Monday, March 1, 2021 / by Janelle Endres
If you’re thinking of buying a home this year, you may be wondering how much money you need to come up with for your down payment. Many people may think it’s 20% of the loan to secure a mortgage. While there are plenty of lower down payment options available for qualified buyers who don’t want to put 20% down, it’s important to understand how a larger down payment can have great benefits too.
The truth is, there are many programs available that allow you to put down as little as 3.5%, which can be a huge benefit to those who want to purchase a home sooner rather than later. Those who have served our country may also qualify for a Veterans Affairs Home Loan (VA) and may not need a down payment. These programs have really cut down the savings time for many potential buyers, enabling them to start building family wealth sooner.
Here are four reasons why putting 20% down is a good plan if you can afford it.
1. Your interest rate may b ...
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homebuyers, move-up buyers, first time home buyers, buying myths, downpayments
Friday, February 26, 2021 / by Janelle Endres
Meticulously maintained
This 3-bedroom, 2 bath open floorplan is over 1,300 square feet has been meticulously maintained and its convenient location is likely one of Clearwater’s best-kept secrets.
Years of comfort
Enjoy the extraordinary privacy and spacious layout of this property in a wonderful neighborhood on a quiet street. You will enjoy years of comfort with the 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, family room and kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.
Lots of storage space
Throughout the house, upgrades have been completed with bamboo flooring, ceramic tile, and custom cabinetry. Lots of storage space and all the windows have been replaced with custom-designed hurricane impact windows and garage door.
Florida room or flex room
The large fenced yard is flat and offers plenty of room for play or a swimming pool. Additional stunning living space is provided with a completely enclosed Florida ...
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homebuyers, property listing, home for sale
Thursday, February 25, 2021 / by Janelle Endres
If you’re looking for a home to purchase right now and having trouble finding one, you’re not alone. At a time like this when there are so few houses for sale, it’s normal to wonder if you’ll actually find one to buy. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), across the country, inventory of available homes for sale is at an all-time low – the lowest point recorded since NAR began tracking this metric in 1982. There are, however, more homes expected to hit the market later this year. Let’s break down the three key places they’ll likely come from as 2021 continues on.
1. Homeowners Who Didn’t Sell Last Year
In 2020, many sellers decided to pause their moving plans for a number of different reasons. From health concerns about the pandemic to financial uncertainty, plenty of homeowners decided not to move last year.
Now that vaccines are being distributed and there’s a light at the end o ...
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homebuyers, homesellers, housing market update, move-up buyers, first time home buyers, buying myths, foreclosures, selling myths, distressed properties, new construction
Tuesday, February 23, 2021 / by Janelle Endres
We’re currently experiencing historically low mortgage rates. Over the last fifty years, the average on a Freddie Mac 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has been 7.76%. Today, that rate is 2.81%. Flocks of homebuyers have been taking advantage of these remarkably low rates over the last twelve months. However, there’s no guarantee rates will remain this low much longer.
Whenever we try to forecast mortgage rates, we should consider the advice of Mark Fleming, Chief Economist at First American:
“You know, the fallacy of economic forecasting is don’t ever try and forecast interest rates and/or, more specifically, if you’re a real estate economist mortgage rates, because you will always invariably be wrong.”
Many things impact mortgage rates. The economy, inflation, and Fed policy, just to name a few. That makes forecasting rates difficult. However, there’s one metric that has held up over th ...
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homebuyers, housing market update, move-up buyers, first time home buyers, interest rates, buying myths
Monday, February 22, 2021 / by Janelle Endres
In today’s housing market, it seems harder than ever to find a home to buy. Before the health crisis hit us a year ago, there was already a shortage of homes for sale. When many homeowners delayed their plans to sell at the same time that more buyers aimed to take advantage of record-low mortgage rates and purchase a home, housing inventory dropped even further. Experts consider this to be the biggest challenge facing an otherwise hot market while buyers continue to compete for homes. As Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at realtor.com, explains:
“With buyers active in the market and seller participation lagging, homes are selling quickly and the total number available for sale at any point in time continues to drop lower. In January as a whole, the number of for sale homes dropped below 600,000.”
Every month, realtor.com releases new data showing the year-over-year change in inventory of existi ...
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homebuyers, homesellers, housing market update, pricing, selling myths
![It’s a Sellers’ Market [INFOGRAPHIC]](https://s-static.cinccdn.com/images/uploads/UP738B38B5ABFD4C.png)
