Everything Real Estate

Is the Shifting Market Bad for Buyers? For quite a while, we were in a seller’s market. All sellers had the upper hand; most sold their homes for more than they listed. Fast forward to today and that’s no longer the case. Home inventories have fallen and interest rates have skyrocketed. So is this good news or bad news for buyers? For now, it’s good for buyers – here’s why. Less Demand First and foremost, there’s much less demand. This time last year you couldn’t wait for more than a day or two to see a home once it was listed or it was under contract. Not only that, but it was under contract for much more than it was listed for and buyers were waiving appraisal contingencies. Today, that’s not the case. There are not as many buyers in the market because of higher interest rates, so buyers have much more opportunity to look at more homes and bid what they want on a home, not what other buyers are pushing them to bid. Reasonable Sellers The selling craze of last year ...

What Should you Ask Lenders When Buying a Home? Buying a home requires more than finding the perfect home. First, you need financing, or you won’t be able to buy the home. Lenders have specific requirements when considering buying a home, so knowing what questions you should ask them is important. How Much do I Need for a Down Payment? Your down payment depends on the loan program you choose. For example, VA loans don’t require a down payment, but FHA loans require 3.5% down. Conventional loans require 5% down in most cases, and if you put down less than 20%, you’ll pay Private Mortgage Insurance. Discuss your down payment options and how much you should put down to get the best rate and terms on your loan. What’s the Best Interest Rate I can Get? Interest rates are much higher this year than last, so you should talk to your lender about how you can lower your rates. They’ll look at your qualifying factors and tell you what you can improve to ensure you get a lower rate. You ...

Rising inflation rates caused increased prices in building materials and, therefore, homes. If you’re like millions of others, you’ve held off on building your dream home, hoping that prices would fall again. The unfortunate truth is that real estate prices won’t fall within the next few years, so the question is, should you build your forever home in 2023? The answer for most people is yes, as long as you can afford it. Here’s why.   You Can’t go Back in Time Building your dream home in 2019 would have cost a lot less, but we can’t go back there. Prices won’t reverse, and no one has a time machine to go back in time. So instead, it’s time to take control of the future. What you can do is lock in today’s prices. The good news is lumber prices aren’t as crazy high as they were this time last year, so you’ll save some money on materials. That’s not to say they are as low as before the pandemic. However, that’s par for the course, even without a world crisis.   You can Cut Corners Ev...

Closing on a House – How Long Does it Take? Buying a house is exciting, but it can feel like it takes forever to get from the offer to the closing table. On average, it takes 30 – 45 days to get to the closing table, and that’s in a perfect situation. Sometimes you may close faster or slower, but keep 30 – 45 days in mind when signing a sales contract. The Process to Close on a House The house closing process is complex. Not only must you find the house you want to buy, but you must sort out your financing. Here’s a quick rundown of the typical timeline. Get Pre-Approved Start the process by getting pre-approved with a lender. This tells you how much you can afford, on what terms and the conditions you must satisfy. A pre-approval letter also gets your foot in more doors with sellers. Most sellers only want to work with pre-approved buyers. Find a Home Once pre-approved, you can look at homes. Pre-approvals usually last 30 – 60 days, so it works best if you can ...

Closing on a House – How Long Does it Take? Buying a house is exciting, but it can feel like it takes forever to get from the offer to the closing table. On average, it takes 30 – 45 days to get to the closing table, and that’s in a perfect situation. Sometimes you may close faster or slower, but keep 30 – 45 days in mind when signing a sales contract. The Process to Close on a House The house closing process is complex. Not only must you find the house you want to buy, but you must sort out your financing. Here’s a quick rundown of the typical timeline. Get Pre-Approved Start the process by getting pre-approved with a lender. This tells you how much you can afford, on what terms and the conditions you must satisfy. A pre-approval letter also gets your foot in more doors with sellers. Most sellers only want to work with pre-approved buyers. Find a Home Once pre-approved, you can look at homes. Pre-approvals usually last 30 – 60 days, so it works best if you ca...

5 Reasons your Mortgage can Fall Through Your mortgage isn’t a ‘sure thing’ until you sign the closing papers. Until that point, anything can happen, which is why it’s so important to keep your financial and employment situation status quo. If you’re thinking about buying a home or are in the middle of the process, here are five things that could make you lose your loan approval. Changing Jobs When lenders approve you for a mortgage, they do so based on your employment and income. They assume your employment will remain the same, even though we all know that’s not always the case. While changing jobs after you close on your loan isn’t a big deal, changing jobs mid-loan process could cause a delay in processing or even cause you to lose your loan approval. Hurting your Credit Score Lenders pull your credit when you apply for a mortgage and again before you close. If your score changes drastically during that time (for the worse), you could lose your loan approval. Once pr...