Home Loans/Appraisals

Buyers Market? Sellers Market?

brad

It’s worthy to note that in January 2019 we’ve seen the largest sales decline in five straight years. While people are looking for homes and interested in making the investment, high mortgage rates and a lack of inventory are making it increasingly difficult for people to commit to a home purchase. Current home owners have been reluctant to sell because of the rates they would have to pay on a new home and those that own homes they could sell opt to rent instead.

Not only are we seeing the rise of mortgage rates but inflation is also a concern for many buyers in the market. While the mortgage and inflation rates have risen this hasn’t stopped the sales prices from rising as well. This incongruity begs the question “how much longer can it last?”

Sales of US homes fall year over year by most in 3 ½ years from the Chicago Daily Herald discusses more information on why now is not a buyers market.

Parents Helping with Jumbo Loans

Julia

 Getting Mom and Dad to co-sign a jumbo mortgage is a tough sell all around.

The practice is rare, but a few lenders will allow parents to help their adult children qualify for jumbo mortgages, which exceed conforming-loan limits of $417,000 in most places and $625,500 in high-price areas such as San Francisco. A typical scenario: a first-time home buyer whose salary has a strong upward trajectory but who hasn’t been on the job long enough to meet income requirements to buy property in a pricey locale, such as New York, says Ray Rodriguez, regional mortgage sales manager for Cherry Hill, N.J.-based TD Bank, which lends in 15 East Coast states.

Read more →

Drawbacks of a Reverse Mortgage

Julia

Watch out for these drawbacks of using a reverse mortgage to fund retirement.

The truth about reverse mortgages are far from ideal. In fact, there are a few reasons to avoid getting a reverse mortgage as part of your retirement plan. Most of these reasons revolve around the fact that this type of income stream is actually a loan against your home’s equity that has to be paid back.

Here are five reasons to think twice about getting a reverse mortgage: Read more →

Basics of Reverse Mortgages

Julia


Is a reverse mortgage right for you?

Reverse mortgages have become the cash-strapped homeowner’s financial planning tool of choice. For decades, retirees looking to convert their biggest asset — home, sweet home — into income were forced to choose between either selling their house or taking out a home equity loan, which sentenced them to an unwelcome schedule of high-interest monthly payments.

Introduced in 1989, such loans enable seniors age 62 and older to access a portion of their home equity without having to move.

The bank makes payments to the borrower throughout his or her lifetime based on a percentage of accumulated home equity. The loan balance does not have to be repaid until the borrower dies, sells the home or permanently moves out. Read more →

Purpose of a Real Estate Appraisal

Julia

How much is your home worth? A real estate appraisal will tell you.

 In order to obtain a home loan, you will need an appraisal on the property you wish to buy. Your lender will set up the appraisal and the results will help determine how much money the lender will be willing to lend on the property.

The purpose of a real estate appraisal is to determine the estimated market value of a house, condominium, commercial property, vacant land, etc. It is used to assist someone in making a decision. They may be considering purchasing, selling, insuring, or lending money on a house, condo, commercial property, or vacant lot. Appraisals are also used for tax purposes to estimate how much money a property owner has to pay in taxes.

 

 

 

 

What Is The Appraiser Appraising?

Julia

Know how an appraiser determines the value of your home.

Banks and mortgage lenders need appraisals to assist them in figuring out how much money to lend someone for a home loan. There are many different aspects of a loan application that the banker has to consider, but mortgage lenders always require an appraisal since the real estate will be the collateral for the mortgage loan.

A visit from an appraiser is an inevitable part of selling your home. Even if your buyer is happy to pay what you ask and loves the place, the lender will still require that an objective third party – in the form of a professional appraiser – come through the home to determine its value. . It is certainly worthwhile to know what an appraiser will look for. The questions that many home owners ask me is “how does the appraiser determine the value of my home”? Read more →

Student Debt Can Torpedo Your Chances for a Home Loan

Julia

Student debt can adversely affect getting your first loan.

At LDSAgents.com we frequently encounter young clients who cannot qualify for a home loan due to high student debt.

“As students graduate with more debt than ever, those with student loans are getting worse credit scores and taking out fewer mortgages. At the same time home ownership rates among younger Americans sink to historic lows. College students who took out loans will graduate this year with an average of $33,000 in student debt, Read more →