Getting Your Home Ready to Sell

Story taken from Melinda Casem of Premier Mortgage Resources.

61% Of First-Time Buyers Put Down Less Than 6%

According to the National Association of Realtors’ latest Realtors Confidence Index, 61% of first-time homebuyers purchased their homes with down payments below 6% from October 2016 through November 2017.

Many potential homebuyers believe that a 20% down payment is necessary to buy a home and have disqualified themselves without even trying. The median down payment for all buyers in 2017 was just 10% and that percentage drops to 6% for first-time buyers.

Zillow Senior Economist Aaron Terrazas’ recent comments shed light on why buyer demand has remained strong,

“Looking into 2018, rent is expected to continue gaining. More widespread rent growth could mean home buying demands stay high, as renters who can afford it move away from the unpredictability of rising rents toward the relative stability of a monthly mortgage payment instead.”

It’s no surprise that with rents rising, more and more first-time buyers are taking advantage of low-down-payment mortgage options to secure their monthly housing costs and finally attain their dream homes.

Bottom Line

If you are one of the many first-time buyers who is not sure if you would qualify for a low-down payment mortgage, call Lowes Flat Fee Realty, we can set you on your path to homeownership!

Story taken from "Keeping Current Matters".

Fabulous Home By Award Winner Builder

Fabulous home by award winner builder Ninety Degree Construction! Located at 2875 E. Bourbon St. in Meridian. This Energy Star home has an inviting living room w/raised corner fireplace & stone surround. Stunning kitchen includes slab granite, custom cabinets, tile backsplash & flooring. Master suite with dual vanities, soaker tub & walk-in dual head tile shower. Custom black out/two way blinds through-out. Matching cabinets in the huge laundry room. Hot tub & electrical pad ready, just add hot tub! 3-car finished garage with epoxy flooring. Must see!

See photos below, then click here for more photos and information.

You can also learn more about us at lowesflatfee.com. 

Beautiful Sundance Home

Beautiful Sundance home located at 5371 N. Diamond Creek Ave in Meridian. In highly sought after schools of Rocky, Heritage, and Prospect. 5 bedrooms (or 4 bedroom and office) and plenty of storage space.  Extended patio for entertaining.  Large shed for storage and extended 3rd bay garage. Located in the wonderful neighborhood of Ventana.  

See photos below, then click here for more photos and information.

You can also learn more about us at lowesflatfee.com. 

Should I Wait Until Next Year To Buy? Or Buy Now?

Some Highlights:

• The Cost of Waiting to Buy is defined as the additional funds it would take to buy a home if prices & interest rates were to increase over a period of time.
• Freddie Mac predicts interest rates to rise to 5.1% by 2019.
• CoreLogic predicts home prices to appreciate by 4.3% over the next 12 months.
• If you are ready and willing to buy your dream home, find out if you are able to!

Story taken from "Keeping Current Matters".

Wondering If You Can Buy Your First Home?

There are many people sitting on the sidelines trying to decide if they should purchase a home or sign a rental lease. Some might wonder if it makes sense to purchase a house before they are married and have a family, others might think they are too young, and still, others might think their current income would never enable them to qualify for a mortgage.

We want to share what the typical first-time homebuyer actually looks like based on the National Association of REALTORS most recent Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers. Here are some interesting revelations on the first-time buyer:

Bottom Line

You may not be much different than many people who have already purchased their first homes. Meet with a realtor at Lowes Flat Fee Realty today who can help determine if your dream home is within your grasp.

Story taken from "Keeping Current Matters".

Beautiful Move-In Ready Home

Come see this beautiful move-in ready home located in a quiet neighborhood at 2370 N Gladys Dr. in Idaho Falls. This home has a great open floor plan featuring large spacious bedrooms with walk-in closets and plenty of storage space for all of your essentials. This bright and airy home with vaulted ceilings in the kitchen and living room has recently been painted and boasts many upgrades. The kitchen has plenty of storage space with a walk-in pantry, beautiful knotty alder cabinets, and upgraded ceramic countertops and backsplash. The basement is features a large bedroom, an office - with opportunity to transform into an additional bedroom, large modern bathroom, and a vast living space with theater style lighting. This gorgeous home won’t last long, so come see it to today.

See photos below.

You can also learn more about us at lowesflatfee.com.

Where Are Mortgage Interest Rates Headed In 2018?

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 know where rates are headed when deciding to start your home search.

Below is a chart created using Freddie Mac’s U.S. Economic & Housing Marketing Outlook. As you can see, interest rates are projected to increase steadily over the course of the next 12 months.

How Will This Impact Your Mortgage Payment?

Depending on the amount of the loan that you secure, a half of a percent (.5%) increase in interest rate can increase your monthly mortgage payment significantly.

According to CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index, national home prices have appreciated 7.0% from this time last year and are predicted to be 4.2% higher next year.

If both the predictions of home price and interest rate increases become reality, families would wind up paying considerably more for their next home.

Bottom Line 

Even a small increase in interest rate can impact your family’s wealth. Meet with a local real estate professional to evaluate your ability to purchase your dream home.

Story taken from "Keeping Current Matters".

The #1 Reason To Sell Now Before Spring

The price of any item (including residential real estate) is determined by ‘supply and demand.’ If many people are looking to buy an item and the supply of that item is limited, the price of that item increases.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the supply of homes for sale dramatically increases every spring. As an example, here is what happened to housing inventory at the beginning of 2017:

Putting your home on the market now instead of waiting for increased competition in the spring might make a lot of sense.

Bottom Line

Buyers in the market during the winter months are truly motivated purchasers. They want to buy now. With limited inventory currently available in most markets, sellers are in a great position to negotiate.

Story taken from "Keeping Current Matters".

Location Location!

Location, Location -Located at 2264 Meadow St. in Idaho Falls. Will pay 3% to selling agent. Please do not disturb the tenants. No sign, No lockbox. Serious inquiries can tour the home with advanced notice and arranged with tenant. Cozy 3bdr, 1.5 bath 1,800 sq ft, split level, brick home conveniently located 5 minutes from EITC, banks, restaurants, Home Depot, Grand Teton Mall and more. This home has lots of storage, gas furnance, fireplace insert, rec room, unfinished laundry room with egress window, and a 4th unfinished bedroom with egress window- both in the basement w/rec room. The yard is fully fenced with in-ground sprinkler system, there´s RV parking, attached garage, covered carport and a huge 24x26 shop with garage door opener. The RV parking and shop are rare for that neighborhood. Tenants pay $950/month and contracted until Aug 31, 2018. Home is very clean and in great condition. Fridge, W/D stay with home. Seller has a home inspection from June 2017. 

See photos below.

You can also learn more about us at lowesflatfee.com.

Thinking Of Selling? Now Is The Perfect Time

It is common knowledge that a great number of homes sell during the spring-buying season. For that reason, many homeowners hold off on putting their homes on the market until then. The question is whether or not that will be a good strategy this year.

The other listings that do come out in the spring will represent increased competition to any seller. Do a greater number of homes actually come to the market in the spring as compared to the rest of the year? The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently revealed the months in which most people listed their homes for sale in 2017. Here is a graphic showing the results:

The three months in the second quarter of the year (represented in red) are consistently the most popular months for sellers to list their homes on the market. Last year, the number of homes available for sale in January was 1,680,000.

That number spiked to 1,970,000 by May!

What does this mean to you?

With the national job situation improving, and mortgage interest rates projected to rise later in the year, buyers are not waiting until the spring; they are out looking for homes right now. If you are looking to sell this year, waiting until the spring to list your home means you will have the greatest competition amongst buyers.

Bottom Line

It may make sense to beat the rush of housing inventory that will enter the market in the spring and list your home today.

Story taken from "Keeping Current Matters". 

There’s More To A Bubble Than Rising Home Prices

What truly causes a housing bubble and the inevitable crash? For the best explanation, let’s go to a person who correctly called the last housing bubble – a year before it happened.

“A bubble requires both overvaluation based on fundamentals and speculation. It is natural to focus on an asset’s fundamental value, but the real key for detecting a bubble is speculation…Speculation tends to chase appreciating assets, and then speculation begets more speculation, until finally, for some reason that will become obvious to all in hindsight, the ‘bubble’ bursts.

I have taken to calling the housing market a ‘bubble’.”

– Bill McBride of Calculated Risk calling the bubble back in April 2005

Where do we stand today regarding speculation?

There are two measurements that are used to determine the speculation in a housing market:

1. The number of homes purchased by an investor and
2. The number of homes being flipped (resold within a twelve-month period)

As compared to 2005, investor purchases are down dramatically (from 23% to 13%) and so is flipping (from 8.2% to 5.7%). McBride explains:

“There is currently some flipping activity, but this is more the normal type of flipping (buy, improve and then sell). Back in 2005, people were just buying homes and letting them sit vacant – and then selling without significant improvements. Classic speculation.”

What are the experts saying about speculation in today’s market?

DSNews recently ran an article which asked two economists to compare the speculation in today’s market to that in 2005-2007. Here is what they said:

Dr. Eddie Seiler, Chief Housing Economist at Summit Consulting:

“The speculative ‘flipping mania’ of 2006 is absent from most metro areas.”

Tian Liu, Chief Economist of Genworth Mortgage Insurance:

“The nature of housing demand is different as well, with more potential homeowners and far fewer speculators in the housing market compared to the 2005-2007 period.”

And what does McBride, who called the last housing bubble, think about today’s real estate market?

Sixty days ago, he explained:

“In 2005, people were just buying homes and letting them sit vacant – and then selling without significant improvements. Classic speculation. And even more dangerous during the bubble was the excessive use of leverage (all those poor-quality loans). Currently lending standards are decent, and loan quality is excellent…

I wouldn’t call house prices a bubble – and I don’t expect house prices to decline nationally like during the bust.”

Bottom Line

Speculation is a major element of the housing bubble formula. Right now, there are not elevated percentages of investors and house flippers. Therefore, there is not an elevated rate of speculation.



Story taken from "Keeping Current Matters".

The Cost Of NOT Owning Your Home

Owning a home has great financial benefits, yet many continue to rent! Today, let’s look at the financial reasons why owning a home of your own has been a part of the American Dream for as long as America has existed.

Zillow recently reported that:

“In reality, buying or renting a home is an intensely personal decision, with emotional and even financial considerations that go beyond whether to invest in this one (admittedly large) asset. Looking strictly at housing market numbers, there is a concrete point at which buying a home makes more financial sense than renting it.”

What proof exists that owning is financially better than renting?

1. We recently highlighted the top 5 financial benefits of homeownership:

• Homeownership is a form of forced savings.
• Homeownership provides tax savings.
• Homeownership allows you to lock in your monthly housing cost.
• Buying a home is cheaper than renting.
• No other investment lets you live inside of it.

2. Studies have shown that a homeowner’s net worth is 44x greater than that of a renter.

3. Just a few months ago, we explained that a family that purchased an average-priced home at the beginning of 2017 could build more than $48,000 in family wealth over the next five years.

4. Some argue that renting eliminates the cost of taxes and home repairs, but every potential renter must realize that all the expenses the landlord incurs are already baked into the rent payment– along with a profit margin!!

Bottom Line

Owning a home has always been, and will always be, better from a financial standpoint than renting.

Story taken from "Keeping Current Matters".

Payette Home W/Vaulted Ceilings

Located at 29 10th Ave N. in Payette. The vaulted ceilings open up the living room as you walk in. The master bedroom spoils you with a walk-in closet, ceiling fan, two sink vanity, shower and large tub. Plus, main floor living is great for aching knees. Lots of edible perennials are on the property to make yard work fun and low maintenance. The sprinkler system saves money by using a neighborhood well instead of city water. The house is within walking distance of the Payette Greenbelt and the elementary school. There is a sidewalk  and friendly neighbors.

See photos below, then click here for more photos and information.

You can also learn more about us at lowesflatfee.com.