Nobel Finance Sydney – Money Matters Newsfeed

By Lee Keadle

When you’re looking at homes to buy, be sure to keep in mind the basic real estate principles of progression and regression. In a nutshell, these principles state that it is better to buy a lower priced home in a neighborhood of varying real estate prices.

In a neighborhood where home prices vary, the lower priced homes will increase in value because of the higher priced homes. The more expensive homes raise the property value of the less expensive homes. This idea is called the principle of progression.

On the other hand, the more expensive homes “go down in value” because of the less expensive homes. These higher priced homes will not literally depreciate in value because of the other homes. After all, real estate almost always goes up steadily in price. The more expensive homes in the neighborhood will still appreciate, but their prices will not go up at the same rate as if the homes were separate from the others. This idea that lower priced homes bring down the value of higher priced ones is called the principle of regression.

These real estate principles deal mostly with different home prices, but the same is usually true when comparing neighborhoods with different home types. Home types and home prices are often correlated. For example, single family homes are typically more expensive than town homes. If you are considering buying a condo or a townhouse, you may want to consider neighborhoods that also have single family homes. According to the principle of progression, your townhouse or condo should appreciate at a greater rate because of the single family houses around it. The real estate principles of regression and progression are a good example of how a home’s surroundings can impact the home’s value.

After reading about progression and regression, you may wonder why builders even combine homes of different prices and styles when developing a neighborhood. Wouldn’t it better to just build a neighborhood with only single family houses (or condos) that cost approximately the same? No.

Other economic principles in real estate show that conformity can actually hurt property value. Home buyers do not like neighborhoods with houses that are all the same. These “cookie cutter” neighborhoods are not good for resale. But, also keep in mind that a neighborhood should not have two extremes of houses, either. Try to find a neighborhood with a reasonable degree of conformity.

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By Bruce D Hunter

Let’s face it; buying a home can be a very stressful prospect. It is an incredibly emotional process that can tax relationships and even upend friendships. But it does not have to be that way. With the right effort and forethought home buying can be a relatively simple, successful project.

Perhaps the most important part to getting pre-approved is to pull a “tri-merge” credit report well in advance of when you intend to buy. What does “tri-merge” mean? It is a credit report that includes data from each of the three credit repositories or bureaus (the terms are used interchangeably), Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. Each of the three repositories will report a slightly different score based on the individual models they use to determine your score. Lenders will take the middle score as the representative score to help determine your particular creditworthiness.

There is often a big discrepancy between the three repositories. I have seen a great many times where prospects have come to me with a stellar report from one repository and when we pull the tri-merge we discover old or erroneous collections or other derogatory information reported by the other repositories that may hurt their chances of buying a home. Whether you as a consumer do it or have a lender do it for you, pulling the report early allows you to spot any errors far in advance and allow you adequate time to have them corrected. In many instances your lender can have errors corrected relatively easily using services they have paid for already. In some instances there are charges for these corrections and they may be passed on to you at the time of closing, but they usually amount to only a few dollars.

Do not close out old accounts or open new ones unless instructed to do so. Age of accounts has an impact on your scores, so that Visa card account from fifteen years ago that you never use, but for some reason is still open is having a positive effect on your scores. It is showing fifteen years worth of positive history, so closing it may have a negative impact on your overall scores. Additionally, opening new accounts have the same negative impact because you have now increased your overall debt capacity and you may change your debt-to-income ratios and therefore your ability to qualify.

This rule applies even after you have been approved for a mortgage. Many people want to go out and start buying furniture or appliances for their new home after they have been approved. Do not do this. Lenders reserve the right to pull an additional credit report up to the day of closing, so any new accounts may suddenly impact your loan or worse yet mean you do not qualify, which is not something you want to find out the day of closing.

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By Justin D Lee

In today’s high-stakes real estate market it is important for sellers to present the most comprehensive home package that they can. Buyers like to feel like they are getting a good deal on a good home and it is up to the seller to ensure that buyers are happy with the purchase of their home.

One way that a seller can do this is to allow certain incentives to buyers so that they can customize the home to their liking or to fix certain things that the buyer does not have time to fix before the sale. Satisfaction is really important in a home sale as buyer’s remorse on a 100k+ purchase can be a trying thing. So as a seller what kind of incentives can you offer to buyers to make your home that much more attractive?

The most usual of offered incentives are decoration related. Perhaps you know that your home could use an exterior paint job or an interior touch-up. As opposed to having the job done before listing the home you could let it be known that there is a certain dollar allowance for painting. This will allow the buyer to choose their own colors and make the home that much more their own. Other decorating incentives that are commonly offered are things like flooring or appliances or typically any other aspect of the home that could use improvement that the seller does not have the time to fix themselves.

Incentives have always been used to assist in the selling of products. You can see the practice in use for cars, trucks, furniture and any number of other products and the use of them in home sales makes good sense. If you can get more buyer interest by allowing certain amount for improvements then you are likely to get more serious traffic on your home sale as buyers like the opportunity to have some decision in what the home will look like. Another kind of incentive you can offer is for things that are necessary. If the home needs a new roof then this is an ideal incentive. Incentives will usually take the form of reductions in this price and can be used as negotiating tools by the seller or their representation.

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By David Zwierecki 

Saving up enough money to make a down payment on a home can be next to impossible for many consumers. Because of this, there are a variety of programs available to assist people who are interested in buying a home, but just do not have enough money available for a down payment. There are quite a few options available for consumers without money for a down payment. You can either try to find a down payment assistance program in your area or you can try getting approved for 100 percent mortgage financing, thus eliminating the need for a down payment.

Buying a home with a 100 percent, zero money down home loan is one option for those consumers who do not have enough money to make a down payment. According to a survey done a couple of years ago by the National Association of Realtors, 25 percent of all buyers financed 100 percent of the purchase price, and 42 percent of first-time home buyers bought with no money down. These numbers have increased even more over the course of the last couple of years as well. Even with lending guidelines tightening up due to the recent real estate market woes, there are still a variety of no money down home loan programs available at this time. Therefore, having money for a down payment is not required and many people can still buy homes without having a down payment available.

Down Payment Assistance programs can be found by using a variety of different search methods. The first place I would recommend is to call your city and/or county government and family services offices. Many times they will be able to direct you in the right direction to find down payment assistance. Contact HUD at (202) 708-1112, or find your local HUD office online at http://www.hud.gov/ and see if they can provide any assistance or give you any suggestions. You can also try doing a Google search using your city or county name followed by the words “down payment assistance.” The three links below contain a comprehensive list of down payment assistance programs that are listed alphabetically by state. If you are still unsuccessful there are a number of down payment assistance programs that are offered in conjunction with the help of the home seller of the house you are interested in purchasing. AmeriDream, Nehemiah Program, and Partners In Charity, just to name a few, are 3 of the most popular down payment assistance programs out there. These companies are nonprofit organizations that provide help to many families by creating a pool of funds for a down payment from the seller to you, the buyer. Down Payment help is out there, sometimes it just takes a little time, research, and extra effort to find the best option for you.

http://www.first-time-homebuyer-site.com/down_payment/down_payment_assistance_information.htm

http://www.first-time-homebuyer-site.com/down_payment/down_payment_assistance_information_-_part_ii.htm

http://www.first-time-homebuyer-site.com/down_payment/down_payment_assistance_information_-_part_lll.htm

Thus, consumers have many options to buy a home with little to no money down. Be careful which program you decide on because not all lenders will permit down payment assistance programs and not all lenders will lend to people on zero money down home loan programs. Therefore, even if you do not have a lot of money saved and put away to use for a down payment, chances are there is still a way for you to buy a home.

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