Brand New Homes! No Downpayment! Qualifying is Easier Than You Think!
If you thought that needing a large downpayment was an obstacle on your road to homeownership, we’ve got great news. This homebuilder’s No Money Down purchase option has allowed hundreds of buyers just like you to move into a brand new home, oftentimes for less than it was costing them to rent!
For those that qualify, this homebuilder’s easy No Money Down financing allows renters to become homeowners, while keeping their savings account in tact. In many of our communities, our homebuyers are building equity in their houses for a monthly payment lower than their previous rent, and they are now eligible to receive extra financial benefit from the federal mortgage interest tax deduction.
Six floorplans to choose from ranging in price from $106,900 to $154,900. Features:
- Brand new 3, 4 & 5 bedroom homes
- Oversized landscaped lots
- Neighborhood Park
- Walking trails
- Quality deed restrictions
- Beautiful stone entries
- Raised six-panel doors
- Brushed nickel hardware and fixtures
- Rounded corners
- Custom built cabinets
- Vaulted ceilings
- Quality appliances (refrigerator, stove, microwave included)
- Fully-fenced backyard
- 2-car garage
- Utility room
- Front yard landscaping
- Homeowner warranty
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5 Reasons to Buy a Home in 2011
Michele Lerner, author of Homebuying: Tough Times, First Time, Any Time, offers reasons why real estate is likely to improve in 2011. Here are five reasons she thinks consumers should consider a home purchase next year:
Mortgage rates will stay low. Even with rates climbing — maybe to as high as 6 percent by 2012 — they are still well below where they have been historically.
Tax cuts could help. Extending the tax cuts could encourage a more rapid recovery for the economy.\
Americans want to be home owners. A recent Fannie Mae survey showed that Americans still believe a home is a safe and desirable investment.
Builders are about to begin building. Home builders have been sitting on the sidelines. This year, they think pent-up demand will create an appetite for new homes.
Homes are shrinking. Homes are getting smaller, which has made them more affordable.
Source: Investopedia, Michele Lerner (12/24/2010)
Habitat for Humanity Builds 400,000th Home
Habitat for Humanity says it has built its 400,000th home. The organization was founded in 1976, and has served more than 2 million people worldwide.
“In 2005 we celebrated our 200,000th house. Now, five years later, we have more than doubled that number thanks to the generous support of our volunteers and sponsors,” says CEO Jonathan Reckford.
A copy of Habitat for Humanity International’s fiscal year 2010 annual report, “What We Build,” is now available on the group’s Web site. The report gives a snapshot of Habitat’s work around the world.
Source: Habitat for Humanity (12/13/2010)
5 Predictions for 2011
Freddie Mac analysts point to five features that they believe will likely characterize the 2011 housing and mortgage markets:
1. Low mortgage rates. With Fed observers expecting the central bank to keep the federal funds rate at its current target range of 0 percent to 0.25 percent for most (or all) of 2011, relatively low mortgage rates will be a feature of the 2011 mortgage market. Thirty-year fixed-rate loans are likely to remain below 5 percent throughout the year, and initial rates of 5/1 hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages will likely remain below 4 percent in 2011.
2. Prices have hit bottom. House prices are likely to begin a gradual, but sustained recovery in the second half of 2011.
3. Housing will remain affordable. With affordability high, many first-time buyers will be attracted to the housing market in the New Year, likely translating into more home sales in 2011 than in 2010.
4. Refinances will dwindle. Many eligible borrowers have already refinanced and the federal Making Home Affordable refinance program is expiring on June 30. While fixed-rate loans are likely to remain low, they will move up gradually, making it even less likely that refinances will be attractive to most home owners.
5. Delinquency rates will decline. Based on the last several business cycles, the share of loans that are 90 or more days delinquent or in foreclosure proceedings — known as the “seriously delinquent rate” — generally crests within a year of the start of the recovery in payroll employment, and this economic recovery appears to fit within that pattern. Payrolls began to rise last January, and by the spring the seriously delinquent rate had begun to fall.
Source: Freddie Mac (12/09/2010)
Questions to Ask Before Listing Your Home with a Real Estate Agent
матрациIt’s common knowledge that today, 87% of buyers are searching for homes on the internet. They are still using real estate agents to buy the homes; however, buyers are going to the internet before and during their home search in greater numbers each day.
Now, let’s say 87% of all buyers were searching in your local newspaper for a home. Would you hire an agent who ran 1 ad a month in the newspaper or would you prefer to go with the real estate agent who ran an ad everyday? Dumb question, huh? But it’s not…many sellers are still not asking the right questions regarding the internet presence of their real estate agent in marketing their property. “My agent has a website and my property is on the site” is not an acceptable online marketing strategy for your property.
Here are some questions I came up with and I hope they will help you in finding a real estate agent who can successfully market your property in 2010:
1. On how many websites will my property be advertised?
2. Will my property be featured on any of these websites?
3. Do you have your listings professionally photographed or do you take the pictures yourself? If you take them yourself, can I please see a sampling of the quality of your photos?
4. Do you create a video of my property and post it online? If so, where do you post it?
5. On which classified websites do you advertise your listings? (i.e. Craigslist, Backpage, etc)
6. Do you create a single property website for each listing?
7. How do you make sure my property ranks high in the search engines?
8. Do you create interactive floorplans of your listings?
9. How will you market my property to buyer-agents and how will you get feedback from them for showings?
10. How will I be kept in the loop with regards to showings, feedback and marketing activities on my property?
11. Will there be a text-for-info, Voicepad or other form of marketing on my “for sale” sign for potential buyers who drive by?
12. Does your Company have a website? How will your company be advertising my property? (Remember, when you list your home, you are listing it with an agent of a company…they BOTH should be advertising your property)
13. What phone number will buyers call to get information on my home? Does this number connect them to a recording, an office, an answering service, a cell phone?
14. If a buyer leaves a voice mail or an email requesting more information about my property, who gets that message and how quickly is it responded to?
15. What other marketing activities will be done? Newspaper? Magazines? Open houses? Direct mail? (These are not nearly as important, but even marketing that is 1-5% effective can help as long as is does not become a waste of valuable time).
