Home Starts Fall to 2-Year Lows Housing starts continued to underperform in March, despite calls from the housing industry to build more to help inventory-starved markets. Total housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.14 million in March, the lowest since May 2017, the Commerce Department reports. Starts are 14.2 percent lower …
Tag: tips
Apr 22
Mortgage Rates Rise Again
Mortgage Rates Rise Again For the third week in a row, mortgage rates inched upward, but economists were quick to reassure home buyers and potential refinancers that rates remain still remain well below year-ago averages. “After dropping dramatically in late March, mortgage rates have modestly increased since then,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. …
Apr 19
Homeowners Fare Better Than Renters
Homeowners Fare Better Than Renters Affordability is a much more pertinent issue for renters than homeowners, according to new research from CoreLogic, a real estate data firm. Since 2005, the monthly cost to rent a single-family home has risen significantly, while the monthly principal-and-interest mortgage payments of homeowners dropped slightly. CoreLogic’s national rent index jumped …
Apr 18
Are you Saving Enough for Remodeling?
Are you Saving Enough for Remodeling? Homeowners significantly underestimate the costs involved when planning a home improvement project, finds a new study from Discover Home Equity Loans, based on a survey of 1,200 Americans. Estimated Cost of Common Interior Remodeling Projects New master suite/owner’s suite: $125,000 Kitchen upgrade: $35,000 Complete kitchen renovation: $65,000 Bathroom renovation: …
Apr 17
How much home can I afford?
How much home can I afford? It’s one of the most important questions you can ask yourself before embarking on a home buying search. Knowing the factors that lenders take into consideration when you apply for a home loan is a smart first step in the process. Key factors include: Debt to income ratio: this …
Apr 16
Review from Alexa L. of Anthony DiDonato
from Alexa L. regarding 55 Woodduck Dr. Mullica Hill, NJ 08062. “Anthony had worked with a number of my family members/family friends who spoke very highly of him. As first time home buyers we knew very little about the process of buying a home. Anthony made every step of the process as easy as possible …
Apr 15
Mortgage Rates Rise
Mortgage Rates Rise Mortgage rates have hovered at multi-month lows in recent weeks, but this week, rates inched up across the board. However, economists say they expect overall borrowing costs to remain low, despite the slight uptick. “Rates moved up slightly this week while mortgage applications decreased following last week’s jump in rates—indicating borrower sensitivity …
Apr 12
Home Exteriors to be on the look out for
Home Exteriors to be on the look out for Architectural styles are getting mixed up in home exteriors, but a few trends are emerging. A recent article on Houzz, a home remodeling site, highlights some of the biggest trends in home exteriors, based on the most popular exterior photos uploaded to the site so far …
Apr 11
Home Improvement Mistakes
Home Improvement Mistakes DIY home improvement jobs can end in disaster. And even when they don’t, projects can become time-consuming and costly. Botched DIY home improvement jobs can also lead to quarreling among loved ones, shows a new survey from Porch.com, a home improvement website. Porch.com surveyed more than 1,000 homeowners to discover the biggest …
Apr 10
What is External Obsolescence?
What is External Obsolescence? External obsolescence is a factor that reduces the value of an improvement because of something external to the property itself. It refers to something outside the home that is causing a lower property value. Five examples of external obsolescence: Busy Road: This is a very common example of external obsolescence because …
Apr 09
Cost of Common Home Repairs
Cost of Common Home Repairs Homeowners are sprucing up their homes more this year, tackling several home improvement projects. Eighty-eight percent of homeowners recently surveyed say they performed a major home repair in the last year, and more than half said they managed multiple major repairs or home improvement projects, according to a new analysis …
Apr 08
Self Employed Loan Approvals Just got Easier.
Self Employed Loan Approvals Just got Easier. The two largest sources of mortgage money in the United States want self-employed loan shoppers to know that their chances of getting a home loan approved have increased. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have rolled out automated underwriting technology for lenders that take a lot of the guesswork and …
