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Tips To Help Make Your Move Go Smoothly

November 10, 2013 by Eric Lowry Leave a Comment

Tips To Help Make Your Move Go Smoothly

Moving can be a very stressful event. If you are buying or selling a home, there are a few things you can do to help make your move go smoothly.

Get some boxes – If you are looking to save money go to your local grocery stores and shoe stores, and ask them if they would be willing to give you some of their empty boxes. These stores typically have stacks of boxes that they just plan to recycle anyway and are more than willing to give some to people who need them. If you don’t like the cardboard box route, you can purchase large plastic tubs that you will be able to reuse for future moves or storage.

De-clutter – Prior to a move is the perfect time to get rid of anything you don’t need or use anymore. Pack up anything you don’t want to take with you on the move, and drop it off at your local community outreach center. You get to help families in need and lessen the amount of stuff that needs to be taken to your new home. When you eliminate anything that isn’t necessary, it will definitely help make your move go smoothly.

Rent a truck – Nothing will throw a wrench in your moving plans more than finding out at the last minute that there are no moving trucks available near you. It’s recommended that you call two weeks ahead to reserve the proper sized truck. Using the proper sized truck with help make your move go smoothly.

Start early – People always overestimate the amount of time they have to prepare for their move. Life has the tendency to get busy. It’s best to start early and pack in increments, starting with things that you don’t need on a daily basis.

Label boxes – This one is huge. Labeling boxes is one the most important things you can do to make your move go smoothly. Make sure to label each box with the room it goes in, and if its contents are fragile.

Recruit helpers – If you don’t want to go the route of hiring professional movers, ask some of your friends and family to help you out. It’s likely that you’ll get more volunteers than you would expect.

Pack a bag with daily essentials – Keep any essentials you may need in a specific bag so that you have easy access. You don’t want to be exhausted from moving and have to dig through boxes to find your toothbrush or phone charger.

Other articles that may interest you:

Thinking Of Selling Your Home? 5 Reasons To Do It Now

Buying A Home During The Holidays

How Home Ownership Impacts Your Net Worth

October 30, 2013 by Eric Lowry Leave a Comment

How Home Ownership Impacts Your Net Worth

If you were to ask people what they think home ownership means, you’re likely to get all sorts of answers, ranging from security, family, sense of community, or wealth. However, in recent years, due to the economic conditions, many Americans have begun to question whether home ownership really is a good investment towards building wealth.

In order to address this concern, the Federal Reserve has recently conducted a study on homeowners and net worth. They found that the average American family’s net worth is $77,300. Of that net worth, 61.4% of it is in home equity. That’s $47,500!

Compared to renters, a homeowner’s net worth is over 30x higher. If that doesn’t speak to you just yet, consider this: The average homeowner has a net worth of $174,500 while the average renter has a net worth of just $5,100. This is because the monthly payments homeowners make on their mortgages go towards building equity. When you rent, you’re just throwing your money away. Your rent does nothing for you, whereas a mortgage payment will help you significantly build wealth.

The bottom line is that buying a home is still a sound investment and a great way to build wealth. It’s probably the only investment that you will make that, in addition to building your wealth, will also provide shelter and higher quality of life for you and your family. Start building your wealth now – buy a home.

Other articles that may interest you:

First Time Homebuyer Series: 3 Steps To Getting Started

First Time Homebuyer Series: Can You Afford To Keep Renting?

Low Interest Rates Aren’t Expected To Last – Now Is The Time To Buy A Home

Buying A Home During The Holidays

October 28, 2013 by Eric Lowry Leave a Comment

Buying A Home During The Holidays

Many potential homebuyers may assume that the holidays are not a good time to buy a home. This is a common misconception. There are numerous reasons that buying a home during the holidays can be a good choice. Serious buyers would be wise to consider taking advantage of the unique market conditions that occur during the holiday season. Here are some reasons buying a home during the holidays can be beneficial to you.

Motivated Sellers – Those who choose to list their home for sale during the holidays are often under pressure to sell. Since these sellers can be so highly motivated, they are more likely to cut you a great deal.

Less competition – Since many homebuyers do choose to wait out the holiday season, this means less competition from other buyers. Lower competition with other buyers may mean you’ll be able to negotiate a better price for a home you want to purchase.

Better Interest Rates – Interest rates drop every December through January on a cyclical basis. In addition to that, due to the current market conditions with the Federal Reserve planning to taper bond purchasing, real estate and mortgage experts expect interest rates to begin a continuous rise beginning after the holidays. The Lowry Team’s preferred partner, Justin Phillips at Rapid Mortgage can work with you to meet your financial needs for buying a home during the holidays.

Tax Deduction – Buying a home and closing on it by the New Year can mean a significant tax deduction for you. All the mortgage interest you will be paying monthly is fully tax deductible. Property taxes will also be an annual deduction as long as you own your home.

Faster Closings – Closings are historically shown to be faster during the months of November and December due to the fact that the number of transactions occurring during these months is lower. The Lowry Team has a Transaction Coordinator that makes sure the process from contract to closing goes as smoothly and as quickly as possible for you as a buyer.

Other articles that may interest you:

Low Interest Rates Aren’t Expected To Last – Now Is The Time To Buy A Home

First Time Homebuyer Series: 3 Steps To Getting Started

First Time Homebuyer Series: Can You Afford To Keep Renting?

Low Interest Rates Aren’t Expected To Last – Now Is The Time To Buy A Home

October 25, 2013 by Eric Lowry Leave a Comment

Low Interest Rates Aren’t Expected To Last – Now Is The Time To Buy A Home

The real estate market is currently experiencing a huge window of opportunity for homebuyers. The Federal Reserve has been buying $85 million worth of bonds monthly. This has allowed the interest rates on mortgages to drop low in the first half of the year. Over the summer, we saw a steady increase in interest rates. This was due to a rumor that the Fed was going to stop buying bonds. Recently, however, the Fed has announced that they plan to continue to purchase bonds. What does that mean for you as a homebuyer? Well, it means that as of the announcement, interest rates are experiencing a temporary drop. This drop in interest rates greatly affects your purchasing power. These low interest rates could mean the difference between you buying your dream home or settling for your second choice.

However, it is expected that the Fed is going to begin to taper their bond purchasing in December. Ben Bernake, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, states “If the data confirms our basic outlook, then we could move later this year.” This taper in bond purchases will drive interest rates back up. The National Association of Realtors, the Mortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac all predict around a 1% increase in interest rates by this time next year. So if you have been on the fence about buying a home, let this be the push you need. This is your window of opportunity – don’t waste it.

Other articles that may interest you:

First Time Homebuyer Series: Can You Afford To Keep Renting?

First Time Homebuyer Series: 3 Steps To Getting Started

West Chester & Mason Ohio Real Estate: This Month In Real Estate – October 2013

October 9, 2013 by Eric Lowry Leave a Comment

West Chester & Mason Ohio Real Estate: This Month In Real Estate – October 2013

This Month In Real Estate for October 2013: Factors that drive first time home purchases and taking a look at the national home sale numbers.

Home sales nationally continued to improve in both unit sales numbers as well as increases in average sale price. The national average on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is currently at 4.50% Get preapproved for a home loan Locally as of this writing, a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is averaging around 4.29%

According to Keller Williams (KW) research first time home purchases are primarily drive by three factors.

1. The current real estate market – the current market in our area is very advantageous for buying a home right now. First Time Homebuyers will find home prices are still low and represent great value. Mortgage interest rates have now gone back down slightly after a very quick run up over the last few months

2. Financial readiness – while financial readiness is very much an individual issue, the affordability factor that today’s low rates and home prices offer can not be overlooked.

3. Location & price – location is most often identified by first time homebuyers as being either close to their workplace or close in proximity to where the currently live.

Thinking of buying a home? Start your search on our real estate search engine: www.LOWRYTEAM.com

Thinking of selling your home in one of our areas of specialization including West Chester, Mason, Fairfield Township and Liberty Township ? Find Your Homes Value Here – Right Now

Homes with the best pricing and the best condition go first and sell quickly! Need more information on preparing your home for sale?

Other articles that you may find interesting:

First Time Homebuyer Series: Can You Afford To Keep Renting?

First Time Homebuyer Series: 3 Steps To Getting Started

First Time Homebuyer Series: Can You Afford To Keep Renting?

September 23, 2013 by Eric Lowry Leave a Comment

Can You Really Afford to Keep Renting?

With the rising cost of renting, many people are considering buying a home. However, some are worried about affordability. If you are paying rent, you can afford to buy a home.

Consider this example:

Buying A Home:

Mary’s $900 mortgage payment includes $700 of interest. Her total annual house payments are $10,800. At the end of the year, $8,400 of that is tax deductible ($700 x 12months). She is in the 28% tax bracket, so her savings are $2,352. Her actual housing cost for the year is $8,448.

Renting An Apartment:
Joe believes he can’t afford to buy. He pays $800 in rent each month which makes Joe’s housing costs for the year $9,600. He thinks he is saving money by renting, but he is actually spending $1,150 more than Mary, and he isn’t building any equity.

Interest rates have decreased in the last 10-14 days and are now once again right around 4.50%. Most experts do not expect mortgage interest rates to stay this low, with home loan experts predicting a rise to 5.00% A raise in mortgage rates of .50% is equal to a 10% increase in home prices and affordability.

So the question you should ask yourself is: Can You Really Afford to Keep Renting?

Ready to start searching for your first home? Start your home search here: www.LowryTeam.com

Here are some quick searches to get you started:

West Chester Ohio Homes For Sale Under $200,000

Liberty Township Ohio Homes For Sale Under $200,000

Mason Ohio Homes For Sale Under $200,000

Monroe Ohio Homes For Sale Under $200,000

Fairfield Township Ohio Homes For Sale Under $200,000

Fairfield Ohio Homes For Sale Under $200,000

Other articles that may interest you:

Thinking Of Buying A Home – You Should Wait

Did You Miss Out On The Buyers Market?