You’re fortunate, not to mention unusual, if you are a first-time home buyer who has the means to obtain a Conventional mortgage. Commonly the biggest stumbling block is down payment. For the majority of home buyers, their first purchase will not be their forever home. I generally tell buyers to consider their first home to… Read More
Shopping for a home before you’ve nailed down your price range is not only unwise but can be truly disappointing. You may have a vague idea of what you can afford, but before you’ve talked with a lender, it’s hardly possible to grasp all the costs involved or the options available to you including those… Read More
If market conditions are a bit challenging for home buyers right now, the FED’s recent decision to drop interest rates and the resulting decrease in mortgage rates, provide a satisfying counterbalance. The home buying market has been tight and overly competitive for quite some time due in large part to lower-than-normal inventory. Home buyers in… Read More
According to The Title Report, foreclosure filings in 2019 reached their lowest level since tracking began in 2005, with the highest potential for distressed properties cropping up in the major metro areas of Baton Rouge LA., Atlanta GA, Salt Lake City UT, Orlando FL and Portland, OR. The states of Nevada, New York, New Jersey,… Read More
Along with routine monitoring of local and national Real Estate market data, we closely follow changes in home loan trends, lending regulations and most notably mortgage interest rates, since developments in the mortgage industry directly affect our clients, both home buyers and home sellers. The sharply rising rates spouted in many ominous predictions for 2019,… Read More
I’m detecting a subtle shift in the demographics of home buyers lately, at least among a large segment of my clientele. I frequently handle VA transactions but in recent years my Veteran consumers seem to be younger, indeed many fall into the under 40 category commonly known as Millennials. — — Veterans and Military Members… Read More
At implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, shortly after the collapse of the Real Estate market, condominium owners watched the value of their investment plummet. FHA financing would no longer be available for vast numbers of condominium complexes, severely limiting a condo owners opportunity to sell their home. Home Buyers looking for affordable choices… Read More
The Real Estate market appears to be equalizing in many parts of the country, meaning neither home buyer’s nor home seller’s hold all the cards. In these rare moments of balance, advantages can be gained by either party with smart negotiation, knowledge of strategies to employ and exactly how far you can stretch your advantage…. Read More
Friday saw a slight rise in mortgage rates but it appears to be only a blip in this year’s trending rate declines. The conventional 30-year fixed closed Friday at an average of 4.25%, with FHA backed financing and the VA mortgage both stalled around 4%. Early in January, it was anticipated that rates for home… Read More
How Will Secondary Market Reform Affect the Home Buyers? No One Knows Yet. Home owners, potential home buyers and those in the Mortgage and Real Estate industry, have been watching closely since the financial crisis to get a sense of where the real estate market is going and when. So far market recovery has been… Read More
