Cut Your Housing Costs in Half

Serious shoppers wait for a 50% off sale to make the decision because of the bargain factor.  Renters who are serious about lowering their monthly cost of housing should consider buying with today’s low mortgage rates.  For an example, let’s assume a person buys a $200,000 home with 3.5% down payment on a 4.5% FHA mortgage for 30 years.

The total house payment would be approximately $1,508 per month.  However, once you consider the equity build-up due to normal amortization, a monthly appreciation estimated at 2% annually for this example, the tax savings and paying maintenance that a tenant wouldn’t be required to do, the net cost of housing is $772 a month.  This is almost half of the full mortgage payment.
If this person was paying $1,750 a month for rent, it would cost him almost $978 more to rent than to own. In the first year alone, it would accumulate to over $11,000 which is more than the down payment required of $7,000.

Owning a home is the largest investment that most people make and the down payment of $7,000 to purchase this home would grow to $58,837 in equity by estimating a 2% appreciation and normal amortization.

To check out what your real housing costs might look like, go to Rent vs. Own or contact your real estate professional.


Contact Marilyn Messenger for additional information about how a buyer agent/broker can help you manage the home buying process. Visit www.marilynmessenger.com to search for homes and find market reports for Wayland, Sudbury, Maynard, Stow, and Concord MA.

Home Buying: 2 Ways to Buy a House

There are 2 ways to buy a house:

1.        On your own/unrepresented
2.      With a buyer agent/broker on your side to represent your interests throughout the buying process.

Unrepresented/on your own: You look at public websites like Zillow, Trulia, or Realtor.com that collect listings from a number of sources and post them online with descriptions, photos, etc.

When you find a house that you like the looks of, you contact the agent shown on the listing. That agent is the listing agent; the person who is legally bound to get the most money and best terms for the seller. The listing agent will be happy to show you the house, ask you questions about your finances and other personal information to make sure you are a qualified buyer, and write an offer for you.

The listing agent’s job is to “sell” the house, not to help you make good decisions! The listing agent is not allowed to give you advice. Everything you say will be used to help get the best deal for the seller.

You will be on your own without a professional to help you with these and other tasks:

•        Search for properties.
•         Decide how much to offer using public information that is often incorrect and/or not complete.
•         Decide about contingency dates.
•        Review and understand all of the forms and disclosures.
•         Manage the negotiations.
•              Find an experienced home inspect.
•              Decide how to handle any home inspection issues that come up.
•       Manage additional negotiations that may result from inspection issues.
•        Find an attorney, mortgage broker, insurance agent.
•        Deal with possible appraisal issues.
•       Monitor contingency dates to make sure you don’t jeopardize your deposit. 
•             Remember to request extensions if needed.
•       Verify information that may include zoning or conservation issues/restrictions, permits for work done, Title V/septic information
•        Keep all parties are informed.
•         Make sure you have everything ready for closing.
•       And handle anything else that may come up throughout the buying process.
•       Repeat the process if your first deal doesn't work out.

Or, you can have your own buyer agent/broker to work on your behalf to represent your interests and get you the best price and terms. Your agent will help with the following and more...

•       Explain the home-buying process and be there for you from beginning to end to guide you every step way through closing.
•       Provide you with all of the information you need so that you understand your housing options in the current, local market.
•       Provide a market analysis to help you decide on the offer price.
•       Recommend area professionals, i.e. a home inspector, real estate attorney, mortgage and insurance representatives to help you.
•       Attend the home inspection with you and any follow-up inspections that may result.
•       Help you address any issues from the home inspection and,
•       Renegotiate inspection issues on your behalf.'
•             Preview listings for you and sort out the ones that fit your criteria to save you time and make the process more efficient.
•             Direct you to the right parties to verify information about zoning, conservation, Title V, etc.
•       Track all of the paperwork.
•             Keep all parties in the loop; communications are key to success.
•       Make sure deadlines are met.
•        Help protect your deposits.
•       Accompany you to the final walk-through.
•       Negotiate any last minute issues from the walk-through
•       Prepare you for closing.
•      Attend the closing.

     Always work on your behalf to represent your best interest.
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"Marilyn recently helped us purchase our first home and we couldn't have been happier with her patience, wisdom, and guidance. We found Marilyn to be extremely knowledgeable of the local market and she kept the process stress free by answering calls, texts, and e-mails at all hours. We were thrilled with Marilyn and highly recommend her to all prospective home buyers without reservation."

Elisabeth and Conor

“I contacted Marilyn when I wanted to move to the area. She was able to quickly provide me with appropriate listings for my needs and see me through to the purchase. Marilyn is terrific, knows her business and this area!” 

Bonnie P.

More...

Messenger has been practicing buyer agency in Wayland, Sudbury, Maynard, Stow, and the towns west of Boston since 1993. She is an Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) and a member of the Real Estate Buyer Agency Council. Contact Marilyn

What Can You Expect?

The two most frequently quoted constants in life are death and taxes. Two more things would-be homeowners can expect in the near future are increases in mortgage rates and housing prices.

Interest rates have been kept artificially low for several years by the Federal Reserve in an effort to strengthen the economy. Policy is shifting to allow them to seek their own natural level and that will surely result in higher mortgage rates. Rates on 30 year fixed mortgages are up over 1% from January, 2013.

Foreclosure activity is down, new home starts are up and prices have been increasing in most markets for two years. Most experts agree that the cost of housing is going up.

If the price were to go up by 2% and the mortgage rate by 1% while a buyer is “sitting on the fence” making a decision, the payment would go up by almost $175.00 each and every month for the term of the mortgage. Even if a person can afford to make the higher payments, what could they have done with that extra $175.00 a month? Buy furniture? Car payment? Principal reduction?  Retirement contribution? Save for a rainy day?

Click here to determine what the cost of waiting to buy will be using your price home.
















Inventory is extremely low in most towns; only 44 single-family homes for sale in Sudbury, 17 in Wayland; and 15 in Maynard. I will be posting and emailing market updates in the next day or two.

Low inventory makes this a very good time to put your house on the market before the spring becomes more competitive as more people decide to sell. And you will have the edge on other buyers who still need to sell in order to move forward.

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Sudbury Housing Market Update - Prices Rise as Inventory Shrinks

Sudbury Real Estate - Local Housing Market Update



Click here for the latest report from the Greater Boston Association of Realtors. including data for condominiums in Sudbury.
 

Single-Family Homes: Both the number of single-family homes sold and the median sale price during February were higher in Sudbury than in previous years. Year to date (as of 2/28) there have been 25 closed sales for single-family homes in Sudbury - a 47.1% increase over the same period last year.

Current 4/2/13 - The number of homes for sale has dropped by 40% since last year - there are 84 single-family homes for sale and of those, 18 already have accepted offers. Last year on 4/2 there

were 141 for sale. Current list prices range from $269,900 to $3,495,000.The median list price is $889,000 compared with $769,000 last year.

Overall, there is a 4 month supply of single-family homes for sale compared with 8 months last year. Supply varies by price. Luxury property buyers still have many excellent options in Sudbury. There are currently 23 estate homes for sale between $1,000,000 and $1,499,999 and only 2 have - this is an almost 9 month supply. There are 8 listings between 1.5 million and $999,999.

Condominiums (townhouse and garden apartment style) - Contrary to the single-family market, the supply of condominiums has increased by 100% - there are 32 for sale compared with 16 last year, however, of the 32, 14 already have accepted offers. The increase is mostly due to the new construction townhouses at Landham Crossing, Mahoney Farms, and Grouse Hill. There are also 3 resale townhouses at Springhouse Pond, 2 of which have accepted offers and are being shown for backup. List prices for condos in Sudbury range from $230,000 for an apartment-style at Northwoods, to $825,000. The median price is $687,450.

While condo living is easier and really tempting after all the snow this winter, it is different than owning your own single-family home. There are many things to consider. If you are considering a condo, including new construction, know that you are entitled to have your own buyer agent /broker represent you. If you want someone on your side, and who wouldn't, contact me before you visit the site; visiting the site first could cost you.

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Get the latest market reports for Wayland, Sudbury, Maynard, Stow and Acton MA at www.marilynmessenger.com or call 508-596-3501 if you are looking for a knowledgeable, experienced, educated and caring real estate broker and buyer agent to help you buy or sell a home.

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