Insider Tips for Homebuyers

There are many details to consider when buying a home and at times it can seem overwhelming, but if you take things step-by-step and educate yourself on the process you will soon be holding the keys to the home of your dreams.  Be a smart and savvy homebuyer by following these proven insider tips:

Become a Pre-Approved Buyer:  By being pre-approved you will have an advantage in every offer situation, giving you the edge in home purchase negotiating.  Pre-approval also helps you determine exactly how much home you can really afford.  The pre-approval process is simple: you complete your loan application with a credit check prior to beginning your home search process.

Use the MLS to Beat The Competition to New Listings:  In some real estate markets the home inventory is actually low and the demand is high, causing homes to sell fast.  Keeping on top of the market is essential.  By registering for a free MLS service, you can customize and save your MLS search criteria and receive daily email updates for the specific neighborhoods you are interested in.  Ask us about this service!

Be a Serious Home Buyer:  Capture the sellers attention by presenting a strong, but simple offer accompanied by an earnest money deposit of 1-5%.

Make Sure Your Offer is Presented in Person:  Your Realtor® or real estate agent should always present your offer in person, directly to the home sellers and their agent.  This personal touch makes your offer memorable and helps your representative gather critical data.

Get Professional Assistance:  In today's complex real estate market it is more important than ever to have a professional who truly represents your best interests on your side.  Good guidance in the home buying process can make the entire transaction go more smoothly by helping identify possible pitfalls and by putting you in a stronger position to make informed decisions to maximize your investment.

Contact us today to see how we can help you achieve the home of your dreams.

Homebuilder Confidence Slides to 16-Year Low

U.S. homebuilder sentiment slid in July to its lowest since January 1991 as fallout from the housing slump and subprime mortgage crisis caused a glut of new homes, the National Association of Home Builders said recently.

Homebuilders are struggling to unload excess inventories left to them as speculators abandon contracts and buyers find it harder to obtain mortgages. Soaring delinquencies on the riskiest loans have forced lenders to boost requirements for many borrowers, locking out customers who might previously have qualified.

"The bottom line is that the single-family housing market is still in a correction process following the historic and unsustainable highs of the 2003-2005 period," NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders said in the statement.

Interest Rates Level Off

For nearly 10 months interest rates moved up a little, then down a little, but the average cost for most types of mortgages remained below 6.5%.  Then rates unexpectedly took off in late May, making home loans more expensive than they’ve been since, well, this time last year.

A recent survey of major lenders found the average:

30-year fixed-rate loan — the most popular way to pay for a house — costs 6.78%.

15-year fixed-rate loan costs 6.46%.

That means payments would be $650 a month for every $100,000 borrowed with the average 30-year, fixed-rate loan. That’s just $6 a month less than you’d have paid in July 2006 but $38 a month more than in mid-March when interest rates were below 6.2%.

Interest rates have stabilized over the past couple of weeks and, if borrowers are fortunate, they’ve peaked and may drift lower over the next couple of months. That’s what happened last summer after 30-year fixed-rate loans topped out at 6.93% the last week in June.

For more on what mortgage rates are running here locally in the Myrtle Beach, SC area, give us a call or leave us a comment and we'll get back to you.

Incentives to Woo Buyers and Sell Your Home

Flashy incentives like a new car parked in the driveway or a flat-panel television hanging in the den might sound like a good way for home sellers to woo buyers in a dismal real-estate market. But when it comes to actually enticing someone to buy a home, it's the more practical perks that count.

Effective incentives address what's on the minds of potential buyers — the overall cost of the home and the monthly payments they'll have to manage.

Incentives can be considered when the home is first listed, as a way to distinguish it from the start.

They can also be added when the home hasn't sold in two or three months, as a way of enticing a buyer without lowering the price. Or the incentives could arise in negotiations, when a buyer needs that one extra little nudge to commit.

Make no mistake, the location and condition of a home are going to be its main selling points. But if sellers "put on their buyer's cap" and really consider what issues the buyer might have, it could make all the difference.

Here are six of the most common incentives being used in markets today.

June Housing Starts up 2.3 Percent

The pace of home construction rose 2.3 percent in June but building permit activity, a sign of future construction plans, sank to its lowest rate in 10 years, signaling further weakness in the listless housing market.

Housing starts set an annual rate of 1.467 million units in June compared with a revised 1.434 million unit pace in May. Economists had forecast June housing starts to drop to a 1.45 million unit pace from the 1.474 million unit rate originally reported for May last month.

This latest data comes a day after another report indicating that home-builder confidence is sinking as mortgages become more difficult to obtain, with banks tightening their lending standards.

The continued sad news in the housing sector could make this the best time to buy a home in over a decade.

Contact us for more information.