Posts in category 'Buyer 2'

With mortgage rates and home prices climbing if you're looking for housing and trying to determine if buying or renting is right for you here are a few things to consider:

1. Do you have enough for a down payment and to cover closing costs?  To adequately determine the answer to that question you would need to first speak with a mortgage lender.  This is often a free consultation, and I can certainly help you connect with someone.
2. How committed are you to the geographic area you are currently living in? Is your job stable and something you enjoy?  Do you like the school district?  If you feel your situation is more temporary certainly renting is best.
3. Am I able to set money aside to complete the necessary maintenance and repair of home ownership?
4. Are you willing to do the work of maintenance on the home? Weekend warrior duty isn't necessarily for everyone.
5. What is most cost effective? This question takes more careful thought to...

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Happy New Year everyone!  As of January 2, 2025 mortgage rates have climbed to a little more than 7.1%.

As we look back over the last 3 years, we are all tempted to let out a YIKES!!

And there is absolutely no denying that home buyers who purchased a home in the early months of 2022 while the rates were as low as 2.7% were able to get a great bargain.  The questions remain:  Was this low rate normal?  Was it something we can expect to see again?

To answer that let's take a very brief look at mortgage rates over the last 20 years.

In January of 2005 we saw rates around 5.7%.  by August of 2007 they had reached numbers close to 6.9%. 

With the 2008 housing crash and recession, the Fed stepped in and bought up mortgage bonds to lower rates.  This helped and by 2009 rates were down below 5.5% once again.  They continued a steady decrease through the 2010's, hovering in the high 4% range.

Then 2020 and Covid hit.  The housing marke...

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Are you trying to determine whether you should buy now or wait until mortgages rates begin to drop. Here are a 3 things you may want  to consider.

1. While rates are higher, that often leads to less competition when submitting offers.  A higher mortgage rate has some buyers choosing to wait right now.  Less competition gives you a better chance of having the terms of your offer accepted.  This also means that you have a better chance of getting things such as inspections agreed to, or maybe the closing timeframe you want.
2. Prices might be better than they will be when rates fall. In May of 2022 in the York/Lancaster area, sellers were getting about 105% of their original asking price.  Some were even getting $30,000 or more above the listed price.  In November of 2024 that number was down to about 101% still high, due to low inventory, but still an improvement over when rates were lower. 
3. You can always refinance. If you buy now you can get a ho...

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With Christmas only a few weeks away, maybe you are starting to think about the new year.  With a new year comes new goals.  Maybe one of those goals is buying a new home.  Maybe you're a first-time home buyer and you don't know where to start. 

The place you must start is speaking with a trusted (and preferably local) lender to get pre-approved for a mortgage.

Why is this important?

Because getting pre-approved will tell you the max amount you can pay for a home while keeping within your budget.  It will also provide you with an estimate of your interest rate (though this cannot be locked until your offer is accepted), your estimated closing costs, and your approximate monthly payments.  This will greatly help you in setting your goals and planning for the new home.  It will also help your agent to focus on search parameters when you begin the home search process.

Once you are pre-approved you will receive a letter stating the amount that you...

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I have spoken to a lot of people who would like to purchase a new home, or perhaps be home owners for the first time.  However, they are concerned about whether or not this is the right time to buy.  Interest rates have creeped up, and  in many cases home prices remain high.  So many buyers are deciding to wait until the home prices come down or interest rates drop.  One of the big issues  is knowing exactly how long to wait.  A buyer that is waiting for the perfect circumstances may be waiting for a long time.

Let's take a little different approach for a few moments though; let me ask a few questions:

1.) Why do you want/need to buy right now?  What is the goal?

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