Home Buyers in a Rush to Beat Higher Rates

Mortgage rates are moving higher, and that has some home shoppers rushing to locking in rates before they edge up even more.
Mortgage applications for refinancings and home purchases increased 4.5 percent last week compared to the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. Loan applications are now 6.1 percent higher than the same week a year ago.

Broken out, applications to purchase a home surged 6 percent during the week and reached their highest level since April 2010, the MBA reports. Loan applications for home purchases are now 7 percent higher than the same week a year ago.
“A combination of being left on the sideline last summer due to a lack of inventory for sale and the prospect of slowly rising interest rates over the near term appears to have buyers in a hurry to start the spring buying season,” says Lynn Fisher, the MBA’s vice president of research and economics.
Mortgage applications to refinance a home increased 1 percent for the week. Typically, refinance applications move lower when interest rates rise, but borrowers are showing some concern for missing an opportunity to refinance at lower rates.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.36 percent during the week, its highest average since March, the MBA reports.
“The increases that we’ve seen so far have only gotten people off the couch and into the market,” Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin, told CNBC. “People are worrying that they need to hurry and buy a house now before rates go up further.”

Source: “Mortgage Applications Jump 4.5% as Buyers Rush to Beat Higher Rates,” CNBC (Jan. 24, 2018)

Daily Real Estate News | Wednesday, January 24, 2018

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Fannie Offers ‘Healthy Housing’ Incentive

Mortgage financing giant Fannie Mae launched a healthy housing reward initiative that offers financial awards to multifamily borrowers who provide services that improve the health and well-being of tenants living in affordable housing. These services could range from day care and food access to youth and education programming and job training.
The program, dubbed Enhanced Resident Services, includes a lower borrowing rate for purchasers who participate. The program is part of Fannie Mae’s Healthy Housing Rewards initiative, which aims to advance sustainable communities and the availability of affordable housing by encouraging multifamily borrowers to improve design features and services that improve residents’ health and stability.
“We believe that the strength of an affordable rental housing property is directly linked to the health and stability of the people and families who live there,” says Bob Simpson, vice president of affordable and green financing at Fannie Mae. “Affordable borrowers have recognized the value of providing enhanced resident services at their properties for years, but have been constrained by the inability to ensure a long-term source of financial support. By participating in our Healthy Housing Rewards program, borrowers will save between $15,000 and $75,000 per year. Amounts saved can be used to offset resident services costs at their property for the life of the loan—thus ensuring that the low-income residents who live there have access to health, education, and other community services.”
For the program, Fannie Mae is teaming up with Stewards for Affordable Housing for the Future, a nonprofit multistate group of affordable housing providers that offers compliance certifications for borrowers and the multifamily affordable housing property.
To qualify for the program, at least 60 percent of the units in multifamily properties seeking the pricing incentive must serve residents earning 60 percent of average median income or less. The program officially started Jan. 15.

Source: Fannie Mae

Daily Real Estate News | Thursday, January 18, 2018

Loan Demand Jumps Over Fears?

Mortgage applications for refinancings and home purchases surged 4.1 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, even as interest rates rose, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. Volume is now up 5.6 percent over a year ago.

More consumers are growing concerned that the long run of record low rates may be coming to an end. As such, they’re rushing to lock in rates before any more upticks.
Applications to purchase a home increased 3 percent last week and are now 7 percent higher than the same week a year ago. Refinance applications rose 4 percent last week. Typically, refinance applications drop when interest rates rise so applications diverted from normal patterns last week.
The MBA reports that the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose last week to 4.33 percent, from 4.23 percent the previous week. Interest rates across the board rose last week, including the 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage, which rose to its highest level since April 2011.
“Treasury yields moved higher on average last week, based on news that both Japanese and European economic growth is strengthening, along with concern that China may reduce U.S. Treasury holdings in the near future,” explains Joel Kan, an MBA economist. “Despite the increase in rates, applications increased both for purchase and refinance. These increases were partly due to an upswing following the holiday season lull and potentially more borrowers trying to refinance before mortgage rates increase further.”

Source: “Mortgage Applications Rise 4.1% as Borrowers See Last Chance to get Lowest Rates,” CNBC (Jan. 17, 2017)

Daily Real Estate News | Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Buying Better Than Renting in 54% of Markets

Despite rising prices, buying a home makes more sense than paying increasingly high rents in more than half of the U.S. Buying a median-priced home is more affordable than renting a three-bedroom property in 240 of 447—or 54 percent—of U.S. counties analyzed, according to a new report released by ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm.
Renting a three-bedroom property requires an average of nearly 39 percent of weekly wages across the 447 counties analyzed for the report. The least affordable markets for renting are: Marin County, Calif. (where it takes 79.5% of average wages to rent); Spotsylvania County, Va. (75.5%); Honolulu County, Hawaii (71.9%); Sonoma County, Calif. (67.6%); and Kings County, N.Y. (67.4%).
But a rentals are still often a better deal in highly populated areas. “Although buying is still more affordable than renting in the majority of U.S. housing markets, that majority is shrinking as home price appreciation continues to outpace rental growth in most areas,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions. “Renting has clearly become the lesser of two housing affordability evils in many major population centers, with renting more than affordable than buying in 76 percent of counties that have a population of 1 million or more.”

Daily Real Estate News | Friday, January 12, 2018

Source: ATTOM Data Solutions

Check out Hibbing Curling Club for its 7th Annual Funspiel  for the Angel Fund on Saturday Feb 10, 2018

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Save the Date-   March 3, 2018

New Location-   Hibbing Memorial Building

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Pre-Listing Inspections Put Sellers in Control

In the typical real estate transaction, the buyer is the one to order a home inspection. But sellers, too, can request a professional assessment of their home before putting it on the market. A pre-listing inspection provides sellers with upfront information about the condition of their property, which gives them more control over repairs and potentially strengthens their negotiating position.
Few sellers take advantage of this opportunity, according to Steve Wadlington, president of national home inspection services company WIN Home Inspection. “I don’t expect pre-listing inspections to become mainstream in my lifetime,” he says. Lack of awareness contributes to the underutilization, Wadlington adds, but he also acknowledges that sellers may be reluctant to spend the money for such services.
Additionally, sellers and their agents have a legal duty to disclose to buyers any property issues that are revealed in a pre-inspection report. REALTOR® Magazine spoke with Wadlington about how pre-listing inspections can boost home sales and help sellers defend their asking price.

Are there any differences between a pre-listing inspection and a buyer’s inspection?
The only differences are the customer for whom the inspection is being conducted—in this case it’s the seller, not the buyer—and the point when the inspection occurs. The scope of the inspection is the same. A pre-listing inspection focuses on proper functionality of all major systems and components of the house: heating and cooling; electrical; plumbing; roof and structure; siding; and doors and windows. It’s a full inspection for the seller to better understand the condition of their home prior to the buyer’s inspection. This gives the seller important information to consider so they’re not caught off-guard in the midst of a transaction.

How much does a typical pre-listing inspection cost?
The fee is usually the same as a buyer’s inspection, generally ranging from $350 to $500 for a qualified inspector who carries E&O insurance. Of course, the price varies based on location, square footage, age of the home, and any special conditions, such as whether the home is built on a steep incline.

Why should a seller do an inspection, particularly if the buyer is going to do one anyway?
The value to the seller is that a pre-listing inspection makes them aware of issues in advance of negotiating a purchase agreement, allowing them the chance to resolve the issues or have them accounted for upfront in the asking price. This gives the seller better control in marketing their home and helps minimize stress from heat-of-the-moment negotiations once a purchase agreement is tendered. Homes that have a pre-listing inspection generally sell faster and have fewer inspection-related issues to negotiate, enabling a smoother transaction.

What should a seller do if a pre-listing inspection uncovers significant problems in the home?
It’s always better for everyone to know about major inspection issues as soon as possible. Once they’re identified, they can be carefully assessed for proper resolution. Depending on the nature of the issue, a seller shouldn’t automatically assume that everything needs to be fixed before putting the home on the market. Their real estate professional should advise whether the repairs are necessary to the viability of the sale. Regardless of who owns the property, issues of concern to the buyer will need to be dealt with somehow, and the associated cost of the resolution is a consideration for both the buyer and seller.

If the seller doesn’t want to pay for repairs, what solace does a pre-listing inspection give to the buyer?
For many buyers, being provided forthcoming inspection information has both tangible and emotional value. They’re made aware of issues identified in the inspection report, which gives them more facts to work with, and then they’re provided subsequent clarity on which issues have been or will be resolved as part of the transaction. Sellers who proactively disclose pre-listing issues give buyers proper awareness to factor them into their offers.

Can pre-listing inspections help real estate professionals when marketing a home?
The more information agents can provide to give buyers peace of mind, the better it is for the sale. A pre-listing inspection can also reinforce the seller’s asking price. It enables agents to explain how the inspection report—plus any repairs that were made before listing—helped the sellers arrive at the home’s value. At WIN, we also provide a “Ready for Purchase” sign rider to identify the house as one that has pre-listing inspection information available. It’s similar to what the auto industry has done with marketing certified used cars.

What about sellers who don’t see the sense in paying for an inspection?
Actually, a pre-listing inspection can ultimately save money for sellers in two ways. First, by being aware of and disclosing known property issues upfront, the seller can make it known that consideration for those items has already been factored into the sales price. That effectively takes these issues off the negotiation table. Second, the seller can choose to repair the issues prior to listing, which gives them more control over repair costs.

Should a seller offer the entire pre-listing inspection report to a buyer or just a summary? How much detail is necessary?
I think this is a situational consideration, where sellers should consult with their real estate professional. The industry has evolved such that it is reasonable to view the inspection summary as containing all of the important need-to-know items found in the full report. Since the real goal here is to ensure transparency and awareness, the summary should be adequate to achieve that. Depending on the length and complexity of the full report, as well as the technical complexity of the issues presented in the summary, I can see where a good faith effort to offer more detail could actually cause undue alarm if the buyer can’t put the information in proper perspective. But bear in mind that much of the longer report will also confirm positive functionality of the major systems and components of the home, so it can offer added positive value as well.

Wouldn’t buyers still want to do their own inspection?
Yes, absolutely. If a seller claims to have resolved issues that were uncovered in a pre-listing inspection, the buyer will want a subsequent inspection to confirm those repairs. Whether the buyer uses the same inspector that the seller used is a matter of personal preference, and there are pros and cons either way. Using the same inspector can be beneficial because their prior experience and familiarity with the home allows them to better detect changes based on a point in time. But a properly trained and certified home inspector will inspect the home for the seller or the buyer in the same manner. This person’s view of the home is objective and won’t change based on who hired them.

Steve Wadlington, president of WIN Home Inspection, explains how sellers can avoid potential conflict with buyers and gain an edge in negotiations.
January 2018 | By Graham Wood

How Much Buyers Put Down on Their Home

The majority of buyers who obtained a mortgage last year made a down payment of less than 20 percent, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. The median down payment in 2017 was 10 percent, according to the report.
The bulk of buyers’ down payments came from their personal savings, but a fraction also came from the sales proceeds of a previous residence or assistance from family or friends. Among first-time buyers, 61 percent made an average down payment of zero percent to 6 percent, according to the November 2017 REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey.

Buyers Made a Low Downpayment in November 2017,” National Association of REALTORS® Economists’ Outlook blog (Jan. 2, 2018)

Daily Real Estate News | Monday, January 08, 2018

Hibbing Real Estate – Listing ID 132059 – (Residential)

This home has more space than it appears on the outside. Main floor has a large living room with a fireplace, two main floor bedrooms and a full bath. Lower level has a huge rec room with a wet bar and fireplace, laundry, .7 bathroom, and the 3rd bedroom (but no egress window). Attached single stall garage plus a 2nd 24×32 garage as well. Central air conditioning, and the brick work is in very good condition.

http://idx.perrella.com/idx/details/listing/b240/132059/Hibbing-2219-W-2nd-av