5 ways to help your agent find your dream home | Inman News

5 ways to help your agent find your dream home | Inman News


All very true and very valid points!

How 1 point change in Interest Rates Effects Buying Power

With interest rates being so low lately, some may wonder how exactly does that effect my purchasing power. This new chart does a great job showing that exactly.

Interest rates are hovering right around 3.5%...let me know if you have any questions!

Pre-Approved Vs Pre-Qualified

The difference between the two is often brought up when I'm working with buyers. It is quite important to know this difference also.

Pre-Qualified

• Simple and somewhat quick
• Provide bank with general financial outlook (income, debts, etc)
• Can be done over the phone/internet
• Usually free of charge, and doesn't create commitment with any lender
• DOES NOT pull credit

Pre-Approved

• Much more involved (actual filling out of mortgage application, paying small mortgage app fee)
• Credit pulled, more specific docs needed for loan officer
• Lender can tell you specific amount of mortgage you can actually afford
• Shows the seller you are fully committed to obtaining a mortgage, will have better negotiations than someone who is just pre-qualified

 Pre-Quals are great if you are just starting to look, it helps yourself and your Realtor know what price ranges you can start to look in. Also, before you could even submit an offer on a home, at least a Pre-Qual would be needed for any seller to take you seriously. Let me know if you have any questions!

Home Inventory Down, Prices are Stabilizing

http://www.realtor.org/news-releases/2012/04/existing-home-sales-decline-in-march-but-inventory-down-prices-stabilizing

• The recovery is happening though not at a breakout pace, but we have seen nine consecutive months of year-over-year sales increases
• Listed inventory is 21.8 percent below a year ago and well below the record of 4.04 million in July 2007.
• The national median existing-home price³ for all housing types was $163,800 in March, up 2.5 percent from March 2011
• Foreclosures typically sold for an average 19 percent below market price in March, while short sales were discounted 16 percent.
• First-time buyers accounted for 33 percent of transactions in March

Thinking of Remodeling? These projects have the most return on value!

According to the report, seven of the top 10 most cost-effective projects — nationally, in terms of value recouped — are exterior replacement projects. It deemed fiber-cement siding replacement as the project expected to return the most value, with an estimated 78 percent of costs recouped upon resale.

• Vinyl siding projects were expected to return more than 69 percent of costs.
• Steel entry door replacement was the least expensive project in the report, costing little more than $1,200 on average, and was expected to recoup 73 percent of costs.
• Garage door replacements have seen prices fall more than 15 percent nationally and can be expected to return more than 71 percent of the cost.
• A “midrange attic bedroom” is expected to return 72.5 percent of costs upon resale, in part because it is “the least expensive way to add a bedroom and bathroom within a home’s existing footprint.”
• A minor kitchen remodel (budgeted at roughly $20,000) is expected to recoup 72.1 percent of costs.
• A wood deck addition is expected to make back 70.1 percent of its price tag.
• Among the least cost-returning projects are a sunroom addition and home office remodeling, both estimated to recoup less than 46 percent of what they cost.

Source: http://www.zillow.com/blog/2012-03-07/beware-of-value-killing-home-renovations/

$4,000 of Free Money

Thinking about buying a home soon? If you could receive an extra $4,000 towards closing costs or down payment would that help? Please read the sheet below and let me know if you have any other questions, it's an awesome opportunity!

Want a Date? Buy a Home :)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- When it comes to dating, homeownership can be the ultimate aphrodisiac.

In a survey of 1,000 single people, more than a third of women and 18% of men said they would much rather date a homeowner than a renter.

Only 2% of women said they preferred to date a man who rents, while only 3% of men said they would choose a woman who rents over one that owns her home, according to the survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive for real estate site Trulia.

Both sexes also clearly prefer it when there's no roommate in the picture; 62% of survey respondents, men and women, prefer to date singles who live alone.

I'm home! Adult children move back in with parents

And there was bad news for the growing number of boomerang kids -- the young adults who went off to college, graduated and then wound up back in their old bedrooms. It's going to be hard to find love, except (perhaps) from your parents. Less than 5% of all singles surveyed said they would date someone living in their childhood homes.

"That's a real deal-breaker," said Michael Corbett, a spokesman for Trulia. "If you're still living with your folks, you're dead-on-arrival for dating."

The home they could love

Trulia also asked which home features are the biggest turn-ons. Number one turned out to be a master bath. Men (64%) love that private sanctum almost as much as women (75%) do.

Walk-in closets were cited by 55% of men and 72% of women and gourmet kitchens got 51% of the male vote and 62% of the female. Hardwood floors, outdoor decks and home theaters also came in high on the list.

Interestingly enough, hot tubs got a lot less love from respondents. Only 26% of men and 22% of women cited the old standby in the science of seduction as an amenity they would truly want.  

Those brass light fixtures send a message to buyers: C-H-E-A-P

Those brass light fixtures send a message to buyers: C-H-E-A-P

Changing out your hardware could make a world of a difference in your home! Even if you aren't looking to sell and would like to do some cost-effective updating, look to get rid of the brass.