Reason(s) Not to Go With the Cheapest Loan/Lender By definition, all real estate is unique. Money isn’t. (In economists’ lingo, money — and other commodities like aluminum, corn, and lumber — are what’s called “fungible”). So, is there a reason for prospective home Buyers (and mortgage borrowers) not to simply get the cheapest loan they can...Read More
Where’s All the Cash Coming From? “Using cash allows real estate investor Jeremy Rupp to pay less than the asking price, then after the deal closes, he gets a mortgage on the home to free up more cash to keep buying.” –Jim Buchta, “Cash is Still King“; The Star Trib (11/3/2013) Call it the real estate version...Read More
Changing Mix of Comp’s (“Comparable Sold Properties”) It may strike non-professionals as odd, but real estate market values are established by “looking through the rear view mirror” — that is, by scrutinizing recent, similar sales as near to the subject property as possible. Every rule has its exceptions, but the conventions in residential real estate are: ...Read More
Lender-Mediated Deals Now Down to 25% of Housing Market Deals Nationally Is the housing market doing better? Absolutely. Has it fully recovered? No way. Or should I say, “half-way.” I base that not just on where home prices are now — off the bottom, but still well below their 2006 peak — but on the fact...Read More
Refinancing Into a 2.75% Fixed Rate, 15-Year Mortgage Ok, so it’s not a Porsche or a 2 week Hawaiian vacation, but you could do worse than scoring a 15 year mortgage at 2.75% today. What that says about you: –You own a home; –You actually have equity in your home — and therefore can borrow against...Read More
Cost-Benefit Criterion “Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it lots of times.” OK, so refinancing isn’t completely painless — there are some fees involved, and some paperwork to fill out (natch). But, the operative question to ask isn’t, “how long has it been since I refinanced?” or even “how much will it cost?” Rather, it’s...Read More
