While higher mortgage rates are creating affordability challenges for homebuyers this year, there is some good news for those people still looking to buy a home. The Market Is Shifting If you’ve shopped for a home in the last few years, you know what a seller’s market looks like. Listings are scarce, homes sell immediately, and when you do […]
“Home prices falling faster now than in 2006.” This is a popular headline that has hit the news outlets recently, and it is causing even more panic for potential homebuyers. We all know the media always enjoys any bit of bad news that will get more clicks and views, but more often than not they […]
As the housing market continues to balance, we are seeing more sellers reduce the list prices of their homes to attract more buyers. But did you know that for most buyers, a list price reduction does much less to help with affordability than a rate buydown strategy does? As a buyer, it’s important for you […]
Mortgage rates have officially risen two percentage points since the start of the year while home prices have kept going up. While there have been some signs of prices dropping, they’re still more than 10% higher than they were at this point last year. Fannie Mae also recently published their housing forecast for August 2022, and they are […]
If you’ve built up your finances to the point you’re ready to invest and want your money to work for you, then buying your first rental property my be an excellent opportunity to grow that money and have something real behind it, rather than investing in stocks or NFTs. Why Buy Rental Property as an […]
As rising interest rates and inflation are decreasing the demand for homes, fears of a coming recession are on the rise. Prospective buyers may be wondering what it all means for their dreams of owning a home. We know how economic slowdowns have impacted home prices in the past, but how could this next slowdown affect real estate […]
If you are trying to qualify for a mortgage today, at some point you are going to hear the term par rate. A par rate is a term used in the mortgage world that refers to the standard interest rate calculated by an underwriter and assigned to a borrower for a specific lending product. A mortgage […]
Mortgage points are payments that are made at the closing of a home loan (added on to your total closing costs) in exchange for a lower interest rate and, therefore, a lower monthly payment. Buying points is often referred to as “buying down the rate.” Doing this will decrease what you pay your mortgage lender […]
While the rent vs. buy discussion is an ongoing one, we want to take a moment to reflect on some of the financial benefits of homeownership. As you weigh your options, here are a few things to keep in mind! Homeownership Builds Equity The most significant of the financial benefits of homeownership is that you […]