California Home Hunters Buying your first home Archives - Page 2 of 4

Posts Tagged: ‘Buying your first home’

Home Affordability Via Loan Rates

April 9, 2015 Posted by Andre Hemmersbach

Interest rates are the key factor in home affordability, not the home sales price. Home buyers mistakenly think that high real estate prices are keeping them from affording a mortgage payment, however, the biggest variable in home buyers affording a home are mortgage interest rates. (See chart below)

Given an annual income of $70,000 between a husband and wife, at the industry standard of 38% debt-to-income (DTI) ratio a couple could afford a mortgage loan of $525,700 at a rate of 3%. For every 1% increase in mortgage rates the borrower’s affordability drops another 10%. If rates were to merely raise 3% a borrower could not afford more than a home loan of $369,700.

Rate Affordability Chart

Please call me for a free consultation to see what size home loan you qualify for.

Big Rate Drop Thanks To Oil Prices

January 8, 2015 Posted by Andre Hemmersbach

Lower Gas Prices Big Rate Drop

Look at the big rate drop that the mortgage market has served up if you thought that the good news was the $25 you were saving at the pumps. Lower oil prices are deflationary and that has been great news for the big rate drop in the mortgage rates over the last 3 weeks. Coupled with weak economic news out of Europe and another Greek Currency hiccup the change in oil prices have really moved the home loan rates in the right direction is you are looking for a home loan to purchase a home or are currently in a mortgage over 4.25%.

Rates on a 30 year fixed rate have dropped to below 3.625% on the very best borrower profiles (APR 3.689). Many of my clients are also considering a term reduction to really kick up the savings. Refinancing from a 4.25%, 30 year fixed rate taken out last year to a new 20 year fixed rate at 3.375% will save a borrower over $131,000 in interest over those 20 years.

If you would like to see if a refinance would make financial sense, please call me I would be happy to perform a free review your current mortgage through my proprietary mortgage calculator.

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Tags: Buying your first home, economy, First Time Home Buyer, housing economy, Mortgage Rates, Saving Money
Categories: First Time Home Buyer, Rate update, Saving Money

Down payment sources

March 20, 2014 Posted by Andre Hemmersbach

The biggest issue facing most borrowers in this market is still saving the down payment and closing costs! I thought I would list a number of resources that are helpful to would be purchasers that are a little short on cash.

If you work for a company that has a 401K plan, check with your administrator to find out if you can borrow against your vested balance. Many plans allow for a loan up to 50% of your vested balance or $50,000 for a purchase of a home. Best part about this loan is that most of the time the payments will not count against your qualification ratios.
Call your HR department or boss to see if your employer has a company program that will do an employer loan for the purchase of your home. This debt does count against you but I have helped borrowers whose employer had incredible rates of interest for such loans.
Your Next BBQ
Cash in a Roth IRA for $10,000. Currently the tax rules allow you to pull up to $10,000 without penalties for the purchase of your first home. (you still need to pay regular income tax on the amount you pull and check with your CPA).
Sell stocks or better yet, borrow against stocks or securities you own.
Check with Non-profits or your church to see if they have any special down payment assistance programs.
Sell or refinance a boat, car or RV.
Get a gift from any family member or members (some programs allow for 100% gift funds).
Find a co-signer or partner with someone with cash and purchase the property together (you can do an equity share agreement that splits the property price appreciation at the time of sale).
If you are a veteran, you do not need a down payment as financing is available at 100% of the purchase price.
Look for a seller that will carry a second (usually will not work in a seller’s market)
If you have already saved around 3.5% of the sales price for a down payment there are programs available that allow the lender to pay all your closing costs.

Call me I would be happy to discuss your particular situation.

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Tags: Buying your first home, First Time Home Buyer, loan programs, mortgage products, mortgage programs
Categories: First Time Home Buyer, Mortgage Tips, Purchasing A Home

South Bay Home Prices Higher and Inventories Still Low

July 26, 2013 Posted by Andre Hemmersbach

Sales prices in the Greater South Bay area have continued to move higher as inventories are still very low. These trends however, are rearward looking events and represent contracts that were written before the mortgage rate increases from 45 days ago. Of real interest are what the numbers will look like in August and September after homebuyers have had some time to digest and concider the higher mortgage rates and the higher monthly housing payments that corresponds with those higher rates.

Robert Dixon of RE/MAX Estate Properties in Palos Verdes thinks that the higher mortgage rates are not going to affect property prices in any substantive way. The number of borrowers who are deciding they have missed the oppurtunity to buy their first home are equal to the number of fence sitters that finally have decided “we better move now, before rates move even higher.” Robert does feel that the higher mortgage rates in conjuction with the traditional end of the summer buying season approaching will bring back a more normalized negotiation environment between buyers and sellers. “The last several months have seen a frenzy of buyers who are climbing over each other to have their offers accepted.”