Renters

Buyers Guide

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The saying “If you fail to plan… then plan to fail” is never truer than when you are buying or selling one of the largest investments you make … a home.

We have put together the best comprehensive guides for you, whether a first time home buyer, a buyer who has purchased more than one home in the past or someone who is planning to sell now or in the near future. They are to help educate and to inform you & our clients about things to consider when making a move. We update these guides 4 times a year so you have up to date information because Keeping Current Matters!

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Buyer Guide:

Things to Consider When Buying a Home

The “Buyer Guide” will explain things to consider when considering buying and the current market opportunities.

♛ Homeownership Offers Stability & Wealth Creation

The most recent Housing Pulse Survey released by the National Association of Realtors revealed that the two major reasons Americans prefer owning their own home instead of renting are:

They want the opportunity to build equity.
They want a stable and safe environment.

Building Equity

In a recent article by The Mortgage Reports, they report that “buying and owning a home is the essence of ‘The American Dream.’ Each month, your housing payments go toward owning your home instead of renting it; building your personal wealth and assets instead of someone else’s. History has shown that homeownership is a clear path to wealth-building, with homeowners boasting a net worth [that is] multiples higher than the net worth of renters.”

Family Stability

Does owning your home really create a more stable environment for your family? A survey of property managers conducted by rent.com disclosed two reasons tenants should feel less stable with their housing situation:

68% of property managers predict that rental rates will continue to rise in the next year by an average of 8%.
53% of property managers said that they were more likely to bring in a new tenant at a higher rate than to negotiate and renew a lease with a current tenant they already know.

We can see from these survey results that renting will provide anything but a stable environment in the near future.

Bottom Line

Homeowners enjoy a more stable environment, and at the same time are given the opportunity to build their family’s net worth.

Buying a Home is More Affordable Than Renting in 66% of US Counties

According to ATTOM Data Solutions’ 2017 Rental Affordability Report, buying a home is more affordable than renting in 354 of the 540 U.S. counties they analyzed.

The report found that “making monthly house payments on a median-priced home — including mortgage, property taxes and insurance — is more affordable than the fair market rent on a three-bedroom property in 354 of the 540 counties analyzed in the report (66 percent).”

For the report, ATTOM Data Solutions compared recently released fair market rent data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development with reported income amounts from the Department of Labor and Statistics to determine the percentage of income that a family would have to spend on their monthly housing cost (rent or mortgage payments).

Rents have been surging faster than home prices in about 37% of the markets measured. Daren Blomquist, Senior Vice President of ATTOM Data Solutions warns that rising interest rates could be the tipping point of affordability:

“While buying continues to be more affordable than renting in the majority of U.S. markets, that equation could change quickly if mortgage rates keep rising in 2017. In that scenario, renters who have not yet made the leap to homeownership will find it even more difficult to make that leap this year.”

Bottom Line

Rents will continue to rise and mortgage interest rates are still at historic lows. Before you sign or renew your next lease, meet with a local professional who can help you determine if you are able to buy a home of your own and lock in your monthly housing expense.

Don’t Let Rising Rents Trap You!

Monday December 28th, 2015 Down Payments, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers

There are many benefits to homeownership. One of the top ones is being able to protect yourself from rising rents and lock in your housing cost for the life of your mortgage.

Don’t Become Trapped

Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist at realtor.com recently reported on what he calls a “Rental Affordability Crisis”. He warns that,

“Low rental vacancies and a lack of new rental construction are pushing up rents, and we expect that they’ll outpace home price appreciation in the year ahead.”

The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University recently released their 2015 Report on Rental Housing, in which they reported that 49% of rental households are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. These households struggle to save for a rainy day and pay other bills, such as food and healthcare.

It’s Cheaper to Buy Than Rent

In Smoke’s article, he went on to say,

“Housing is central to the health and well-being of our country and our local communities. In addition, this (rental affordability) crisis threatens the future value of owned housing, as the burdensome level of rents will trap more aspiring owners into a vicious financial cycle in which they cannot save and build a solid credit record to eventually buy a home.”

“While more than 85% of markets have burdensome rents today, it’s perplexing that in more than 75% of the counties across the country, it is actually cheaper to buy than rent a home. So why aren’t those unhappy renters choosing to buy?”

Know Your Options

Perhaps, you have already saved enough to buy your first home. HousingWire reported that analysts at Nomura believe:

“It’s not that Millennials and other potential homebuyers aren’t qualified in terms of their credit scores or in how much they have saved for their down payment.

It’s that they think they’re not qualified or they think that they don’t have a big enough down payment.” (emphasis added)

Many first-time homebuyers who believe that they need a large down payment may be holding themselves back from their dream home. As we reported last week, in many areas of the country, a first-time home buyer can save for a 3% down payment in less than two years. You may have already saved enough!

Bottom Line

Don’t get caught in the trap so many renters are currently in. If you are ready and willing to buy a home, find out if you are able. Have a professional help you determine if you are eligible to get a mortgage.

Renters: It is about to Get A Lot Worse

Renters: It is about to Get A Lot Worse | Simplifying The Market

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First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers

We often promote homeownership over renting when a family is ready, willing and able to purchase. There are both financial and non-financial benefits to owning a home of your own. Based on the headlines below, many news outlets agreed with us after they reviewed a recent report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and Enterprise Community Partners.

The study states that the number of households spending 50% or more of their income on rent is expected to rise by over ten percent in the next decade. They concluded:

“Overall, this white paper projects a fairly bleak picture of severe renter burdens across the US for the coming decade.”

What do other experts think of the report? You can tell by the headlines they chose to introduce their stories:

“Renters, get ready to take it on the chin” – CNBC

“The Rent Crisis Is About to Get a Lot Worse” – Bloomberg Business

“Renters Will Continue to Struggle for the Next Decade” – World Street Journal

“Why the renting crisis could be about to get a lot worse” – Fortune Magazine

“Soaring rents are a problem that will only get worse” – Business Insider

“High rents are here to stay” – The Real Deal

Bottom Line

If you are thinking about buying a home and are financially positioned to do so, now may be better than later.

You can download the entire white paper here: Projecting Trends in Severely Cost-Burdened Renters

A Stunning $441 Billion Paid in Rent

A Stunning $441 Billion Paid in Rent | Simplifying The Market

A recently released study revealed that a whopping $441 Billion was spent on rents in the U.S. in 2014. This represents an increase of over $20 Billion from the year before. As shown on the chart below, rents have increased consistently over the last 20+ years.

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However, the recent increases have been astounding.

Why such a jump?

Many Millennials have postponed the purchase of their first home while waiting for the economy to recover. This has increased demand and dramatically lowered vacancy rates. In a recent article on the MarketWatch, economics reporter Ruth Mantell explains:

“Landlords have ramped up rents by the fastest pace in six years, with national vacancy rates the lowest in two decades.”

Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries let us know that increases will continue:

“Another increase in total rent paid similar to that seen this year isn’t out of the question. In fact, it’s probable.”

4 Reasons to Buy Before Spring

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The holiday season is behind us, time to focus on what exciting new experiences 2015 can bring! If you are planning on becoming a homeowner, or moving up to the home of your dreams in 2015, here are four great reasons to consider buying a home now, instead of waiting until spring.

1. Prices Will Continue to Rise

The Home Price Expectation Survey polls a distinguished panel of over 100 economists, investment strategists, and housing market analysts. Their most recent report projects appreciation in home values over the next five years to be between 15.1% (most pessimistic) and 32.8% (most optimistic).

The bottom in home prices has come and gone. Home values will continue to appreciate for years. Waiting no longer makes sense.

2. Mortgage Interest Rates Are Projected to Increase

Although Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows that interest rates for a 30-year mortgage have softened recently, most experts predict that they will begin to rise over the next 12 months. The Mortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac & the National Association of Realtors are in unison projecting that rates will be up almost a full percentage point by the end of 2015.

An increase in rates will impact YOUR monthly mortgage payment. Your housing expense will be more a year from now if a mortgage is necessary to purchase your next home.

3. Either Way You are Paying a Mortgage

As a paper from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University explains:

“Households must consume housing whether they own or rent. Not even accounting for more favorable tax treatment of owning, homeowners pay debt service to pay down their own principal while households that rent pay down the principal of a landlord plus a rate of return. That’s yet another reason owning often does—as Americans intuit—end up making more financial sense than renting.”

4. It’s Time to Move On with Your Life

The ‘cost’ of a home is determined by two major components: the price of the home and the current mortgage rate. It appears that both are on the rise.

But, what if they weren’t? Would you wait?

Look at the actual reason you are buying and decide whether it is worth waiting. Whether you want to have a great place for your children to grow up, you want your family to be safer or you just want to have control over renovations, maybe it is time to buy.

If the right thing for you and your family is to purchase a home this year, buying sooner rather than later could lead to substantial savings.

All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. The opinions expressed in this article are intended to supplement opinions on real estate expressed by local and national media, local real estate agents and other expert sources. You should not treat any opinion expressed in this article as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of opinion. Steve Harney, Inc. does not guarantee and is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of information, and provides said information without warranties of any kind. All information presented herein is intended and should be used for educational purposes only. Nothing herein should be construed as investment advice. You should always conduct your own research and due diligence and obtain professional advice before making any investment decision. All investments involved some degree of risk. Steve Harney, Inc. will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in this article.

A Generation’s Family Wealth is at Stake

As we have reported multiple times, the Federal Reserve has determined that a homeowner’s net worth is 36x greater than that of a renter.

There are many renters out there who want to become homeowners, but don’t believe that they can afford to make the jump. There are also many Millennials that haven’t yet left their parent’s home, who are making the decision to move out into a rental instead of a home, for the same reason.

Triple Crown Realty is here to educate potential homeowners on the current conditions and programs available to help them make the informed decision to stop renting and start building net worth as a homeowner is the first step.

“Either Way You’re Paying A Mortgage”

The truth and simplicity in the statement, “either way you’re paying a mortgage, yours or your landlord’s,” is the “aha” moment that many may need to realize that there is a better way. Simply and effectively breaking down the market and getting the information out there to decode the conflicting reports that many potential homeowners are exposed to every day is step two.

RENTAL COST – Where it’s Been & Where it’s Going

“Over the past fourteen years, rents have grown at twice the pace of income due to weak income growth, burgeoning rental demand, and insufficient growth in the supply of rental housing. This has created real opportunities for rental housing owners and investors, but has also been a bitter pill to swallow for tenants, particularly those on an entry-level salary and those would-be buyers struggling to save for a down payment on a home of their own,” said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries.

“Next year, we expect rents to rise even faster than home values, meaning that another increase in total rent paid similar to that seen this year isn’t out of the question. In fact, it’s probable.”

The median cost of renting has skyrocketed since 1988, as shown by the graph below.

Potential homeowners need to know that they can lock in their housing cost for the next 30 years by signing a mortgage.

OWNING A HOME

Renters & Millennials making the first step into independence by moving out of their parent’s home need to know that now is a great time to buy. Interest rates and home values are expected to climb in 2015.

The opinion of the 100+ experts who participate in the Home Price Expectation Survey is that home values will increase by approximately 3.8% over the next twelve months and by over 23.5% over the next five years. The entities that project future mortgage rates see them increasing by almost a full percentage point by the end of the year.

This means that the median priced home in the country will ‘cost’ a buyer almost $180 more a month by this time next year. That will be an additional $2,100 paid annually by the purchaser; about $63,000 over the life of a 30-year mortgage.

Bottom Line

They say, “Ignorance is Bliss”. We at Triple Crown Realty – Keller Williams believe that an educated consumer with the insights they need to make an informed decision will be much happier in the long run.

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We are here to educate and help you make good decisions for all your real estate needs!

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Are You in Control?

Are You Considering Getting Out of the Renters Rat Race? Become a homeowner where you can be in control of your life. It was truly the best thing we ever did. We have never regretted it. To your hard earned money into equity & something that will be beneficial for a lifetime.

REASONS TO OWN 1-6 picstitch

Real Estate can be complex and we are here to guide you smoothly through the process. With our expert real estate knowledge, we are consultant, your negotiator and the overseer of all your transactional details to help you reach your goals & dreams.

We are here to serve our clients to make all their dreams come true!

Do You Fit the Description of the Typical First Time Homebuyer?

12-18-14Do-You-Fit-the-Description There are many people sitting on the sidelines trying to decide if they should purchase a home or sign a rental lease. Some might wonder if it makes sense to purchase a house before they are married and have a family. Others may think they are too young. And still others might think their current income would never enable them to qualify for a mortgage.

We want to share what the typical first time homebuyer actually looks like based on the National Association of REALTORS most recent Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers. Here are some interesting revelations on the first time buyer:

12:18:14 Blogg.-First-Time-Buyers