Attention buyers! Many agents talk a great game about their services. Some mean it. Check out what this customer had to say about my concierge level services and work with the best. You deserve nothing less. Find every property for sale in an instant!
Thinking about selling? Price it right and sell it fast! Find out what yours is worth.Get Your Free Market Report Today!
Will reactivating an old account help my credit score? “If the borrower reactivated an old account, would the borrower see a boost in credit score?”
Source: Will reactivating an old account help my credit score?
Nowadays, we are basically able to categorize buyers in one of two ways, those with slightly challenged credit that still qualifies them for competitive interest rates in the 4% range or those who cannot be financed at all. But it wasn’t always that way. At one point borrowers were either “A paper”, meaning they had “good credit” and qualified for the lowest interest rates and fees available or a sub-prime “bad credit” borrower which were placed in what are now called predatory loans or they were Alt-A, which meant “challenged credit” at slightly better but far from prime rates and fees. Although many in the industry will disagree, as some loan officers made a killing charging front and back-end points to the tune of 1 – 4,5,6% of the loan amount back in the day, others found it unconscionable and are glad those days are over, present company included!
But, are they? In 1997, there started being talk about adopting Risk Based Pricing in the mortgage market, an existing model where “lenders assess borrowing costs loan by loan, aided by computerized loan-evaluation systems capable of forecasting the default risk dictated by each mortgage”. Each loan having an investor such as Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and others to guarantee the loan, these investors would then “adjust the guarantee fees” “to more accurately reflect the risks represented by the individual mortgages within a loan pool that an originator wants to sell”.
Replacing prime and sub-prime titles with “buckets”, lenders are no longer able to charge as much in rates and origination fees, even for “challenged credit” borrowers, which is why we barely see rates deviate much from the 4% range these days and also why “bad credit” borrowers have been forced out of the market, the American dream out of reach for now.
Or is it? A new breed of lender is here to pickup where the subprime lenders, many if not most of them now out of business, left off. With competitive, low interest rate FHA/VA and USDA mortgages down to a 550 FICO score, the dream of home ownership is very much alive and well. Lucky to work with a few, the Axiom Realty Team professionals are standing by to be of service because, with service first, rewards come later.
Two weeks ago, we posted a blog which explained that current increases in home prices were the result of the well-known concept of supply & demand and should not lead to conversations of a new housing bubble. Today, we want to look at home prices as compared to current incomes.
Source: Further Proof This Isn’t a Housing Bubble | Keeping Current Matters
In a balanced market, one that is neither in favor of buyers or sellers, there is six – seven months of inventory. In a buyer’s market, the amount of inventory is higher resulting in a market that leans in favor of buyers because they have more choices. Conversely, when the amount of inventory is lower the market leans in favor of sellers because buyers have fewer choices. Of course, this we call a seller’s market.
According to our friends at Investopedia.com, absorption rate “is the rate at which available homes are sold in a specific real estate market during a given time period”.
To calculate this, you divide the number of days in a time frame (30 days) by the number of sold listings in that time (1,150) to get the number of homes sold per day. This number includes all single family, town and patio homes and condos. Then, you multiply that number by the number of active listings (2,033) to get the absorption rate.
Take a look at the graph to the right, which shows a tremendous drop in inventory from July 2015 – February 2016.
As of this writing, in the Colorado Springs market there is less than two months of inventory, 53 days to be exact meaning, we are definitely in a seller’s market and have been for quite sometime, along with the entire nation for the most part.
Economic principles are such that prices are determined in great part by scarcity meaning, the less of something, the higher its price and real estate is no exception as we see home prices rising steadily in many parts of the country.
To illustrate this in the Colorado Springs market, median prices, that point at which exactly half are higher and half are lower than a set data point, have risen roughly 6.25% from Feb 2015 – Feb 2016 where the average home price has risen even higher to just about 8.2%.
This is called appreciation, which is just one of the many reasons to invest in real estate as opposed to other investment vehicles, such as deposit accounts, CD’s, mutual funds, etc., and certainly cars, big screen TV’s and the like.
Though climbing due to market conditions, also consider that with interest rates at historic lows, the dream of home ownership is a reality for more consumers, even with the tighter lending restrictions that came about as a result of the market crash, though it is not unheard of for even those with challenged credit to still qualify for a home loan.
So, is now a good time to buy? A good time to sell? Yes!
On the one hand, buyers that are willing and able AKA qualified, and keep in mind qualified is a relative term, are well advised to heed the urgency of now to take the plunge into home ownership. And why not? Prices are rising, meaning now is the time to “buy low and sell high” as they say and take advantage of appreciation all while their affordability is maximized due to the current low-interest rate environment which may change in the future.
On the other, sellers have a unique value proposition: there aren’t that many of them around! This means their product (homes) are at a premium that if priced right can sell in days, sometimes hours and many times for more than their asking price!
Thanks for reading.
Many people mistakenly believe that a real estate agent and a real estate broker are the same, but this is actually untrue. While both a real estate agent and a real estate broker must undergo scho…
Source: Real Estate 101: The Difference Between An Agent And Broker
The premise of this article being true, as in most facets of life there are exceptions. In Colorado, it is that all real estate licensees are brokers. Here are the distinctions:
The first licensing level, all Colorado licensees get their start in the industry as an Associate Broker and is supervised at all times by an Employing Broker.
With a minimum of two years of supervised licensed activity, the Associate Broker becomes eligible to get Employing Broker status, after which they can go Independent or manage the licensing activities of others as a Managing Broker, including fellow Employing Broker licensees who choose to do business as Associate Brokers.
All real estate licensees are not created equal. Those who choose to be a REALTOR agree to abide by a stricter set of rules and standards of practice than expected by their respective real estate commissions and whom belong to a local, state and National Association of REALTORS.
In addition, licensees can choose to not become a REALTOR and instead become a REALTIST member of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers or can choose to operate completely independent of any governing body other than the state commission.
From pasta to shrimp, and of course lots of cheesecake, here is a roundup of Cheesecake Factory recipes from Food.com
Source: Multi-housing News
Since 1996, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) distributes over $660m in grant allocations to help low-income Native Americans with a range of affordable housing activities. Covering housing management services, crime prevention and safety, and other activities to provide affordable housing, the program has helped recipients build or acquire almost 37,000 affordable homes and rehabilitated more than 77,000 housing units.
In addition to HUD assistance, which is geared for organizations, there are down payment assistance grants and loans to help Native Americans and others obtain their goal of buying a home to achieve their personal and financial goals and objectives. Contact the professionals at the Axiom Realty Team at Fathom Realty to discover the options available to you. Use the contact form on the bottom right to get started!
Not limited to first time home buyers, the “Turnkey” Mortgage is a competitive 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a Down Payment Assistance (DPA) Grant (no repayment) equal to 4% of the mortgage amount!
Used jointly with the tax credit feature, qualifying first time home buyers receive an annual federal income tax credit equal to 50% of the annual interest they pay on their mortgage loan!
We’ve identified over 25 down payment assistance programs to help new and existing home owners with costs to buy or upgrade the home of their dreams while saving tens of thousands, making the dream of home ownership a reality. Visit our Down Payment Resource page to locate additional programs that may help with your home ownership dreams.
Norberto Villanueva is a REALTOR©/District Director for the Axiom Realty Team at Fathom Realty in Colorado Springs. A licensed real estate broker since 2002 and a mortgage loan officer/broker for five years before that, we specialize in residential housing and investment solutions. As a Certified Home Buying Advisor, Norberto is able to help most if not all homeowners with the funding necessary to cover most if not all down payment, closing and prepaid costs.
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