home buyers

Where Are Mortgage Rates Headed?

The interest rate you pay on your home mortgage has a direct impact on your monthly payment. The higher the rate the greater the payment will be. That is why it is important to look at where rates are headed when deciding to buy now or wait until next year.

According to a recent article in Kiplinger, 30 year mortgage rates are about to increase:

“Now around 4.1%, rates will edge slowly toward 4.4% by the end of this year. Then they’ll follow the Treasury bond rate’s upward move in early 2015. Thirty-year home loans should end 2015 at around 5.1%, still low by historical standards.”

Here is a graph created by using interest rate projections in Freddie Mac’s August 2014 U.S. Economic & Housing Market Outlook:

How will this impact a mortgage payment?

Research released this month by Zillow reveals:

“We examined how a 1 percentage point rise in mortgage rates would impact monthly payments for the typical home in 35 metro areas, and found that the difference this year versus next year varies dramatically from market to market. In the Bay Area, for example, potential buyers should expect to see a monthly payment increase of more than $700 if they waited a year to buy the same home they were considering today. By contrast, in St. Louis, the difference is only $65 per month.”

Bottom Line

As interest rates rise, home buyers will confront higher monthly mortgage payments. This in turn may cause a market slow down and consequently impact sellers.

Top Ten Mistakes Home Buyers Make

Here is a list of the top mistakes that buyers commonly make:

1. Not realizing that if you don’t write a strong offer to purchase, the seller may reject or not respond to your offer.

2. Not realizing that if you don’t write a strong offer to purchase, you may lose the property to another more highly motivated buyer.

3. Not realizing that, without a confidentiality agreement, a seller need not treat your offer as confidential.

4. Not understanding when a contract becomes legally binding.

5. Entering into an agreement before checking title records, liens, and other things to ascertain whether the seller will be able to close escrow as scheduled.

6. Not understanding the legal implications of loan and inspection contingencies, and other contractual provisions.

7. Not obtaining seller’s disclosures.

8. Not conducting your own inspections and investigations as the buyer.

9. Not fully considering the legal, tax, credit, and other ramifications of homeownership, especially co-ownership.

9. Not properly handling a claim for property defects discovered after close of escrow.

Avoid these mistakes and be fully informed. Call us, if you or someone you know is looking to purchase a home in the Tri-Valley.

^{Source: C.A.R Legal Department}

Moving Advice to Make Moving Day Easier

For many people, summer is the best time to move – the kids are out of school, the weather is nice, and the home-selling season is at its peak. In fact, 11-13% of all moves occur during summer months as compared to 8% or less during the other months of the year.

To help the million American households that move each year, Moving.com, a leading online destination for moving-related resources operated by Move, Inc., recently released a helpful summer moving timeline with useful tips on how home buyers and sellers can quickly get organized and easily prepared for a seamless transition to their next home.

Below are tips and advice for home buyers, sellers and renters planning a move this summer.

Moving Timeline and Tips for a Summer Move

4 weeks from move date: Get organized and start notifying the right people and companies that you’ll be moving soon and give them a date to forward or terminate service. Start looking for licensed and professional moving companies, moving guides and relevant coupons.

Tip: If using a professional mover, get quotes from multiple moving companies to get the best deal that is right for you and your needs. Ask plenty of questions like whether or not they give binding quotes and what kind of insurance is included. Be sure to talk with them about the different options available with full-service moves such as packing and unpacking services and providing boxes and packing supplies.
Tip: Important documents such as your child’s school records may need to be accessible during your transition. Make sure to put these items aside and make copies of any records for yourself, in case you forget what box they’re packed in.
Tip: Use the free Moving.com Address Changer service to save time and to ensure you’ve covered all the ground necessary to better ensure your move is seamless. Fill out change of address forms for creditors, doctors and personal providers. Schedule account closings for trash removal, gardeners, pest control, etc., and transfer utilities or other services that’ll go with you.

3 weeks from move date: Once you’ve selected a mover, begin by taking inventory of your belongings and their worth and decide what will be coming with you to your next home.

Tip: Start cleaning out closets, drawers and storage areas of your home and divide things into categories: “pack,” “recycle” and “give to friend.” You can always have a garage sale or donate old items to charity. This will make packing day a lot easier and you may reduce the total weight you’ll be paying for to move.
Tip: If you’re moving yourself or contracting for a self-service move, pack the items you know you won’t need until 30 days after the move. It will feel great to get started early.
Tip: If possible, take pictures of rooms and areas inside the home or apartment you’ll be moving into so you can start thinking about placement of furniture, artwork and other items. This will help save time, headaches and money on moving day.

2 weeks from move date: If you choose not to take advantage of full-service mover packing services, or are planning to do it yourself and rent a truck, start packing things into boxes. Figure out the logistics of the move, travel plans and if other specialized plans need to be made.

Tip: If you are using a professional mover, find out what items are on their “non-allowables” list and discard those items or find a way to transport them separately.
Tip: Instead of stacking plates, pack them vertically; they will travel safer this way.
Tip: If you are moving long distance, remember travel arrangements for your pets. There are pet-exclusive airlines available, such as Pet Airways, but regular airlines have travel options for pets as well.
Tip: If you have young children, you may want to make childcare arrangements so you can be 100% focused on moving day and your little ones remain safe and busy with fun activities.
Tip: Schedule “move out” cleaning service, carpet cleaners and heavy appliance disposal if necessary for once you’re out of the home you’re vacating. Even if you’re selling your current home, it’s a nice welcome for the buyers to move into a clean and tidy home.

1 week from move date: Set aside valuable items and keep those with you. Clean before moving and leave your house or apartment as clean as it was when you moved in.

Tip: Make sure the details for paying the moving company are taken care of. Some will require money orders or cashier’s checks upon delivery; know their policy in advance to avoid stress on moving day.
Tip: Start eating all the frozen foods you have, or give them to a neighbor or friend. This way you won’t have to throw them away on moving day, or worry about packing an ice chest.
Tip: Also think about necessities for managing moving day like confining your pets and anticipating the amount of time you will need.
Tip: Place necessities such as toiletries, toilet paper, rags, “must-have” cooking supplies and organize them in boxes marked “open first” so it’s easy to find the initial items you’ll want handy on those first few days of being in your next home. Don’t forget the flashlight.
Tip: If possible, take one last tour of the new location and identify water and gas shut off locations, as well as the electrical breaker box just in case something happens in the first few days so you’re prepared. Might be smart to drop off a fresh box of light bulbs too.

Moving day and beyond: Take one last walk through and make sure nothing has been forgotten or overlooked. Also, make sure all doors and windows are locked and switches turned off.

Tip: Go back to the photos you took when you began to pack up. Now you can show the movers or those helping you unpack exactly where everything goes with photos.
Tip: Unpack one room at a time according to basic needs starting with the kitchen and at least one bathroom…and don’t forget to make a bed as early in the day as possible if you’ll be sleeping in your home that evening. Remember, you don’t have to unpack everything in one day, or even in one week.
Tip: After you’ve settled in a bit, introduce yourself to some neighbors, ask for advice on the best places to eat, grocery shop, etc. This way you will feel like part of the community and can get some great local tips.

For more information, visit www.Moving.com.

Interest rates hit a low with Fed’s bond buy

With the Federal Reserve recently announcing it will spend $1.2 trillion to purchase government-backed IOUs, including approximately $300 million on Treasury bonds, this plan could be great news for Tri-Valley homeowners hoping to refinance and home buyers seeking new loans.

The Fed’s announcement pushed down long-term interest rates, which in turn drove down mortgage rates. Interest rates on 30-year, fixed-rate loans dropped as low as 4.5 percent following the news.

Recommended by Friends

We want you to know that we appreciate the expertise and time you gave us during the process of purchasing our wonderful new home. As you’ll recall, prior to meeting you we had our home on the market with other agents who were unable to sell it. During this time, you sold our friends’ home who raved about you and your services. You called us up and told us if there was anything you could do to help to let you know, and we’re glad you did.

At the time, we hadn’t decided what we wanted to do. Ultimately, we traded homes with our son and we started looking for a larger home in which our mom could stay with us too. You were tireless in your pursuit in finding us the right home. You stuck with us even when we weren’t sure what we wanted.

When we found the right home you counseled us on the price to offer on the home even though we were willing to pay more. You were able to secure the home $55,000 below the seller’s asking price! In addition, you recommended that we not rely on the seller’s pest report, but instead have our own inspection done from the company you regularly use. Much to our surprise, this revealed over $15,000 of repairs that needed to be done, which you negotiated to have the sellers pay.

Not only have you proven yourself to be a strong negotiator, but you also kept us informed daily as to the progress of the sale. You clearly had out best interests in mind from the outset and were still working with us even after closing to ensure we were satisfied with post closing activity.

We have worked with a number of Realtors in the past on several purchases and sales, however, your level of service and expertise is substantially higher than what we have experienced before. Quite frankly, that is exactly why our friends originally recommended you. It’s now obvious to us why you are a Top Agent in your business.

Many thanks,

Vincent Acquisto, Esq. & Susan Acquisto

Exemplified Professionalism

You met and exceeded all our expectations. Most importantly, you did so by making us feel like we were your only clients at the time…we didn’t feel like just another sale. We chose to work with you because you and your staff exemplified professionalism, with genuine care and sincerity.

You were never pushy and always offered advice with our family’s best interest in mind. In fact, you negotiated for us to get our house for $25,000 less than asking! That was even after the sellers had already rejected 2 previous offers which were higher in price!

The entire process was so smooth. There were no surprises and we were never made to feel that any questions we had were either too small or too big to be addressed.

We would definitely recommend you to our friends and family!

Thank you,

Rowena and Van Do