Mortgage Rates Projected to Rise Sooner Rather than Later  

Now that we are deep into July, with summer in full swing, there might be vague thoughts running through your mind about some potential real estate moves—but certainly not until the fall. Right now all most of us are thinking about is whether another chilled glass of summer-something-or-other is in order. Mortgage rates and what the folks in Washington might be doing to affect them are not exactly what occupies an idyllic July afternoon.
         But if you’ve been paying attention to any newscasts long enough to reach the dull-as-dishwater economic stories they throw in toward the end of the broadcasts, you may also have an inkling that conditions are about to change. And the evidence does suggest that mortgage rates face a likely increase come fall. If your vague suspicion does come to pass, and if you’re among those considering buying or selling a home this year, now should be the time to stop “thinking” and start “doing”.
          Exhibit A for that proposition comes from one Michael C. Fratantoni, who happens to be the Chief Economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). When he recently spoke at the National Association of REALTORS^® office in Washington, he made no bones about it: mortgage rates will continue upwards, with a first significant Fed hike likely in September. September! The 30-year fixed mortgage, which we all know has lingered at historic lows—below 4%—for several years, is likely to hit 4.4% by the end of 2015 , then move beyond 5% next year.
         It’s enough to stifle any thoughts about that frosty beverage.
         The good news for homeowners planning to list is that Fratantoni doesn’t believe any of these factors will keep the nations’ buyers away. After a pretty lackluster 2014 performance, the MBA forecasts a 14% year-over-year increase in purchase-money mortgage originations in 2015—and nearly 9% in 2016.   Nationwide, incomes are also expected to rise, and with new household formations on the rise, the national real estate market looks to remain in fairly good balance.
         While it seems there’s no instantaneous need to drop all your summertime activities to rush your home onto the market, with mortgage rates expected to rise sooner rather than later, it’s certainly worth making it a priority to give me a call this week.  After that, there will definitely be ample time to finish enjoying that delightful chilled summer beverage.

4 Foolproof Steps to Increasing the Value of Your Home

 As soon as you decide that you will be putting your home up for sale—whether soon or at some point in the foreseeable future—it’s also time to get strategic about growing your property's value—starting with a generous dollop of objectivity.

The difficulty stems from a truth about how everybody perceives much of their property’s value. We escape from hurly-burly of daily living by retreating to the comfortable confines of our home—our place. A good part of its value to us and to our family is its sheer familiarity—the “hominess” that makes it our personal haven. But some of the very things that make it so comfortable to us will be off-putting to outsiders—and they are the prospective buyers.

Our great leather easy chair (the dark brown one that’s gotten a few shades lighter where we sit, and a little off-color where the spills happened) may look a bit peaked to the untrained eye, but it’s been that way for years: who cares? The back door needs to be bolted to stay shut…we do that without even thinking about it—hardly an issue! The sofa may sag, but it sags exactly right (for us)! The bathroom window that’s sort of stuck (okay, maybe it’s painted shut)…etc. etc. etc.

Professionals are of one voice about the real value you add to a property when you go to the trouble of systematically depersonalizing it. It helps to approach doing that seriously and deliberately—to tackle it in an organized manner. There are any number of ways to go about that, but here is one way that will pay off:

Step 1

      Make a list... Review your home from top to bottom. Identify every nit-picky detail in your home that requires repair or renovation. Prioritize your list of repairs or renovations from the easiest (defined as least expensive/time consuming) to the most difficult (defined as most expensive/time consuming). Memorialize the list of repairs/renovations in writing and assign realistic completion dates for each item on the list. For "big ticket" repairs or renovations, get an opinion from a full-time real estate professional on whether the repair/renovation will, in fact, improve the market value of your home before you incur any expense.

Step 2

After a decent interval, sit down with the list and re-classify each item into an Easy Self-Fix List and a Professional-Attention-Needed List.

Step 3
      Get bids from the appropriate professional tradespeople, calculate which fit your budget, then schedule the work.

Step 4
      Get started on your own endeavors to address the Easy Self-Fix List. You’ll be able to organize your own efforts to finish up about two weeks after the last of the tradespeople are scheduled to finish their projects (a two week grace period is realistic: you are aiming to finish everything about the same time).

Following these four steps will put you well on your way to increasing the value of your home. And at any point in the process—from before Step 1 to the satisfying moment that closes Step 4—give me a call to discuss how to convert all that increased value into a profitable home sale!