real estate: Facing Your Mortgage Process Fears - 11/07/18 02:42 PM
Don't beat yourself up for having second thought about the mortgage process. Your fears are not unfounded, and as it turns out, you are not the only one. Fear comes from things we do not completely understand, and the Mortgage Process is a long and complicated process that does not come with walk-throughs and tutorials readily available at a moment's notice.
For many, the mortgage process can be scary, but it doesn't have to be!
In order to qualify in today's market, you'll need a down payment (the average down payment on all loans last year was 5%, with many buyers … (0 comments)

real estate: The True Cost of Renting - 11/06/18 04:18 PM
It's not unlikely for someone to spend too much on rent without their knowledge. The truth is, most people are unaware that they are spending too much on rent or what's the threshold to consider to tell if they're coming close to it.
According to new data released from ApartmentList.com, 49.5 million renters in the United States were cost-burdened in 2017, meaning they spent more than 30% of their monthly incomes on rent.
This accounts for nearly half of all renter households in the country and is up 3.1 million from 2007. When a household is cost-burdened by their monthly housing … (2 comments)

real estate: How Does The Future Of Home Prices Look Like? - 11/02/18 04:20 PM
With the rate that we're at, one can't help but wonder how much will home prices go up to by next year. There's no sure way to tell exactly as there are a lot of factor that come in to play when it comes to real estate. The best the we can do is rely on intelligent studies and researches to give as the closest forecast of what the future holds for us.

The Home Price Expectation Survey - A survey of over 100 market analysts, real estate experts, and economists conducted by Pulsenomics each quarter.
Zelman & Associates - The … (0 comments)

real estate: How Much Down Payment Do You Need to Buy A Home? - 11/01/18 03:35 PM
One of the common misconception about buying a new home has to fall under the myth of ever so scary down payment. It's not uncommon for people to say the 15%-20% is what the market demands to buy a home, which is true back then. The real estate market is an ever-changing environment, much of what we know before are either obsolete or holds little truth with our current market today.
Now that the largest generation since baby boomers has aged into prime homebuying age, there will no doubt be an uptick in the national homeownership rate.
The study from Urban Institute … (1 comments)

real estate: How Affordable Are Homes In The US? - 10/31/18 03:58 PM
A lot of news and articles talk about the issue of housing affordability in the whole of the United States. Let's take a closer look to find out if the same incline happens all across the board.

According to NAR:
"A value of 100 means that a family with the median income has exactly enough income to qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home. An index above 100 signifies that a family earning the median income has more than enough income to qualify for a mortgage loan on a median-priced home, assuming a 20 percent down payment."
* The national index … (0 comments)

real estate: The Force Behind Home Price Increase - 10/30/18 03:30 PM
Nowadays, it is quite typical for the majority of the people suspect bigger forces are at work behind everything that is happening to our lives that we do not necessarily want. The government, the 1% or simply big companies conspiring to make our lives miserable beyond belief. Recently, there have been rumors about why and what is causing the home prices to go up. Let's shed light on this matter by reminding everyone about the law of supply and demand.

Whenever there is a limited supply of an item that is in high demand, prices increase. It is that simple. In real … (1 comments)

real estate: Owning A Home vs Renting A Home - 10/26/18 03:50 PM
How can owning a home be beneficial for you financially? To some, the thought would seem counter-intuitive, but unknown to many, a homeowner's net-worth is forty-four times greater than that of a renter.
Federal Reserve survey of Consumer Finances revealed that the median net worth of a homeowner was $231,400 - a 15% increase since 2013. At the same time, the median net worth of renters decreased by 5% ($5,200 today compared to $5,500 in 2013).
Owning a home is a great way to build family wealth
As we've said before, simply put, homeownership is a form of 'forced savings.' Every time … (2 comments)

real estate: A Quick Rundown On VA Home Loans - 10/25/18 04:12 PM
Despite the popularity, it's hard to believe that there are still a few brave Americans out there that's out of the loop on the information circle on their benefits. Let's extend a helping hand to make sure all of them get these well-deserved benefits for themselves.
If you are a veteran or you know someone who is, here is a breakdown of the VA Home Loan benefits that can be used to achieve the American Dream!
Top 5 Benefits of a VA Home Loan
The greatest benefit of a VA Loan is that borrowers can buy a home with a … (0 comments)

real estate: Having Thoughts On Buying Your First Home? - 10/24/18 02:46 PM
It's normal to hesitate on big decisions such as buying your first home, you don't want to jump the gun only to regret it afterward. Some may say you can never tell until you give it a try, wrong! Truth is, owning a home is costly enough as it is, what more is real estate mistake. There are ways to find out how you fare in the market, and the outcome may pleasantly surprise you.
We want to share what the typical first-time homebuyer actually looks like based on the National Association of Realtors' most recent Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers.
Here … (0 comments)

real estate: 4 Steps For A Smooth Buying Process - 10/23/18 03:02 PM
We all know how competitive the real estate market has become due to the recent mortgage interest rate increase and scarcity of inventory. You don't want to jump into the market unprepared and waste time an effort, so we came up with a guide for your buying experience to be as smooth and pleasant as possible.
Below are 4 steps provided by Freddie Mac to help buyers make offers, along with some additional information for your consideration:
1. Determine Your Price
"You've found the perfect home and you're ready to buy. Now what? Your real estate agent will be by your side, helping you … (1 comments)

real estate: What Does The Recent Increase In Inventory Mean For Us? - 10/18/18 04:15 PM
As most of us know, real estate markets in most areas have been very competitive due mortgage interest rate increase and low inventory of homes for sale. Now that the inventory has loosened up a lot of people have conflicting impressions about it.
New listings jumped 8% year-over-year nationally, the largest increase since 2013 Total listings in the 45 largest markets are now up 6% on average over last year This increase in housing inventory has sparked two different reactions. Some are saying this is the first sign of a potential collapse while others are saying it is a welcomed reprieve … (1 comments)

real estate: Five Steps to Give You an Edge in Buying your New Home - 10/17/18 04:37 PM
The real estate market has become competitive and intimidating place in some areas. It's best to prepare yourself before entering the market for your home purchase.
In a recent realtor.com article entitled, "How to Find Your Dream Home-Without Losing Your Mind," the author highlights some steps that first-time homebuyers can take to help carry their excitement of buying a home throughout the whole process.
1. Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage Before You Start Your Search
One way to show you are serious about buying your dream home is to get pre-qualified or pre-approved for a mortgage before starting your search. Even if you … (1 comments)

real estate: Baby Boomers Are Selling Their Homes! - 10/16/18 04:28 PM
Reports both recent and old imply that one of the reasons for the current home price inflation is the dwindling supply. Low inventories are due to Baby Boomers' unwillingness to sell their homes. Let's find out how this is wrong.
Here's what some of the experts have to say on the subject:Aaron Terrazas, Senior Economist at Zillow, says that
"Boomers are healthier and working longer than previous generations, which means they aren't yet ready to sell their homes."
According to a study by Realtor.com, 85% of baby boomers indicated they were not planning to sell their homes. It is true that baby boomers are … (1 comments)

real estate: The Importance of Pre-Approval - 10/15/18 02:53 PM
You'll be missing out on a lot of things if you skip pre-approval in your checklist. Fear of down payment and credit score hinder a lot of potential home buyers' decision-making process, with pre-approval you can do away with hesitation and show sellers that you mean business.
Freddie Mac lays out the advantages of pre-approval in the 'My Home' section of their website:
"It's highly recommended that you work with your lender to get pre-approved before you begin house hunting. Pre-approval will tell you how much home you can afford and can help you move faster, and with greater confidence, in competitive markets."
One … (0 comments)

real estate: Getting To Know More About Home Pricing History - 10/12/18 04:27 PM
There have been countless reports saying that home prices nowadays are more expensive that is was 10 years ago. While this is accurate, most reports do not include why this is not necessarily a bad thing. Let's find out why.
The reason is that homes were less affordable 25, 20, or even 11 years ago than they are today.
Obviously, buying a home is more expensive now than during the ten years immediately following one of the worst housing crashes in American history. Over the past decade, the market was flooded with distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) that were selling at 10-50% … (0 comments)

real estate: New Home Sales Continue To Rise - 10/11/18 03:55 PM
As the shortage of existing homes continues to drive home prices up, new home sales are giving us a glimpse of how the foreseeable future home sales will look like.
According to the latest New Residential Sales Report from the Census Bureau, new construction sales in August were up 3.5% from July and 12.7% from last year! This marks the second consecutive month with double-digit year-over-year growth (12.8% in July).
Below is a table showing the change in starts, completions, and sales from last August. Other notable news from the report is that the percentage of new construction sales in the $200-$299k range … (4 comments)

real estate: What's Happening With Home Prices? - 10/09/18 05:13 PM
With recent market developments such as the mortgage interest rate increase and dwindling supplies, many of us expected a significant bump in home prices this year. But recent reports indicate that this year marks the first time since 2016 when home prices did not mark up by 6%.
CoreLogic's Chief Economist Frank Nothaft gave some insight into this change,
"The rise in mortgage rates this summer to their highest level in seven years has made it more difficult for potential buyers to afford a home. The slackening in demand is reflected in the slowing of national appreciation, as illustrated in the CoreLogic Home … (0 comments)

real estate: What's The Real Cost Of Not Owning A Home? - 10/08/18 04:02 PM
There are countless reasons why we should have a home of our own. financial benefits, social benefits, emotional benefit, and the list goes on. Today, let's discuss the top 4 reasons backed up by studies.
Realtor.com reported that:
"Buying remains the more attractive option in the long term - that remains the American dream, and it's true in many markets where renting has become really the shortsighted option...as people get more savings in their pockets, buying becomes the better option."
What proof exists that owning is financially better than renting?
1. In a previous blog, we highlighted the top 5 financial benefits of homeownership:
- Homeownership … (0 comments)

real estate: 2 Key Things To Watch Out For in Real Estate - 10/05/18 03:18 PM
Today's real estate market are driven by two influential forces, interest rates & supply. Whether we like it or not our system are ultimately governed by these two which can stiffen or soften a particular market area with the slightest movements by its needle.
Interest Rates
Mortgage interest rates have been on the rise and are now over three-quarters of a percentage point higher than they were at the beginning of the year.
According to Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, rates climbed to 4.72% for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage last week.
The interest rate you secure when buying a home not only … (1 comments)

real estate: Mortgage Rates Continue to Climb - 10/03/18 03:54 PM
Although it's true that another increase just occurred recently, our current rates are still low compared to what we had back 10, 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Some buyers may have missed to take advantage of the lowest rate in history, but we're still at the lower end to date historically speaking.
Mortgage interest rates, as reported by Freddie Mac, have increased by close to a quarter of a percent over the last several weeks. Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and the National Association of Realtors are all calling for mortgage rates to rise another quarter of a … (1 comments)