Are more Americans positioning themselves for home purchase? Although May’s data showed that home sales were down 26.8% as the home buyer tax credit concluded, a new survey conducted by Relocation.com suggests some families are opting for renting while they research—cash in hand—for deals on a new, more desirable home in their area.
Among the key findings of the survey: Of the 60% of individuals moving into rentals, 24% were previous homeowners who are renting temporarily while they look for a new home to purchase. Underscoring this finding is the fact that for many of these families, foreclosure was not the reason for moving—in fact, the number of consumers who moved due to foreclosure dropped by 70%.
Furthermore, many of these families stayed in the area (one in three made a short distance move of 100 miles or less), opting to remain in a location where they already know their schools, shopping districts and prime neighborhoods.
“While the housing market continues to flux from month to month, we’re seeing strong, continued interest as consumers looking to move start their research with us,” said Relocation.com Chairman and Founder Sharon Asher. “These findings suggest that more Americans may be poised to re-enter the housing market this year.”
The Relocation.com survey was conducted in early June 2010 and is a continuation of consumer surveys conducted since March 2009 to gauge moving and relocation attitudes and behaviors.
Rick Popiolek presents this beautiful, multi-family home in the Old West End at 2274 Robinwood.
Front View of 2274 Robinwood in the Old West End
This beautifully restored 4-unit apartment, with a possible 5th in the attic, sits in the historic Old West End at 2274 Robinwood. Enjoy this quiet street in the middle of the Old West End community, close to the Toledo Museum of Art, downtown Toledo and the expressway. This apartment building provides an excellent source of cash flow and is low maintenance. The recent updates include hardwood floors, heating system and updated electrical with separate utilities for each unit.
Not all styles are easily found in our marketplace, but most exist somewhere in the Toledo real estate market. Perhaps our best example is The Old West End where spectacular examples of different architectural styles abound. Old Orchard, Westmoreland, Beverly, Maumee, Perrysburg – beautiful homes are scattered all over our regional map.
When you drive down local streets, particularly in the more historic neighborhoods, can you spot the various styles? CLICK HEREfor a primer from Realtor Magazine: http://www.realtor.org/rmoarchitecture_guide/residentialstyles. Click on the name next to each sketch for a photo and more complete descriptions.
You’ve heard it said before: “Real estate is local, not national. There is no national real estate market.” When friends ask us “How’s the market?” we know they’re really asking “How are things in my neighborhood, on my street…?” When you turn on the nightly news, however, you hear about the New York, Florida or Las Vegas markets, not the Maumee real estate market.
TV news in particular deals in sound bites, sometimes airing a few brief words from an “expert” for the sake of credibility. But the fact that experts find their way onto television shows does not necessarily mean they’ve done their homework. One perfect example: last week one of the major network morning shows interviewed their “Financial Contributor” to discuss the mortgage market. She said, among other things, that “ . . . you MUST have a credit score of 740, while the average American has a 600 credit score, or you will not get a mortgage. And you MUST have a 20% downpayment. . .” Hogwash! The most popular mortgage loans right now are FHA loans requiring 3.5% down with credit scores above 600! Conventional loans may be more restrictive, but the message viewers were left with was that it is nearly hopeless to think you can get approved.
If you know someone in the Toledo real estate market with these misconceptions, please direct them to the “Financing” button above to speak with Ann, Emily or Greg. They will explain the LOCAL mortgage market to you, and you may be surprised what an incredible time it is to be looking for financing.
Over the last two years we’ve seen a little bit of everything. Rates overall going lower and lower, the stock market up a little one day and down a lot the next which indirectly moves the rates and mortgage underwriting guidelines continuing to change. It all can be a little overwhelming for those in the market to buy a home. With all that being said it is probably one of the best times to buy a home!
Thirty year fixed rates in the mid 4′s make payments much lower than when they were in the 6′s just a few years ago – it can also give borrowers more purchasing power.
A $100,000 30-year mortgage at a fixed rate of 6.5% (where it was just a few years ago), makes a principle and interest payment $628.
A 30 year fixed rate at 4.5% makes a principle and interest payment $504 per month which is a $123 per month savings!
Another way to look at it is with a rate of 4.5% a borrower could finance $125,000 and have a principle and interest payment of $630. So, in other words, to have the same payment at 6.5% a borrower could afford a loan of $25,000 more to have roughly the same payment.
What this does is completely open up borrowers to a whole new range to look for their dream home! On top of these historically low rates, FHA financing remains a very strong program with as little at 3.5% down payment and a minimum 600 credit score needed.
While it is true underwriting has changed some over the years, the borrowers that should be buying still are able to with not much change to the underwriting process.
Jeff Schaaf presents this fabulous home in West Toledo at 4209 Westway.
Front view of 4209 Westway in West Toledo
This two story traditional home located at 4209 Westway in West Toledo is close to shopping, expressways and lots of restaurants! The basement is finished into a rec room with gas fireplace. Recent updates to this property include a remodeled kitchen, plumbing and electrical upgrade in 2004 and new furnace, A/C and water heater in 2003. Also enjoy the garden pond in the backyard, making a tranquil environment even in this city neighborhood! All of these updates, plus three bedrooms and two full baths for under $90K! Home is move-in ready and available at closing!
Attention home buyers! You are probably aware that the federal government offered tax credits on home purchases with contracts accepted by the end of April, 2010. For first-time buyers that could have amounted to as much as $6,500. That was certainly an incentive to buy.
If you think you missed the boat, consider this. If you commit to a home purchase soon while mortgage interest rates are the lowest anyone in our industry can remember, you should be able to save nearly the same amount in interest as you would have received in a tax credit! How so, you ask?
Here are the numbers for a very common scenario in the Toledo real estate market, and you can substitute different numbers to fit your family’s specific circumstances. A $100,000 mortgage last September would likely have been made at an interest rate of 5.1%. Today, you are likely to get a mortgage loan at 4.5%. In our market, many people remain in their home about ten years. The difference in the interest a homeowner would pay after ten years on those two mortgage loans amortized over 30 years would be approximately $5,848. In other words, those who missed out on the tax credits can realize nearly the same benefit over time simply because of declining interest rates!
Of course the interest savings are much more significant over the life of the loan and definitely greater for higher mortgage amounts – this was simply intended as one typical example. If you would like to calculate your own mortgage payment, The Danberry Co., Realtors and First Mortgage Consultants can help! Just go to: http://www.danberry.com/mortgage_calculator/
There are at least three reasons I am hesitant to accept everything I read in newspapers as the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth. First, meeting deadlines may mean that extensive research on topics may be impractical. Secondly, some articles may include at least a hint of the editor’s or publisher’s opinions. And most commonly, at least when we read articles about the real estate industry, many of them are based on national statistics or address a national audience, but real estate markets are local.
Last week I read an article in USA TODAYthat I’ll bet all real estate practitioners would agree with. The headline is simple and to the point: “Homes will sell if priced right; foreclosures have impact.” This is true in the Toledo real estate market just as it is in New York, Las Vegas or Washington. Sellers simply cannot wish and hope their way to the values of 2004 and 2005. That is a bitter pill for most sellers to swallow, but there is a silver lining. When most sellers sell, they become buyers, and they then benefit from the same lower values. On balance, many even come out ahead on the exchange!
While local real estate brokerages in the area have decreased their budget and focus on adding new technology for their agents and consumers, Danberry has done just the opposite in the last year. I’ve just returned from the Inman Real Estate Connect Conference in San Francisco, held July 13-15, 2010. I attended along with many other members of the Enterprise Network, a group of brokers across the country who partner with Active Website for their technology needs. The synergy of being able to compare notes with other like minds in the industry is invaluable. Read Active Website’s Top Five Takeaways from Real Estate Connect.
The conference was an affirmation for the advancements that Danberry has made with Active Website over the last year.
Some items which were recommended at the conference that Danberry has already implemented are:
Individual Property Websites – each property listed with Danberry gets its own site such as 123main.danberry.com.
Danberry.com Mobile – No longer can we rely on just websites to deliver listing info. Danberry Mobile has just been upgraded for the iPhone and Android users, but can be used with ANY web phone.
Share this – Allows the agent, seller and potential buyers to Share favorite listings to their Facebook, Twitter, Linked in, etc. Look for the Share This icon on the details page of any listing.
Google Map Search – Use the Point of Interest tab on the map search to turn on all of the schools, coffee shops, restaurants or just about anything you are looking for. Use the street view to take a “walk” down the street and see the neighboring properties.
Greater Search Engine Optimization – Danberry.com’s traffic is up 40% ytd over last year. This is largely due to increased traffic from search engines.
Craigslist – Danberry agents can quickly create flyers with photos and lots of calls to action to post to Craigslist. Because of this, Craigslist has become the number one referrer of traffic to Danberry.com outside of search engines.
What’s new and upcoming?
“As an industry, we need to move towards the mindset that our customers come first in order to truly embrace the new age customer and build a successful online brand.” Ido Zucker, Managing Partner at Active Website.
Danberry could not agree more. Going forward, we will be adding and evaluating several new improvements to Danberry.com such as:
Community Information for Every Listing – In the next 30 days, all listings on Danberry.com will have community information available. This includes a breakdown of age of population, climate and weather, education, median income, crime, comprehensive school reports and mapping of nearby establishments.
Facebook – Bigger than Google? Facebook is approaching 500 million fans and has become Danberry’s number three referrer of traffic (a year ago they were not even in the top 50). Danberry will evaluate advertising to select demographics of Facebookers.
“Like” to be added to all listings on Danberry.com – You’ve been doing it on Facebook for years – why not “like’ a property on Danberry.com? This feature along with others will be discussed at Active Website’s September Conference. Delivery date to be announced!
…have truly become the mortgage of choice in the Toledo real estate market.
When I was a kid Realtor, we had a terrible time getting sellers to consider offers that called for FHA of VA mortgages. And I have to admit, there were valid reasons from the seller’s viewpoint. FHA appraisers would come back with lengthy lists of repairs that the seller was required to complete prior to closing, and even the ones that went smoothly seemed to take twice as long to close as conventional transactions. Even points often needed to be paid.
Fast forward to today’s market. The times, they have changed, as FHA mortgages have become the mortgage of choice. The primary attraction is the low down payment requirement (3.5%), which puts this financing within the reach of most buyers. And what makes sense for buyers has become the best action in town for most sellers.
So, how much do you know about FHA financing? Here’s a quick way to find out. Take this QUIZ from the National Association of Realtors, click the “submit” button, and you will instantly be shown the correct answers.
How can we help you? Danberry Co. professionals are ready to take your calls and answer your questions, as are the Home Mortgage Consultants from First Mortgage who can be found under the “Financing” button above. We’d love to hear from you!
