It’s never been a better time to buy a house.
Check with me for up to date housing information and mortgage availability.
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31804 117th Street – RANDALL_WI_53181
Great home just over the border across from the Wilmot Ski Resort
Short Sales: A Dignified Solution for Many Families
Occasionally, Steve Harney, our founder and lead content creator, asks us permission to share his personal feelings on a current real estate issue. Today, is one of those times. The KCM Crew I am truly excited that the banks
What If You Could Buy Shoes…?
What if there was a shoe store that had:
- An unparalleled selection of shoes of every size, color, and price range
- The shoes were discounted 30% or more
- You had a credit card that would finance the shoes for 30 years at 4.5%
How many shoes would you buy? My bet is there would be a line around the block. Well, today, real estate is like that shoe store (incredible selection, terrific bargains and excellent financing terms). But there’s more….
- Shoes go in and out of style. Homeownership is still the American Dream.
- Shoes are worth less once you wear them. Homes will appreciate in value over time.
- Shoes get disposed of. Homes are lasting.
And while many can recount memories created in certain shoes, everyone can remember their first home, their first family gathering, the countless holidays shared. There is also the ability to decorate to your tastes, the stability (and lower crime rate) in homeownership neighborhoods and the higher level of education achieved by kids who grow up there.
If you’d stand in line to buy shoes, what’s stopping you from exploring a home? Despite some media perceptions, there is mortgage money available with reasonable down payment requirements at extremely low rates…talk to a loan officer. There are some great deals out there with short sales, foreclosures and regular transactions also!
Happy Shopping!
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source: KCM Blog_Steve Harney 8.11.11
The Cost of Waiting for Prices to Fall
The Cost of Waiting for Prices to Fall
source: by The KCM Crew on February 11, 2011 · 
Many purchasers have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for home prices to hit bottom. They want to guarantee that they are purchasing at the best possible price. Like them, we also believe that prices still have some room to fall in most markets. However, we disagree that waiting is a good financial decision. The buyer should not be concerned about housing prices. They should be concerned about cost.
The cost of a house is made up of the price AND THE INTEREST RATE they will be paying. Two different pieces of news released yesterday highlight this point.
PRICES
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their 4th quarter housing research report. In the release, they reported that home sales rose 15.4% in the 4th quarter over the 3rd quarter. They also showed that prices remained stable during the year:
The national median existing single-family price was $170,600 in the fourth quarter, up 0.2 percent from $170,300 in the fourth quarter of 2009.
A buyer who delayed a purchase might find solace in the fact that prices have not increased. However, the other news released yesterday paints a different picture.
INTEREST RATES
The Primary Mortgage Market Survey was released by Freddie Mac which showed that the 30 year fixed rate mortgage was at 5.05%. Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac said:
“Long-term bond yields jumped on positive economic data reports, which placed upward pressure on mortgage rates this week…As a result, interest rates on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to the highest level since the last week in April 2010.”
So prices have remained stable but interest rates have risen dramatically in the last 90 days. What does that mean to a buyer looking to purchase a home this year?
The price is the same. It just costs more.
Let’s show you what the news means:
By sitting on the sidelines for the last 90 days a purchaser lost:
- $89.44 a month
- $1,073.28 a year
- $32,198.40 over the thirty year life of the mortgage
If you buy a $340,000 home, double all these numbers.
Bottom Line
Even if prices fall another 10% this year, the cost of a home will increase if interest rates go up more than 1%. Buyers should not worry where prices are going. They should be concerned where costs will be later in the year.
Attention All KCM Subcribers:
Pages depicting the above information along with an additional 20+ pages for your Buyers’ Conversational Manual are in KCM’s February Edition available now. If you haven’t already done so, download the pages for your Listing Conversation Manual available in the January Edition.
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