Easy Agent Blogs

Over the next decade or two, members of the silent generation and older baby boomers will be leaving their children and grandchildren $68 trillion, most of which will be in the form of homes.

“More than half of all existing-homes are owned by baby boomers and the silent generation,” according to Mark Fleming with First American Title.

Heirs have several choices as to what to do with these assets. The three most common include:

• Move into the home and live in it
• Rent the home to tenants
• Sell the home

Many of our clients decide to sell the home, splitting the proceeds among the heirs.

Last year when Louise Bishop and her brother Frank Becker inherited their childhood home in a Minneapolis suburb, they entertained all three options.

Going through their dad’s paperwork they learned that he’d fallen behind on payments and the home was in pre-foreclosure. Working with the bank’s attorney, they were able to secure a hold on the foreclosure so that they could sell the home.

Sounds easy, right? There is a lot to consider when deciding to sell an inherited home.

Will your pocketbook stretch?

Dad was a bit of a hoarder, which Becker and his sister learned as they sifted through their late father’s belongings. Faced by more than 50 years’ accumulation of that they’d need to somehow dispose of was challenging enough.

Two inoperable trucks, a salvaged boat on a trailer and odds and ends from Dad’s old plumbing business littered the property.

Hiring the professionals required to remove all the “junk,” clean the home and perform needed upgrades was expensive. Thankfully, Louise and Frank had the funds between them to pay for it.

We’ve worked with other families whose bank accounts aren’t as flush, in which the home sale may involve a lower asking price for the home to compensate the buyer for having to perform the removal.

Then, there may be liens on the home. Those will need to be paid off before selling the home. Your best bet is to hire a highly experienced real estate agent to help you walk through your options.

There’s often an emotional toll to pay

Cleaning out a lifetime of memories, in a home that you may have grown up in, while still grieving the loss of a parent is something nobody should have to go through.

But we do, and it can be quite emotional. Be ready for it, in yourself and other family members.

Take it a step at a time

Other family members swore that Louise and Frank’s father didn’t leave a will (known as dying intestate). This means that state law will determine how and when the property can be disposed of.

Louise, however, clearly recalled her mother telling her that her did, indeed, have a will. Within 30 minutes of rifling through paperwork, the will was found, with clear instructions as to the division of Dad’s property.

The best first step then is to locate any paperwork having to do with the house. This includes loan paperwork, letters from the lender, tax information and deeds.

When you hire an attorney (another expense, but necessary), he or she will want to know how title was held, among other things.

Why an attorney?

Check state probate rules to determine if the home will be included in the probate of the deceased’s will.

Probate is a legal proceeding that determines the legitimacy of the will or, lacking a will, identifies the deceased’s legitimate heirs (according to state laws regarding inheritance).

It’s a long and often expensive process. Thankfully, Becker hired an attorney who agreed to take the bulk of her fee at the close of probate.

Speaking of probate, if you’re facing the procedure, it’s important to get familiar with it. Don’t dispose of anything of value before probate. Anything that might be considered part of the estate must be included in probate.

We aren’t lawyers

The information we’re providing is from a layperson’s point of view. We are not lawyers and cannot dispense legal advice.

We can tell you that you’ll need professional legal and, perhaps, tax advice and assistance if you plan on selling an inherited home.

 

Hooray for the homebuyer who understands the importance of lining up financing before ever stepping foot into a house for sale or placing eyes on a real estate listing website.

It’s one thing to understand the steps to take in the home buying process and yet another to understand the whole “how does the loan stuff work?” question.

Because it seems like such a mysterious process, most first-timers look for the lender with the lowest interest rate, sign on the dotted line and call it a day.

That is a huge mistake, and here’s why: there’s more to a loan than the interest rate and not all loan products are identical, so it takes some serious comparison shopping to make sure you’re getting the best deal out there.

It starts with a comparison of the three most important parts of a mortgage loan – those for which the borrower has to pay.

Find some lenders to compare

Your best source for contact information for at least one lender is your real estate agent. Check online sites for attractive rates and add those lenders to the list.

One of the most popular comparison sites is BankRate.com.

If you’ll be using an FHA loan, you’ll need to shop among FHA’s approved lenders, which you can find here.

Don’t forget to list your local bank, especially if you have a good working relationship with the manager. Finally, consider using the services of a mortgage broker. These men and women shop for loans that match your criteria and circumstances, from a variety of lenders.

Rate

The first thing you need to understand is that advertised rates don’t necessarily apply to the product you want to purchase.

We wanted to find out which loans were offered for comparison today at Bankrate.com. The criteria we entered was for a purchase loan, for a purchase price of $257,939, a down payment of 5.4 percent (the nationwide average), a credit score of 720 to 739 for a 30-year loan.

The lowest interest rate offered for this scenario is 3.625 percent. But the site lists other options we may be interested in, including several lenders offering 2.625 percent rates.

Look closely, though, and you’ll see that those low rates are for a 20-year term.

These rates, by the way aren’t the whole ball of wax when it comes to understanding how much your loan will cost. It’s the annual percentage rate, or APR, that you want to use when comparing rates.

The APR reflects the interest rate plus fees. According to Bankrate.com, “the APR shows which loan is less expensive over the entire term of the loan.”

In our scenario above, both loans offer the same interest rate. Their annual percentage rates, however, are 3.631 percent and 3.64 percent.

Know how much – to the penny – that you’ll be putting down in cash for the home. Then, determine what kind of a mortgage rate you want: fixed rate or adjustable.

Finally, decide on a term for the loan: 30 years, 15 years, five years, etc. You may eventually change your mind on the last consideration after shopping around, but that’s ok.

Now, pick up the phone and make some calls. Ask the following questions:

• Request the lender’s current interest rates and find out whether these rates are the lowest for just that day or for the week and if the rates quoted are for adjustable or fixed mortgages.

 

• If you’re inquiring about adjustable rates, ask when the rate increases, how the payments vary and whether the payments will go down with a reduction in the interest rate.

 

• Ask for the loan’s annual percentage rate (APR) and use that to compare the cost of each loan you’re comparing.

Points

Bank of America defines points as “fees paid to the lender at closing in exchange for a reduced interest rate.” One point equals one percent of the loan amount.

Ask the lender’s representative to translate the points quoted into a dollar amount. This makes it easier to determine exactly how much you’ll be paying for the loan and, thus, easier to compare it to other offers.

Fees

Costs of the loan listed vaguely as “fees” need to be itemized for you to compare one lender to another. Ask the loan representative to do that for you.

The Loan Estimate Form

Legally, the lender must provide you, within three days of applying for the loan, a Loan Estimate Form, detailing of all fees that will be due at closing.

This form is what you will use to compare lenders. If you notice any large discrepancies between lenders, call them and ask for clarification.

When you’ve chosen a lender, see if it will allow you to lock in the interest rate, especially if the Feds seem on the verge of raising them. There may be a cost involved, so find out what that is.

To pay less on your monthly house payment requires that you take this initial step – even before choosing the house you’ll eventually purchase.

They carry quite the lofty title: “HOA Governing Documents.” When you buy a home in a managed community, whether it’s included in a condo community or a single-family home development, you are asked to read and agree to these documents.

Reading them is beyond a snore; understanding them enough to know whether or not you agree with them is challenging.

We suggest that our clients run the document package by their attorney if they have any questions about any one of them.

In the meantime, let’s see if we can clear up some of the most confusing documents and terms that you’ll be asked to read and agree with.

What is an HOA reserve?

The HOA collects dues or fees every month from each homeowner. A portion of these funds is set aside in a “reserve” account to cover unexpected expenses. Examples of these expenses include spending reserve monies to repair a leak in the community’s clubhouse roof or to replace a faulty pump in the swimming pool.

Reserve funds are separate from operating funds. The latter are spent on routine expenses, such as landscape maintenance in the common areas.

Every few years, the association should conduct a reserve study to forecast how much money they should have in the reserve fund. This study is conducted by experts and each homeowner should know the figure that is determined.

Most professionals agree that an HOA’s reserve funds should be no less than 70 percent of the reserve study’s recommendation.

What are special assessments?

When reserves are inadequate to fill a need, the association may levy a special assessment to cover the shortfall.

For instance, after a heavy storm, homeowners begin complaining of roof leaks. The condo community’s roof is at the end of its life and sustained too much damage from the storms to be repaired. It must be replaced.

The reserves are underfunded, so the HOA will go to the homeowners to get the money for the new roof.

What is the CC&Rs?

One of the most important documents you’ll receive when buying a home in a managed community is the HOA’s CC&Rs, short for “Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions.”

What is included in this document dictates the rights and obligations of the homeowners governed by the HOA. The documents may include a description or diagram of the boundaries of the common areas and each unit.

It is also in these documents that you will learn how the HOA deals with enforcement of the rules, how it resolves disputes.

If the association doesn’t use a Rules and Regulations document, you may find the rules of the community within the CC&Rs.

The governance of the HOA corporation belong in the HOA bylaws, not the CC&Rs.

Rules and Regulations

Not all HOAs have a separate Rules and Regulations document. It is used primarily to manage the use of the common areas. For instance, there may be a schedule for swimming pool use.

They may also dictate how the homeowners can use their property, such as landscaping restrictions, paint color restrictions, pet restrictions and parking rules.

These are not suggestions, but rules, and anyone buying a home in the community must agree to abide by them. This is why it is so important to read all the documents. The last thing you need is to find out after you buy a home that you can’t live in it the way you had hoped.

Why did I receive Association Meeting Minutes?

One of the most informative parts of the HOA documents package are the HOA meeting minutes. Here you’ll learn about common complaints and how the association deals with them.

Not only will they tell you a lot about the people who live in the community but also how well the association runs.

For instance, if the meeting minutes reflect homeowners’ continued pleas for rules enforcement, it’s a sign there may be problems with the association.

Living in a managed community isn’t for everyone. In the plus column, a well-run homeowners association helps maintain property values. Depending on the board, however, an HOA can become tyrannical and intrusive.

It’s all in the documents. Read them before you agree to live there.

 

 

It’s about the time of year when we see the increase in questions such as “How can I understand what the market is doing and what steps I should take to get myself and my home ready to sell this year?”

There’s no simple answer to the first part of the question. To understand what the housing market is doing and where it might be headed requires an understanding of the local economy, for it’s one of the major forces at work on the housing market.

For a basic understanding of the real estate market, however, let’s look at three indicators.

Employment

When an area’s labor market is weak, people typically don’t buy homes. This includes not only those who are unemployed, but those who feel their jobs may be in jeopardy. Weak employment numbers therefore equal soft housing demand.

But — right now at least – the country’s unemployment rate is 3.5 percent, a 50-year low, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Employment increased in a number of segments, including healthcare and leisure and hospitality (both segments saw the addition of 45,000 jobs), professional and technical services (31,000 jobs) and several other areas.

The truth is, across the country, states are facing labor shortages in construction, manufacturing, cyber security and many other industries. Some municipalities are creating marketing plans to lure full-time residents in the hopes of filling these jobs.

New residents need homes.

Home affordability

While unemployment is closely aligned with affordability, it isn’t the only factor that determines whether or not people can afford homes in the local real estate market.

In fact, there are three components to home affordability, according to Phil Pustejovsky, author of “How to be a Real Estate Investor.” These include:

• Home prices
• Household income
• Interest Rates

Home prices are largely a result of supply and demand, something that is easy to determine either by asking your real estate agent or reading the local news.

In fact, we’re seeing this principle at work right now. With more buyers wanting homes than the market can supply, home prices rapidly increase. Then, there’s the opposite, when there are few buyers in the market and many homes for sale (known as a “buyers’ market”), prices tend to soften.

Household income must be high enough to afford homes. The median household income in the U.S. in October of 2019 hit a record high at $66,465. It took a dip in November, however, to $66,043.

The median price of a home, nationwide, is $271,300.

Lenders want to see a monthly housing payment that takes up no more than 28 percent of your income (pre-taxes). In this case, the median wage earner has about $1,541 a month in income to go toward a mortgage payment.

Interest rates, however, are key to affordability. As you can imagine, nobody really knows what will happen with mortgage rates in 2020. Some economists are forecasting an increase, others say the opposite. Keep an eye on interest rates because when they increase, the homebuyer pool shrinks.

Getting ready to sell

As you’ve probably guessed, nobody has a crystal ball when it comes to forecasting the future of the housing market. But, being ready for anything will put you in the best position.

Ready the home for the market by making basic repairs, painting and cleaning. We’re happy to walk through the home and help you decide which tasks to tackle based on a likely return on your repair dollars.

If you’ll also be buying another home, it’s not too early to choose a lender. Then, when the time comes to obtain your loan pre-approval, you’ll be ready to jump right in.

Again, feel free to reach out to us with any questions or concerns. We’re happy to help.

It’s so easy to assume that the home you’re shopping for is the one you will live in for the rest of your life. As we all know, however, times change, tastes change and, yes, people change.

Nests empty out or become fuller. Jobs may be relocated. A neighborhood can change and may no longer be the dreamscape it once was.

While keeping an eye toward the future is always a good idea when making any major financial investment, unless your name is Nostradamus, your predictions may be hit or miss.

Buyers looking to make their first home purchase are faced with a difficult choice: Should they buy a starter home or a forever home?

Here are a few things to consider.

Define “starter home,” please

Starter homes tend to be small–just one or two bedrooms–and valued below the median price for the area’s market. The least expensive starter homes are often fixer-uppers that require substantial work and renovations.

People move into starter homes with the intent of selling them several years down the road for a profit, and using the equity to move into a larger house.

Other folks prefer to hold off buying until they can buy their “forever” home. They may strategically save their money until they can afford their dream house, and, although it is seldom the case that they remain in that home for life, it is their intention to live in the home for the foreseeable future.

Pros and Cons to Buying a Starter Home

Starter homes require less of an initial investment than their larger, fancier counterparts. There is also a chance that the value will increase faster than that of the larger forever home. A good example of this is happening now, with so many homebuyers flooding the starter home market, values have skyrocketed. It’s a great time to sell a small home.

A smaller home is also far less stressful on a homeowner’s budget, beyond the smaller down payment and loan required to buy it.

Your monthly house payment may turn out to be less than what you currently pay in rent and the cost of maintenance and monthly utilities will be far less than they would be in a larger home.

Since you’re saving money every month, put some aside for renovations to help boost the home’s value.

On the flip side, it’s easy to outgrow a starter home when you’re young and growing a family.

As well, starter homes are often older and may require more frequent repairs.

Holding out for that “forever home” may be tempting but not wise. With interest rates so low, the time to buy a home is now and, although the inventory of starter homes is low, we’ve had great success helping our clients find them.

The important thing is to jump into the market soon so you can start building equity. That’s not going to be easy when you’re paying a larger house payment each month, more property taxes than those of a smaller home and increased utility bills.

Questions? Feel free to reach out to us.