Blog - Leagan Realty

Gain Independence From Your Home This Fourth Of July

July 3, 2013 by lizlaurenb Leave a Comment

Gain Independence From Your Home This Fourth Of July Want to sell your home this summer?

With the help of a real estate professional, you could be signing a closing agreement and on your way to a whole new housing world before winter sets in.

So, get inspired this Fourth of July to liberate yourself from your current home.

A local real estate agent who is an expert in his or her field might be the spark needed to get you motivated, strategically market your home and have potential buyers seeing fireworks at your first open house.

To help with your quest for the perfect home-selling expert, here are three questions you should ask during initial interviews:

What do you know about the local market?

Make sure your agent is up to date on the area’s current listings. He or she needs to know what’s happening in your neighborhood in order to market it and ensure it beats out the competition.

How will you market my home?

Make sure you’re on the same page when it comes to spreading the word about your property. You’ll want to confirm that your agent is Internet savvy and has fresh ideas on how to make your home stand out. It’s always a good idea to ask agents you’re interviewing to provide examples of how they’ve marketed other homes.

What will you do to help me prepare my home for sale?

Successful agents should do a walk-through with you and use their past experience and buyer feedback to give advice on how to stage your home. It benefits both of you to have your home looking its best, so that it sells fast!

In honor of the Fourth of July, take a cue from our forefathers and enlist the services of a good real estate agent to help emancipate you from your current home.

If you’re looking for a Scottsdale real estate professional, I’d appreciate the opportunity help you. Give me a call today or email me to get all of your questions answered.

Liberate Yourself From Your Mortgage With This Simple Plan

July 2, 2013 by lizlaurenb Leave a Comment

Liberate Yourself From Your Mortgage With This Simple Plan What if you could accelerate the mortgage payment on your home so that you own your property several years earlier than your 15 or 30 year term?

Making your final mortgage payment and owning your house is an incredibly good feeling and there is a simple way that you can bring about that rewarding day much sooner.

By making one extra mortgage payment every year, you will be able to pay off your mortgage years earlier without putting a lot of stress on your present day finances. Although it might not seem like a lot, just one extra payment per year can help you to significantly reduce the length of your mortgage.

For example, if you have a 30 year mortgage with a fixed rate, it could be possible to pay off your loan in 25 years instead of 30 when you make an extra payment per year. You will also very likely be able to save thousands of dollars over the years in interest charges.

How to Fit the Extra Payment Into Your Budget

If you think that your budget is too tight to squeeze in the extra yearly payment, it’s time to start thinking about what adjustments you can make. With a bit of clever budgeting, you can find the extra cash needed.

First of all, break the extra payment down by dividing it by 12. For example, if your monthly mortgage payment is $1600, you will need to save an extra $133 per month to be able to make a full extra payment every year. Or, you could think of it as $33 per week or $4.75 per day.

Surely you can survive on $4.75 per day less than you are spending right now, right?

There are many ways that you could find this extra money. It’s the difference between eating at a restaurant or cooking at home once or twice per week, bringing home-brewed coffee to work in a thermos rather than going to the expensive coffee shop, or cancelling a cable TV package that you never watch. Take a look at your budget so that you can determine where you can cut your expenses.

Once you make your goal of an extra payment every year, not only will you see that the savings program was easier than you thought it would be, but you might decide to accelerate even more so that it will be even sooner when you have the satisfaction of owning your home.

For more information about the optimal plan for the mortgage on your Scottsdale home, feel free to contact me by phone or email.

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – July 1, 2013

July 1, 2013 by lizlaurenb Leave a Comment

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – July 1, 2013 The past week was active for economic news and mortgage rates. The aftermath of the Fed’s indication that it may start dialing back its multi-billion dollar monthly purchases of Treasury and mortgage backed securities has sent mortgage rates to record highs.

If you’re thinking of buying a home, this may be the last chance for finding the best deal on mortgage rates; meanwhile, home prices continue trending up as well.

Here’s the scoop on last week’s activity affecting real estate markets:

Tuesday’s Case-Shiller Composite Indices for April demonstrate the momentum of recovery in many housing markets. As of April, national home prices had increased by 12.10 percent as compared to April 2012. April’s reading also exceeded March’s reading of 10.10 percent year-over-year.

FHFA released its home prices report for April and noted that the average price for homes with mortgages owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac increased by 7.40 percent, which slightly surpassed the March reading of 7.20 percent.

The Department of Commerce released New Home Sales for May and reported 476,000 new homes sold on a seasonally-adjusted annual basis. This exceeded expectations of 453,000 new home sales and also surpassed April’s reading of 454,000 new homes sold.

Wednesday brought the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report for the first quarter of 2013. The GDP grew by 1.80 percent against expectations of 2.40 percent and the previous quarter’s growth, also 2.40 percent.

Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) brought the days of bargain basement mortgage rates to a halt as average mortgage rates for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage moved from last week’s 3.93 percent to 4.46 percent. Average rates for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage rose from 3.04 percent 3.50 percent. This was the largest weekly jump in mortgage rates in 26 years.

Home buyers may also consider a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage, which provides an average 5 year fixed rate of 2.74 percent. The fixed mortgage rate converts to an adjustable rate after five years.

The National Association of REALTORS ® reported that Pending Home Sales in May rose by +6.70 percent to their highest level in 6 years.

Last week ended on a positive note with the Consumer Sentiment Index for June beating expectations of 83.0 and coming in at 84.1. May’s reading was 82.1; higher consumer confidence is likely driving demand for available homes.

What‘s Ahead This Week

Next week’s scheduled economic news includes Construction Spending due on Monday and the ADP private sector jobs report is set for Wednesday.

Thursday the financial markets are closed as we celebrate the July 4th holiday.

Friday brings the Department of Labor’s Non-farm Payrolls Report and the National Unemployment Rate. If the unemployment rate stays steady at 7.60 percent, this may reduce fears that the Fed will start reducing its monetary easing program any time soon, which should help to slow the recent increases in mortgage rates.

How To Improve Your Credit Score For Better Financing Terms

June 28, 2013 by lizlaurenb Leave a Comment

How To Improve Your Credit Score For Better Financing Terms Imagine that you’ve found the perfect home and are ready to apply for financing. Your home loan approval amount comes back lower than you would have expected and at an interest rate significantly above what you have heard is available on the market.

This could be because you have an average to poor credit score.

Mortgage lenders base interest rates on many things, but your credit score plays a large part. Anything between 720 and 850 will typically qualify for better interest rates. A mediocre score is usually between 660 and 719, and a low score is 659 and under.

If you have a lower score than you’d like, below are a few traits for you to follow of people who possess higher credit scores and secure the best home financing.

They don’t max out their cards.

It’s better to keep a low revolving balance on a few cards than to spend every dime allotted on one. The ratio of credit card balance to your credit limit is called credit utilization. The higher your credit utilization, the larger affect it can have one your credit score.

They make payments on time.

This is very likely the most important tip for your credit health. If you miss a payment on a term loan, credit card account or monthly home bill, then you could be turned over to collections, which will affect your score negatively. You will almost surely be reported as late to the credit bureaus, which will in turn drop your credit score precipitously. Absolutely make all of your payments before their due date.

They stay with one card.

Don’t close and open credit card accounts frequently. Each time you make a change to your line of credit, it affects your score. Even if you don’t want to be tempted to use a credit card, keep the account open and leave the card at home. According to the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), high credit achievers have accounts that are usually at least 11 years old.

Excellent credit could qualify you for a better interest rate, which might save you thousands of dollars over the life of the loan. So stay on top of your monthly credit bills and keep a low balance on just a few cards to watch your score steadily increase.

If you’re ready to learn more about your ability to purchase a Scottsdale home, call your trusted home financing professional today.

5 Important Tips To Help Smooth Your Move When You Have Teens In The Home

June 27, 2013 by lizlaurenb Leave a Comment

5 Important Tips To Help Smooth Your Move With Teens You’ve got a new job offer across the country and you are planning to pack your things, buy a home and make the big move.

However, when you tell your 17 year old daughter your plans, she lets out a mournful wail and cries that it is not fair. How can you possibly take her away from all of her friends, her favorite hangout spots and the cute boy she just started seeing?

Moving is a difficult transition and it is often even more traumatic for teenagers. The teenage years are an important stage where young adults establish their individuality and independence and during this time their social circle is extremely important to them.

Being removed from that against their will can make any teen feel sad, confused, angry and resentful. Also, fitting into a new social scene in a different location can be a challenge for a teen that might be singled out as the “new kid”.

How can you help your teen during this transition so that the experience will be easier on them?

5 Tips To Help Your Teen Move More Smoothly

Here are some tips that will make the experience of moving a little bit easier on your teenager:

Give them as much notice as possible so that they have time to adjust to the idea of moving. They will feel like they have enough time to say goodbye to their friends and close a chapter of their lives.

Try to schedule the move around the school calendar, as moving in the summer is much less disruptive to your teen’s life than relocating in the middle of the school year.

Make sure that they have ample time to spend with their close friends before they leave and once you arrive, understand that they might go through a grieving process of missing their old pals.

When you get to your new home, make sure that your teen has plenty of ways to keep in touch with their old friends, such as an internet connection and a cell phone plan.

Encourage your teen to get involved in the community of your new hometown, like joining sports clubs or attending events. This can help them to make new friends.

Moving to a new city is always exciting but offers challenges like this one for families. For more advice on moving to a new Scottsdale home, contact your trusted real estate agent today.

Home Prices Record Highest Monthly Gains Since Case Shiller Index Inception

June 26, 2013 by lizlaurenb Leave a Comment

Home Prices Record Record Month To Month Gains The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for April indicate that the housing recovery gained ground.

In April 2013 average home prices tracked in the Case-Shiller 10 and 20-city Composites increased by 11.60 and 12.10 percent year-over-year. On a month-to-month basis, the Composites increased by 2.60 and 2.50 percent respectively.

According to David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the S&P Dow Jones Indices’ Index Committee, the 10-and 20- City Composites experienced their largest month- to- month gains since their inception: “Thirteen cities posted month- to-month gains of two percent or more, with San Francisco leading with a month-to-month gain of 4.90 percent.”

The 10-and-20 City Indices reported the highest year-over-year gains in home prices since 2006. Cities where home prices gained more than 20 percent year-over-year included Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Francisco. Phoenix posted its 12th consecutive month of double-digit increases in home prices while San Francisco home prices increased year-over-year by an average of 23.90 percent. Home prices increased year-over-year in 19 the 20 cities included in the 10-and 20 City Composites, with home prices in Detroit remaining flat.

Mortgage Loan Requirements Showing Signs Of Loosening

Mr. Blitzer also noted that according to the most recent Fed Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, some lenders are beginning to relax credit requirements for mortgage loans. This good news, along with the availability of adjustable-rate mortgage loans is expected to help with maintaining affordability and providing access to homes for more buyers.

According to the S&P Case-Shiller 10-and-20 City Composites, home prices fell approximately 26 to 27percent from their highest in June 2006 to their lowest in March 2012. As of April 2013, average home prices had recovered by 13.10 percent for the 10-City Composite and 13.60 percent for the 20-City Composite.

More Reports Show Ongoing Housing Recovery

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, reported that home prices increased an average of 7.40 percent year-over-year as of April 2013, and rose by 0.70 percent between March and April 2013. While this data fell short of an expected month-to-month increase of 1.10 percent, Average FHFA home prices were 11.70 percent below their peak in April 2007.

FHFA bases its report on sales of homes financed with mortgages owned or securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that sales of new homes reached a five-year high in May, the highest level since July 2008. May sales increased 2.10 percent between April and May 2013 to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 476,000 homes. This represents a year-over-year increase of 29 percent from May 2012.

While rising mortgage rates and home prices may slow demand for homes, economists don’t believe that either factor will halt the housing recovery. A good next step is asking your trusted real estate professional about current home values and loan options in and around Scottsdale.

3 Clever But Simple Ways To Get Your Home Mortgage Paid Faster

June 25, 2013 by lizlaurenb Leave a Comment

3 Clever But Simple Ways to Get Your Home Mortgage Paid Faster Paying off the mortgage on your home faster means that you will not only have the satisfaction of owning your own home sooner, you will also have the benefit of paying much less in interest over the years.

The faster you pay off your mortgage, the more money you can save, so here are some tips to accelerate your payment schedule.

Pay Your Mortgage Every Other Week (Bi-Weekly)

Did you know that if you take your monthly mortgage payment and divide it in half and then pay it every two weeks that you will end up making a full extra month of payments every year? This is called a bi-weekly payment program which has been around for a long time, and it’s still a good idea today!

You likely won’t notice the difference since the extra half payments occur in long months with bigger paychecks, but over the years this will end up saving you thousands of dollars in interest payments.

Make a Bigger Monthly Payment

Similar to the bi-weekly payment plan above, you can accomplish the goal by dividing your principal and interest portion of your payment by 12 and then adding that amount to your regular monthly payment. You will be paying that extra payment every year, but spacing it out over each monthly payment.

Most homeowners using this tactic can shorten their term by up to seven years.

Put Any Windfall Toward the Mortgage

Was your tax rebate larger than you expected? Have you received an inheritance from your great aunt Thelma? Have you won a cash prize in a contest?

Put any unexpected chunks of cash straight toward your mortgage instead of spending them. This won’t affect your budget at all, because you were never expecting or counting on that money in the first place. But once again, it can make a huge difference in the overall amount of interest that you pay on your mortgage loan.

However, keep in mind your particular situation. Spending every last penny paying off your mortgage as quickly as possible might not be the best option for you if you have no emergency savings fund or if you have a credit card languishing with high interest debt.

It is usually more important to deal with these pressing financial issues before attempting to save money on your mortgage. One great way to start your research on how to pay your Scottsdale home off faster is to talk with your trusted real estate professional. They can answer your questions and point you in the best direction for your situation.

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – June 24, 2013

June 24, 2013 by lizlaurenb Leave a Comment

What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week - June 24, 2013 Comments by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke after Wednesday’s FOMC meeting caused havoc in financial markets as investors anticipated the potential effects of any rollback of the Fed’s policy of quantitative easing (QE). Chairman Bernanke said that the Fed may begin reducing its $85 billion monthly purchase of Treasury securities and MBS toward the end of this year.

The chairman made it clear that any decision concerning QE would be based on careful review of current and developing economic conditions. QE is intended to keep long-term interest rates low; any reduction of the QE securities purchases could cause mortgage rates to rise.

Economic News Bodes Well For Housing

The week’s other economic news included more good news for housing. The NAHB/WF Housing Market Index for June came in ahead of expectations at 52, which surpassed the expected reading of 45 and May’s reading of 44. Any reading over 50 indicates that more builders surveyed believe that housing market conditions are positive.

Tuesday was busy for economic news. The Consumer Price Index for May rose from April’s reading of –0.40 percent to +0.10 percent in May, which was below expectations of +0.20 percent.

The Department of Commerce released its Housing Starts Report for May; the reading for May missed expectations of 953,000 housing starts and came in at 914,000 which exceeded April’s 856,000 housing starts. Increasing the number of available homes could help steady recently increasing home prices, but existing homes remain in short supply in many areas.

Fed Expects Moderate Improvement Continuing For Economy

Wednesday’s news involved the Fed’s FOMC meeting and press conference. The Fed stated after the meeting that it expects moderate improvement in economic condition and noted that housing, which was a primary cause of the economic downturn, is now leading the economy’s recovery.

Freddie Mac reported that the average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell from 3.98 percent with 0.7 percent discount points to 3.93 percent with borrowers paying 0.8 percent in discount points. The average rate for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage fell from 3.10 percent to 3.04 percent with 0.7 percent in discount points for both weeks. Investor response to the Fed’s mention of possibly reducing its QE program is likely to send mortgage rates up next week.

The National Association of REALTORS® released its Existing Home Sales report for May. Existing home sales came in at 5.18 million and beat projections of 5.00 million and April’s sales of 4.97 million existing homes.

Increasing sales of existing homes is good news as demand has exceeded supplies of existing homes in recent months. High demand drives up home prices and impacts affordability along with rising mortgage rates.

What’s Ahead For This Week

Next week’s scheduled news includes a number of housing related reports, FHFA Home Prices, the Case-Shiller Home Prices Report and New Home Sales are set for release Tuesday.

The Gross Domestic Product Report comes out on Wednesday. On Thursday, data for weekly jobless claims, consumer spending and pending home sales will be released.

Friday brings the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index and the Consumer Sentiment Index.

The data released in these reports will continue to inform the Fed’s decision-making with regard to bond purchasing and interest rate policy. It’s possible though, following the aggressive market sell-off activity from last week, that we may see a softening in long-term rates over the course of this week.

Quick Tips To Get Your Summer Garden Blooming

June 21, 2013 by lizlaurenb Leave a Comment

Summer Gardening Tips For June Spring has sprung and today is the first official day of summer. If you are finally finding time to tend your garden, don’t feel guilty — just get dirty!

In one June weekend, you can have your yard looking colorful and smelling sweet. All it takes is a shovel, a design idea and a knowledgeable trip to a greenhouse.

Whether a rose is your favorite or you know nothing about flowers, you can make you yard beautiful without being a professional landscaper. Below are several types of flowers that will have your garden looking gorgeous this summer and you blushing from all your neighbors’ compliments.

Snowdrift Rose – The perfumed petals of this vigorous plant will provide a pleasant scent to your outdoors. Also, the stems are nice and long for cutting and creating indoor arrangements.

Black-Eyed Susan – After these vivid yellow flowers have bloomed, cut them back in order to ensure a second round of blossoms.

Dwarf Sunflower – If you love the large varietal, but don’t have the room, consider this smaller cousin.

English Lavender – This dark blue and purple flower is a tough plant that does well in even the hottest of climates.

Hydrangea – To take up more space, these little shrubs produce beautiful white clusters of flowers that fade to shades of pink and green.

Marigold – These traditional crimson blooms grow low and spread quickly, which makes them the perfect plant for a flowerbed border.

Petunia – The newer varieties of these full-sun flowers are low maintenance because they self-clean. The old blooms drop off without you needing to prune.

Summersweet – If you have a shady spot, this pink or white plant with its gold colored leaves will have the space feeling vibrant.

Zinnia – These long-lasting yellow, red and orange flowers will bloom well into fall.

A rose can be red, violets are blue — but you don’t have to feel that way about your garden.

Take one weekend this month to tame your flowerbeds, introduce a few budding plants and enjoy their fragrant scents for the rest of the summer.

Three Tips To Get The Best Financing On Your Second Home Purchase

June 20, 2013 by lizlaurenb Leave a Comment

Three Tips To Get The Best Financing On Your Second Home Are you buying a property as your second home? Perhaps you are looking for a small cottage or apartment where you can escape to for your vacations, or maybe you want to have another home closer to your relatives?

Maybe you want to rent out your second property and make a steady income from your investment. Whatever the reason, a second piece of real estate can be a fantastic investment. However, sometimes getting a mortgage on your second home can present a challenge.

Generally, a mortgage lender will have tougher standards for vacation home — or second home — loans than primary home loans. This is because usually when you are buying a second home your finances will be stretched thinner and you will have less money to spare due to already paying a mortgage on your primary home.

This additional risk may mean that your second home mortgage can be more difficult to close and likely could carry a higher interest rate.

Here are three tips to keep in mind that will help you to get the best mortgage on your second property:

Build up a decent amount of savings.

Your mortgage lender will want to be able to see that you have a large amount of savings in reserve so that you will have enough to pay for the mortgage even if you were to lose your job or other income source.

Pay off any credit card or installment debt.

Many lenders will be hesitant to approve your second home mortgage if they see that you have a lot of debt on your credit card. They will want to see that you have a low debt to income ratio so that you will be able to pay back the loan.

Use your primary home as a resource.

If you have always made your payments on time and you are well on your way through paying off your first house, you may have equity to borrow against for some or all of your second home purchase. Be careful here though. There is a little known IRS regulation that requires the second home be financed under it’s own home loan within 90 days of closing to get the best tax advantages.

These are just a few tips to keep in mind in order to make getting a mortgage for your second property as easy as possible.

To find out more about investing in a second home or vacation property, contact your trusted real estate professional today.