The holiday season is a wonderful time for relaxing and having fun with family and friends, but it can also add a lot of extra stress to an already tight budget. Perhaps you spent more than you originally planned, or maybe you aren’t even sure how much you paid for all the holiday gifts, decor, travel, and various other expenses. Either way, once the holidays are over, it’s important to take the time to get your finances back on track to help ensure that you start off the new year on the right foot. Here are some tips to help you get started.
Everything You Need to Know About Appraisal Gaps
With mortgage interest rates remaining low compared to historic averages, many people are financing their home purchases – a move that makes a lot of financial sense.
Whenever you buy a property and intend to take out a mortgage on it, whether it be a house, condo or cooperative, all mortgage lenders will require an appraisal, which is an unbiased estimate of the true or fair market value of the property. All lenders order an appraisal during the mortgage loan process so that there is an objective way to assess the home's market value, and ensure the amount of money requested by the borrower is appropriate.
Buying and Selling in the Summer Season
In most markets, the Spring season is the most important time of year for buying or selling a home. However, with stay-at-home orders imposed in many markets by mid-March, some new listings never saw the light of day. In addition, tightening in the mortgage markets and job uncertainty discouraged many buyers from looking for a new home this year.
March 2021 Residential Market Report
Downsize or Upsize—Which Is Right for You?
At one time, it seemed that everything you read in the newspaper’s real estate section had to do with downsizing—the practice of selling off the family home and moving to a small, low-maintenance villa or condominium. The favored communities for downsizing were often located in the South, offering good year-round weather and no more snow shoveling. It sounded like a great deal—pre-pandemic.
Are We Facing a Real Estate Bubble?
Recollections of the 2008 economic recession and the mortgage crisis that followed are fresh in the minds of many of the older Millennial and Gen-X homeowners burned by the housing market in the past. As buyers compete in multiple offer situations and pay well-above asking price for that new home—whether as first-time homebuyers or as move-up buyers—many are wondering whether the housing market is due for a correction.
Why Now Is a Great Time to Tap Into Your Home’s Equity
If you’re a homeowner, you’re in luck. US homeowners are currently enjoying a boom in residential equity value. According to CoreLogic’s Homeowner Equity Insights Report, approximately 63 percent of US homeowners are experiencing an equity increase of more than 10.8 percent year over year between Q3 of 2019 and Q3 of 2020. That represents a combined equity value of more than $1 trillion in just one year. During the same period, negative equity fell by 18.3 percent year over year, resulting in greater security and financial stability for hundreds of thousands of homeowners.
What to Expect from the Closing Process
When you watch a show on HGTV where an eager young couple is looking for a home, it usually ends when the offer is accepted. In real life, however, that is only the beginning of the story. The closing or escrow process has its own rules and challenges. By being prepared for each step of the process, you’ll be able to stay calm, cool, and collected—even if the unexpected occurs.
Pandemic Home Renovation Trends
In the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic, economists predicted that the market for goods and services would grind to a halt for months or even years to come. However, in reality, the real estate market, including both the selling of homes and the improvement of existing properties, has grown in strength over the intervening months. Even for homeowners who aren’t thinking about selling, home renovation projects are experiencing unprecedented interest and generating robust economic activity.
Why Now Is the Time to Upgrade Your Space
As recently as last year, industry observers saw the real estate market moving further toward smaller homes and predicted the demise of sprawling McMansions and large luxury properties. What a difference a few months can make in changing lifestyles and the types of activities taking place within the home.