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How to buy a house without a 20% down payment

How to buy a house without a 20% down payment

If you’re thinking about buying a home, you may need less money than you think.

Here’s how to figure out the amount of cash you need to buy a home, and what you can do to buy a home using as little money down as possible.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need 20% down. The minimum down payment you need to buy a home is 3.5% down with an FHA loan on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. This 3.5% down payment is a factor of the home price on a loan size up to the high-balance FHA county loan limit — which in most places is $417,000.

However, it can be higher depending on the area. For example, in Sonoma County, Calif., it’s up to $520,950, and in some higher-cost areas, such as Marin County or San Francisco County, that number goes up to $625,500 for a single-family residence.

Alternatively, on a conventional loan you need only a 5% down payment on up to a $417,000 loan size. Should your loan size exceed $417,000, another 5% down payment kicks in, for a total of 10% down needed all the way to the maximum conforming loan limit in your county.

What to expect when buying with little money down

First, if you’re buying a home with less money down, know that your mortgage payment will be higher than if you put more down. The three drivers that inflate a mortgage payment are: interest rate, larger loan size, and private mortgage insurance.

You should have manageable monthly debts — including credit cards, car loans, and any form of payment obligations — in relation to your income. Your income will need to be high enough to include the proposed mortgage payment for the purchase price you are seeking, as well as being able to cover your other debt payments.

The down payment percentages are important to know, though it is significantly easier to work with the monies you have or have access to, than to get wrapped around the axle about down payment percentages. Make no mistake, the mortgage company can work this calculation out for you very easily, or you can do it yourself. You can take the amount of money you have and divide that number by the purchase prices in your area to determine the exact dollar percentage.

Let’s say you have $30,000 to spend on buying a home and you know that housing prices in your area are $450,000. That means you have a 6.7% down payment, enough for an FHA Loan. If your loan professional asks you how much money you have to spend on buying a home in terms of your own funds and possible gift funds, the answer should be some sort of dollar amount, not “How much do I need?”

The reason is this: How much you’ll need to buy a home is going to be predicated on the purchase price of the property and is a continual variable until you get into contract. Start with the monies you have. Assuming you have $30,000 to spend on a $450,000 home example, closing costs on a $450,000 home will easily equate to $10,000, so of the $30,000, $10,000 would come right off the top for closing costs leaving you with $20,000 as a down payment, still meeting the cash to close requirements on an FHA loan.

No-money-down options

The VA loan program allows for no-money-down, 100% financing, for U.S. military veterans only.
The USDA loan program also allows for no-money-down, 100% financing, as long as you are purchasing a home in a rural area and you meet the USDA’s annual low-income thresholds.

Other sources of money

Alternatively, gift monies can be used to purchase a home. Typically, lenders like gift monies to come from a blood relative, but check with your lender for specifics. Here are additional funds that can be used for the acquisition of a home, though they each come with their own individual downsides and may not be a good fit for you. Consider all of your options:

Stocks, bonds, IRA and 401(k) monies can be pulled from these accounts to purchase a home, usually with special provisions.
Gift money, as long as it can be documented in some form of a bank account can also be used, along with an executed gift letter.
Selling of personal property — a boat or a motorcycle, for example, can be used for a down payment and/or closing costs — documented with a bill of sale and paper trailing of the funds.
A security deposit refund on you current rental obligation can also be used, but needs to be planned for on the front end so as to properly communicate timeframe expectations with your landlord.
Tax return refund.
Cash can be used as long as the funds have been seasonedin some form of a bank account for the past 60 days.

If want to buy a home or want to get on the path of doing so in the future, here are some steps to consider to help meet this goal:

Identify what monies you have in the bank now, and from what sources.
Next, get “read” on what housing prices are like in your area, through online research or connecting with a good local real estate agent
Take the amount of cash you have and divide that figure by an estimated sales price range in your area so you can get a feel for how much cash you will need to purchase XYZ home. Closing costs become another crucial factor, but the main goal is determining if you have enough cash to play with. Based upon these action steps, talking with a mortgage lender about getting qualified or how much money you’ll need to save in the longer-term picture can be a prudent step in making your future home purchase a success.

Another factor that can affect how much home you can afford is your credit score, because that is a major factor in determining your interest rate. Checking your credit at least several months in advance of starting the home buying process can show you where you stand and help you consider whether you should take steps to improve your credit in the coming months. You can get your credit reports for free once a year from AnnualCreditReport.com, and there are many ways to get your credit scores for free, including through Credit.com.

Equity Share – How to Make Home Ownership Happen

As I mentioned in last weeks blog – I’d have an idea how to work around this “rent is too high & I can’t save money for a down payment” mess. Below is an article that when I saw it posted on Facebook – I knew the fella was hurting, frustrated and upset that he wasn’t born on the “rich” side of town. And upon first read – I too was upset! Then I recalled – it’s just how life is – so stop beating yourself up for your lack of royal blood, stop being angry you don’t have more money – and start thinking outside the box.

The biggest hurdle I see theses days, myself included, is saving money for the down payment. Around here, the San Francisco Bay Area – the median home price is $791,000 if it is priced under 1 million and $4,234,000 for homes priced over 1 million. So, let’s focus on those first time buyers homes – priced at around $800,000 – that would take $160,000 for 20% down, which is conventional financing and as low as $40,000 for 5% down loans – which usually require more than one loan to purchase the home. So needless to say – that’s a lot of dough!

And just so you know – you need another 3% (about $24,000) of the purchase price for closing costs – so really a buyer needs to save about 25% to get into the market. Yikes, all that saving while trying to rent a closet in the bay area is liable to frustrate anyone.

So let’s think outside the box. Real Estate is one of the best investments because in general – it has always appreciated. Forget the financial crises of 2007 – real estate is a cycle, and what goes up can go down – but in the long run – which is how you need to look at all real estate investments – real estate appreciates.

So now is the time to pool your resources. How you ask? Find family, friends or investors who are willing and able to help you with the down payment. The idea is called – Equity Sharing – the easy explanation is – you find an investor – who is willing to give you – for example 15% of the down payment while you contribute 5% – to obtain the 20% down requirement. Now, in order to do this right – you need to hire a real estate attorney to draft an agreement between both parties outlining everyone’s responsibilities in said partnership and how the gains will be disbursed.

So the easy explanation goes like this: Investor contributes 15% of the purchase price to buyer. Buyer contributes 5% and all closing costs. Buyer becomes the owner of the home. Investor carries a note or lien on the property. Buyer will then move into home, pay mortgage, taxes and insurance. Buyer will maintain home. Buyer can improve upon home. Per the partnership agreement – in 10 years buyer will need to sell home or pay back the down payment loan.

Here is where the equity comes into play. Let’s say – year 1 the home was worth $800,000 and the investor contributed 15% ($120,000). In year 10 the home is now worth $1,500,000. The home appreciated a total of $700,000. That 15% initial investment will now give the Investor – $225,000 in their pocket (15% of the new value of $1,500,000. Nearly doubling the initial investment!

Now this is a very simple example. There are many variables to this as each equity share partnership is different. The idea of Equity Share is to get buyers into home ownership when otherwise it could take them 30 years just to save up for the down payment.

Now, this could work in more ways than one. A group could purchase a duplex or apartment building. Perhaps they all live there; perhaps part is owner-occupied and part is rented out. The idea here is to pool resources to obtain at minimum a 20% down payment and own real estate and watch it appreciate. I could go on and on with different scenarios – so if you are interested, curious, or have more questions please feel free to email me or call me – info@TheCatonTeam.com – 650-568-5522

Thank you for reading. Now enjoy this article that made me start thinking outside the box!

Millennials who are financially thriving have one characteristic in common

Millions of America’s young people are really struggling financially. Around 30 percent are living with their parents, and many others are coping with stagnant wages, underemployment, and sky-high rent.

And then there are those who are doing just great—owning a house, buying a car, and consistently putting money away for retirement.

These, however, are not your run-of-the-mill Millennials. Nope. These Millennials have something very special: rich parents.

These Millennials have help paying their tuition, meaning they graduate in much better financial shape than their peers who have to self-finance college through a mix of jobs, scholarships, and loans.

And then, for the very luckiest, they’ll also get some help with a down payment, making homeownership possible, while it remains mostly unattainable for the vast majority of young adults.

To start with, most of those who continue their education after high school have families that are able to help financially. A recent report from the real-estate research company Zillow looked at Federal Reserve Board data on young adults aged 23-34 and found that of the 46 percent of Millennials who pursued post-secondary education (that’s everything from associates degrees to doctorates), about 61 percent received some financial help with their educational expenses from their parents.

And yet, even with this help, the average student with loans at a four-year college graduates with about $26,000 in student-loan debt. Millennials who are lucky enough to have some, or all, of a college tuition’s burden reduced by their parents have a leg up on peers who are saddled with student debt, and they’ll be able to more quickly move out on their own, and maybe even buy their own house.

And that matters a lot in the long run: While many remain skeptical about the real-estate market, homeownership is still the primary way that Americans build wealth. But first-time buyers—a group generally made up of younger adults—have been scarce since the recession.

And research indicates it’s not because many of them want to remain renters, but because they just simply can’t save up enough for a down payment, especially not the down payments needed in the expensive urban markets where so many Millennials prefer to live. According to Svenja Gudell, the senior director of economic research at Zillow, “There’s a ton of people out there who want to buy. In our most recent survey in the beginning of the year, we had 5.3 million renters interested in buying over the next year.”

But, because of their student-debt loads, they cannot. “When it comes to taking out a mortgage, they aren’t able to carry that mortgage payment because they have very chunky payments to make to the lenders of their student loans. So that’s certainly holding Millennials back along the way,” Gudell says.

A recent study by the real-estate company Trulia laid it out this way: Imagine an individual who earns $50,000 and is shopping for a $200,000 home (the median U.S. income and house price). This person would like to put 20 percent down.

If he or she follows the popular financial advice to save 10 percent of his or her annual pay, it’ll take him or her about eight years to have that down payment ready to go. If that same person has $26,000 of student debt, which means monthly payments of $280 based on a 10-year repayment plan, it’ll take this person closer to nine years.

But even these numbers are optimistic, with many Millennials owing monthly payments much more than $280 per month, and making much less than $50,000 a year. And in many markets, a $200,000 house is hard to come by. In some of the priciest areas, such as San Francisco, it would take those with a college degree and student loans nearly 30 years to save up enough for a 20 percent down payment. For those without the wage boost that a degree brings, it probably won’t be possible at all.

According to Zillow, 43 percent of Millennials who got help from their parents in paying for school were also able to become homeowners. According to Census data the homeownership rate for all young adults was about 36 percent in 2014.

Then there is the group that the Zillow study dubs “double lucky.” These are the select few whose families had enough money to not only help them with college, but to then also assist them with a down payment on a home. This group accounts for more than half of the Millennial homeowners in the Zillow’s data, though they account for only 3 percent of the total Millennial population.

Only about 9 percent of Millennials whose parents were able to contribute to their post-high school education were also able to help them purchase a home—and the group that had such significant help is an incredibly low percentage of the total Millennial population.

The study calls this a “funnel of privilege”: Young adults with rich parents soon become rich themselves.

“Haves are turning their riches or their wealth into bigger wealth because they are investing in the housing market by simply living in a house,” says Gudell. This advantage is one that these Millennials will carry forward as they earn more than their degree-less peers, and save more than those who were forced to throw away tens of thousands of dollars on rent due to their inability to buy. In the future, they’ll have wealth to pass down to their own kids, continuing the cycle.

By: GILLIAN B. WHITE, THE ATLANTIC

I wrote a portin of this blog – the article I read this article at: http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-who-are-financially-thriving-have-one-characteristic-in-common-2015-7

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Connect with us professionally at LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=6588013&trk=tab_pro

Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at:

http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com

Thanks for reading – Sabrina

The Caton Team – Susan & Sabrina – A Family of Realtors

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices – Drysdale Properties

Sabrina BRE# 01413526 / Susan BRE #01238225 / Team BRE# 70000218/ Office BRE #01499008

Changes in Water Heater Efficiency Standards & Size…

There are changes in the size of your standard water heater that could pose a problem for condos and mobile homes owners where the location of the water heater cannot be changed or modified due to the new size of a standard efficient water heater. Please read….

Water Heaters

Product Information

Residential water heaters use oil, gas, or electricity to heat potable water to be used for such activities as bathing or washing dishes or clothes. Residential water heaters include storage type units that store heated water in an insulated tank and instantaneous type units that heat water on demand.

Water heating is typically the second largest energy use in a home, after heating and cooling, and can account for 14%-25% of household energy consumption. In the United States energy consumed by residential water heaters accounts for 11% of the electricity and 24% of the natural gas consumed in the residential sector. However, residential hot water use is variable and depends on the number of people in the household, the type of appliances, and the climate in which the house is located.

Current Standards

Gas-fired ( 75 kBtu/h input capacity), oil-fired ( 105 kBtu/h input capacity), electric ( 12 kW input capacity), and tabletop ( 12 kW input capacity) storage water heaters, as well as instantaneous gas-fired (<200 kBtu/h input capacity) and electric ( 12 kW input capacity) water heaters, manufactured and distributed in commerce must meet the energy conservation standards specified in Table 1 as of January 20, 2004.

Amended Standards

On March 31, 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) completed the second rulemaking to amend energy conservation standards for residential water heaters, issuing a final rule. Residential water heaters must comply with the amended standards in Table 2 by April 16, 2015.

Table 1. Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Water Heaters

Product Class	Rated Storage Volume	Energy Factor
Gas-fired Water Heater	20 gal and 100 gal	0.67 – (0.0019*V_s)
Oil-fired Water Heater	50 gal	0.59 – (0.0019*V_s)
Electric Water Heater	20 gal and 120 gal	0.97 – (0.00132*V_s)
Tabletop Water Heater	20 gal and 100 gal	0.93 – (0.00132*V_s)
Instantaneous Gas-fired Water Heater	< 2 gal	0.62 – (0.0019*V_s)
Instantaneous Electric Water Heater	< 2 gal	0.93 – (0.00132*V_s)

V_s: Rated Storage Volume – the water storage capacity of a water heater (in gallons).

Table 2. Amended Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Water Heaters

Product Class	Rated Storage Volume	Energy Factor
Gas-fired Water Heater	20 gal and 55 gal	0.675 – (0.0015*V_s)
Gas-fired Water Heater	> 55 gal and 100 gal	0.8012 – (0.00078* V_s)
Oil-fired Water Heater	50 gal	0.68 – (0.0019*V_s)
Electric Water Heater	20 gal and 55 gal	0.960 – (0.0003*V_s)
Electric Water Heater	> 55 gal and 120 gal	2.057 – (0.00113*V_s)
Tabletop Water Heater	20 gal and 100 gal	0.93 – (0.00132*V_s)
Instantaneous Gas-fired Water Heater	< 2 gal	0.82 – (0.0019*V_s)
Instantaneous Electric Water Heater	< 2 gal	0.93 – (0.00132*V_s)

V_s: Rated Storage Volume – the water storage capacity of a water heater (in gallons).

The efficiency metric for residential water heaters is the energy factor (EF), which indicates a water heater’s overall energy efficiency based on the amount of hot water produced per unit of fuel consumed over a typical day. The EF accounts for the following:

Recovery efficiency – how efficiently the heat from the energy source is transferred to the water
Standby losses – the percentage of heat loss per hour from the stored water compared to the heat content of the water (for water heaters with storage tanks)

Cycling losses – the loss of heat as the water circulates through a water heater tank, and/or inlet and outlet pipes.

Energy Efficiency Standards Information

For more information, see the DOE’s Appliance and Equipment Standards for this product.

To see all federal notices, public comments, public meeting transcripts, and supporting documents, see the Regulations.gov Docket for this product.

Contact: Alex Lekov (510) 486-6849

Test Procedure Information

Docket Number:

EERE-2011-BT-TP-0042

To see all federal notices, public comments, public meeting transcripts, and supporting documents, see the Regulations.gov Docket for this test procedure.

On November 4, 2013 DOE published a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding test procedures for residential water heaters and certain commercial water heaters. The proposed test method would apply the same efficiency descriptor to all residential and certain commercial water heaters, and it would extend coverage to eliminate certain gaps in the current residential test procedure, update the simulated-use-test draw pattern, and update the water delivery temperature requirement.

I read this article at: http://efficiency.lbl.gov/product/water-heaters

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Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at:

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Thanks for reading – Sabrina

The Caton Team – Susan & Sabrina – A Family of Realtors

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices – Drysdale Properties

Sabrina BRE# 01413526 / Susan BRE #01238225 / Team BRE# 70000218/ Office BRE #01499008

5 Popular Trends in New-Home Construction

5 Popular Trends in New-Home Construction

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS

What building materials are trending in new-home construction? The latest Annual Builder Practices Survey, conducted by Home Innovation, reveals what buyers can expect to see in the new-home market.

Garages: The garage door is getting more enhancements, including windows, insulated doors, and doors made of composite or plastic materials. In 2014, 32 percent of all new single-family homes had bays for three or more cars—the most ever recorded in this study’s history.

Flooring: Carpeting continues to be the most popular flooring option for new construction, with about 83 percent of all new-home bedroom installations having carpeting. However, only about 40 percent of living rooms now have carpet. Hardwood flooring – both solid and engineered types – is the second most popular type of flooring, and is included in 27 percent of all new-home installations. Ceramic tile (which appears in 72 percent of all bathroom floor installation) follows in third place, making up 20 percent of all new-home floor installations, according to the survey.

Countertops: For kitchen countertops, granite continues to reign at 64 percent of new-home installations. Quartz/engineered stone is gaining popularity while laminate, solid surfacing, and ceramic tile are losing appeal.

Appliances: Cooktops and wall oven combinations are gaining in popularity and make up about 24 percent of the market, compared to freestanding ovens (at 45 percent). Freezer-on-bottom refrigerators are gaining in popularity at 19 percent, while side-by-side has fallen to 28 percent of the share.

Kitchen sinks: More buyers are paying attention to their kitchen sink, with the single basin kitchen sink making a comeback, growing from 5 percent to 20 percent of all new single-family homes in the past decade. Also growing in popularity are granite/stone kitchen sinks (at 8 percent). One-piece cultured marble lavatories are continuing to decline in demand, according to the survey.

Source: “Material World: The Hottest Trends From the 2015 Builder Practices Survey,” BUILDER Online (July 29, 2015)

I read this article at: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2015/08/04/5-popular-trends-in-new-home-construction?om_rid=AACmlZ&om_mid=_BVwQu3B9EOtOGt&om_ntype=RMODaily

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Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at:

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Thanks for reading – Sabrina

The Caton Team – Susan & Sabrina – A Family of Realtors

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices – Drysdale Properties

Sabrina BRE# 01413526 / Susan BRE #01238225 / Team BRE# 70000218/ Office BRE #01499008

New Rental Units Too Pricey for Most Renters

New Rental Units Too Pricey for Most Renters

Much of the recent multifamily construction has focused on the luxury segment, which is pricing renters out of the market, according to Harvard University Joint Center’s 2015 State of the Nation’s Housing Report.

The rising costs in multifamily development pushed the median asking rent for newly constructed rental units up to about $1,290 per month as of 2013. That marks an increase of $180 compared to 2012, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Meanwhile, the typical renters’ incomes rose by just $60 a month, going from $32,000 in 2012 to $32,700 in 2013, according to the American Community Survey.

In order to afford a standard new multifamily unit, a household would need to earn at least $51,440, according to JCHS. Less than a third of renters, however, earn this much.

In some areas, rental costs are even higher. JCHS’ report notes that 84 percent of new multifamily units in the Northeast and 67 percent of those in the West went for a monthly rate of $1,350 or higher in 2013. In fact, many units built in 2012 to 2013 rented for at least $2,000 per month – which would require an annual salary of at least $80,000.

In the South and Midwest, new units rented in the $1,350 range were only about a third of growth, which indicates a more even regional supply of new units by price.

“While new multifamily construction is easing some of the demand for new units, it is currently not sufficient to ease the broader affordability problems facing renters,” notes Elizabeth La Jeunesse, a research analyst, at the JCHS’ Housing Perspectives blog. “Closing the gap between what it costs to produce this housing, and what economically disadvantaged households can afford to pay, requires the persistent efforts of both the public and private sectors.”

Source: “New Multifamily Construction Is Out of Reach for Most Renters,” Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies’ Housing Perspectives Blog (July 30, 2015) DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS

I read this article at: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2015/08/04/new-rental-units-too-pricey-for-most-renters?om_rid=AACmlZ&om_mid=_BVwQu3B9EOtOGt&om_ntype=RMODaily

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Connect with us professionally at LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=6588013&trk=tab_pro

Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at:

http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com

Thanks for reading – Sabrina

The Caton Team – Susan & Sabrina – A Family of Realtors

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices – Drysdale Properties

Sabrina BRE# 01413526 / Susan BRE #01238225 / Team BRE# 70000218/ Office BRE #01499008

Mortgage Rates Set New High for 2015

Mortgage Rates Set New High for 2015

Fixed-rate mortgages were back on the rise again this week, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rising above the 4 percent average for the first time in nearly a year, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.

“Mortgage rates rose above 4 percent for the first time since November 2014 as Treasury yields surged,” says Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac. “Markets are responding to strong employment data. In May, the U.S. economy added 280,000 jobs. Moreover, job openings surged to 5.4 million in April, up over 20 percent from a year ago.”

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending June 11:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.04 percent, with an average 0.6 point, rising from last week’s 3.87 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.20 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.25 percent, with an average 0.6 point, rising from last week’s 3.08 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.31 percent.
5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.01 percent, with an average 0.4 point, rising from last week’s 2.96 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.05 percent.
1-year ARMs: averaged 2.53 percent, with an average 0.2 point, dropping from last week’s 2.59 percent average. A year ago, 1-year ARMs averaged 2.40 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac

I read this article at: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2015/06/12/mortgage-rates-set-new-high-for-2015?om_rid=AACmlZ&om_mid=_BVex4kB9Cpzh$V&om_ntype=RMODaily

Remember to follow our Blog at: https://therealestatebeat.wordpress.com/

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.

Email Sabrina & Susan at: Info@TheCatonTeam.com

Call us at: 650-568-5522

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Thanks for reading – Sabrina

The Caton Team – Susan & Sabrina – A Family of Realtors

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices – Drysdale Properties

Sabrina BRE# 01413526 / Susan BRE #01238225 / Team BRE# 70000218/ Office BRE #01499008

Will Lenders Need a Week to Get Closing Docs In?

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Changes are coming in lending for Real Estate – thought I would share this article from Daily Real Estate News

Will Lenders Need a Week to Get Closing Docs In?

Big changes to the process and forms used in real estate closings are coming August 1 and many real estate professionals are wondering what it will take to ensure closings go smoothly in the new environment.

It falls to lenders to get a new closing disclosure form to buyers within a three-day time frame required by the Consumer Financial protection Bureau, which developed the new procedures and forms. But practitioners will play a key role in ensuring everyone is in communication to make the process go smoothly. Phil Schulman of K&L Gates in Washington, an expert on federal closing rules, says lenders will likely have to put the closing disclosure form into the mail at least a week before settlement to help ensure the three-day deadline is met. If that’s the case, all the information that goes into the closing disclosure, which replaces the HUD-1 settlement form, will have to be finalized more than a week before settlement, he says. Because lenders will have to use the U.S. Postal Service date stamp as verification of when they sent the form to the buyer.

You can learn more about the issue in NAR’s latest news video, The Voice for Real Estate, which released yesterday.

The video covers other key news events, including NAR’s latest pending home sales release, which says closings are at their highest level in nine years. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun says the trend in pending sales indicates a strong year for sales even though interest rates are likely to tick up this fall. He says the increase in rates should be modest, so sales shouldn’t be impacted much.

Also, NAR just released its 2015 Member Profile, which looks at how real estate professionals are doing, where they get their business, and other trends of interest to the real estate industry. Among other things, the report found the typical real estate professional doing 11 transactions last year, down from 12 the previous year. It also found practitioners jumping into social media in a big way, with almost two-thirds using social media, twice as many from just a few years ago. And among younger real estate pros, social media use is up to 80 percent.

I read this article at: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2015/06/12/will-lenders-need-week-get-closing-docs-in?om_rid=AACmlZ&om_mid=_BVex4kB9Cpzh$V&om_ntype=RMODaily

Remember to follow our Blog at: https://therealestatebeat.wordpress.com/

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.

Email Sabrina & Susan at: Info@TheCatonTeam.com

Call us at: 650-568-5522

Want Real Estate Info on the Go? Download our FREE Real Estate App: http://thecatonteam.com/mobileapp

Visit our Website at: http://thecatonteam.com/

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Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sabrina-Susan-The-Caton-Team-Realtors/294970377834

Yelp us at: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-caton-team-realtors-sabrina-caton-and-susan-caton-redwood-city

Or Yelp me: http://www.yelp.com/user_details_thanx?userid=gpbsls-_RLpPiE9bv3Zygw

Connect with us professionally at LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=6588013&trk=tab_pro

Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at:

http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com

Thanks for reading – Sabrina

The Caton Team – Susan & Sabrina – A Family of Realtors

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices – Drysdale Properties

Sabrina BRE# 01413526 / Susan BRE #01238225 / Team BRE# 70000218/ Office BRE #01499008

3 Ways to Make Your Home Worth More

3 Ways to Make Your Home Worth More

I truly enjoy sharing articles I find interesting – this one is in time for the Spring Real Estate Market. Enjoy – Sabrina

In its 10 years of existence, online real estate database Zillow (Z) has collected an unfathomable amount of information on housing prices. In the new book “Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate,” CEO Spencer Rascoff and chief economist Stan Humphries put that data to use by sharing ways to get the most value out of a home. “We’re interested in converting real estate from an area of folklore into fact,” Humphries told Yahoo Finance. He joined Jeff Macke to share some of his favorite tips for navigating today’s real estate market.

Redo the bathroom, not the kitchen

“It’s always been conventional wisdom that the best remodel you could do was the kitchen,” says Humphries. “We actually crunched an enormous amount of data…what we found is actually it’s the bathroom remodel that adds the most value to a house.”

According to Humphries it makes the most logical sense because with a bathroom remodel functionality is being added to the house whereas kitchen upgrades are often more about fashion.

According to Zillow’s data a mid-range $3,000 bathroom remodel results in a $1.71 increase in home value for every $1.00 spend on renovation.

Plus “when people come to stay with you, you’re going to be a lot happier that you have a nicer bathroom than kitchen.” Kitchen renovations offer among the lowest returns on investment. Both mid range and upscale work on the kitchen recover only about half of their investment.

Just don’t invest too much money in the bathroom, upscale $12,000 bathroom upgrades result only in an $0.87 increase in home value for every $1.00 spent.

Selling season

Home sales reach their peak in June, during the last week of that month residential real estate transactions are 40% higher than average. But when is the right time to list your home?

The home season starts to crank up in January and February, says Humphries. But to get the most bang for your buck you might want to list your house during the last two weeks of March. There’s a sharp spike in visitors making contact with real estate agents on Zillow beginning in mid-April and continuing into July.

Selling in the last weeks of March, before the peak in agent contacts and after the peak of newly listed homes in February puts your home in the sweet-spot where it’s likely to be seen quickly and not get lost within a flood of new listings.

Humphries writes to “put your home on the market after you fill out your NCAA March Madness basketball brackets, but before someone slips on an ivy-green jacket at the Masters Golf Tournament.”

Psychologically price your home

Ending your home price in a ‘9’ is incredibly beneficial, says Humphries. “If you were going to sell your house for $150,000, just pricing it down by $1000 and selling it for $149,000 ends up in you making $2175 more than you would if you priced it at $150,000.” The ‘9’ dynamic works for houses at all price-points.

In the majority of cases, home prices that end in a ‘9’ sell for more for a home of the same relative value that ends in a ‘0.’ The risk that the seller takes on by cutting their home price by $1,000 usually results in gaining more than $1,000 over asking.

psychological pricing also sold home faster– Zillow found that homes using ‘9’ in the thousands digit sold four days to one-week faster than those that didn’t.

I read this article at:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/3-tips-for-saving-money-on-your-home-125820548.html

Remember to follow our Blog at: https://therealestatebeat.wordpress.com/

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.

Email Sabrina & Susan at: Info@TheCatonTeam.com

Call us at: 650-568-5522

Want Real Estate Info on the Go? Download our FREE Real Estate App: http://thecatonteam.com/mobileapp

Visit our Website at: http://thecatonteam.com/

VISIT OUR NEW INSTAGRAM PAGE: http://instagram.com/thecatonteam

Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sabrina-Susan-The-Caton-Team-Realtors/294970377834

Yelp us at: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-caton-team-realtors-sabrina-caton-and-susan-caton-redwood-city

Or Yelp me: http://www.yelp.com/user_details_thanx?userid=gpbsls-_RLpPiE9bv3Zygw

Connect with us professionally at LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=6588013&trk=tab_pro

Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at:

http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com

Thanks for reading – Sabrina

The Caton Team – Susan & Sabrina – A Family of Realtors

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices – Drysdale Properties

Sabrina BRE# 01413526 / Susan BRE #01238225 / Team BRE# 70000218/ Office BRE #01499008

Don’t Ignore Boomerang Buyers

I have to say – when the real estate market crashed it was heart breaking for me to watch and live through. Now that we’ve recovered and our market on the San Francisco Peninsula is booming – I am happy to see people getting back into homeownership. What can The Caton Team do for you?

Enjoy this article from the Daily Real Estate News …

Don’t Ignore Boomerang Buyers

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS

The housing market is ignoring the largest pool of prospects: Boomerang buyers, according to Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac.

Boomerang buyers are former home owners who lost their home to a foreclosure or short sale. After sitting out of the market for several years to rebuild their credit, these buyers may be inching back to the market looking for a second chance at home ownership.

There are an estimated 7.3 million potential boomerang buyers, Blomquist says. “If we magically had 7.3 million more home owners, the home owner rate would be back to historic norms,” he notes.

Boomerang buyers mostly consist of Generation Xers and Baby Boomers. “They are the ones who are likely to come back and become home owners again than the millennials,” Blomquist says.

In a report earlier this year, RealtyTrac noted that Generation X and Baby Boomer “boomerang buyers” could “represent a massive wave of potential pent-up demand that could shape the housing market in the short term even more dramatically” than the millennials’ entrance into home ownership.

“The markets most likely to see the boomerang buyers materialize are those where there are a high percentage of housing units lost to foreclosure but where current home prices are still affordable for median income earners and where the population of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers … have held stead or increased during the Great Recession,” RealtyTrac notes in its report.

The metros expected to potentially see the most boomerang buyers over the next eight years are: Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.; Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla.; Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich.; Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Wis.; and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga.

Source: “Housing Market Recovering in 2015,” RealtyTrac (March 25, 2015) and “Get Ready for the Return of 7.3M Ex-Owners,” REALTOR® Magazine Daily News (Jan. 27, 2015)

I read this article at: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2015/03/31/dont-ignore-boomerang-buyers?om_rid=AACmlZ&om_mid=_BVGuesB9AWZZa1&om_ntype=RMODaily

Remember to follow our Blog at: https://therealestatebeat.wordpress.com/

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.

Email Sabrina & Susan at: Info@TheCatonTeam.com

Call us at: 650-568-5522

Want Real Estate Info on the Go? Download our FREE Real Estate App: http://thecatonteam.com/mobileapp

Visit our Website at: http://thecatonteam.com/

VISIT OUR NEW INSTAGRAM PAGE: http://instagram.com/thecatonteam

Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sabrina-Susan-The-Caton-Team-Realtors/294970377834

Yelp us at: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-caton-team-realtors-sabrina-caton-and-susan-caton-redwood-city

Or Yelp me: http://www.yelp.com/user_details_thanx?userid=gpbsls-_RLpPiE9bv3Zygw

Connect with us professionally at LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=6588013&trk=tab_pro

Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at:

http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com

Thanks for reading – Sabrina

The Caton Team – Susan & Sabrina – A Family of Realtors

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices – Drysdale Properties

Sabrina BRE# 01413526 / Susan BRE #01238225 / Team BRE# 70000218/ Office BRE #01499008

Solar Panels Can be a Deal Killer

Solar Panels Can be a Deal Killer

Studies have suggested that the addition of solar panels on a home can boost a home’s value. But sometimes those solar panels can sabotage a deal when it comes time to sell.

More companies are offering home owners a contract to lease solar panels where they pay no upfront costs for the installation and could start saving on their electricity bills right away. But home owners who sign onto these deals are finding some snags when they go to sell.

Potential buyers are leery of taking on the leasing payment contracts for the next 15 to 17 years because they often have to qualify on credit from the solar companies themselves. Also, some buyers are hesitant to sign a contract because they’re concerned the solar equipment will become obsolete or won’t amount in a big savings in the end after paying the leasing fee.

Some home buyers are refusing to buy the house unless the seller buys out of the remaining lease payment stream — which could be $15,000 or more.

For example, a Fresno, Calif., couple trying to sell their house told The Los Angeles Times that it attracted multiple offers but two sets of buyers backed out of the contracts due to the leased solar panels on their roof. The buyers felt the long-term cost of the lease agreement was too high or they were concerned about the credit qualifications they had to meet in order to take over the lease. Ultimately, the couple had to pay $22,000 to break the lease with the solar company so that they could sell the house.

With the rising popularity of solar, Lynn Farris, a real estate professional in Windermere Hulsey & Associates in Vacaville, Calif., says she’s already seen several disputes arise over solar panel leases, and she expects the problem to get worse.

After all, residential solar installations are rising dramatically — up by 50 percent per year since 2012, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Furthermore if you bought your solar panels using a loan you may have a situation when you sell. HERO or PACE loans are not easy to spot on a Preliminary Title Report. Since these are government-backed loans – they require being in 1^st position. Which is fine if you own your home free and clear. But most of us still carry a home loan and this poses a problem when it is time to sell. The idea is the loan will stay with the property along with the solar panels. What if the buyer cannot afford this loan? Worse yet – the buyers’ lender WILL NOT loan on a home if they are not in first position. So the seller may be stuck paying off the entire loan though they no longer reap the benefits after they move out. You see, these types of loans are rolled into the property taxes – so there is no separate payment for them. They are attached to the property and therefore transferred to the buyers upon sale. New owners are then responsible for repayment of the loan. At times, sellers may forget to disclose this loan since they are not making monthly payments and it is not top of mind. The worst case result – some lenders will not lend on properties with HERO and PACE loans on them since banks require being in first position for new purchase loans. And this issue may not arise until a buyer is further down the road in the loan process.

Solar panels are awesome and I do believe a great way to help the environment and your pocketbook. We advise our clients to disclose this issue right away when selling so the buyer can be better prepared – or find a cash buyer where this will not be an issue.

I read this article at: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2015/03/23/solar-panels-can-be-deal-killer?om_rid=AACmlZ&om_mid=_BVEFSkB9AEosrT&om_ntype=RMODaily

Remember to follow our Blog at: https://therealestatebeat.wordpress.com/

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.

Email Sabrina & Susan at: Info@TheCatonTeam.com

Call us at: 650-568-5522

Want Real Estate Info on the Go? Download our FREE Real Estate App: http://thecatonteam.com/mobileapp

Visit our Website at: http://thecatonteam.com/

VISIT OUR NEW INSTAGRAM PAGE: http://instagram.com/thecatonteam

Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sabrina-Susan-The-Caton-Team-Realtors/294970377834

Yelp us at: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-caton-team-realtors-sabrina-caton-and-susan-caton-redwood-city

Or Yelp me: http://www.yelp.com/user_details_thanx?userid=gpbsls-_RLpPiE9bv3Zygw

Connect with us professionally at LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=6588013&trk=tab_pro

Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at:

http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com

Thanks for reading – Sabrina

The Caton Team – Susan & Sabrina – A Family of Realtors

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices – Drysdale Properties

Sabrina BRE# 01413526 / Susan BRE #01238225 / Team BRE# 70000218/ Office BRE #01499008

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