If you’re buying a home, you’re probably focused on the upfront costs: your down payment, interest rate, and purchase price. These costs will dictate how much you pay upfront and how much your monthly mortgage payments will be going forward. To aid your home search, you might create a budget around the estimated monthly mortgage payments you will be able to afford. While this is a good start to your purchase preparation, you won’t want to stop there. Making a home buying budget strictly based on the estimated monthly mortgage payments you can afford might put yourself in a difficult financial position down the road.

What cost catches buyers off guard?

Many home buyers – especially first-time buyers – don’t create an accurate budget for their purchase. They’ll take into account the down payment, the monthly mortgage payments, and maybe the monthly insurance costs; but one cost they won’t think of is the maintenance expenses. When you rent a...

Home prices were surging from 2000 through 2006. Homeowners were sitting back in their recliners watching their home value skyrocket to the heavens. It seemed like the housing market was unstoppable. Then it all came tumbling down with the beginning of the subprime meltdown in March 2007. Values dropped like a rock. Many lost their homes to foreclosure or short sale. Everybody remembers the scars of the Great Recession. Either they were directly affected, or it happened to somebody they knew.

Once again, housing is soaring upward with seemingly no end in sight. Buyers are tripping over each other, willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars above the asking price. Throw in the news of rising inflation and the potential of drastically higher mortgage rates, the madness must come to a screeching halt soon, right? Even though so many are anticipating and reporting that a housing crash is eminent, it simply is not going to occur, not now, not in the next 6-months, and not in the foreseeable...

According to the National Association of Realtors Confidence Index Survey nearly 50% of homes sold during the four weeks ending May 16th sold for more than their list price. In the next 3 months NAR expects home prices to rise another 6% from where they were a year ago. With these quick surges many homeowners are seeing large increases in their home equity, causing many of them to rethink what their home value is in today’s market. If you’ve been thinking of upsizing or simply doing a cash-out refinance, now is the best time to take advantage of today’s hot prices. Find out your home’s worth by clicking here and reach your goals sooner.

You could also take some of your equity to purchase an investment property.  With the hot rental market, this also makes an ideal market for the savvy investor. Have you thought about investing in real estate but aren’t sure how to start? Reach out today, let’s strategize a plan based on your current circumstances...

Some Highlights

• If you're thinking that waiting a year or two to purchase a home might mean you'll save some money, think again.

• Mortgage interest rates are currently very low, but experts across the board are forecasting increases in both home prices and interest rates.

• Buying a home now means you'll spend less in the long run. Contact a local real estate professional to put your plans in motion before home prices and mortgage rates climb even higher.