Last week's economic events included reports the National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index, Housing Starts and the release of minutes for the most recent meeting of the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee. The details: NAHB: Builder Confidence in Housing Markets Dips The National Association of Home Builders reported that builder confidence dropped to a reading of 62 as compared to October's revised reading of 65. Any NAHB reading above 50 indicates that more builders are positive about market conditions than not. NAHB's assessment of housing market conditions is based on … [Read More...]
How Do I Know If I Am Ready To Buy A Home? As you’ll see in this video, you can find out by asking yourself some questions: Do I have a steady source of income (usually a job)? Have I been employed on a regular basis for the last 2-3 years? Is my current income reliable? Do I have a good record of paying my bills? Do I have few outstanding long-term debts, like car payments? Do I have money saved for a down payment? Do I have the ability to pay a mortgage every month, plus additional costs? If you can answer "yes" to these questions, you are probably ready to buy your own home. … [Read More...]
Whether you're readying to put your home on the market or you haven't updated your space in a while and want to modernize, approaching renovations can be a struggle. With so many things to fix up, both large and small, it can seem overwhelming to prioritize, set the money aside and get to work. If you're having trouble figuring out where to begin with budget, here are some tips for how to properly prioritize so you can maximize your renovation expenditures. Determine What Is Most Important Whether it's the tile floor in your bathroom or the outdated kitchen sink, if the need for an upgrade in … [Read More...]
When it comes to home ownership, the biggest buzzword of them all is mortgage and it’s often all people think about when it comes to price. While the ‘m’ word will be a large part of the expense that goes into owning a house, it’s important to be aware of all of the other costs that are aligned with having a home. From taxes to utilities, here are some of the other items that you won’t be able to do without once you’ve made the big purchase. The Perils of Property Tax Outside of the mortgage, one of the other more marked expenses you’ll be paying when … [Read More...]
When the market is hot some sellers are lucky enough to be in a situation where they see multiple offers come through on their property. Now the only decision left is which one to choose. It may be easy to look at the amounts offered and go with the highest one, but that is not always the wisest choice. There are several smaller factors that could mean the difference between a winning and losing bid. Have Any Of The Buyers Been Pre-Approved For A Mortgage? While an offer that comes in above the asking price can be very tempting, there is a risk that the entire sale can fall through if the … [Read More...]
Last week's scheduled economic news was sparse due to no scheduled releases on Monday and the Veterans Day Holiday on Wednesday. A report on job openings was released on Thursday along with regularly scheduled weekly reports on jobless claims and Freddie Mac's report on mortgage rates. Mortgage Rates, Weekly Jobless Claims Rise Mortgage rates rose last week according to Freddie Mac. The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 3.98 percent from last week's reading of 3.87 percent. The average rate for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 3.20 percent from the prior week's … [Read More...]
