If you’re currently renting and have dreams of owning your own home, it may be a good time to think about your next move. With rent costs rising annually and many helpful down payment assistance programs available, homeownership may be closer than you realize. According to the 2018 Bank of America Homebuyer Insights Report, 74% of renters plan on buying within the next 5 years, and 38% are planning to buy within the next 2 years. When those same renters were asked why they disliked renting, 52% said … [Read more...]
The Surprising Profile of the Real Estate Investor
Over 10% of all residential homes are purchased by investors, and that number continues to rise. Who are these investors? Many have speculated that the large institutional conglomerates such as Blackstone, American Homes 4 Rent, and Colony Starwood dominate investor purchases. However, a special report on investor home buying by CoreLogic, Don’t Call it a Comeback: Housing Investors Have Been Here for Years, shows this is not the case. Ralph McLaughlin, CoreLogic’s Deputy Chief Economist and author of … [Read more...]
Is Your First Home Now Within Your Grasp? [INFOGRAPHIC]
Some Highlights: According to the US Census Bureau, “millennials” are defined as 18-36-year-olds. According to NAR’s latest Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers, the median age of all first-time home buyers is 32. More and more “old millennials” (25-36) are realizing that homeownership is within their grasp now! … [Read more...]
Now’s the Time to Move-Up and Upgrade Your Current Home!
Homes priced at the top 25% of the price range for a particular area of the country are considered “premium homes.” In today’s real estate market, there are deals to be had at the higher end! This is great news for homeowners wanting to upgrade from their current house. Much of the demand for housing over the past couple of years has come from first-time buyers looking for their starter home. Many of the more expensive homes listed for sale have not seen as much interest. According to ILHM’s … [Read more...]
Is Mortgage Debt out of Control?
The housing crisis of the last decade was partially caused by unhealthy levels of mortgage debt. Homeowners were using their homes as ATMs by refinancing and swapping their equity for cash. When prices started to fall, many homeowners found themselves in a negative equity situation (where their mortgage was higher than the value of their home). As a result, they walked away. This caused prices to fall even further. Headlines are again talking about record levels of mortgage debt, making the comparison to the … [Read more...]
Millennials Are Increasing the Demand for Condominiums
When deciding to buy a home, people are presented with many different options. The type of home you buy depends on your needs, budget, and in many cases, the desired maintenance level. For many millennials, their choice has been buying a condominium! According to CoreLogic, “Last year about 43% of all condo home-purchase mortgage applications were submitted by FTHBs… Similarly, the data show condos were more popular with young homebuyers and empty nesters. For instance, 21% of all condo home-purchase … [Read more...]
The Benefits of a 20% Down Payment
If you are in the market to buy a home this year, you may be confused about how much money you need to come up with for your down payment. Many people you talk to will tell you that you need to save 20% or you won’t be able to secure a mortgage. The truth is that there are many programs available that let you put down as little as 3%. Those who have served our country could qualify for a Veterans Affairs Home Loan (VA) without needing a down payment. These programs have cut the savings time that many families … [Read more...]
Slaying the Largest Homebuying Myths Today [INFOGRAPHIC]
Some Highlights: The average down payment for first-time homebuyers is only 6%! Mortgage interest rates have been on the decline since November! Hop in now to lock in a low rate! 88% of property managers raised their rents in the last 12 months! The average credit score on approved loans continues to fall across many loan types! … [Read more...]
The Enormous Divide Between the Headline and the Truth
“I have observed that not the man who hopes when others despair, but the man who despairs when others hope, is admired by a large class of persons as a sage.” – John Stuart Mill (1840s) Even back in the mid-1800s, people knew that negative news sells. That is still true today. All forms of media realize that they will get more eyeballs, clicks, likes, and engagement by posting something negative. However, they must realize that negative headlines impact markets. Just last week, the National … [Read more...]
How to Get a Better Perspective on Affordability
Headlines spotlight the fact that buying a home is less affordable today than it was at any other time in more than a decade. Those headlines are accurate. Understandably, buying a home is more expensive now than 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) selling at 10-50% discounts. There were so many that this lowered the prices of non-distressed homes in the same neighborhoods. … [Read more...]
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