Blog — Page 723 of 848 — First Rate Financial Group

18

Nov

Around The Home

Remodeling 101: How to Create a Proper Budget for Any Renovation, Large or Small

Remodeling 101: How to Create a Proper Budget for Any Renovation, Large or Small Whether you’re readying to put your home on the market or you haven’t updated your space in a while and want to modernize, approaching renovations can be a struggle. With so many things to fix up, both large and small, it can seem overwhelming to prioritize, set the money aside and get to work. If you’re having trouble figuring out where to begin with budget, here are some tips for how to properly prioritize so you can maximize your renovation expenditures.

Determine What Is Most Important

Whether it’s the tile floor in your bathroom or the outdated kitchen sink, if the need for an upgrade in a certain part of your home has been staring you in the face for a while, you’ll want to begin there. By determining your first priority and the no-frills cost assessment of completing it, you can arrive at the cost of what renovating the item will mean. Once you’re in the ballpark, you can then move on to any additional features or accessories that may perk up your basic renovation.

Add A Little Extra To The Budget

The downside of any budget is that costs will always come along that were not predicted, and they can entirely break the bank and your original projections. Instead of hoping for the best, add some extra money to the outline of total expenses for your renovation so you can be prepared for some of the hiccups that will come along. This will ensure that you have the financial wherewithal to complete the renovation and won’t be disappointed in the final outcome for your finances.

Consider Where You Can Cutback

Whether you’ve been dreaming of a new living room set for a while or replacing the flooring in the kitchen, you can update the area of your choice while still economizing in other ways. For example, if you’re going for modern eclectic in your living room, you may want to splurge on an updated couch, but you may be able to save by purchasing a retro coffee table online or a unique side chair that’s secondhand to go along with it. This may provide a unique upgrade, without all the expense of in-store purchases.

It can be hard to know where to begin when it comes to revamping your house, but it’s important to start with what you really can’t live without and move outward from there. If you’re curious about home renovations and how they can improve the market value of your home, you may want to contact your trusted mortgage professional for refinancing options that will work for your situation.

17

Nov

By support

Home Mortgage Tips

Refinancing Tips: 5 Questions to Ask Your Lender to Ensure You’ve Done Your Homework

Refinancing Tips: 5 Questions to Ask Your Lender to Ensure You've Done Your Homework If you’re looking to refinance your home, you’re likely going to benefit from lower mortgage payments. But lower mortgage payments aren’t the whole story with a refinance. A refinance plan may change several key terms of your mortgage agreement – which may work for or against you.

Before you refinance, you’ll want to ask your lender these five key questions – it’ll help you ensure you’re getting a deal you can afford.

How Long Does It Take To Close?

Closing a refinance isn’t always straightforward, and in some cases it can take some time before your refinance is approved. For instance, your lender may want to assess your home’s value prior to issuing the refinance. In such a case, you’ll need to have a new home appraisal – which can extend the timeframe for closing.

What Are The Closing Costs?

Even though you’re refinancing, when it comes to closing costs, your lender will treat your refinance like a new mortgage. Oftentimes, closing costs will run between two and five percent of the purchase price, and will include title insurance, lender fees, appraisal fees, origination fees, and more. Before you refinance your home, ask your lender for a full list of your estimated closing costs.

Are There Any Additional Fees On Top Of Closing Costs?

Lenders often vary with respect to what fees they include in closing costs. You might need to pay for a property survey, land transfer tax, or insurance – and sometimes, not all of these fees are included in your closing estimate. You’ll want to ask your lender exactly what is included in closing costs and what additional fees you’ll need to pay.

Can I Prepay Without Penalty?

If you want to pay off your mortgage early, this could very well be the most important question you ask your lender upon refinancing. Some lenders will charge you a penalty fee if you make payments ahead of schedule. If you’re refinancing in order to get a lower interest rate and pay your mortgage off sooner, you’ll want to ensure that prepaying won’t lead you to incur penalties.

Can I Lock In My Rate?

Mortgage rates are low right now, but they’re likely to start going back up next year. So if you want to ensure you get a great deal, you’ll want to try to lock into a low rate now. Ask your lender if you can lock in your refinancing rate – it could save you a great deal of money in the future.

Refinancing your mortgage can seem complicated, but when you ask the right questions, you’ll ensure you get a great deal. Contact your trusted mortgage professional to learn more about refinancing.

16

Nov

By support

Market Outlook

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – November 16, 2015

The Fibromyalgia Diet: Healthy Eating Ideas That Could Help You Feel Better Last week’s scheduled economic news was sparse due to no scheduled releases on Monday and the Veterans Day Holiday on Wednesday. A report on job openings was released on Thursday along with regularly scheduled weekly reports on jobless claims and Freddie Mac’s report on mortgage rates.

Mortgage Rates, Weekly Jobless Claims Rise

Mortgage rates rose last week according to Freddie Mac. The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 3.98 percent from last week’s reading of 3.87 percent. The average rate for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 3.20 percent from the prior week’s reading of 3.09 percent; the average rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage was also higher at an average of 3.03 percent as compared to the prior week’s average rate of 2.96 percent. Discount points were unchanged for all three types of mortgages at 0.60 percent for fixed rate mortgages and 0.40 for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages.

New jobless claims rose last week to 276,000 claims filed against the expected reading of 268,000 new claims and the prior week’s reading of 276,000 new jobless claims filed. The Labor department reported 5.53 million job openings on September, which was the second highest reading since the inception of the job openings report in 2000.

The Labor Department also reported that the quits rate held steady at 1.90 percent for the sixth consecutive month. Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said that the Fed considers the quits rate an indicator of economic strength; if workers have enough confidence to quit their jobs for new jobs, this a strong economy. The quits rate has held steady for six months, which could signal to the Fed that the economy is not yet ready for a rise in interest rates that analysts expect to occur in December.

U.S. News recently cautioned that a combination of rising home prices and interest rates could quickly cool housing markets as first-time and moderate income buyers are priced out of the market and other would-be buyers find it difficult to qualify for the mortgages they need to finance home purchases. Recent hikes in mortgage rates are a likely response to the anticipated Fed rate hike in December.

What’s Ahead

Next week’s scheduled economic reports include the National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index, Housing Starts and minutes from the most recent meeting of the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee. The minutes may provide additional insight into how Fed policymakers are approaching the decision about raising the target federal funds rate.