Suppose you’re ready to buy a house: what do you have to do in order to get pre-approved? Overall, it’s not very difficult to get pre-approved. First, you need to choose who you want to work with, whether it’s a bank, a credit union, or a mortgage broker.
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Overall, it’s not very difficult to get pre-approved.
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No matter which one, they’ll all ask for the same items. You’ll need the last two years of your tax statements, so be sure to have those printed off and ready. Additionally, you’ll need the last two months of your bank statements and pay stubs, and you’ll also need a photo ID. Those are my quick tips for you today. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. I’d be glad to help.
Sometimes when we get anxious to buy a home, we overlook a few things that are kind of important.
For my first example, suppose you’ve visited a home during the day when you could see it in full light. But have you been by the home at all hours of the day and night? Noise levels change throughout the day. If at all possible, visit the home at different times of the day to be sure that you will enjoy living there.
Second, think about your daily commute. From an outsider’s perspective, it might not seem that far to go to work. Maybe it’s only 10 or 20 miles, but when you own the home and realize that it’s 10 or 20 miles every day, both ways, you may see things differently. This may not be a problem for some, but it is something to think about.
Third, check over your CC&Rs (covenants, conditions, and restrictions) carefully. Some people will bring their RVs to the new property, only to discover they were unable to park. Little things like that can become a real downside if you haven’t checked the CC&R thoroughly.
If at all possible, visit the home at different times of day to be sure that you will enjoy living there.
As a fourth example, you should always think about your bedroom-to-bathroom ratio. Is this home one that you’ll be able to grow in? In other words, are children in your future? If so, and you don’t have enough bathroom space to fit your family’s needs, you’ll quickly outgrow your home. And of course, the best way to gain equity is to stay in your home for six to seven years, so moving early could affect your position there.
You should also think about features that can’t be changed without major remodeling. It may not seem as important when you walk through the house for the first few times to put an offer in, but it likely will down the line.
The final point would be to consider the resale value of your home. Is the home in an area that will be attractive to prospective buyers down the road, or will it possibly become an area with several rental houses on the same block? There, the resale value wouldn’t go up as fast.
I hope this helps. Remember, buying a home is a great investment, and I strongly encourage it. It sure beats renting! Take care, and I’ll be back next week.
As you know, multiple offer situations happen a lot in our market. In each situation, though, only one offer can be accepted.
In this case, most of the buyers whose offers were rejected go away, but a smart buyer will put in a backup offer in case the first offer falls through.
When buyers who’ve been beaten out before in multiple offer situations encounter another multiple offer situation, they can sometimes put in their offer too hastily, overbid for the property, and get cold feet. If and when the first offer falls through, that means your offer is automatically put in first position and no one else can drag you into another bidding war for the home.
Putting in a backup offer is a good strategy for any buyer involved in a multiple offer situation.
Putting in a backup offer doesn’t stop you from looking at other properties, either. If you find another property you like, make an offer for it, and get that offer accepted, you can simply cancel your backup offer. If you’re not in first position for a home, you can cancel your backup offer anytime.
Putting in a backup offer is a good strategy for any buyer involved in a multiple offer situation and has worked out well for many buyers in our market. If you have any questions about this or any other real estate topic or you’re looking to buy or sell a home, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’d be glad to help you!
Is this a crazy time in the Lane County real estate world or what?
As you probably know, back in February we only had 1.9 months of inventory, which means at that rate of consumption, we’d be out of properties in 1.9 months. To give you some perspective, six months is considered a balanced level of inventory between buyers and sellers. 1.9 months was not a good number, but I got encouraged when it shot up to 2.2 months in March. This means we’re getting more listings, which will help the market.
There is a huge demand from buyers right now, and the market needs more inventory. Otherwise, prices will continue to skyrocket for the lower-end properties. I’ve gotten calls from several sellers lately asking me if I could sell their house at a great price. My response to them was that I could, but only if they priced it right first. If you price a property correctly, it should sell easily and quite possibly generate multiple offers in doing so. If you price it above its value because you think the market will support it, it won’t.
There is a huge demand for buyers right now, and our market needs more inventory.
How do you price your home correctly?
You need to confer with your Realtor and have them do a comparative market analysis of homes that have sold recently that are similar to yours to give you a legitimate price point basis. If you price your home high and it doesn’t sell right away, you’ll have to lower the price. After that, your home will become a stale listing in this market. For example, if you price your home at $275,000 or lower, there will be high demand for it. If you price it higher than that, your pool of potential buyers will be much smaller.
On the buyer’s side, I want to warn you about overzealous buying. Right now, many homes listed in the $225,000 to $250,000 price range are receiving multiple offers. The problem with this is each buyer is trying to position themselves higher than the other by putting in escalation clauses in their offers, which means they’ll pay more than the highest competing offer up to a certain price. The danger here is that this drives prices up and may cause you to overpay for a home.
If you’re a buyer of an entry-level home, be patient for the next couple of months because the recent surge in demand should cease. Don’t wait too long though, because interest rates may go up. If you’re a seller, don’t get greedy.
If you have any questions about our market or are looking to buy or sell a home, don’t hesitate to give me a call. I’d be glad to help.
Since home prices are so high, is now really a good time to buy a home?
While price is certainly an important factor to consider, you should also pay attention to the long-term cost of your home’s mortgage.
Right now, it’s especially important to consider how much the home will appreciate in the next several years and how much it will cost to borrow the funds to purchase the home. In other words, you need to pay attention to interest rates.
Pay attention to interest rates and appreciation.
The Fed has signaled a faster pace for raising interest rates in 2017. By the end of the year, rates could go up as much as 0.75%. We also don’t expect home prices to go down anytime soon. As a buyer, the longer you wait, the higher the price of that home will be. Rising interest rates can also have a huge impact on the cost of the home.
In order to make up for a 1% increase in rates, the cost of the home would have to go down by 10% if you want to keep mortgage payments the same. As you can see, interest rates have a huge effect on home purchasing power.
Such a sharp decrease in home prices does not seem likely given the current demand in Lane County. Our market is No. 1 or 2 in the nation in terms of appreciation.
Ultimately, if you plan on buying a house in 2017, I encourage you to do so sooner rather than later. If you have any questions about buying in our current market, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!
Today I wanted to talk about home inspectors and what they really do.
Anybody who is buying a home has a home inspection performed to find out everything about it and what’s wrong with it, because they want to make sure they're buying a home that's in good condition. The buyer purchases the home inspection, so the inspector is obligated to the buyer, not the seller.
It's important to understand that inspectors are there to help find problems with the condition of the home, not cosmetic flaws. They will look at the basics of the home like all the plumbing, leaks under the house, the presence of dry rot, pest problems, electrical systems, the foundation, the porch, the deck, and the roof, to name a few. The problem is, they are generalists, meaning that if they suspect a particular issue like the electrical is especially flawed, they will recommend that you bring out an electrician for further inspection.
Home inspectors look at major systems, not cosmetics.
The inspectors are well worth the $400 to $600 that they generally cost. During the final 30 minutes of the inspection, the buyer will usually meet with the inspector and they will go over all the conditions they've found that need to be corrected.
I hope that clears up the home inspection process for you. If you have any more questions about home inspections or you have any questions at all about Eugene real estate, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help you!
That question depends primarily on what type of loan you’re taking out, or if you’re paying cash. If you’re paying cash and you don’t need an appraisal, you can have it ready to close in as little as a week. But since most people take out a loan and need an appraisal, it usually takes a little longer than that.
After your offer on the home has been accepted by the seller, you should do your due diligence and order an inspection. You will be granted a certain amount of days specified in the contract - usually at least 10 - to complete this inspection.
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On average, 45 days is a good turnaround time for a sale to close.
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After the inspection comes the negotiation process. This is where you negotiate with the seller about any issues in the home that need to be fixed and determine how they can be rectified. Once that’s done, your lender will order the appraisal as quickly as possible, because this is where the possible hang-up lies. The appraisal process, depending on your area, can take anywhere from one to five weeks to be completed.
That being said, you can expect 45 days to be a good ballpark figure to span the time you sign until the time you can theoretically close on the property.
If you have any questions about certain things in the real estate world, just give me a holler or send me an email. Take care!
A lot of people have been asking me lately what a fair offer is when buying a Eugene home. The answer to that question is simply, timing.
What I mean by this is that if a home has been on the market for more than a month, in a hot market like the one we have right now, you can probably start off by making an offer that’s about 5% below asking price. The seller won’t be offended by the offer because they’ll be happy to have one, but don’t be surprised if they come back with a counteroffer. You’ll have to negotiate with them on the price.
Now, if a home has just been listed on the market, it’s a whole different ball game. The current market in Eugene is hot for sellers. You’re likely going to have to compete against other offers, so you’ll need to switch up your strategy. You’re going to have to be a lot more aggressive, and that starts with making an offer of at least their asking price, or maybe a little more. There are also other things you can do to help your offer stand out.
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Interest rates are still incredibly low right now for buyers.
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One thing you can do is be flexible about the closing date. Sometimes the seller will also be buying a house at the same time. If you’re more flexible, it helps your offer stand out.
Another strategy to use is appealing to the seller’s emotions by writing them a personal letter about how much you’d like to buy their home. This strategy works well with families, because sellers want to pass their home on to other families.
At the end of the day, you may feel that the advantage is tipped a little bit towards the seller in this market. That’s true, but as a buyer you have a distinct advantage as well. Interest rates are still incredibly low right now for mortgages. They haven’t gone up yet and if you can buy while they’re this low, it will save you a lot of money on payments in the long run.
If you need any more information, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. If you have any questions about real estate or any topics you’d like to learn more about, let me know about those too. I would be happy to do a video on it. I look forward to hearing from you!
Today we’ll discuss why it’s essential for you to have a home inspection before buying a home. A good inspection will investigate all the major systems of the home, including the electrical, plumbing, roof, and heating/air units to make sure the home is in a condition that will not cause immediate issues upon purchase.
Having a full inspection is critical, and it’s important to know of any and all potential issues that come with the home. An inspection will reveal issues that are undetected by the naked eye. An inspector will also crawl under the home to inspect for pests, termites, and potential rot issues.
A good agent should always recommend to have an inspection done once the buyer’s offer is accepted. The cost ranges anywhere from $350-$550, but the ability to alert you to major problems within the home makes it well worth the price.
Many times, a responsible seller will have an inspection done prior to putting their home on the market just to ensure the home is in good working order. Doing so also gives the seller the opportunity to fix any potential problems before a buyer can even find them.
If you’re looking to purchase a home at any point, make sure you get a home inspection! If you don’t, it could end up costing you thousands in repairs and improvements.
If you have any questions about home inspections, or anything else real estate related, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!
