Owning a home is still a sure-fire way to increase you and your family's wealth. Whether it be your first, second or fifth, if you're planning on buying a home, it is recommended to meet a local professional to find out how you can get the most out of your purchase.

Every month that you pay your mortgage, you are paying off a portion of the debt that you took on to purchase your home. Therefore, you own a little bit more of your home every month in the form of home equity. As your home's value increases, you also gain home equity. Every quarter, Pulsenomics surveys a nationwide panel of over 100 economists, real estate experts, and investment and market strategists.

They are asked to project how residential home prices will appreciate over the next five years for their Home Price Expectation Survey (HPES). The latest data from their Q1 2019 Survey revealed that home prices are expected to round out the year 4.3% higher than they were in January. For the next 5 years, home v ...

There's undoubtedly an effervescent urge in everyone to decorate and make tiny changes here and there after buying a house. We all have it, and to some, giving in to these urges may cause future problems with mortgages. So here's a list of things to avoid after getting your mortgage application approved.

1. Don't change jobs or the way you are paid at your job!
Your loan officer must be able to track the source and amount of your annual income. If possible, you'll want to avoid changing from salary to commission or becoming self-employed during this time as well.

2. Don't deposit cash into your bank accounts.
Lenders need to source your money and cash is not really traceable. Before you deposit any amount of cash into your accounts, discuss the proper way to document your transactions with your loan officer.

3. Don't make any large purchases like a new car or new furniture for your new home. New debt comes with it, including new monthly obligations. New obligations ...

A lot of Americans are holding back on buying homes because of their credit score. The sad truth is the majority of this group are misinformed and should have already started earlier than they plan to.
Only 25% of the Americans have a FICO Score between 740 and 800. Here is the breakdown according to Experian: 1

6% Very Poor (300-579)
18% Fair (580-669)
21% Good (670-739)
25% Very Good (740-799)
20% Exceptional (800-850)

Randy Hopper, Senior Vice President of Mortgage Lending for Navy Federal Credit Union said,

"Just because you have a low credit score doesn't mean you can't purchase a home. There are a lot of options out there for consumers with low FICO scores,"

There are many programs available with low or no credit score requirement. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) now requires a minimum FICO score of 580 if you want to qualify for the low down payment advantage.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not set a minimum credit score req ...

With the volume of sellers who held back from selling the entire winter, we can expect the inventory to climb up as more and more sellers join in and balance out the demand.

Many potential sellers believe that waiting until Spring is in their best interest. Traditionally, they would have been right.

Buyer demand has seasonality to it. Usually, this falls off in the winter months, especially in areas of the country impacted by arctic conditions.

That hasn't happened this year.
Demand for housing has remained strong as mortgage rates have remained near historic lows. Even with an increase in rates forecasted for 2019, buyers are still able to lock in an affordable monthly payment. Buyers are increasingly jumping off the fence and into the market to secure a lower rate.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently reported that in 2018 the top 10 dates sellers listed their homes all fell in April, May, or June.

Those who act quickly and list now, before a ...

Following common practice of holding back from selling until Spring may be a cliche. But truth be told, it's a wise and conservative choice that has proven beneficial to the housing market. Nevertheless, with the number of sellers popping up from all directions. Holding off now is not the best thing to do.


Let's dive a little deeper into some of the recent reports that have been released and what they mean for the spring buying season!


1. National Association of Realtor's Existing Home Sales Report
Sales of existing homes were down for the third consecutive month in January. Some of this can be explained by the natural seasonality that the real estate market experiences every year, and some can be explained even further by a lack of homes available for sale on the market.

Inventory For the last eight months, the inventory of homes for sale has been higher when compared to the same month the year before. The challenge in the market is the mismatch of the type of home ...