Monthly Archives: December 2011
Before You Buy: Home Hunting Tips
| December 28, 2011 | Posted by Tammy under Mortgage News |
Buying a home can be an exciting and somewhat stressful experience. When shopping for your new home, keep in mind that one of the most important aspects of home ownership is often neglected, finding the right mortgage.
Your mortgage is the backbone of the entire purchase, but without doing proper research, you might not be getting the best deal you can. Before you begin the home search process, consider the following ways to increase your chances of a speedy, stress-free home buying experience.
1. Get Pre-qualified Before You Start Home Hunting
Getting pre-qualified means you will better understand how much home you can afford and which mortgage program(s) best fits your needs. By giving yourself options, you’ll be able to find a lender you’re comfortable working with and a mortgage you’ll be able to afford. Once you’ve done this, you can begin your home search without worry. You will also save yourself time as shopping for homes that you can’t afford only takes up time you could be spending finding the right home you can afford.
2. Know Your Personal Finances
Knowing your financial situation prior to speaking with a lender can help speed up the process when you do seek financing to buy a home. Budgeting for your current expenses and using a mortgage calculator can help predict what you’d pay with a mortgage. From there you can make a choice about how much you feel comfortable borrowing. A secure, steady working situation will also help make you more appealing to lenders since you’ll be able to prove stable income.
With a little bit of preparation before you speak with a lender, your lender can help you make an informed decision about how much house can afford to purchase and which loan program is the best fit for your needs.
3. Understand All the Costs Involved With A New Mortgage
When you pick a financial institution to work with, you will submitting your information, checking your credit, and being given a mortgage quote. While your monthly payment is a vital part of your mortgage, you’ll also be responsible for paying interest, insurance and lender fees, which your lender will help you understand. Many borrowers forget about these extra fees and instead of consulting with a mortgage professional, use a mortgage calculator as their guide in how much they will have to pay for a given loan size without taking these extras fees into consideration.
Homebuyers: More Positive Housing News
| December 21, 2011 | Posted by Tammy under Mortgage News |
Housing has been a bright spot in economic news as of late and there is more positive news coming from the housing sector. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is reporting that existing home sales (previously occupied homes as opposed to newly constructed homes) rose in November by 4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.42 million.
While economists say a healthy housing market should be seeing around 6 million sales a year, the data is an improvement over the sales of the past few years, putting 2011 home sales on track to be 2010 sales.
U.S. Census Bureau: New Home Construction Increases
The U.S. Census Bureau is reporting November housing starts (beginning of construction of a new home) are also showing improvement with a 2.3% increase to 447,000 starts, a 2.3% increase over the revised October figure of 437,000. This means that there have been 3 consecutive months of improvement in housing starts.
After months of negative data being released, this data is one more signal that housing may very likely be ready for a turn around in 2012.
Home Builders Confidence Increases
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is reporting that builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes has increased by two points from on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for December. today. This increase marks the third consecutive month of builder confidence improvement.
NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe:
“This is the first time that builder confidence has improved for three consecutive months since mid-2009, which signifies a legitimate though slowly emerging upward trend,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “While large inventories of foreclosed properties continue to plague the most distressed markets and consumer worries about job security and the challenges of selling an existing home remain significant factors, builders are reporting more inquiries and more interest among potential buyers than they have seen in previous months.”
Pre-Qualification: The First Step in Shopping For a New Home
The first step in shopping for a new home is getting pre-qualified so that you know how much home you can afford. We can help you get pre-qualified and help answer any questions you might have about what type of loan will best fit your needs and whether or not a rate lock makes sense for your situation. If you have questions, we can help with a no cost consultation where we put together a mortgage strategy that makes the most sense for your unique needs.
Mortgage Outlook For the Week of December 19, 2011
| December 20, 2011 | Posted by Tammy under Mortgage News |
After hitting all time historical lows last week, mortgage rates have opened up this week flat, with little to no change from last week. We start the week with news of the death of Kim Jong il, which may play a role in the market in the future, but seems to have little affect on mortgage rates today.
There are several economic reports being released this week with the ability to change mortgages rates, with the GDP and Jobless Claims data being released later in the week.
Trading Volume, Volatility and Your Mortgage Rate in the Week Ahead
The markets will likely be quiet as we move into the final weeks of the Holiday Season, but low trading volume in the Equity and Bond markets can lead to volatility. Since we are at all time historical lows, waiting through the next few weeks may be risky. If you need help deciding if a rate lock is the best move for your needs, we can help.
Economic Calendar for Week of December 19, 2011
- Monday - Housing Market Index
- Tuesday - Housing Starts
- Wednesday - Existing Home Sales
- Thursday - GDP, Jobless Claims, Consumer Sentiment
- Friday - Durable Goods Orders, Personal Income and Outlays, New Home Sales
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