Posts in category 'Real Estate Blogs'
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13
7 Easy Ways to Watch Your Credit Scores Soar
On the widely used FICO credit score scale, only one in 200 consumers reaches the pinnacle: a score of 850 – a score that has lenders fighting for your business and nets you the best possible interest rates on everything from automobiles to mortgage loans.
In fact, according to Fair Isaac, the company behind the FICO score ratings, consumers who achieve a score of 750 or more are excellent candidates for favorable treatment.
But paying your bills on time and carrying no balances may not be enough to catapult your score to desired levels. Consumer finance experts at The Motley Fool offer simple tips that can help boost your scores into the stratosphere:
Ask for increased credit limits – Not because you plan to use them, but because the higher your credit limits, the less likely you are to use more than 30 percen...
26
Larry Theodore
Century 21 American Homes would like to congratulate Larry Theodore - Licensed broker associate - Farmingdale.
Larry was recently honored at the Century 21 Awards Banquet for being the top-producing Century 21 real estate agent in the New York metro region for 2016, as well as one of the top 21 agents in Century 21 Worldwide.
Source: Newsday.com
9
For Your To-Do List: Buy a Home
If you're not planning on buying a home any time soon, perhaps you should be. Just over half (54 percent) of Americans say they are likely to buy a home in the next five years – up 12 percent from last year – according to the 2017 BMO Harris Bank Homebuyers Report. In addition, Americans surveyed will average a 32 percent down payment.
The report, conducted by Pollara, also found that:
- Among likely first-time buyers, 80 percent plan to get preapproved for a mortgage before making an offer and 10 percent are already preapproved.
- Around four-in-five will set a budget before looking for a home.
- The majority (65 percent) of those looking to buy a new home will consult a real estate agent, while 61 percent said they will visit online real estate websites and 38 percent will seek recommendations from friends and family.
The...
1
Mortgage Rates Bottom to New Low
Mortgage rates this week bottomed to a new low for the year, with the 30-year, fixed rate averaging 3.94 percent, according to Freddie Mac's recently released Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®). The 15-year, fixed rate, at the same time, averaged 3.19 percent, while the 5-year, Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable rate averaged 3.11 percent.
[caption id="attachment_10457" align="aligncenter" width="550"]
modern yellow detached house in the suburbs[/caption]
"In a short week following Memorial Day, the 10-year Treasury yield fell four basis points," says Sean Beckett, chief economist at Freddie Mac. "The 30-year mortgage rate remained relatively flat, falling one basis point to 3.94 percent and once again hitting a new 2017 low."
Source: Freddie Ma...
28
The No. 1 Obstacle for Would-Be Homeowners
For all the hurdles to homeownership, one obstacle is stubbornly more insurmountable than the rest: the down payment.
Renters are having trouble stacking up the savings to place a down payment on a home, according to the recently released Zillow® Housing Aspirations Report (ZHAR). Seventy percent of renters surveyed in the report say the down payment is more of a hindrance than debt (cited by 50 percent of those surveyed), job security (38.5 percent) and qualifying for a mortgage (53.2 percent)—though those aspects are barriers, as well. Low supply was a roadblock for just 11.2 percent of those surveyed.
"With home values close to record highs, it's no surprise renters are concerned about coming up with enough money to buy a home," says D...