Can Lenders Request More Information?

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Can Creditors Collect Information Beyond The 6 Required Pieces? In addition to the required pieces – Name Income Social Security Number Property Address Estimated Property Value and Mortgage Amount sought – a creditor may collect whatever additional information they deem necessary. However, as soon as you have provided the 6 required pieces, the creditor has 3 business days to provide a Loan Estimate for approved loans.

6 Required Pieces of Information

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What 6 Pieces of Information Make A TRID Loan Application? Submitting these 6 pieces of information – Name Income Social Security Number Property Address Estimated Value of Property and Mortgage Loan Amount sought – constitutes a valid loan application under the TRID rule. You may apply and submit these in writing OR in oral form; a live conversation, or a phone call, backed by a written record of the conversation is a legitimate application. Once these 6 pieces of information are submitted a creditor MUST supply a Loan Estimate for approved loans within 3 business days.

Purchasing Vs Renting A Home

Like the guy in the video says, the two do not really compare at all. The one advantage of renting is being generally free of most maintenance responsibilities. But by renting, you lose the chance to build equity take advantage of tax benefits and protect yourself against rent increases.Also, you may be at the mercy of the landlord for housing. Owning a home has many benefits. When you make a mortgage payment, you are building equity increasing YOUR net worth. Owning a home also qualifies you for tax breaks that assist you in dealing with your new financial responsibilities like insurance, real estate taxes, and upkeep which can be substantial. But given the freedom, stability, and security of owning your own home they are worth it.

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Calculating Your Asking Price

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The best answer is get help from a real estate professional. But, if you only have a few minutes for a video, here are five points to consider.

1. Start With Measurement Learn the average per-square-foot price for recent sales in your neighborhood. That will not set your final price, but it is a baseline buyers will use.

2. Get Comparisons Ask for Comparative Market Analysis – comps – from several agents. Go through each comp with each agent to understand both competitive homes on the market AND each agents potential approach to yours.

3. Market Research. Do your own! – not just online, but in person. That will help you understand your market conditions and the buyers perspective realistically. Markets get hot and cold, up and down, and yours defines the sales envelope for your home.

4. Consider All Terms Price isnt all there is to a sale. Can you close faster? Finance or lease-option the sale yourself? Cover some closing costs? Your flexibility can make sales leverage.

5. It is Not Personal. The hardest tip of all. Most people are emotional about their home. Pricing, in the long run, is going to logical. Theyre buying your house,not your home & memories. Find a real estate professional you like and trustand let them help you through the process.

When Should I Sell?

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As you will see in this video, real estate marketplaces are generally most active in summer because families with children want to move in before school starts. So more homes are typically available in summer as well. But buyers and sellers tend to balance out in other seasons, too especially in todays tight market. There may be fewer buyers in late December but usually fewer homes, too. So, prices tend to rise or fall on general demand in that market rather than time of year. It is best to sell when you & your house are ready to sell. Start working with a real estate professional as early as possible to make the most of your sale in any season.

Sales Dropped last month …

Month 11 Sales
November

On December 22nd 2015, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their latest Existing Home Sales Report which covered sales in November. The report revealed that sales:

“…fell 10.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.76 million in November (lowest since April 2014 at 4.75 million)…”

That revelation gave birth to a series of industry articles, some of which quoted pundits questioning whether the housing market was slowing. In actuality, there is one rather simple explanation to much of the falloff in sales last month. It is likely the implementation of the “Know Before You Owe” mortgage rule, commonly known as the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, which went into effect on October 3. These regulations caused house closings to be delayed by an extra three days in November as shown in the graph below.

GA close a loan

Three days might sound like a minimal difference. However, since there are only approximately 20 days in a month that a closing would normally take place (Mondays through Fridays), losing three days constitutes well over 10% of all closings. These sales are not lost. They are just moved into the next month’s numbers. In a DS News article on the subject also posted on December 22nd,  Auction.com EVP Rick Sharga explained:

“The most likely cause for the weak sales numbers is a delay in processing loans due to the new TRID mortgage requirements imposed by the CFPB. This is the biggest change in mortgage document processing in many years, and there have been numerous reports within the industry of problems implementing the process and the new documentation that comes with it.”

So how is the housing market actually doing?

A better way to look at how well the housing market is doing is to look at the Foot Traffic Report from NAR which quantifies the number of prospective buyers that are actively looking for a home at the current time:GA-future sales

We can see immediately that demand to buy single family homes is increasing over the last few months – not decreasing.

Bottom Line

No matter what last month’s sales numbers show, the housing market is still doing well as demand remains strong.

Call 786.554.8063 or email us George@GeorgeAssal.com, WE are here to facilitate and help you during the process of buying, selling, or renting any real estate needs, which will result in reaching your financial goals quickly and with ease, visit our page www.GeorgeAssal.com .

Cost & Price. Do You Know The Difference?

Time = Money

As a seller, you will be most concerned about ‘short term price’ – where home values are headed over the next six months. As a buyer, you must be concerned not about price but instead about the ‘long term cost’ of the home.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the National Association of Realtors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac all projected that mortgage interest rates will increase by about three-quarters of a percentage point over the next twelve months.

According to CoreLogic’s most recent Home Price Index Report, home prices will appreciate by 5.2% over the next 12 months.

What Does This Mean as a Buyer?

Here is a simple demonstration of what impact an interest rate increase would have on the mortgage payment of a home selling for approximately $250,000 today if home prices appreciate by the 5.2% predicted by CoreLogic over the next twelve months:

Waiting = Cost

Call  786.554.8063 or email us George@GeorgeAssal.com, WE are here to facilitate and help you during the process of buying, selling, or renting any real estate needs, which will result in reaching your financial goals quickly and with ease, visit our page www.GeorgeAssal.com 

Selling your House?

Here is what you should consider when selling your house:

  • 5 REASONS TO SELL NOW
  • HOW TO GET THE MOST MONEY FROM THE SALE OF YOUR HOME
  • DON’T WAIT! MOVE UP TO THE HOUSE YOU ALWAYS WANTED
  • THE IMPORTANCE OF USING AN AGENT WHEN SELLING YOUR HOME
  • 5 DEMANDS TO MAKE ON YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT
  • HOME PRICES OVER THE LAST YEAR
  • THE IMPACT OF RISING PRICES ON HOME APPRAISALS
  • 5 REASONS YOU SHOULDN’T FOR SALE BY OWNER (FSBO)
  • HOME EQUITY: YOU MAY HAVE MORE THAN YOU THINK?
  • BABY BOOMERS FINDING FREEDOM IN RETIREMENT
  • WHERE ARE MORTGAGE INTEREST RATES HEADED?
  • HOW WILL MORTGAGE RATE HIKES IMPACT HOME SALES?
  • TWO THINGS YOU DON’T NEED TO HEAR FROM YOUR LISTING AGENT (US)
  • FSBO’s MUST BE READY TO NEGOTIATE
  • FANNIE MAE AGREES: HIRE A PRO (US)  TO SELL 

Read full Seller(s) guide here

Call us 786.554.8063 or email us George@GeorgeAssal.com, WE are here to facilitate and help you during the process of buying, selling, or renting any real estate needs, which will result in reaching your financial goals quickly and with ease, visit our page www.GeorgeAssal.com

 

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Things to consider when …

Things to consider when buying a home.

  • 4 REASONS TO BUY A HOME NOW!
  • YOU NEED A PROFESSIONAL WHEN BUYING A HOME
  •  HOME PRICES OVER THE LAST YEAR
  • BUYING A HOME? CONSIDER COST NOT JUST PRICE
  • WHERE ARE MORTGAGE INTEREST RATES HEADED?
  •  SHOULD I PAY A MORTGAGE INTEREST RATE OVER 4%?
  •   WHAT DO YOU REALLY NEED TO QUALIFY FOR A MORTGAGE?
  •  WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MORTGAGE PROCESS
  •  GETTING A MORTGAGE: WHY SO MUCH PAPERWORK?
  • 217,726 REASONS TO BUY A HOME NOW
  • THE REAL REASONS AMERICANS BUY A HOME
  •  RISING HOME PRICES & FAMILY WEALTH
  • 5 REASONS TO HIRE A REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL
  • REAL ESTATE AGAIN SEEN AS BEST INVESTMENT
  • 4 DEMANDS TO MAKE ON YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT
  •  WHEN IS IT A GOOD TIME TO RENT? DEFINITELY NOT NOW!
  • THE COST OF RENTING VS. BUYING [INFO-GRAPHIC]
  •  HARVARD: 5 FINANCIAL REASONS TO BUY A HOME

Read full Buyer(s) guide here

Call us 786.554.8063 or email us George@GeorgeAssal.com, WE are here to facilitate and help you during the process of buying, selling, or renting any real estate needs, which will result in reaching your financial goals quickly and with ease, visit our page www.GeorgeAssal.com

 

The Impact of Higher Interest Rates

Interest-Rate

Last week, an article in the Washington Post discussed a new ‘threat’ homebuyers will soon be facing: higher mortgage rates. The article revealed:

“The Mortgage Bankers Association expects that rates on 30-year loans could reach 4.8 percent by the end of next year, topping 5 percent in 2017. Rates haven’t been that high since the recession.”

How can this impact the housing market?

The article reported that recent analysis from Realtor.com found that –

“…as many as 7% of people who applied for a mortgage during the first half of the year would have had trouble qualifying if rates rose by half a percentage point.”

This doesn’t necessarily mean that those buyers negatively impacted by a rate increase would not purchase a home. However, it would mean that they would either need to come up with substantially more cash for a down payment or settle for a lesser priced home.

Below is a table showing how a jump in mortgage interest rates would impact the purchasing power of a prospective buyer on a $300,000 home.

BuyersPurchasingPower3

In Conclusion

If you are considering a home purchase (either as a first time buyer or move-up buyer), purchasing sooner rather than later may make more sense from a pure financial outlook.

Tired of being a tenant? thinking of selling your home?, looking to upgrade? 1st time buyer(s)? buying your dream home? Call us 786.554.8063 or email us George@GeorgeAssal.com, WE are here to facilitate and help you during the process of buying, selling, or renting any real estate needs, which will result in reaching your financial goals quickly and with ease, visit our page www.GeorgeAssal.com