06
Jul
By support
Home Mortgage Tips

Budgeting 101: How to Plan Your Budget Around Your Monthly Mortgage Payments

Budgeting 101: How to Plan Your Budget Around Your Monthly Mortgage PaymentsIf you’ve decided to invest in a home, you might be wondering how to make all of the expenses work. From the groceries to your mode of transportation, all of those little things can quickly add up. Fortunately, it’s easy enough to ensure you have the money each month by carefully calculating your expenses and ensuring there’s a little wiggle room in case of leaner times. Here are the details on how to begin with your mortgage budgeting plan.

Calculate Your Monthly Payment

Whether you’ve just purchased a home or are trying to determine if your dream home is right for you, it’s very important to establish approximately what your monthly payment will be. It’s critical to have a mortgage cost that is sustainable, so add up your mortgage payment, home insurance, property taxes and any other required payments. While this should give you a ballpark figure, you’ll want to ensure you add a bit of extra room in case your taxes or interest rate should rise.

Determine Your Necessary Expenses

It’s easy to be idealistic and assume that you’ll be able to come up with the money for your dream home, but it’s very important to keep your feet on the ground and be realistic about your budget. Once you’ve determined your payment, calculate the average amount for your utilities, transportation costs and any debt you have. You’ll also want to add in groceries, toiletries, and extras like gym passes, meals or entertainment. By adding up your monthly payment and your expenses, you should be able to determine if a house is realistic for you.

Leave A Little Extra

If your expenses and your home costs add up to balance out, that’s great, but don’t forget to leave a little extra room in your budget for the other things you’ll need. While you’ll want to ensure you’re saving money for the future, if you have any short-term life goals like a travel destination or going back to school you’ll need to save for those. Also, the unexpected can occur at any time so you’ll want to have some cash stashed away for the times when the car breaks down or there’s a medical issue.

When investing in a home, you’ll need to feel confident that you can make your monthly mortgage payment and still have enough left over to pay your expenses and savings for down the road. If you’re currently preparing to buy, contact your trusted mortgage professionals for more information.

05
Jul
By support
Home Seller Tips

Family Matters: The Pros and Cons of Selling Your Home to a Family Member

Family Matters: The Pros and Cons of Selling Your Home to a Family MemberIt can be a stressful experience to put your home on the market and wait for offers in the hope that you’ve priced it right. However, for those who are considering selling to family members, the sale of a home can be fraught with just as much stress before and after sealing the deal. If you’re wondering if it’s a good idea to sell to a family member, here are some things to consider beforehand.

Providing A Discount

Whether you’re selling to a sibling or a child, you may be considering offering the home at a discount to help them out. Fortunately, since the discounted value will be different than the market value of the price, this may mean a taxable gain when it comes time for them to sell the property after a few years of residing in it. On the other hand, if your financial health is not the best, selling at a lower price to a family member can create an undue financial burden for you.

An Owner-Financed Sale

If you’re trying to help your child get on their feet, the option exists for an owner-financed sale where your child will be making monthly payments to you. This provides the benefit of not having to worry about a lender and avoiding interest rates on top of the payment. While this can be a great feeling as a parent to be able to help your child, it’s important to weigh the decision carefully to determine that your child will not default on the loan and it won’t be tiresome for you to act as the lender.

Keeping It In The Family

For most people, the home they live in has sentimental value, whether they’ve lived there for a few years or it’s been in the family for generations. That’s why it can be a great comfort for many to sell to a family member who will understand the house’s history and the family traditions. If the deal is going to put a strain on relationships, though, it may not be worth the well-being of the family to keep the home among the relatives.

It can be a comfort to sell a home to a family member and secure their well-being, but there can be financial hurdles involved that can have an adverse impact on the relationship. If you’re currently considering purchasing from a family member, contact your trusted mortgage professional for more information.

03
Jul
By support
Mortgage Rates

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – July 3, 2017

Last week’s economic news included Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, pending home sales and inflation. Weekly readings on mortgage rates and new jobless claims were released along with a reading on consumer sentiment. Case-Shiller and pending home sales readings suggested that recent rapid growth in home prices and home sales may be easing. High demand for homes coupled with low inventories of homes for sale has created an artificially high rate of home price growth and competition among buyers for a limited number of homes.

Home Price Growth Rate, Pending Home Sales Slow

Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for April showed lower home price growth than in March. April’s 20-City Home Price Index slipped from a seasonally-adjusted year-over-year rate of 5.60 percent to 5.50 percent. Analysts noted that high home prices and a limited inventory of homes on the market have sidelined some buyers.

According to the Commerce Department, pending home sales remained in negative territory in May with a reading of -0.80 percent as compared to April’s reading of -0.90 percent. While this is an improvement, home sales typically pick up during spring and summer months; a negative reading in pending home sales suggests that would-be buyers are waiting for home prices to ease and for more homes to become available.

Mortgage Rates Mixed, New Jobless Claims Rise

Freddie Mac reported 30-year mortgage rates were two basis points lower at an average of 3.88 percent, while the average rate for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage was unchanged at 3.17 percent. The average rate for a 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage rose three basis points to 3.17 percent. Discount points were unchanged at an average of 0.50 percent for all mortgage types.

First-time unemployment claims were higher last week at 244,000; analysts estimated a reading of 243,0000 new claims based on the prior week’s reading of 242,000 new claims.

Consumer spending declined by 0.30 percent to 0.10 percent in May, which matched analyst’s expectations. Core consumer spending met expectations and held steady in May with a reading of 0.10 percent growth. Consumer sentiment rose in June to an index reading of 95.10 as compared to expectations of 94.50, which matched April’s reading of 94.50

What‘s Ahead

This week’s economic news releases include readings on construction spending, ADP and Non-Farm payrolls and the national unemployment rate. Weekly readings on mortgage rates and new jobless claims will also be released.