Wednesday, July 7, 2021 / by Nicole Solari
For many young or first-time homebuyers, purchasing a home can feel intimidating. A recent survey shows some homebuyers ages 25 to 40 may be unsure about the homebuying process and what they can afford. It found:
“1 in 4 underestimated their buying potential by $150k or more”
“1 in 4 underestimated the increase in value by $100k or more”
“47% don’t know what a good interest rate is”
Because they feel uncertain, many young homebuyers have given up on their search, or worse, they’ve decided homebuying isn’t for them and never started on their journey to begin with.
If you’re interested in buying but aren’t sure where to begin, here are three key concepts about homeownership you should understand before you get started.
1. What You Need To Know About Down Payments
Saving for a down payment is sometimes viewed as one of the biggest obstacles for homebuyers, but that doesn’t have to be the case. As& ...
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real estate, the solari group, level up realty, buying myths, demographics, down payments, first time home buyers, for buyers, gen z, interest rates, millenials, pricing, rent vs buy
Tuesday, June 29, 2021 / by Nicole Solari
In today’s real estate market, low inventory and high demand are driving up home prices. As many as 54% of homes are getting offers over the listing price, based on the latest Realtors Confidence Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Shawn Telford, Chief Appraiser at CoreLogic, elaborates:
“The frequency of buyers being willing to pay more than the market data supports is increasing.”
While this is great news for today’s sellers, it can be tricky to navigate if the price of your contract doesn’t match up with the appraisal for the house. It’s called an appraisal gap, and it’s happening more in today’s market than the norm.
According to recent data from CoreLogic, 19% of homes had their appraised value come in below the contract price in April of this year. That’s more than double the percentage in each of the two previou. ...
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real estate, the solari group, level up realty, buying myths, down payments, for buyers, for sellers, move up buyers, pricing, selling myths
Monday, May 17, 2021 / by Nicole Solari
When buying a home, it’s important to have a budget and make sure you plan ahead for certain homebuying expenses. Saving for a down payment is the main cost that comes to mind for many, but budgeting for the closing costs required to get a mortgage is just as important.
What Are Closing Costs?
According to Trulia:
“When you close on a home, a number of fees are due. They typically range from 2% to 5% of the total cost of the home, and can include title insurance, origination fees, underwriting fees, document preparation fees, and more.”
For example, for someone buying a $300,000 home, they could potentially have between $6,000 and $15,000 in closing fees. If you’re in the market for a home above this price range, your closing costs could be greater. As mentioned above, closing costs are typically between 2% and 5% of your purchase price.
Trulia gives more great advice, explaining:
“There will be lot. ...
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real estate, the solari group, level up realty, buying myths, down payments, first time home buyers, for buyers, move up buyers, pricing
Thursday, May 6, 2021 / by Nicole Solari
Many people are sitting on the fence trying to decide if now’s the time to buy a home. Some are renters who have a strong desire to become homeowners but are unsure if buying right now makes sense. Others may be homeowners who are realizing that their current home no longer fits their changing needs.
To determine if they should buy now or wait another year, they both need to ask two simple questions:
Do I think home values will be higher a year from now?
Do I think mortgage rates will be higher a year from now?
Let’s shed some light on the answers to these questions.
Where will home prices be a year from now?
If you average the most recent projections from the major industry forecasters, the expectation is home prices will increase by 7.7%. Let’s take a house that’s valued today at $325,000 as an example.
If the buyer makes a 10% down payment ($32,500), they’ll end up borrowing $292,500 for their mortgage. Applying the projected r. ...
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real estate, the solari group, level up realty, down payments, first time home buyers, for buyers, interest rates, move up buyers, pricing
Monday, April 19, 2021 / by Nicole Solari
One of the biggest hurdles homebuyers face is saving for a down payment. As you’re budgeting and planning for your home purchase, you’ll want to understand how much you’ll need to put down and how long it will take you to get there. The process may actually move faster than you think.
Using data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Apartment List, we can estimate how long it might take someone earning the median income and paying the median rent to save up for a down payment on a median-priced home. Since saving for a down payment can be a great time to practice budgeting for housing costs, this estimate also uses the concept that a household should not pay more than 28% of their total income on monthly housing expenses.
According to the data, the national average for the time it would take to save for a 10% down payment is right around two and a half years (2.53). Residents in Iowa can save for . ...
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real estate, the solari group, level up realty, buying myths, down payments, first time home buyers, for buyers
