Mortgage Rates by Decade Compared to Today

Some Highlights:

• The interest rate you secure for your mortgage greatly influences your monthly housing costs.
• In the 1980s, 30-year fixed mortgage rates averaged in the high 12s making the monthly principal and interest payment over $2,000.
• Interest rates are still at historic lows; this is a great time lock in your housing cost and protect yourself from increasing rents, or refinance your current mortgage.

If your are interested in buying a home this year call/text me directly at 512-791-7473 or send me an email at eric@koparealestate.com

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3 Questions to Ask Before Buying Your Dream Home

If you are debating purchasing a home right now, you are probably getting a lot of advice. Though your friends and family will have your best interest at heart, they may not be fully aware of your needs and what is currently happening in the real estate market.

Ask yourself the following 3 questions to help determine if now is actually a good time for you to buy in today’s market.

1. Why am I buying a home in the first place?

This truly is the most important question to answer. Forget the finances for a minute. Why did you even begin to consider purchasing a home? For most, the reason has nothing to do with money.

For example, a recent survey by Braun showed that over 75% of parents say “their child’s education is an important…

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The Past, Present & Future of Home Prices

CoreLogic released their most current Home Price Index last week. In the report, they revealed home appreciation in three categories: percentage appreciation over the last year, over the last month and projected over the next twelve months.

Here are state maps for each category: 

The Past – home appreciation over the last 12 months

The Present – home appreciation over the last month

The Future – home appreciation projected over the next 12 months

Bottom Line

Homes across the country are appreciating at different rates. If you plan on relocating to another state and are waiting for your home to appreciate more, you need to know that the home you will buy in another state may be appreciating even faster.

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5 Stats That Prove the Real Estate Market Is Getting Stronger

Here are five data points that show the housing market will continue to recover, and that a new housing crisis is not about to take shape.

1) Mortgage availability is increasing, but is nowhere near the levels we saw in 2004-2006.

A buyer’s chances of being approved for a mortgage have increased over the last three years; That’s good news for the market. This is not a precursor to another challenge, as many experts maintain that it is still too difficult for many buyers to attain house financing.

As Jonathan Smoke, the Chief Economist of realtor.com, recently explained:

“The havoc during the last cycle was the result…of speculation fueled by loose credit. That’s the exact opposite of what we have today.”

2) The Housing Affordability…

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Why 72% Of Our Listings Sell To Open House Visitors

If you ask a Realtor if an open house will help get your home sold most will say no.

In some cases that may be because the Realtor doesn’t want to work weekends. In other cases the Realtor might not know how to hold an open house to effectively advertise and sell the home.

To discourage their clients from asking for an open house some real estate companies even charge extra fees for that service! If you are interviewing Realtors to sell your home make sure you ask if open houses are extra.

We all know there’s a big difference between something one person can’t do and something that can’t be done.

When I look back at our listings this year I discovered 72% of the homes we sold were to an open house visitor.

That statistic may sound…

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Buyers Shouldn’t Hibernate Until Next Spring

It’s only October and some homebuyers are telling us they are planning to hibernate until next spring.

Just because the temperatures have reached into the chilly mid 80’s doesn’t mean if your plans include buying a home you should break out your sweaters and wait until April to buy a home.

For the last 3 years I’ve noticed a trend. Buyers who have a lease expiring in March/April will begin looking for a home the summer before.

They like to tell me “We’re not in a hurry” when I meet them at an open house.

What they don’t realize is they should be in a hurry.

Each year around March when they get serious about buying a home the prices are substantially higher. What most consumers don’t realize is real estate prices don’t increase in a linear…

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Foreclosure Rate Drops to Pre-crisis Levels

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July 2016 Statistics

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Sears Furniture, flat screens, and fridges at a discount

We have a great benefit through the Texas Association of Realtors YOU can take advantage of, too!

Sears Commercial offers Realtors discounts on appliances including air conditioning units, electronics, lawn and garden items, and mattresses. The discounts are better on Kenmore appliances but they are available for other brand names including Samsung TV’s, etc.

This is a benefit we are able to pass on to our friends. If you are interested in taking advantage of this program send me a message and I will give you the rest of the program details.

Have a Question?

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School Zoning And Real Estate

One of the reasons I bought our current rental home is I knew there was a new elementary school that would be built in the neighborhood in the next few years.

Now that the school is built the neighborhood has become very desirable and that purchase has turned into a great investment.

Today there are many new schools being built or recently announced. These schools will likely be rated very highly in the future. If you pay attention to announcements about neighborhoods being re-zoned to these new schools I expect there will be some great buying opportunity for long-term investors who understand how these schools will impact real estate values.

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