FM Doesn’t Have a Good Handle on the First Time Home Buyer Market, Yet
- 12/26/12 02:49 AM
“Freddie Mac Doesn’t Have a Good Handle on the First Time Home Buyer Market, Just Yet”
They issued a report that indicated that there has been growth in the first time home market, the first time in two years. So, the question that should be asked, what percentage of their business is first time home buyers? Actually, not that much.
In the last two years the majority of first time home buyers have used other mortgage financing options, mainly FHA. In the last two years, the majority of home buyers, has been the largest segment … (8 comments)
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housing market: The Government is NOT Responsible for Fixing Housing
- 12/24/12 11:56 AM
“The Government is NOT Responsible for Fixing Housing”
That job belongs to us! We have already seen the great job the government has done, when they get involved in any business, the results have been poor at best.
Look at what the involvement in recent years, HVCC, which has since been rolled into Dodd-Frank. The result of HVCC, did more harm to real estate values than any recession could, plus the increased cost of an appraisal. Dodd-Frank has created mortgage restrictions has increased the time it takes to get a mortgage closed, beyond belief and put excellent borrowers through the proverbial mill.
… (8 comments)
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housing market: Certain Homeowners Opting for Adjustable Rate Mortgages
- 12/12/12 09:58 PM
“Certain Homeowners Opting for Adjustable Rate Mortgages, Now as They Will Sell their Homes in the Next Few Years”
Michelle will be selling her home in the next 5 years, as the oldest child will be out of high school in 4 years. Her plans are to move down south. We examined what the payment would be for the 30 year fixed and the adjustable fixed for 7 years. Her rate was 2.75%, not bad at all!
In 5 years she would save an additional $6,000 over 5 years. Her over all monthly savings … (2 comments)
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“Mr. Petrowsky,
;)
;)
;)
