Preferred Properties of Texas

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The Intricacies of Setting a Price for Your Home

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Everything has value. Notably your home.

And when it comes to selling your house, assigning a cost to this value is complex. You made memories . You have got a major financial interest in the area, also.

Buyers consider worth, but they’re more concerned with cost. And your home’s price is among its most attractive — or unsightly — features. The ideal price can draw in buyers, fast. The wrong price may signify the home sits on the market, which can create the vibe among buyers that there’s something wrong with it. (If the home purchasing process is Instagram, think about a wrongly priced home as a photograph that is not getting any likes.)

It’s your broker’s task, as the real estate specialist — mining his or her expertise and knowledge of this market — to ascertain the best price for your home. But it’s your house. Here’s the way to receive it.

Use Your Agent

This is crucial. Your agent brings the right mix of industry experience and knowledge of your local market to the table.

To understand if your agent is pricing your house properly, go each of the steps below. Use what you learn about your house’s fair market price to appraise and price your agent recommends.

Throughout the pricing process, a Fantastic agent will:

Cling to your needs
Take into Consideration your research
Use Their knowledge of the local market to help you pick the best asking price
You’re a team. It’s in both of your interests to price your home right — a timely, profitable sale is win for everyone.

And , You Should Also Check the Internet

Pricing a home is both science and art. To know what’s going to notify your agent’s pricing decisions — and to be ready to bring your own educated input to the dialogue — start with an pricing research phase.

Including taking advantage of internet estimating tools — but only to an extent. Property sites like realtor.com® and Redfin allow you to plug into your house’s speech to see roughly how much your house is worth. They base their estimates on your house’s square footage and property data they have collected, for example current home sales in the local market.

But those outcomes are estimates based on reflective variables, not your distinctive situation. If at any point the price that you see in an online calculator does not align with what your broker suggests, prioritize the broker’s advice.

Online estimators also have a standing among real estate professionals for misleading sellers and buyers equally with less-than-optimal pricing info. However, as a beginning point, they have their utility.

Know Your Regional History

Exactly what your home’s list price needs to be largely depends on what similar homes, or”comps,” recently sold for in your area. To price your house, your real estate agent will run the average sales prices of three or more comps to assess your home’s value.

What makes a comp? A number of variables, including a home’s:

Age
Location
Square footage
Number of bedrooms and bathrooms

Agents will check into the difference between each comp’s listing price, and also the price it sold for. He or she will consider cost reductions and the reason why they happened, if relevant. All the time, your agent will even rely on interior understanding of housing stock and the local market. That nuanced understanding is invaluable, particularly when measuring the exceptional facets of your house with raw data about comps.

When choosing comps, agents generally search for properties which sold inside a one-mile radius of your home, and in the previous 90 days.

In addition to recently sold houses, your agent will also look at properties which are now available in your area. These listings will become your competition. However, because listing photos do not always tell the complete story, a fantastic agent will check out these houses in person to find out what condition they’re in and to assess how your home sizes upward.

You can do exactly the same. For further perspective, you can even get in contact with the regional association of REALTORS®. Ask if they have advice to provide about your area and the local sector.

Understand the Economy You Are In

The home market in which you live can greatly impact your pricing plan.

If you are in a seller’s market, where demand from buyers outpaces the amount of homes for sale, you might be able to price your house slightly higher than market value.

You can see local market trends by checking the online source realtor.com®. It gives charts that show important housing market information, like a town’s average listing price, median sales price, and typical days a home is on market. It is a lot of information. At any point, you may ask your agent that will help you make sense of your local market will influence your home’s cost.

Set Your Feelings Aside

As mentioned before, many sellers believe their home is worth more than it is.Why? Because memories. Because sentiment. Because pride.

But you have to keep objective when assessing your home’s value. Buyers, after all, won’t understand your house’s personal history. What makes your home special for you may not be something that entices them.

It will make it much easier to take your agent’s sensible, clear-eyed calculation of its cost.

As you and your agent are speaking price, the local marketplace may throw you a curveball or two.

In some markets, by way of instance, it might make sense to price your home slightly below its fair market value to spark a bidding war.

Obviously, there’s no guarantee that a pricing plan like this will cover off. Similarly, there’s no one-size-fits-all playbook. Your home should be priced for its own local, or even hyper-local, market. Period. Confer with your agent before you decide to try any market-specific pricing strategies.

Be Savvy With the Dollar Amount

Pricing your house demands careful attention. Sometimes, fair market value may not be exactly what you should list it and the motives can be subtle.

By way of example, if comps show that your house is worth $410,000, placing that since your asking price can deteriorate — that the reason is that buyers that are searching on the internet for properties under $400,000 won’t see your home in search results in that case. This is the reason many agents utilize the”99″ pricing strategy and, as an example, listing $400,000 houses for $399,000.

Take a Heart-to-Heart With Your Partner

Not the sole decision maker in your household? Talk to your spouse about your home’s price before it’s listed. You may use this worksheet as a manual for that discussion.

The reason isn’t just to foster the kind of open communication that is important to any connection. It’s that if you’re not on the same page about price or another things which are important to you about sale, every subsequent step of the selling process will be impacted by that tension.

You have considered your agent’s advice, and the both of you’ve agreed on the ideal price for your property.

Even after the record date, cost should be an ongoing conversation between you and your agent. Markets are fluid, so it is possible you’ll need to make tweaks.

In any case, it’s important to stay in continuous dialogue with your representative, the MVP of Team Sell Your House.

When Should I Upgrade to a Bigger Home?

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#1. How do you know you need a bigger place?

Is getting more crowded in the bathroom in the mornings? Our kids piling up in the bedrooms? Do you feel like you’re just walking over everybody throughout the house? It might be time to upgrade your home. You might just be a little bit of space. Maybe you have pets and are taking up more space than you’d like. Maybe you need a bigger backyard, your family room, larger layout or just a more open space; whatever the reason, you know you need more home.

When Should I Upgrade to a Bigger Home?

#2. Can we afford it?

In this market, you might be nervous about selling your property and buying another one because of everything going on right now. It might be a great time to sell but is it a good time to turn around and buy again? It’s important to talk to your real estate agent and your lender about buying and selling at the same time.

Your lender will discuss how much you need in order to afford a bigger home and what the current market is doing so that you know how much you can sell your home for in order to put more equity into your new home. A lender will also look at all of your income, debts, assets, and liabilities to give you a fair and accurate assumption of how much you can afford in a monthly mortgage payment.  If everything falls into place perfectly, you may be able to transition easily.

#3. How much does it cost to buy and sell simultaneously?

This really is a balancing act. Lenders, escrow agents, real estate agents, buyers and sellers all need to work together to make a cohesive simultaneous purchase and sale. But, don’t fear, because it can happen. It happens all the time. You have to decide when is the right time to do it and do you sell first or by first? There are a lot of factors involved to that one question. Your agent may feel that now is a great time to sell and then look for homes or look for the right home and then put the house on the market because it will sell quickly. This really is a strategic game to play and an experienced, qualified and seasoned agent can help you get there.

A lot of times you can simply move money from one house to the other making your out-of-pocket costs very minimal. You may have to pay for a home inspection out-of-pocket, which can run anywhere from $300-$800. But, closing costs, and down payments may be able to come from the sale of your existing house. You may need to come up with an earnest money deposit, which is typically 1% to 3% of the purchase price of the home you are buying.

Upgrading because you need it is a necessity for your family. Finding the right home and pulling the trigger at the right time is something that you, your lender and your real estate agent can all discuss.

Thinking of selling and moving up? Give Preferred Properties a call today for all Stephenville, Texas and surrounding area properties.

Mortgage Interest Rates Fall To Their Lowest Rate Ever Recorded, Again

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The threshold many thought could never be crossed, has been crossed.

The average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage dropped below 3%, as Freddie Mac reported yesterday, settling in at 2.98% for the week that ended July 16th. For a 15 year loan the average rate was 2.58%. Once again interest rates have reached the lowest rates ever recorded in the fifty years that Freddie Mac has been tracking the data.

As expected, the continued decline has had the corresponding increases in demand. Even leading up to last week, when rates were hovering just above the 3% mark, refinance applications saw an increase of 12%, which is 107% higher than they were a year ago, according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Purchase applications did see a small decrease, of 6%, compared to the week before. But after seeing a 33% surge the week before, it is most likely due to a post-holiday slowdown. Compared to one year ago, purchase applications were 16% higher and it is the eighth consecutive week they have been higher than the same week a year previously.

The demand from buyers was already high before the Covid pandemic slowed down activity, but with such low interest rates even those who were thinking of waiting it out for another year are coming off the sidelines to try and lock in a low rate. Of those purchase applications, only 3% were for an adjustable rate mortgage.

However, Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist, cautions against becoming overly optimistic saying in the statement, “…the countervailing force for the economy has been the rise in new virus cases which has caused the economic recovery to stagnate, and this economic pause puts many temporary layoffs at risk of ossifying into permanent job losses.”

The real test will be a few months from now when we have a clearer picture of whether or not businesses and retail sales will return to normal. Could mortgage rates go below 2%?

 

 

Rural land regions of Texas

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The past couple of months have been tumultuous for every one of us causing anxiety, confusion, and doubt in many regions of life to education into health care, we have been influenced. We have also seen some impacts of this COVID-19 pandemic, Aside from seeing a change in how we operate in our lives.

As economic instability and a lack of confidence among buyers and sellers alike prevailed beneath the pandemic As an instance, the real estate business has taken a hit, as most anticipated. While the home market might have taken a turn for the worse, the marketplace for selling and buying property appears to be strong. The property realtors are reporting that they busy prices we’ve already been connected.

What’s the offer? There might be a couple of reasons why property listings are throughout COVID-19’s time .

When there are many stats out there yet property specialists endeavor as others browse times, that their marketplace will hold powerful. There are a few things to bear in mind that will talk to property listings are secure in addition to a few hints for anyone thinking of selling or purchasing property during the pandemic.

• Rural land regions of Texas have become considerably more desired. Why? In the time of distancing, obtaining a plot of land seems perfect.

• Properties which were formerly hanging out to the marketplace since they were distant, only reachable on foot or from off-highway vehicles, such as an ATV, are much more attractive to buyers. Individuals are currently searching less and for chances to go off the grid a little.

• an internet presence is more significant than previously. You are going to wish your listings on the internet, and do not neglect the power of networking if you are selling property. Individuals are currently spending more time online than previously, averaging 4 hours of screen time every day more than. This is the chance to get in touch with buyers or locate properties!

• Folks are crafting their own pleasure. Since most people can not go to sports facilities, fitness centers, movie theaters, or busy areas, why don’t you create your own pleasure? Increases have been reported by property realtors in purchases and queries of property.

It is a tendency, although we might not know property listings are currently doing amid the outbreak. The reasons above can explain some of the methods that property listings are currently doing nicely, but until more information is published, we will not know for certain.

Meanwhile, it can not hurt to commit a little time and energy to making sure your listings are prone and quality to get the focus that you want to market to you. On the other hand is a time that is better than ever to search for items online.

Whether you are looking to buy property or listing your property to market , PreferredPropertiesTX.com will help!

Housing Trends in Texas

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Right Place

Because people’s housing needs change as they get older, market demand cans influence for various household sizes and types. Research shows that a reduction in amounts of young middle-aged and adult homeowners and a rise in older homeowners. Meanwhile, most homeowners are still middle-aged. In 2018, middle-aged homeowners accounted for the largest shares of owner-occupied residential units in both Texas (43.9 percent) and the U.S. (43.7 percent) (Table 1). In both the country and the nation, the market shares of homes owned by middle-aged residents trended up until 2014, they then started a downward trend (Figure 4). Including amenities and home size, so do their home needs, as households age. Young adults may need homes, middle-aged households with kids prefer houses that are bigger, and seniors might prefer retirement homes or smaller homes. Likewise, by era, so will the distribution of homeownership since the distribution of individuals by age changes. Awareness of these changes will help property professionals balance supplies of houses with the market requirement for various home sizes and sorts and organize. Recent Real Estate Center research shows a downward tendency in young adult and middle-aged homeowners at both Texas and the U.S. however an upward trend in older homeowners (to get a breakdown of how the U.S. Census Bureau defines those age groups, see Table 1).
In both the country and the nation, seniors 85 years or older possess the smallest stocks of residential units–2.6 percent in Texas and 3.5 percent in the U.S. at 2018, up from 2010’s 2.1 percent to the state and 2.8 percent for the country (Figure 10). This group consists of homeowners age 55-64 and 45-54. The group is trending up Though the market shares for the 45-54 group are trending downward. The market share of Texas homeowners age 45-54, largely older Generation X, decreased from 24.2 percent in 2010 to 21.8% in 2018 (Figure 5). Meanwhile, that demographic’s share decreased from 23.8 to 20.7% nationwide. The share of Texas homeowners 55-64 years old, largely younger boomers, rose from 19.6 percent in 2010 to 22.1 percent in 2018, while the share nationally rose from 20.6 to 23 percent (Figure 6).
At 38.9 per cent, Odessa directed Texas Metropolitan Statistical Areas with the largest share of residential units owned by young adults at 2018 (Table 2). Sherman-Denison had the smallest share at 23.3 percent.
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Tyler had the largest shares of homes in the older bracket (35.2 percent), while Austin-Round Rock had the smallest (21.8 percent).
Odessa had the largest share of houses with mid-range owners (57.4% ), and Sherman-Denison again had the lowest (42.1 percent).
By 2014-18, the nation’s average median age was 34.4 years compared with 37.9 years to the country. This distinction is represented in the supply of homeownership of the state by era. In 2018, young adults possessed 29.6 percent of houses in Texas compared with 25.5% for the U.S. (Table 1). Shares for this group are falling in both the country and the nation (Figure 1).
Texas seniors’ share of owner-occupied residential units in 2018 was 26.6 percent, lower compared to 30.8 percent national average (Table 1). Shares for this demographic trended upward both in Texas and nationally (Figure 7).
The young adult group consists of two age brackets: people under 35 and those 35-44 years old. These homeowners, that are under 37 years in 2020, are largely Generation Z and younger and elderly Generation Y (millennials). The market share of Texas homeowners 35-44 years old decreased from 20.7 percent in 2010 to 18.4% in 2018 while the country’s decreased from 19 to 15.6 percent (Figure 3). This group includes younger Generation X.
Assessing Texas, U.S. Homeowners
The 65-74 demographic, largely elderly people, has the largest share of housing units owned by seniors (Table 1). In 2018, the market share with this category in Texas was 15.9 percent, up from 12.4% in 2010 (Figure 8). The nation’s share increased from 13.4 to 17.9 percent over precisely the exact same period.
The senior demographic: 65-74, 75-84, and 85 or older is comprised by three age brackets. Texas’ market shares for all three mounts have remained smaller than the shares for the country on account of the younger population of the state.

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HOW TO FINANCIALLY PREPARE YOURSELF BEFORE LOOKING AT A HOME

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Prepare Financially Before Looking at Homes

Too often home buyers fail to prepare themselves financially before looking for a home to purchase. Doing so is a common mistake that many future home buyers make even though this may be the largest purchase of their lives. Not taking the proper steps to set yourself up for success could mean that you do not get your dream home, or it costs you more than it should.

Here are some of the best tips for preparing yourself financially before starting the home search process. By doing so you’ll be two steps ahead of the game and well on your way to home ownership!

CONNECT WITH A LENDER FAR IN ADVANCE

Before you start driving around neighborhoods, flipping through listings online or even stopping in to speak with a Realtor, it would be a good idea to know what your buying power is today. If you have a goal to be able to buy into a particular neighborhood, you should put a plan in place to be able to achieve that.

Speaking with a lender first to develop a plan of action on how you can qualify to buy a home in that area or price range is critical.

My recommendation is that you have an initial discussion with a lender nine months to one year in advance. Sound crazy? I know many people do not know that far in advance that they may be buying a home next year. For those who do, this is extremely important.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO PLAN SO FAR IN ADVANCE?

First, your lender will let you know what you can qualify for today based upon your income, down payment and credit score.  There are other factors which play a part including credit events and large monthly payments on your credit report.

Income – Income sometimes is difficult to change in one year. Lenders will be looking at your last two years’ tax returns and recent pay stubs when you are ready to apply. They will also require that you have a two-year work history.

Some individuals decide to take a break for personal reasons without realizing that a gap in employment may prevent them from getting loan approval. Documenting your income is essential as well. If you are in a cash business, then you should begin depositing that money into an account on a regular basis so that you can qualify for a bank statement loan. These are just a few examples of what your lender will discuss with you.

Down Payment – This is extremely important, and it will partially determine your buying power. It is also connected to the various loan programs that you may or may not qualify for.  You will need to have those down payment funds in your bank account three months before you submit a loan application.

If you have little to no down payment and do not think you can raise additional funds over the next nine months, then your lender will discuss low down payment and loan program options which will then help determine your realistic price range.

If you can get to a twenty percent down payment that is ideal. When you don’t have at least twenty percent to put down, you’ll often be required to pay private mortgage insurance.

PMI is a useless fee that only benefits the lender as protection in the event you default on your loan. Most people will try to stop paying private mortgage insurance as soon as they can.

Credit Score – Your credit score plays a significant role here. It will have an impact on your final mortgage rate, in some instances your down payment requirement, or whether you are qualified at all for a mortgage. Borrowers with the best credit scores generally will get the lowest mortgage interest rate. Therefore it makes sense to put a lot of work into improving your financial status.

The good news though is that it is not that hard to improve your credit scores in as little as 6 months or less. There are creative ways to do it yourself and even some reputable services out there who know how to get your scores raised for you.

Do your best to target a score of 680 or above. There are lenders that can find a bad credit mortgage for you with scores as low as 500 but then your down payment requirement and your rate will be much different.

Credit Events – A credit event is a bankruptcy, foreclosure and in some instances collections. If you have a bankruptcy or foreclosure, your lender needs to know up front so he or she can plan for this. It is preferable to have had these two years prior to applying for a loan.

Less than two years out of bankruptcy for example will prevent you from getting an FHA loan. Collections need to be dealt with. Pay outstanding collection amounts and work to have them removed from your credit report. That can be negotiated with the creditor as part of the payment agreement.

Large Payments on Your Credit Report – Too often potential home buyers fail to qualify because they have too many other minimum monthly payments showing up on their credit report. During the qualification process, lenders need to factor your future mortgage payment as well as the monthly obligations that appear on your credit report.

Together, and when divided into your gross monthly income they make your debt to income ratio (DTI). Each loan program has a maximum DTI allowed. The less that you have in OTHER monthly payments on your credit report, the larger the loan you will be able to qualify for.

In this example, you can see that with a gross monthly income of $6,500, this person would qualify for a $300k loan at current rates using a maximum DTI of 43%. At the bottom, you can see how much more buying power this person has when the other monthly payments are removed.

This example above should hopefully explain why it is important to keep your credit report free from other monthly obligations. If you think there is a chance that you may buy a home in the near future, then do not buy a new car. At least not without discussing the implications with your lender.

In the example above, the person could afford $88k more if there was no car payment when applying for the loan.  The truth is that auto lending is much more lenient when it comes to qualifying. Once you are approved and close on your home loan, there is an excellent chance that you can then go and buy the car you want.

RESERVE FUNDS

The cash needed to buy a home is not just about the down payment and closing costs. Lenders will require a few months’ reserves (check with your lender). They want to be sure that if you have a job loss that you can at least make a few payments before you are out of money.

Realistically, you need to plan for a lot more than that. When you buy your home, do you think you may need some money to fix it up the way you want? Even with new construction, there are expenses.

Do you need to buy furniture? Do you own basic home needs like a lawn mower? This is also part of the planning process. Throwing everything you have into your initial purchase without anything left over makes you “house poor” and with one small setback can land you in a very difficult scenario where you could lose your home.

FINAL PERSPECTIVE

Once you have this plan developed with the assistance of a lender, then you can target price points and specific towns or neighborhoods. You will be able to spend time focusing on homes that are a true reality for you.

Developing a plan far in advance and sticking to it will also help make the home buying process much easier and will take the stress out of finding a mortgage. Your realtor will also be pleasantly surprised to know that you have taken the time to make sure you have the ability financially to purchase the home.

If you are thinking about looking for a home at some point in the future, contact a lender today to have a preliminary discussion.

Preferred Properties of Texas

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