Contrary to popular belief, there are pros to renting vs. home ownership. Proponents of renting value the flexibility it offers – especially for short term stays. Renting also ensures that unforeseen home repairs won’t derail your savings.
While most understand the long-term benefits of home ownership, it may feel out of reach due to massive cash down payments and the added expense of maintaining a home. Those who can’t qualify for financing due to a lack of savings, other debts, or poor credit simply have no other choice. Since renting does not provide the opportunity for generating wealth like home ownership does, many encourage renters to jump off the merry-go-round as quickly as they can. We take a more balanced approach. Before you renew your lease, ask these 5 questions to see if home ownership could be in your future.
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This article is the personal opinion of MT Realty Advisors, a Long & Foster team, and does not reflect the views of Long & Foster, it's ownership or affiliates. By now, most of us have read the mainstream headlines around the proposed settlement between the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Plaintiffs in the Sitzer Burnett case.
While opinion pieces abound, they tend to repeat a click-bait narrative almost as though they’ve been written with the same AI copy. “Realtor commissions are going away”, “Consumers stand to gain a windfall of savings”, and “real estate is forever changed”. The devil is in the details, and many of the articles arguably fall short of details. Anyone who knows our team’s approach to real estate – informed by my past career in hedge and private equity funds – knows we use data to shape our real estate outlook. Get the data, and let the data do the talking. Seems simple enough. Since analytics are noticeably absent from most opinion pieces, allow me to shed light on the recent turn of events using data while trepidatiously accepting the challenge of compressing this synopsis in a ten-minute read to accommodate our typical attention span. Start your clocks! This article will get to the heart of answering the very pointed and personal question we are all asking. “How does this news potentially impact my investment in the housing market?” At the end of this article, I’ll dive into some of my predictions you may or may not find a repetitious read. First, let me get into the story that no one is telling. It starts like this, “once upon a time…” Central Virginia is an area known to have radon gas levels that exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) actionable limit. Yet many homeowners have never tested for the presence and volume of radon that may be hiding in their homes.
What is radon gas? Is radon gas commonly found in Central Virginia homes? Is it dangerous? What can you do if radon is detected? Let us break down these - and many more questions - in our step-by-step guide geared to keep you and your loved ones safe and healthy in your dream home. In this in-depth guide, we’ll answer these questions:
By the end, you’ll have all the information you need to stay safe and healthy from a little-known silent killer. You dream of home ownership, but the down payment requirement dashes those hopes. I mean, who has tens of thousands of dollars sitting around? Many mistakenly believe they need an impossible 20% down payment to put toward buying a home. But the reality is homeownership can come at little or no up-front cost through down payment assistance programs.
It was recently reported that over 2,000 buyer assistance programs exist in the U.S. – the average benefit between $10,000 and $12,000. Yet many of the home buyers I’ve worked with didn’t know these existed or how to access them. In fact, a recent survey suggested that less than half of non-homeowners are aware of any down payment assistance. So here are the basics on these programs as well as 3 easy steps to see if you qualify! In Part 1 of this series, we highlighted how homeowners can access the necessary up-front cash through savings, investment accounts, equity in their home and other solutions to purchase a home before they sell.
Having a place to go before you list is the key to being able to list confidently in a low inventory, seller’s market. But even homeowners who can’t access upfront cash have options. I present Part 2 of my case. Many homeowners are hesitant to list their home because…where on earth will they go once they do? Proud claims about double digit showings, multiple offers, and outrageous bidding wars sound great…until you realize that’s the competition you are up against when it’s your turn to buy!
Many sit on the sidelines - unmoved by sales pitches and rightly concerned about the next step for their family. But what if I told you that there are ways to navigate a transition successfully even in the toughest market? And, no, it doesn’t include your family finding themselves homeless. Don’t believe me? Allow me five minutes to present my case in the first of this two-part series. You just may find yourself convinced beyond a reasonable doubt. If you are thinking of buying a home, the 2023 housing market promises to be especially challenging to navigate. Here are 3 reasons why, and how you should respond.
Interest rates affect real estate. What affects interest rates?
By now, we may all have heard so much "rate hike" talk that we are numb to it. But for real estate, interest rates are one key indicator of whether we will find ourselves in a sellers’ market or a buyers’ market. This week and next are going to be big for the rates market and for the spring real estate market. Here's why! The 2023 real estate market is eclipsed by higher interest rates, strong home values and swirling fears over economic uncertainty. Savvy consumers watching national trends and headlines question if it’s time to buy…or time to wait.
Here are 4 questions to ask to help you decipher if 2023 is your year. It would be easiest to jump on the dooms day band wagon and predict a housing market crash. After all, no one criticizes pessimists when markets perform better than they predict. We aren’t as kind to those who overshoot with rosy predictions, though.
Yet the reality I see in the housing market - as the factors stand today – is promising. So allow me to put my head on the chopping block and suggest that the housing market may see a soft landing this next recession rather than the crash and burn we saw in 2008. A big reason why? |
MoreOwning real estate should be a journey of building & preserving wealth through the equity in your home or other properties. Our resources are designed to give current and would-be homeowners tips & trick to maintain, improve & shop for their greatest asset. Your search for value in real estate stops here. Archives
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