Homebuying Guide for Today’s Housing Market (Lancaster, PA or Anywhere)
A couple tips for buying a home in 2024: Download a mortgage calculator to your phone so you can do math as you look at houses. And! Don’t forget to calculate property taxes! Mortgage Calculator Link: https://myhome.freddiemac.com/resources/calculators.html Evaluate what your long-term needs are Think through how long you plan to stay in a home, which […]
Market Update – LLPAs
LLPA’s – Loan Level Pricing Adjustments – I am sure you have seen information about this by now. In the lending world, we have been talking about this for a few months and many lenders have already begun pricing this into the loan pricing (interest rates). Let me allow Chat GPT to explain what LLPAs […]
Budgeting Tips
What is budgeting? Budgeting is the management and handling of things; such as money, resources, and time. Money management can bring you great opportunities in life, but it can also bring ruin. Some of you may not have had the best examples of budgeting. This might have affected your desire or ability to manage your […]
Will the Housing Market Cool Off in 2022?
The housing market is expected to cool off slightly in 2022. Real estate firm Redfin estimates prices to rise only 3% in 2022 instead of the 16.1% year-over-year change reported by the FHFA. The Mortgage Bankers Association December 2021 forecast shows only a 5.1% expected price increase for home purchases in 2022. Why will home […]
Should I Buy a Home with My Best Friend?
Millennials Team Up to Buy First Homes! A new trend is appearing in the United States. An analytics firm, Attom Data Solution, monitors real-estate data and discovered that co-buyers with different last names who purchased a home increased 771% from 2014-2021. What is a possible source for this new home buying trend? Rising home prices, […]
What is an Interest Rate Buydown?
Should I Buydown My Interest Rate? Interest rates are low, so what is the benefit of buying down my interest rate? A buy down is beneficial because when you buydown an interest rate, you are paying a one-time fee to lower your interest rate for the life of your fixed-rate loan (learn more about loan […]
Baby Boomers Compete with Millennials for Small Homes
A big part of the reason why small houses are in short supply right now is that two major demographic groupings are competing for the same houses. The older Baby Boomer generation is looking to downsize into easier-to-maintain homes. This is conflicting with a surge of Millennial buyers looking for their starter homes in an […]
Will the Housing Boom Continue?
The Housing Boom Will ContinueThere is no offseason any more as builders try to make up for lost time. Every year since 2008, builders have under built the required number of homes for the expected households created by population growth. COVID-19 has accelerated the trend of homeownership Millennials were putting off. So now, supply chain constraints […]
What is a Conventional Loan?
Chances are that if you’re first-time home buyer, you have heard words like FHA and USDA thrown around. These are examples of government-insured loans. They often have perks like lower credit score cutoffs and down-payment flexibility, but often come with the tradeoff of higher interest rates and mortgage insurance. With a conventional loan, you as […]
What is Forbearance?
Forbearance is when your mortgage lender allows you to temporarily suspend or lower your mortgage payment. You will be required to repay the reduction or missed payments, but it is usually added to your loan balance. In order to refinance or purchase a new home, you will need to make three healthy, normal mortgage payments […]
Tips for Buying a Home in 2021
1. Download a mortgage calculator to your phone so you can do math as you look at houses. And! Don’t forget to calculate property taxes! Mortgage Calculator Link: https://myhome.freddiemac.com/resources/calculators.html 2. Evaluate what your long-term needs will be once the pandemic is over Think through how long you plan to stay in a home, which schools are […]
How to Buy a Home (Not Just in Lancaster, PA)
1. Get a Pre-Approval from a Lender The first thing to do before buying a home is to get pre-approved by a mortgage lender. A pre-approval letter means a mortgage lender or bank has looked over your financial information you provide in an application to ensure you are qualified by the lender to purchase a […]