Home Buying

9 Helpful Tips to Reduce the Stress of Buying a Home Today

Getting prepared for the holidays can be both a joyeous and a stressful time. The same could be said about the home buying process. As you search for your dream home, keep in mind these helpful tips to reduce the stress of buying a home today.

1. Find a real estate agent who you connect with. Home buying is not only a big financial commitment, but also an emotional one. It’s critical that the REALTOR® you chose is both highly skilled and a good fit with your personality.
2. Remember, there’s no “right” time to buy, just as there’s no perfect time to sell. When you find a home, don’t try to second guess interest rates or the housing market by waiting longer. You risk losing the home of your dreams. The housing market doesn’t change fast enough to make that much difference in price usually and a good home won’t stay on the market long.
3. Don’t ask for too many opinions. It’s natural to want reassurance for such a big decision, but too many ideas from too many people will make it much harder to make a decision. Focus on the wants and needs of your immediate family - the people who will be living in the home.
4. Accept that no house is ever perfect. If it’s in the right location, the yard may be a bit smaller than you had hoped. The kitchen may be perfect, but the roof needs repair. Make a list of your top priorities and focus in on things that are most important to you. Let the minor ones go.
5. Don’t try to be a killer negotiator. Negotiation is definitely a part of the real estate process, but trying to “win” by getting an extra-low price or by refusing to budge on your offer may cost you the home you love. Negotiation is give and take.
6. Remember your home doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Don’t get so caught up in the physical aspects of the house itself - room size, kitchen, etc. - that you forget about important issues as noise level, location to amenities, and other aspects that also have a big impact on your quality of life.
7. Plan ahead. Don’t wait until you’ve found a home and made an offer to get approved for a mortgage, investigate home insurance, and consider a schedule for moving. Presenting an offer contingent on a lot of unresolved issues will make your bid much less attractive to sellers.
8. Factor in maintenance and repair costs in your post-home buying budget. Even if you buy a new home, there will be costs. Don’t leave yourself short and let your home deteriorate.
9. Accept that a little buyer’s remorse is inevitable and will probably pass. Buying a home, especially for the first time, is a big financial commitment. But it also yields big benefits. Don’t lose sight of why you wanted to buy a home and what made you fall in love with the property you purchased.

Try to remember that a home’s most important role is to serve as a comfortable, safe place to live. Buying a home should be fun, not stressful. If you have become too stressed during your home buying process, take a few minutes to review these helpful tips to reduce the stress of home buying today and start with tip 1.

Home Buying

Top Real Estate and Mortgage Headlines for September 16th

It’s Thursday and it feels like late fall already. Here is today’s top real estate headlines according to the National Association of Realtors.

• 10 Reasons to Buy a Home
  Clear away today’s problems and you see a fundamentally strong market that makes as much sense today as always.
• 70 Percent Say Buying Now is Good
  Survey respondents’ optimism is up from earlier this year.
• Most Large Metros See Economic Improvement
  In a good sign, many of the top areas saw growth in manufacturing jobs.
• J.D. Powers: Builder Customer Satisfaction Up
  Wieland, Standard are top two builders by quality in latest assessment.
• Regulator: Banks Should Help Bail Out GSEs
  A key lawmaker agrees the federal government should recoup some of its costs from the banks that sold the companies bad loans.
• Repossessions Rise as Defaults Drop
  Lenders took possession of about 100,000 houses last month.

These are the top real estate and mortgage headlines for today, September 16, 2010.

Want to know how these national real estate headlines could impact you right here locally in Crown Point Indiana? Subscribe to this blog, Today’s Real Estate Reality, and let my years of experience in Crown Point Indiana guide you to an informed and successful real estate transaction.

Home Buying

It’s Time to Re-Approve Your Pre-Approval

As the federal home buyer tax credit nears its April 30 end-date, there’s a lot of would-be home buyers still working to get under contract in Chesterton, Crown Point, Dyer, Highland, Munster, Portage, Schererville and Valparaiso.

A piece of advice for all of them: If your pre-qualification and/or pre-approval letter is more than 8 weeks old, it would be prudent to have your lender “re-pre-approve” you.  Mortgage guidelines have been in flux and your original lender letter may now be invalid.

For example, over the past half-dozen months, the majority of mortgage lenders in Northwest Indiana have reduced their risk tolerance with respect to:

• Maximum debt-to-income ratios
• Minimum allowable credit scores
• Calculation of “assets in reserve”

For buyers of condominiums and co-ops, even the subject property itself is coming under tougher scrutiny.

Today’s mortgage applicants need to be a complete package. It takes more than just good income and credit to get approved anymore and today’s buyers should revisit their qualifications. What passed underwriting in January may not pass in May.

Being pro-active brings other advantages, too. If a mortgage re-pre-approval does unearth an issue, it’ll be easier for every party to the transaction to address and correct it up-front versus trying to clean up a mess once a home’s already under contract.

Talk to your Realtor and your Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist about your pre-qualification/pre-approval letter before you bid on a home in Northwest Indiana.

Contact James K Barath in Northwest Indiana to Qualify for Your FREE FHA Home Loan Approval Today!

Home Buying

Top 10 Cities for Bargain Homes

As the housing market improves across the country, certain cities are emerging as relative bargains.  Some areas, like Miami, were hit hard by the recession, and other areas are buoyed by good school systems and strong labor markets.

In this 5-minute video from The Today Show, 10 cities are highlighted for their bargain home prices based on size, value, local job growth and home value appreciation.  And they’re not “small towns”, either.

Among the featured cities:

• Miami, Florida
• Akron, Ohio
• Tuscon, Arizona
• Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Trenton, New Jersey

Although this video clip is about finding gems on a national scale, did you know that home bargains also exist locally in Northwest Indiana. You just need to know what to look for.

With mortgage rates low and tax credits available, it’s not likely that bargains will last.

Need more expert advice? Ask the team of Certified Mortgage Planning Specialists at Benchmark Mortgage.

Home Buying

Home Buyers Get Green Light as Pending Home Sales Plunge

Just one month after touching a 3-year high, the National Association of Realtors® Pending Home Sales index plunged in November.  A “pending” home sale is a home that is under contract to sell, but has yet to close.

The 16 percent drop marks the first retreat in Pending Home Sales since January of last year.

The weak Pending Home Sales data is an indication that Existing Home Sales data will be soft this month. This is because, historically, 80 percent of Pending Home Sales convert to “closed sales” within 60 days, and most of the rest close within 120.

With Pending Home Sales down, the housing market should lose some of its momentum.  For today’s home buyers, this kind of slack can represent a terrific opportunity.

Home prices are a function of supply and demand; of buyers and sellers. When buyers outnumber sellers, competition leads to bidding wars, ultimately, and higher home prices overall.  The imbalance can also create a sense of urgency that results in over-paying for a home.

When buyers are sparse, on the other hand, the psychology of real estate shifts. 

Home sellers are keenly aware of foot traffic and requests for second and third showings. Without buyers, their homes can’t sell.  They also note a lack of general feedback from the market.

It’s at this point that seller fear can creep in and it becomes a buyer’s best time to buy.

Based on November’s Pending Home Sales data, it’s clear that home sellers are in abundance right now.  Home buyers have leverage.

It may not last.

With mortgage rates easing lower this week, the federal home buyer tax credit still in effect, and the Holiday Season officially over, buyers are getting back to business everywhere. 

Plus, with the tax credit deadline of April 30, 2010 fast approaching, buyer activity should increase over the next 4-6 weeks.

The market looks ripe for a buy but don’t rush it.  Take your time and bid right. But when you’re ready, be ready – once the momentum shifts back to sellers, you might lose all that leverage you built up through the winter.

Need more expert advice? Ask the team of Certified Mortgage Planning Specialists at Benchmark Mortgage.

Home Buying

How To Find Good Deals As Buyers Market Comes To An End

Home Buying

The Minimum Preparatory Steps When Co-Purchasing a Home with a Friend or Family Member

Both mortgage guidelines and the economy have tightened since 2006, bringing more attention to “joint homeowners” — non-spousal partners that buy and share a home as roommates.

The practice is not new, but, anecdotally, co-purchasing is becoming more common.

In the video above — filmed two years ago but still on-target today — real estate expert Barbara Corcoran provides good advice for co-purchasing partners. Like any business relationship, it’s important to plan ahead.

• Hire an attorney to draft contracts and agreements
• Have a plan for when one or both parties wants to move or sell
• Consider life insurance policies on each other

The over-riding theme for co-purchasing arrangements is to be prepared. Done right, however, they can create two proud homeowners where there would have otherwise been none.