Even as the turbulent real estate market flips and flops, trying to make up its mind which direction it wants to go, there are still plenty of people either putting their homes up for sale or are biting the bullet and purchasing their new dream home.
If you’re on the fence about whether or not you should go ahead and purchase your new dream home in spite of the current economic conditions, here are 3 reasons why it might just be the perfect time to buy a home:
- You want to move up to a more expensive home. We’re most definitely in a buyer’s market right now here in the Rock Hill SC and Fort Mill SC area, so if you’ve had your eye on a more expensive home, now is definitely the time to act. I wouldn’t expect home prices to come up any time soon, but I also wouldn’t expect them to drop much more than where they’re at. That being said, you might not be able to get that dream home of yours at such a steal-of-a-price ever again!
- It’s a buyer’s market, plain and simple. If you’re not currently tied to a property or don’t have to worry about unloading your current home, then you’re definitely in the driver’s seat. Many home sellers are concerned about even getting a ‘fair’ offer for their homes, which plays to your advantage. This kind of market allows you to dictate more of the terms of the sale and in many cases, the seller is much more willing to listen.
- Interest rates are still relatively low. There’s been a lot made about how tough the loan market is these days, but in reality, if you have decent credit, can put down a solid down payment, and are serious about buying a home there’s absolutely NO REASON why you shouldn’t expect to get a good loan. In fact, rates are still extremely low when compared to historical averages and when you can lock in a good rate, you’ll be able to enjoy it for the life of the loan, no matter what rates do.
So, if you’ve considered making the leap and purchasing a new house in the Rock Hill SC or Fort Mill SC area, now is definitely a great time to act. We’ve been fortunate in that the real estate market has stayed relatively strong when compared to other areas of the country and with the advantages you hold as a home buyer, the time couldn’t be any better to take action and buy your dream home!
Filed under Buy Your Dream House, Carolina Real Estate, Fort Mill SC, Home Buyers, Interest Rates, Market Trends, Mortgage Rates, Rock Hill SC by 
I’ve called in guest author Jason Wyatt to tackle this question for us today:
Ask a few mortgage brokers how to avoid paying PMI, or private mortgage insurance, and you are likely to find out that the agents you are speaking with have never heard of such a thing. Ask them how to get USDA financing and they may be even more confused. Nevertheless, you can avoid paying PMI with a loan from the rural division of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
A Better Loan?
USDA loans offer many benefits. The biggest benefit for most people is 100% financing. Actually, the loan specifies 102% financing with an appraisal to support the numbers. This is so that you can have closing costs not paid by the seller lumped in. Your credit does not have to be perfect and there are fewer restrictions on gifts received if you are getting help from someone financially. In addition, you are not required to carry PMI.
For example, let’s say that you would like to purchase a $100,000 home in a qualifying area. For our illustration this home appraises for $105,000. Since the loan allows for 102% financing of the appraised value, the actual loan amount can be $107,100. If your closing costs are six thousand dollars that puts the loan at $106,000, which is okay because it is under the maximum. Suppose you needed to do some repairs – these can also be included! There are other fees involved with a mortgage, but this example is to illustrate the basics. Now you can see the wonderful opportunity available here.
How Do I Qualify?
The reason that the USDA finances in the first place is to encourage housing and development in rural areas. These areas are determined by population density and there is a maximum limit on annual household income. You may be surprised to find out just how many of these loans are granted. For example, in Texas, for the years of 2001 through 2008, over five and a half billion dollars were granted for over twenty thousand home loans.
To find out more you can visit the USDA website at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov
Also, there are several areas around the Rock Hill SC and Fort Mill SC areas that qualify for these USDA loans. To find out if the house you’re looking at qualifies, simply contact me and let me help you find your Rock Hill SC Dream Home.
Filed under Buy Your Dream House, Mortgage Rates by
As you probably know by now, President Obama managed to push through a $787 billion stimulus package. Included in this package is an $8,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit. In a nutshell, this is what it means:
- The tax credit is for first-time home buyers only or anyone who has not owned a home in the last 3 years.
- The tax credit does not have to be repaid.
- The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000.
- The credit is available for homes purchased on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.
- Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit.
My friend Geoff at New American Mortgage tells me that rates continue to be historically low and they are always more than happy to answer any additional questions you might have about buying your new house in the Rock Hill SC or Fort Mill SC area.
Straight from Geoff, here is a snapshot of the mortgage rates* from last Friday on the purchase of a new house:
Conventional -
30 Year Fix Rate is 4.500%, APR 4.790% (2 pts)
30 Year Fix Rate is 4.875%, APR 4.959% (1pt)
30 Year Fix Rate is 5.500%, APR 5.629% (0pts)
FHA/VA – Government -
30 Year Fix Rate is 4.625%APR 5.000% (1.5pt)
30 Year Fix Rate is 5.000%, APR 5.375% (1pt)
30 Year Fix Rate is 5.500%, APR 5.775% (0pts)
* Borrower must qualify and restrictions apply
Filed under Buy Your Dream House, Fort Mill SC, Home Buyers, Mortgage Rates, News Reports, Rock Hill SC by
Have you been listening to the news at all today? Have you read about the proposed $700B government bail out of Wall Street?
To be completely honest, I’m not sure what to make about Washington climbing into bed with business, especially at this magnitude. Especially if it’s my tax dollars we’re talking about here.
Of course, according to the Secretary of the Treasury and the head of the Federal Reserve are both saying this bail out is necessary to keep things afloat, I wonder how smart it is to be making such huge promises to the folks that got us in this mess to begin with.
So, what’s your take on the issue? How do you feel about the government taking $700B it doesn’t have and giving it to Wall Street in order to fix this financial mess?
Go ahead and leave your thoughts below in the comment section. I’d love to hear what you have to say about it!
Filed under Carolina Business News, Interest Rates, Mortgage Rates, Opinions by
If you’ve been paying attention to the news at all then you saw the big news from the financial markets that Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch agreed to be bought by Bank of America, headquartered here locally in Charlotte NC, for some $50B dollars. On top of that, the stock market tumbled close to 500 points today sparking many to ask the question, is this as bad as it gets?
Well, I’m certainly no expert when it comes to the financial markets, but just based on what I’ve read and heard, I’d venture a guess that this isn’t rock bottom just yet. According to an article I read on MSNBC.com,the answer to how many more banks are going to fall flat on their face because of questionable management practices is dependent on 2 questions.
“First: When will home prices stop falling? The value of trillions of dollars of assets held by big investors — both here and around the world — is pegged to the underlying value of the real estate on which those assets are based. Every quarter that home prices fall, those assets have to be marked down further.
Second: When will the foreclosure rate stop rising and stabilize? As of the end of June, some 9 percent of all Americans holding a mortgage were either late on their monthly payments or in foreclosure. Those foreclosures add to the backlog of bank-owned properties that go onto the market, putting further downward pressure on home prices.”
It certainly makes for a precarious situation, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to pack up and move to a cave in the middle of nowhere!
Fortunately for us here in the Rock Hill SC or Fort Mill SC market, the housing market is still strong. Yes, there are some bargain properties out there, but that doesn’t mean EVERYTHING’S going for rock-bottom prices.
If you’re looking to sell your Rock Hill SC or Fort Mill SC home, you can still get a good price for it. You just need to be certain you price your home to sell and not simply to negotiate. Many people make the mistake of thinking if they list their house higher thinking they’ll be able to negotiate it down. Unfortunately, it rarely happens this way as people see just the ‘too-high’ price and don’t even make an offer.
If you want to sell your home quickly AND for top dollar is this unsteady market, it’s critical that you price your house to move. If you’re not sure what that price is, I’d be more than happy to provide a Comparative Market Analysis to help you decide if now’s the right time to sell your Rock Hill SC area house or not!
And stay tuned to this blog because this week I’ll be sharing more tips for buying OR selling your dream Rock Hill SC, Fort Mill SC, Tega Cay SC, York SC, or Lancaster SC home in this turbulent financial marketplace.
