Staging, curb appeal updates, and closing costs add up.Selling a home not only takes time, but also costs money. To help with budgeting, Zillow and Thumbtack identified several common — but often overlooked — seller expenses.From closing costs to home prep projects like carpet cleaning, U.S. homeowners can expect to spend more than $15,000 on these extra or hidden costs to sell the median home, according to Zillow and Thumbtack’s Hidden Co
A real estate professional is an important go-to person for mortgage information, finds a new survey by TD Bank of about 1,500 homeowners.Here are some handouts to help arm your clients with more mortgage information:Questions to Ask When Choosing a LenderChecklist: Your Mortgage ApplicationWorksheet: Tracking Closing CostsVocabulary: Loans & Lending TermsFinance a Home, CreativelyForty-six percent of homeowners say they found information on
Home buyers may want to rush to lock in: The 30-year mortgage rate hit its lowest level in nearly seven months this week, Freddie Mac reports."The 10-year Treasury yield fell 3 basis points this week,” said Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The 30-year mortgage rate moved in tandem with Treasury yields, falling 5 basis points to 3.89 percent. Mixed economic data and increasing uncertainty are continuing to push rates to the low
Home buyers were in a rush to lock in low mortgage rates last week, sending total mortgage application volume soaring 7.1 percent, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.“Purchase application volume increased to its highest level since May 2010,” says Joel Kan, an MBA economist. “Refinance activity bumped up as well in response to moderating rates, but remained generally subdued.”Home purchase applications skyrocketed 10 perc
Home equity is an important part of the assets that families depend on later in life—in fact, it is one of the top two assets that households rely on in retirement, outside of a pension or Social Security benefits, according to a new report titled, “Importance of Individual Account Retirement Plans and Home Equity in Family Total Wealth.”Researchers at the Employee Benefit Research Institute compared assets in households headed by those bet
Government-sponsored financing giant Fannie Mae will ease its requirements next month, raising its debt-to-income ceiling from 45 percent to 50 percent on July 29. The move could pave the way for a larger number of new buyers to qualify for a mortgage, particularly millennials who may be saddled with student loan debt.The debt-to-income ratio compares a person’s gross monthly income with his or her monthly payment on all debt accounts, includin
Many retirees are preferring to keep a mortgage, even if they have the means to pay it off. They say they want to take advantage of low mortgage rates and tax rates and free up their savings for other uses, The New York Times reports.But without a full-time job, are they able to still qualify for a home loan? Banks say they are still willing to lend to retirees, as long as they have regular monthly income coming in, like a pension and Social Secu
Here are some of the heftiest costs of homeownership to be aware of:Property taxes. This is often the largest home expense after a mortgage, and some of the highest property-tax rates are in the Northeast. Buyers there might need to take extra financial measures to make sure they can afford their home. Homeowners in Buffalo, N.Y., for example, pay 2.9 percent of their home’s value in property taxes. In Rochester, N.Y., they pay 2.8 percent. Nat
Middle-class African-American and Hispanic families are increasingly finding it difficult to attain homeownership, a new study by the real estate brokerage Redfin reveals.From 2012 to 2016, the percentage of affordable homes across 30 metros decreased by about the same amount for white families as it did for Hispanic and African-American families. Yet, “given the already lower rate of homeownership among minority families, the decrease has left
National Homeownership Month kicks off this month, and President Donald Trump is pledging to strengthen the middle class by reducing rules and regulations and cutting taxes that he believes will help them become homeowners.This year’s theme for National Homeownership Month is “Find Your Place in a New Era of Homeownership.”"For generations of Americans, owning a home has been an essential element in achieving the American dream," Trump wrot
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