Author - Jonathan

If you’re in the market for a new house, you’ve probably heard that you want to get pre… qualified or pre-approved? What’s the difference anyways?
There’s actually a big difference. Pre-qualified is more of a preliminary step. It gives you a general idea of much home you can afford. We will examine your credit, income, assets, and debts and you’ll have a general idea of the price range you’re looking for. You may also see that you need to increase your savings or lower debts before you buy.
While pre-qualifying is an initial step, pre-approval is a deeper dive and being pre-approved carries more weight with sellers. To get pre-approved we will verify you income, assets, etc. and you will be more official (of course you still have to apply for a mortgage). Being pre-approved is almost a necessity in competitive housing markets, as realtors do not want to waste time and you will have a better chance of having your bid accepted.
Now that we know the difference you may wonder what’s the point of getting pre-qualified – why not just get pre-approved? Good question – basically its much faster and it gives you a good starting point to start your home search. Pre-qualify or pre-approve we can help you with both – apply on our website or call us to get started.

In the last year many people worked remotely and interest in second homes has skyrocketed. Here is a primer for those considering a second home.
The first step is where – do you want a vacation home by the beach or mountains, do you want to be near relatives. Do your research and use a local real estate for help with choosing the right area or neighborhood.
Second is why – do you want a vacation house, a second residence if you spend a lot of time in an area for work or family or do you want an investment property? You can actually combine these and use a second home for vacations and AirBNB it while you’re not there (of course check local rules regarding this).
Third and perhaps most importantly is how – as in how are you going to finance it 🤓. You will often need a higher down payment for a second home, as default rates tend to be higher. And with an additional mortgage, you’ll need to make sure your DTI (Debt to Income) ratio is not too high. You’ll also want to make sure a second home doesn’t stretch your budget to much, you should factor in maintenance, property taxes in addition to mortgage payments. If you are planning on renting make sure you factor in the property not being rented immediately and plan to set aside ten percent of rental income towards maintenance.
If you are ready to start looking – apply online and we can let you know how much you can pre-qualify!

As the housing market remains hot with low inventory, many home owners are adding ADUs (which stands for Accessory Dwelling Units). ADUs often called granny flats, are guest houses or rooms added to garages to create rental income for home owners. Home owners typically add ADUs to increase cash flow, as well as looking for their property value to appreciate. Whether ADUs are right for you, depends on a number of factors. ADUs often costs at least $100,000 to build so being in a high rent market helps to offset the initial investment. You’ll also need to make sure local ordinances allow them and what the regulations are. The old real estate adage about location stays true for ADUs as well. If you are in an area where rents are high or a popular vacation destination, then ADUs can make sense. Again you’ll need to check the local zoning and if you build one you will also need to have updated insurance to cover the ADU. Check with us to learn more and to see what financing terms you qualify for.

We wish you and your family a happy 4th of July. We hope you enjoy celebrating and have a safe fun time with your friends and family.
Here’s a few tips to make the most of it!
If you’re travelling double check your reservations and even call to confirm to avoid unwelcome surprises. Also get an early start as we are just getting back to the swing of things there can be more delays than usual.
Be careful with the fireworks especially around children. If you are using them always do so safely remember to make sure people aren’t too close or in the path of them.
Check the grill! If you’re using propane make sure you have enough fuel and always light the match before turning on the gas.
Be water safe – always have a designated adult watch swimmers whether its in the pool, lake or ocean.
Enjoy!

In today’s hot real estate market, you may ask if you should make renovations to help the house sell for more?
The answer is it depends. Major renovations usually don’t recoup their cost in terms of higher sales price, however if the house is in excellent shape except a kitchen or bathroom, you may consider doing it for a higher sales price. Minor updates are a good approach to help the house look better without a major investment. Some examples are painting the house, new cabinets, flooring (if in bad shape), even minor things like updating the faucets can make a big difference. If you have potential turn-offs like water damage, it’s something to consider fixing. A water stain on a ceiling can scare off buyers, so replastering or sheetrock over stains is probably a good idea.
If you do decide to do a major reno, keep in mind you are doing this to sell and not to your style, so avoid bold choices and go with more neutral options. Overall, in today’s hot market its probably better to focus on little things rather big updates.

The average American has nearly $40,000 in debt not including home loans so today we ask if you consider a cash-out refinance to pay off other debts like credit card debt.
Credit card interest rates are normally much higher than mortgage interest rates and if you are carrying high credit card debt while making minimum payments, there is an opportunity to save a lot in monthly credit card payments that are primarily going to pay high interest rates on the debt.
First you will need enough equity in your home to get a cash-out refinance. With real estate values rising many people have seen their home value rise so they may qualify for cash-out. You’ll still need to maintain equity in the home at 80-90% to avoid paying mortgage insurance and you will have to get an appraisal and pay closing costs which will be subtracted from the cash out amount.
Contact us to see if a cashing out to pay off your debt makes sense for you. And remember you’re not actually eliminating the debt you’re just saving on high interest payments so be careful not to start spending again on the credit cards and getting caught in a debt cycle loop.

Today we are going to discuss two common mortgage loan products, and the pros and cons of both: FHA versus Conventional Loans.
Many people are familiar with the 20% down, good credit 30 year fixed conventional loan scenario. FHA loans are designed for people who have difficulty qualifying for a conventional loan to buy a house.
FHA Loans offer down payments as low as 3.5% and are more lenient on credit scores and past financial issues. Borrowers can qualify for FHA loans with as low as 580 credit scores.
One of the downsides of FHA loans are mortgage insurance requirements, if you put down less than 10% you will be required to pay monthly insurance for the duration of the loan, as well paying Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium.
The best choice for you? Give us a call or apply online and we will analysis what programs suits your needs 😊

This week we saw the benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage fall below 3% again according to Freddie Mac. While 15-year fixed-rate are down to 2.27%. This opens opportunities for refinancing and rate locks for many borrowers.
Sam Khater the chief economist at Freddie Mac noted that this creates a lot of opportunity for borrowers to refinance and increase monthly cash flow, with nearly $2 trillion in conforming mortgages able to refinance and reduce their interest rate by at least half a percent. He said last year homeowners who refinanced their 30-year fixed-rate mortgages saved more than $2800 annually.

This week we saw the benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage fall below 3% again according to Freddie Mac. While 15-year fixed-rate are down to 2.27%. This opens opportunities for refinancing and rate locks for many borrowers.
Sam Khater the chief economist at Freddie Mac noted that this creates a lot of opportunity for borrowers to refinance and increase monthly cash flow, with nearly $2 trillion in conforming mortgages able to refinance and reduce their interest rate by at least half a percent. He said last year homeowners who refinanced their 30-year fixed-rate mortgages saved more than $2800 annually.

We’ve seen housing prices rising throughout the country so you may ask is buying still better than renting? According to a recent study from researchers at Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University, it is still better to buy than rent in most areas.

The study looked at the top 23 metropolitan markets and analyzed if buyers bought a house and built equity or rented and reinvested the remaining income. Overall they found it was better to buy with savings coming from today’s still low interest rates, which lowered home owner costs even with the rise in housing prices. Of course all real estate is local so while the overall message of buying being the better strategy, results varied region to region.