If I Were a Rich Man... diddle-diddle-diddle... diddle-diddle-diddle-diddle-dum...

Granite and hardwoods are so 20th century and passé for wealthy buyers. What features is Richie Rich looking for in his $1.5 million home (average home price)?

According to Realtor Magazine, a recent survey of home buyers who made more than $250,000 a year lists thusly:

Must-have amenities:
1. An open floor plan
2. Fully automated/wired home system with high-speed cable and integrated music systems, computerized lighting and home monitoring systems

3. Pool

4. Outdoor kitchen

5. Gym

6. Home theater

 

Less important amenities:

1. Wine cellar

2. Guest house

3. Safe room

4. Separate catering kitchen

5. Tennis court

6. Staff quarters

 

Source: Realtor Magazine

FREE Video Lessons from Marketing Gurus? You gotta be kidding!

Every day there is an email from a marketing company ready to show me how to market my business. I don’t mind a message in the body of the email that I can skim through – a short one with the salient points in bold. Heck… I even subscribe to a few.

But… here’s my gripe about the video ones. Or several gripes:

1.      It’s a 13-minute video and in the 1^st 3 minutes, the presenter’s best buddy has the camera on himself, telling us about the presenter who is… to put it succinctly, a national treasure, and we should be so honored to have him in our midst.

2.      The camera is now on the presenter, and in the next 3 minutes, he’s telling us how long he has been doing this and how people have reacted to his talks and found new meanings in their pitiful marketing efforts, and how he is going to change our lives.

3.      In the next 5 minutes, the presenter re-affirms that this is a FREE service and runs through the points that are going to take us to the next level. One point, typically, the 4^th or 5^th is a complex one, and he’ll stress on it or his buddy will be back asking pertinent questions about it.

4.      Ah! Now for the crux! The complex point. It turns out that you may well be able to do this yourself if you have an advanced degree in computer science or have a back office team of 15 people to turn to. But… he’s going to help you do all of this for just… $___ (anything from $29.99 a month to $100 a month). He’ll even throw in a one-on-one coaching period.

Do I need to watch this 13-minute pompous pretentious pundit to discover that nothing is free?

Dear Marketing Gurus… please don’t send me emails with videos of yourself. I’ll take great pleasure in hitting ‘Delete’!

5 Inspection Problems Buyers Shouldn’t Ignore

Home buyers need to be extra vigilant about inspections in the early stages of a purchase because if problems are discovered too late in the process, it can "dash home owners' dreams and budgets," writes Yahoo! Finance in a recent article.

One home buyer in Long Island, N.Y., explains in the story that she didn't discover the fixer-upper she bought needed $225,000 in repairs until after she purchased it. 

Jonathan and Drew Scott, who educate viewers about transforming fixer-uppers on HGTV's "Property Brothers," offers up a checklist of five things buyers should look for to ensure they don’t buy a lemon. 

• Mold: Buyers should note any musty smells in the home and be on the lookout for any mold. Mold can be caused by improper air circulation as well as water leaks. 
• Pests: Termite damage can be widespread and costly to repair.  
• Outdated fixtures and wiring: Electrical problems in a home can cause fire hazards. Buyers should take note of any indication of faulty wiring, such as cable coming out of drywall. 
• Poor DIY jobs: Buyers should make sure that the previous home owner's do-it-yourself projects were done correctly and are up to code. For example, poorly done flooring and painted-over wallpaper can be time-consuming and costly to fix. 
• Drainage problems: Sloping sod can cause flooding problems in a backyard, and a slow-draining sink could be an indication of a bigger problem. Buyers should test sinks and flush toilets to test for any potential problems. 

Courtesy: Realtor Magazine

Fannie Mae's Housing Forecast - the picture says it all!

Why are you still waiting for the real estate market to bottom out? Call me NOW to find your dream home at 803-348-9922. Or check out all homes for sale in Columbia and Lexington on www.homesincolumbiasc.net.

Courtesy: Keeping Current Matters Blog

Harvard Study: Homeownership Still the American Dream

                                                                                                                         

A big question facing the real estate industry over the last few years is how the housing crisis would impact the public’s belief in homeownership as a major component of the American Dream. Many felt the tragedy experienced by so many families would force them to reconsider their desire to ever be a homeowner again.

A recent study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University addressed this question. Their paper, Reexamining the Social Benefits of Homeownership after the Housing Crisis, revealed some interesting findings:

Homeownership Still Preferred Over Renting

“Even after the dramatic loss of equity and the high foreclosure rates, the early evidence suggests that people seem to believe that, over the long run, owning is still preferable to renting…The long term cultural preference for owning seems to have weathered the recent housing crisis.”

Americans Still Expect to be Homeowners

“The research on home-buying expectations supports the conclusion that very large percentages of Americans still expect to buy a home at some time in the future.”

Younger Americans More Desirous of Homeownership

“Moreover, the finding that younger renters and owners are more likely than their older counterparts to expect to own bodes well for the future of the housing market.”

Even after one of the most difficult decades in this country’s real estate history, the belief that homeownership is a part of the American Dream still lives on.

Courtesy: The KCM Blog

4 Tips to determine how much Mortgage you can Afford

The most important part of home ownership is affordability – how much can you afford to pay every month as mortgage comfortably? Here are 4 tips to ensure that home ownership will fit in your budget.

1. The general rule of mortgage affordability:

As a rule of thumb, you can typically afford a home priced two to three times your gross income. For example, if you earn $100,000, you can typically afford a home between $200,000 and $300,000.

2. How much can you put down as down payment?

As an example, if you are buying a home for $100,000, and you have $20,000 saved up for down payment, that means you can put down 20% and your loan is for the remaining 80%.

This means that you will not have to pay private mortgage insurance (typically required by all lenders for down payments less than 20%), which may cost hundreds each month.

The lower your down payment, the higher the loan amount you’ll need to qualify for and the higher your monthly mortgage payment.

3. Consider your overall debt:

Lenders generally follow the 28/41 rule.

Simply put:

·        Your monthly mortgage payment (loan principal, interest, taxes and insurance) should not total more than 28% of your gross annual income.
·        Your overall monthly payments for your mortgage plus all your other bills (car loans, utilities, credit cards, other loans) should not exceed 41% of your gross annual income.

Here’s how that works. If your gross annual income is $100,000, multiply by 28% and then divide by 12 months to arrive at a monthly mortgage payment of $2,333 or less. Next, check the total of all your monthly bills including your potential mortgage and make sure they don’t top 41%, or $3,416 in our example.

4. Use your rent as a mortgage guide:

Multiply your current rent by 1.33 to arrive at a rough estimate of a mortgage payment.

For example: If your rent is $1,500 per month, you should be able to comfortably afford a $2,000 monthly mortgage payment.

This is because of the tax benefits of home ownership. However, if you take the standard deduction, you can’t also deduct mortgage interest payments. Talking to a tax adviser, or using a tax software program to do a “what if” tax return, can help you see your tax situation more clearly.

However, if you’re struggling to keep up with your rent, consider what amount would be comfortable and use that for the calculation instead.

If all this math is making your head spin, simply give me a call (M 803-348-9922). I am not a mortgage loan officer, but I have several good friends who are and I can introduce you to them. They will take your details over the phone and pre-qualify you.

You can also check out the mortgage calculator on my website www.homesincolumbiasc.net – plug in the price of home and interest rate (it’s up to 4.68% for a 30-year fixed mortgage) and you’ll get a monthly mortgage payment (principal and interest).

Courtesy: Realtor Magazine