Buying A Home Archives - Page 13 of 15 -

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.

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.

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

West Chester & Mason Ohio Homebuyers To Face Higher FHA Mortgage Insurance Costs

March 7, 2012 by Eric Lowry Leave a Comment

West Chester & Mason Ohio Homebuyers To Face Higher FHA Mortgage Insurance Costs

Homebuying is about to get quite a bit more expensive for many home buyers in West Chester & Mason Ohio, not just first time homebuyers. No, interest rates are not on the rise (yet). It’s the cost of mortgage insurance that is going up. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) which backs mortgages that allow for smaller down payments has announced that it is increasing the cost on two types of fees that homebuyers must pay.

The increase in the mortgage insurance costs is two fold for FHA backed mortgages. (1) the FHA has announced that it will increase it’s annual mortgage insurance premium by .10 of a percentage point for loans under $625,000, which will now cost 1.25% of the loan amount. This increase takes effect on April 1st. (2) the second fee being raised is the upfront mortgage premium. It is being raised by .75 of a percentage point, making the premium 1.75% of the loan amount. This fee is often rolled into the mortgage.

Moral of the story… you may want to get a home under contract to purchase and a mortgage loan application submitted before April 1st if you would like to avoid these higher costs of obtaining a mortgage. All of this assumes of course that you are obtaining an FHA backed mortgage. If you are using a conventional mortgage to buy a home this increase does not effect you.

What’s The Best Mortgage When Buying A Home?

December 6, 2011 by Eric Lowry Leave a Comment

What’s The Best Mortgage When Buying A Home?

Are you planning to buy a home in West Chester, Liberty Township, Beckett Ridge or Mason Ohio in the near future? If so, then you will likely need to get a mortgage. There are a number of options available in the home mortgage market today and some of these options may be better for you than others. The following is a brief summary of many of the options for home loans in the West Chester, Liberty Twp,. Mason and Cincinnati Ohio areas:

30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage: This one is the “old stand by”. The rate is currently very low (approx. 4.25%) right now, although it is higher than some of the other options. The best part of this mortgage loan is that the interest rate doesn’t change for the life of the loan.

15 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage: Same basic premise as the 30 year fixed rate mortgage loan except the payback is calculated on 15 years so the interest rate is lower (around 3.50% today). This mortgage loan is great for building equity quickly, but does come with a higher monthly payment.

Adjustable Rate Mortages: These mortgage loans are mostly based on a 30 year re-payment schedule, but the interest rate may be fixed for just the first 3 or 5 years of the loan and then adjust from there based on market conditions. These mortgage loans will get you the lowest possible rates (2.45% – 2.65% today) and will work especially well if you only plan to be in your home for 3-5 years.

FHA Loans: An FHA mortgage loan is a loan that is made by a bank or mortgage lender that is insured by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) . This insurance of the loan provides for lower down payments, lower closing costs as well as less restrictive qualification criteria. FHA home loans are very commonly used by first time homebuyers. In the last couple of years many other homebuyers have also turned to the FHA home mortgage loan as a very good option.

Special note: The FHA Loan Limits were recently increased back up to the previous levels prior to the FHA changes made on October 1st, 2011. Congress raised the FHA loan limits in a bill passed on November 17, 2011. The current FHA Loan Limit in Butler County Ohio is $337,500.

VA Loans: A VA Loan is a loan that is made by a bank or mortgage lender that is insured by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This insurance of the loan by the VA provides for loans with no down payments, provided the homebuyer is eligible for the VA Loan program.

Planning To Buy A Home Next Year?

October 26, 2011 by Eric Lowry Leave a Comment

Planning To Buy A Home Next Year?

If you are planning to buy a home next year it’s time to get started. Interest rates are at historically low levels and home prices are right down there with them. This makes for an opportune time to buy a home, whether you are a first time homebuyer or are a “move up” homebuyer.

Some potential home buyers remain concerned about home prices falling further. It is always possible that they could go a little lower, however there is no way to know where the exact bottom is until we have passed it and home prices are on there way back up. Historically speaking home prices do go up and they do go down, it’s just cyclical.

Missing out on the lowest interest rates is more of a concern than fluctuating home prices. Buying a $150,000 home with an FHA mortgage (3.5% down payment) at 4.00% interest rate gives you a monthly payment of $691. Buying that same home after rates have increased by just .5% increases that monthly payment to $734. The difference in the monthly payment amount is as if you had bought a $160,000 home with the 4.00% interest rate.

So, if you are going to buy a home next year the following steps should be taken starting now:

#1. Get PreApproved For A Mortgage

Why now you ask? Getting preapproved for your mortgage financing right now gives you the time to get all of your personal finances in order. Your mortgage lender can help you with any credit report errors that might need to be corrected. You will also have a very solid idea of your purchase price range so that you can take the next step and begin to look at homes for sale online.

#2. Start Looking At Homes For Sale Online Right Now

Starting to look at homes listed for sale right now online will give you a great opportunity to check out different styles of homes and in general will give you an idea of how much home you will be getting for your money. You can search for both condos for sale and single family homes for sale and decide which one seems the best fit for you.

#3. Select Your Area or Areas That You May Want To Search For Your New Home In

By looking at homes for sale online you can select some favorite homes and then you can set out to see if you like the areas they are in. Are the neighborhoods these homes are in a good fit for you? Drive through them and different times of the day and on weekends. Are you looking for an area or neighborhood with alot of children? Drive the neighborhood looking for playsets in backyards and drive through these same neighborhoods at school bus times, that will show you how many kids there are. Get details on the communities and schools that you are interested in.

#4. Call A Realtor

Yes, it is now time to get to it. It’s time to actually hire a Realtor to represent you as a buyer’s agent in the purchase of your home. Select your agent carefully. Selecting the right real estate agent can make the home buying process fun and hassle free. Your agent should be experienced in the areas and price ranges that you are looking in. You also need to be a good fit personally with your real estate agent, you are likely going to be spending a good deal of time with them for a while.

You are now on your way to buying your new home at today’s low interest rates and at these very low home prices. If we can be of assistance to you in your home search please feel free to contact us using the form below or call us at 513-874-1830