Market Trends June 9, 2014

4 Reasons to Buy Your Home Now!

Home

Here are four great reasons to consider buying a home today, instead of waiting.

1. Prices Will Continue to Rise

The Home Price Expectation Survey polls a distinguished panel of over 100 economists, investment strategists, and housing market analysts. Their most recent report projects appreciation in home values over the next five years to be between 30.8% (most optimistic) and 9.4% (most pessimistic).

The bottom in home prices has come and gone. Home values will continue to appreciate for years. Waiting no longer makes sense.

2. Mortgage Interest Rates Are Increasing

Although Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows that interest rates for a 30-year mortgage have softened recently, most experts predict that they will begin to rise later this year. The Mortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the National Association of Realtors are in unison; projecting that rates will be up almost a full percentage point by the end of next year.

An increase in rates will impact YOUR monthly mortgage payment. Your housing expense will be more a year from now if a mortgage is necessary to purchase your next home.

3. Either Way, You are Paying a Mortgage

As a recent paper from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard Universityexplains:

“Households must consume housing whether they own or rent. Not even accounting for more favorable tax treatment of owning, homeowners pay debt service to pay down their own principal while households that rent pay down the principal of a landlord plus a rate of return. That’s yet another reason owning often does—as Americans intuit—end up making more financial sense than renting.”

4. It’s Time to Move On with Your Life

The ‘cost’ of a home is determined by two major components: the price of the home and the current mortgage rate. It appears that both are on the rise.

But, what if they weren’t? Would you wait?

Look at the actual reason you are buying and decide whether it is worth waiting. Whether you want to have a great place for your children to grow up, you want your family to be safer, or you just want to have control over renovations, maybe it is time to buy.

If the right thing for you and your family is to purchase a home this year, buying sooner rather than later could lead to substantial savings.

Neighborhood June 6, 2014

Solar Panels for Home

Solar panels are a great utility alternative and will save you money by cutting down on utility bills. Below is a great video that has information on home solar panels. 


Two of our current listings feature solar panels:

18400 Sorrell Springs, Frenchtown MT – $494,900


2234 Westfield Court, Missoula, MT – $244,900

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jabhqz30hhQ

Market Trends June 2, 2014

5 Reasons to Sell Now!

Many sellers are still hesitant about putting their house up for sale. Where are prices headed? Where are interest rates headed? Can buyers qualify for a mortgage?  These are all valid questions. However, there are several reasons to sell your home sooner rather than later. Here are five of those reasons.

1. Demand is Strong

There is currently a pent-up demand of purchasers as many home buyers pushed off their search this past winter because of extreme weather. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the number of buyers in the market, which feel off dramatically in December, January and February, has begun to increase again over the last few months. These buyers are ready, willing and able to buy…and are in the market right now!

2. There Is Less Competition Now

Housing supply is still under the historical number of 6 months’ supply. This means that, in many markets, there are not enough homes for sale to satisfy the number of buyers in that market. This is good news for home prices. However, additional inventory is about to come to market.

There is a pent-up desire for many homeowners to move as they were unable to sell over the last few years because of a negative equity situation. Homeowners are now seeing a return to positive equity as prices increased over the last eighteen months. Many of these homes will be coming to the market in the near future. Also, new construction of single-family homes is again beginning to increase. A recent study by Harris Poll revealed that 41% of buyers would prefer to buy a new home while only 21% prefer an existing home (38% had no preference).

The choices buyers have will continue to increase over the next few months. Don’t wait until all this other inventory of homes comes to market before you sell.

3. The Process Will Be Quicker

One of the biggest challenges of the 2014 housing market has been the length of time it takes from contract to closing. Banks are requiring more and more paperwork before approving a mortgage. As the market heats up, banks will be inundated with loan inquiries causing closing timelines to lengthen.  Selling now will make the process quicker and simpler.

4. There Will Never Be a Better Time to Move-Up

If you are moving up to a larger, more expensive home, consider doing it now. Prices are projected to appreciate by over 19% from now to 2018. If you are moving to a higher priced home, it will wind-up costing you more in raw dollars (both in down payment and mortgage payment) if you wait. You can also lock-in your 30 year housing expense with an interest rate in the low 4’s right now. Rates are projected to be over 5% by this time next year.

5. It’s Time to Move On with Your Life

Look at the reason you decided to sell in the first place and determine whether it is worth waiting. Is money more important than being with family? Is money more important than your health? Is money more important than having the freedom to go on with your life the way you think you should?

Only you know the answers to the questions above. You have the power to take back control of the situation by putting your home on the market and pricing it so it sells. Perhaps, the time has come for you and your family to move on and start living the life you desire.

That is what is truly important.

FinancingMarket Trends May 28, 2014

Get Your Money’s Worth In Your Investment!

 

 

 

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

Many experts are currently discussing a variety of topics such as real estate as an investment, the movement on mortgage interest rates and reasons to buy now instead of waiting. It is important that we realize that this does not apply solely to the first time home buyer.

The opportunity that exists in real estate today is there for everyone.

However, the family that already owns a home might be thinking that, if they wait, their home could be worth more next year than it is now. And that may cause them to delay moving up to the home of their dreams thinking it makes good financial sense. Actually, the opposite is true. This is the best chance a family has to buy up into the home that makes sense for their family right now.

We must realize that whatever percentage of value we gain on our house will also be gained on our dream home.

Let’s assume your current home is worth $500,000. Your house will be worth $520,000 next year if prices rise by 4% over that time (a number projected by the Home Price Expectation Survey).

However, the $750,000 home you are hoping to move into will also appreciate by about that same 4%. That means next year it will be valued at $780,000. You wouldn’t make $20,000 by waiting. You would actually be losing $10,000 ($30,000 – $20,000).

And, you will pay a lower interest rate on the mortgage than you probably will next year.

Plug in the numbers that apply to your house and the home you are longing to buy and see what the bottom line turns out to be for you.

That is how wealth is built in this country – by purchasing real estate at the right time, at the right price and at the right terms.

Go out and find your family's dream house and buy it! Ten years from now, you will be glad you did!

Uncategorized May 12, 2014

A Great Reason To Sell Now

The price of any item (including residential real estate) is determined by ‘supply and demand’. If many people are looking to buy an item and the supply of that item is limited, the price of that item increases.

According to the National Association of Realtors(NAR), the supply of homes for sale is still below the normal 6 month level of inventory. That means less competition.

However, a recent study revealed that 71% of current homeowners are considering selling their home this year. Putting your home on the market now instead of waiting for this increased competition to come to the market might make a lot of sense.

Buyers currently in the market are motivated purchasers. They want to buy now. With limited inventory available in most markets, a seller will be in a great position to negotiate their best possible price.

Market Trends May 5, 2014

Consideration Could Be The Key To Your New Home

Consideration could be the key to your new home

Keys in Hand Small.jpg

Consideration associated with a contract is generally thought to be the price and terms but being sympathetic and courteous towards the seller could make a difference in getting the home you want.

Business people, like store owners, expect to deal with customers and even become to expect behavior that might not be accepted in a purely social atmosphere. Homeowners, on the other hand, may not be aware of what to expect.  They are opening the sanctity of their home to the public for review and criticism.  Buyers may be detached from emotional feelings while the sellers might react unfavorably to comments that are taken personally. 

  1. Be on time for appointments; cancel if necessary.  The sellers may be rearranging their schedules and making an additional effort to make it convenient for you to see the property.
  2. Be a good guest and respect the seller’s privacy.  Look at the home and avoid looking at the seller’s personal items; there is no reason to look in refrigerators or furniture drawers.
  3. Don’t sweat the small stuff.  Try to focus on critical items of a home like location, floor plan, layout, size and not dwell on cosmetic items that are easily and inexpensively changed.
  4. It’s not a good negotiating technique to list the defects.  Most people become defensive when presented with a list which could have the opposite effect of helping you get a better deal.
  5. Limit your visits until you actually own the home.  It’s natural to be excited and making plans to move into your new home but it is still the seller’s until closing and they’re making plans to move too.
  6. Negotiations are generally finished when a contract is completed.  It can be frustrating to continually be asked for “one more thing.” Make a deal with the seller and live with it.  If there’s something you’re not sure about, specify it in writing in the contract.

Some things are obvious: the seller wants the most for their home and the buyer wants to pay the least possible.  Showing consideration to the seller about things that don’t have anything directly to do with price can actually benefit the buyer. 

Neighborhood May 2, 2014

6 Most Essential Homebuyer Tips

Market Trends April 25, 2014

12,575 Sold Yesterday!

If you read certain headlines, you might be led to believe that the housing recovery has come to a screeching halt. Naysayers are claiming that rising mortgage rates and a lack of consumer confidence are keeping Americans on the fence when it comes to purchasing real estate. That is actually far from reality.

After all 12,575 houses sold yesterday, 12,575 will sell today and 12,575 will sell tomorrow. 12,575!

That is the average number of homes that sell each and every day in this country according to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) latest Existing Home Sales Report. According to the report, annualized sales now stand at 4.59 million. Divide that number by 365 (days in a year) and we can see that, on average, over 12,500 homes sell every day.

If you are considering whether or not to put your house up for sale, don't let the headlines scare you. There are purchasers in the market and they are buying – to the tune of 12,575 homes a day. 

Taxes April 14, 2014

An Exchange Means More to Reinvest

 An Exchange Means More to Reinvest

Section 1031 exchange for rental and investment real estate is a tool that allows investors to move the gain from one property to another without immediate income tax consequences. 

An instant benefit is to postpone the tax due which gives the investor a larger amount of proceeds to invest.  In the example shown, the investor has 21% more proceeds to invest and grow over time than if he had paid the taxes due instead of exchanging.

A legitimate long-term goal might be to make qualified exchanges from one property to another until the investor dies.  The heirs would then receive a stepped-up basis on the property based on the market value at the time of the decedent’s death and possibly avoiding taxes altogether.

There are specific requirements to be met in order for the exchange to qualify. For more information on exchanges, see IRS publication 544.  In addition to enlisting the services of a real estate professional familiar with investment property, seek the help of Qualified Intermediary to facilitate the intricacies of the exchange.  Your real estate agent can help you locate one.

Exchange example.png

Market Trends April 4, 2014

Interest Rates Are Not Getting Any Lower!

"One thing seems certain: we aren't likely to see average 30-year fixed mortgage rates return to the historic lows experienced in 2012."

– Freddie Mac,  March 24, 2014

There are those that hope that 30-year mortgage interest rates will head back under 4%. Obviously, for any prospective home purchaser that would be great news. However, there is probably a greater chance that interest rates will return to the greater than 6% rate of the last decade before they would return to theless than 3.5% rate of 2012.

Freddie Mac, in one of four original posts on their new blog, explained that current rates are still extremely low compared to historic averages:

"The all-time record low – since Freddie Mac began tracking mortgage rates in 1971 – was 3.31% in November 2012. Conversely, the all-time record high occurred in October of 1981, hitting 18.63%. That's more than four times higher than today's average 30-year fixed rate of 4.32% as of March 20…rates hovering around 4.5% may be high relative to last year, but something to celebrate compared to almost any year since 1971."

Rates over decades

If you are thinking of buying a home, waiting for a dramatic decrease in mortgage rates might not make sense.