Sarasota Mortgage Rates | The Mortgage Skinny

To Sumarize the latest in the Housing market: New home sales data came out on Wednesday, Dec. 27th with a positive message.  Home Sales rebounded, up .04 million to 1.05 million in October.  The average median home price came in at $251,700 in November which is about a $3,000 increase since October.  This is good news since we’ve had a decline in home sales in the fall of this year, as well as an increase in the amount of homes put on the market.  Even though the pace of home sales is down 15.3 percent from the hot market we were in last year, it’s up nearly 7 percent from the decline that we had in July. 

This doesn’t mean that we are completely out of our decline in home sales but it is an indicator that we might be getting close.  There are still an overwhelming amount of properties for sale which has turned this market into a buyer’s market.  Developer’s are going to continue to hand out incentives, such as paying up to 6% closing costs and paying a year’s worth of Home owners Association dues.  But I have a feeling that this is a sign that we’re getting closer to bottoming out (if we haven’t bottomed out already), and that 2007 we’re going to see a slight change for the better.

So for all of you buyer’s out there, now is the time.  It’s your market!  Read the posts before this and realize that the power is in your hand.

Blake Gratton, The Mortgage Skinny

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - It’s no secret that the housing market  finally, after a long while, belongs to the buyer. Home sales and prices   sagged in 2006, and 2007 is not expected to be too different. According to David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, buyers have a “window of opportunity” in 2007 to take advantage of lower mortgage interest rates and seller flexibility.

Colby Sambrotto, COO of ForSaleByOwner.com, a no-commission real estate marketplace, offers these rules for shopping for a new home in a buyer’s market:

Don’t limit yourself. While you should look for homes that are listed with real estate agents, don’t discount properties that are for sale by owner. They make up about 25% of the market, and you may be able to find a good deal with one of them thanks to a lack of agent commission and fees.

Hold onto a property for a while. Now is not the time to buy a condo or home to flip quickly for a profit. Make sure you buy a property at a good value - you’re more likely to have a good sale in the future. Read the rest of this entry »

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Whether you already have a mortgage or you plan to buy a house in the next year, here are seven mortgage tips for 2007.

1. Review your mortgage _ does it still fit your circumstances? Interest rates change, children are born and grow up, sometimes you need to fix up the house and sometimes you need to move on. Life events can trigger changes in the way you pay for your house.

“Every year,” says Dan Hanson, who oversees the retail branches for Countrywide Home Loans,” say, ‘What’s going to happen this year?’ Do I have a child who, in a year, is going to college? Are we going to have a child, maybe add a bedroom or have to move?’” The answer might make you go mortgage shopping.

For example, let’s say you own a house and plan to move in a couple of years because your family is going to grow. Consider refinancing into an adjustable-rate mortgage with a low initial rate that lasts three years (a “3/1 hybrid ARM”). That initial rate probably is lower than the rate you’re paying now and the same with the monthly payments.

Hanson believes that you should ask yourself periodically: “Is my interest rate higher than the market today? Would it make sense to refinance, to take cash out? Would it be a good idea to get a reverse mortgage? How much is my house worth?”

2. Watch out for reset. Have you ever seen a cartoon where Bugs Bunny stands at the base of a cliff and he yells at someone standing on the cliff’s edge, “Watch that foist step. It’s a doozy!” Same thing with a lot of adjustable-rate mortgages: The first step is a doozy _ but up instead of down. Read the rest of this entry »

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