(Y'all -- I'm fired up so please excuse the tiny bit of frustration you may detect in this email.)
You know, if you and I were the kind of folks who made our important financial decisions based solely on what the 'drive-by' media said about the economy, the markets, etc. --- we'd probably be frozen in our tracks right now.
This is top of mind for me because I heard a news reporter say the other day that mortgage interest rates now start near 7% and are 'certainly heading even higher'.
What?! Misinformation like that makes me want to bang my head against the wall -- because that's simply not true for most homebuyers.
It's my job to help you guys pierce through the noise here, so I sat down this morning with Brian Campbell of The McClellan Branch at Supreme Lending, to talk about more and better options for homebuyers (and frankly, to vent a little.)
Thankfully, Brian has a cooler head about the situation than I do.
"Don't get sucked into that stuff, Chris. We're still qualifying folks all the way down to the mid-4 percent range depending on the program. We're not worried -- smart people don't let their television sets plan their futures."
Hearing that made me feel a lot better, but I wanted more detail to share with you. So I dug in a little more with Brian about some of the programs he's using to create a lot of home runs for Texas homebuyers this week:
- Remember adjustable rate mortgages? Well, they're back and they're a lot more sensible than they used to be, with fixed rate periods of five or even seven years. Fun fact: These typically beat fixed rate loans by a full percentage point.
- For the investors out there, a new loan program that takes more of a property's rental income into account when qualifying. (That means a lot more of us can begin to build our rental portfolios NOW. Retire early, anyone?)
- New tweaks to government programs like down payment assistance, and a little-known federal tax credit that gives first-time home buyers more ways to buy now. (More important than ever since rents in our area have increased up to 30% in some spots in one year. Crazy.)
Have a scenario you want to run by myself or Brian? Reply to this email or you can reach him at brian.campbell@supremelending.com or 512-587-8640. Remember that even if you're not moving this year, I'm still your agent -- it's my job to help you fill in the blanks and get you in a better situation every time.
Whew. I feel better. Don't you?
Talk soon,
Chris Watters
Looking to buy a home? Looking to sell a home?
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