Moving-Up To A Luxury Home? Now’s The Time!

If your house no longer fits your needs and you are planning on buying a luxury home, now is a great time to do so! We recently shared data from Trulia’s Market Mismatch Study which showed that in today’s premium home market, buyers are in control.

The inventory of homes for sale in the luxury market far exceeds those searching to purchase these properties in many areas of the country. This means that homes are often staying on the market longer which can eventually lead to a price change.

Those who have a starter or trade-up home to sell will find buyers competing, and often entering bidding wars, to be able to call your house their new home.

The sale of your starter or trade-up house will aid in coming up with a larger down payment for your new luxury home. Even a 5% down payment on a million-dollar home is $50,000.

But not all who are buying luxury properties have a home to sell first.

In a Washington Post article, Daryl Judy, an associate broker with Washington Fine Properties, gave some insight into what many millennials are choosing to do:

“Some high-earning millennials save money until they are in their early 30s to buy a place and just skip over that starter-home phase. They’ll stay in an apartment until they can afford to pay for the place they want.”

Bottom Line

The best time to sell anything is when demand is high and supply is low. If you are currently in a starter or trade-up house that no longer fits your needs and you are looking to step into a luxury home, now’s the time to list your house for sale and make your dreams come true.

Source: Keeping Current Matters | The KCM Crew 101817

4 Reasons To Sell This Fall

Some Highlights:

• Buyer demand continues to outpace the supply of homes for sale! Buyers are often competing with one another for the listings that are available!
• Housing inventory is still under the 6-month supply that is needed for a normal housing market.
• Perhaps the time has come for you and your family to move on and start living the life you desire.

Source: Keeping Current Matters | The KCM Crew 101317

Net Worth Of Homeowners 44X Greater Than Renters

Every three years, the Federal Reserve conducts their Survey of Consumer Finances in which they collect data across all economic and social groups. The latest survey data, covering 2013-2016 was released two weeks ago.

The study revealed that the 2016 median net worth of homeowners was $231,400 – a 15% increase since 2013. At the same time, the median net worth of renters decreased by 5% ($5,200 today compared to $5,500 in 2013).

These numbers reveal that the net worth of a homeowner is over 44 times greater than that of a renter.

Owning a home is a great way to build family wealth

As we’ve said before, simply put, homeownership is a form of ‘forced savings.’ Every time you pay your mortgage, you are contributing to your net worth by increasing the equity in your home.

That is why, for the fourth year in a row, Gallup reported that Americans picked real estate as the best long-term investment. This year’s results showed that 34% of Americans chose real estate, followed by stocks at 26% and then gold, savings accounts/CDs, or bonds.

Greater equity in your home gives you options

If you want to find out how you can use the increased equity in your home to move to a home that better fits your current lifestyle, meet with a real estate professional in your area who can guide you through the process.

Source: Keeping Current Matters | The KCM Crew 101217

Builder Offering To Pay Off Student Loans For Buyers

Millennials are on track to become the most educated generation in history. This means they are also the generation with the most student debt. Depending on the type of degree earned, as well as the prestige of the institution attended, there are some millennials who graduate college with what equates to a mortgage payment.

For those first-time buyers, and even some move-up buyers, who took advantage of the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit in 2008, there is an interesting program being introduced by Lennar Home Builders and Eagle Home Mortgage.

“Borrowers with Eagle Home Mortgage’s Student Loan Debt Mortgage Program can direct up to 3% of the purchase price (up to $13,000) to pay their student loans when they buy a new home from Lennar, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders. The contribution doesn’t directly increase the purchase price of the home or add to the balance of the loan.”

The program allows borrowers, whose credit and income requirements qualify, to put down as low as 3% and have a maximum loan amount of $424,100. At the time of closing, Lennar contributes up to 3% to pay down student loans incurred while attending universities, colleges, community colleges, trade schools and other certificate-granting programs.

Jimmy Timmons, President of Eagle Home Mortgage, gave more context about the reasons behind the creation of the program,

“Americans are more burdened than ever by student loans, with $1.3 trillion in outstanding student loans spread out among 42 million borrowers.  

Particularly with millennial buyers, people who want to buy a home of their own are not feeling as though they can move forward. Our program is designed to relieve some of that burden and remove that barrier to owning a home.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, “housing observers said other builders are likely to look to mimic the program, which could help lure more of the critical first-time-buyer segment into home purchases.”

Bottom Line

If you are one of the many millennials who may have delayed purchasing your first home, or feel stuck in a house that no longer fits your needs, there are programs and options available to help you achieve your dream!

Source: Keeping Current Matters | The KCM Crew 101117

The Mortgage Process: What You Need To Know

Some Highlights:

• Many buyers are purchasing a home with a down payment as little as 3%.
• You may already qualify for a loan, even if you don’t have perfect credit.
• Take advantage of the knowledge of your local professionals who are there to help you determine how much you can afford.

Source: Keeping Current Matters | The KCM Crew 100617

The Truth About Homeowner Equity

A recent article from a reputable news source was titled: Here’s why some homeowners still can’t sell. In the opening bullets of the article, the author claimed, “Negative equity is one of the main reasons why there are so few homes for sale.” The article then goes on to soften that stance but we want to bring better clarity to the equity situation.

A recent report from CoreLogic (which was quoted in the article) revealed that over 80% of all homes now have “significant equity,” which means the home has over 20% equity. That level of equity allows the homeowner to sell their home if they so desire. (There was no reference to significant equity in the article.)

If eight out of ten homeowners now have significant equity in their homes, it is hard to make the claim that lack of equity is “one of the main reasons why there are so few homes for sale.”

Here is a map showing the percentage of homes in each state which currently have significant equity:

Bottom Line

If you are one of many homeowners who is debating selling your home and are wondering how much equity you have accumulated, contact a local real estate professional who can help you determine if now is the time to list.

Source: Keeping Current Matters | The KCM Crew 100517

You Don’t Want To Hear This From Your Listing Agent

You’ve decided to sell your house. You begin to interview potential real estate agents to help you through the process. You need someone you trust enough to:

• Set the market value on possibly the largest asset your family owns (your home)
• Set the time schedule for the successful liquidation of that asset
• Set the fee for the services required to liquidate that asset

An agent must be concerned first and foremost with you and your family to garner that degree of trust. Make sure this is the case.

Be careful if the agent you are interviewing begins the interview by:

• Bragging about their success
• Bragging about their company’s success

An agent’s success and the success of their company can be important considerations when deciding on the right real estate professional to represent you in the sale of your house. However, you first need to know that they care about what you need and what you expect from the sale. If the agent is not interested in first establishing your needs, how successful they may seem is much less important.

Look for someone with the ‘heart of a teacher’ who comes in prepared to explain the current real estate market to you, and is patient enough to take the time to show you how it may impact the sale of your home; not someone only interested in trying to sell you on how great they are.

You have many agents from which to choose. Pick someone who truly cares.

Source: Keeping Current Matters | The KCM Crew 100317