Author: Madolyn Greve, Real Estate Sales, Broker Associate, Callaway Henderson Sotheby's International Realty

Three reasons to refinance a home include lowering the cost of housing, shortening the term of the mortgage to pay it off sooner or to using the equity to accomplish another purpose.

Replacing the mortgage at a lower interest rate, which is entirely possible in today’s market, would reduce the payment. On the other hand, shortening the term of the mortgage could make the payments increase but would allow the home to be paid for sooner. In either case, the equity would not be reduced unless the refinancing costs were rolled into the new mortgage.

Refinancing the home to take money out would increase the mortgage on the property and lower an owner’s equity; careful consideration should be made before doing so.

Mortgage rates are considerably lower than credit card rates and usually lower than short term borrowing like student loans or car loans. For that reason, homeowners will sometimes refinance to payoff higher cost debt.

Some people refinance for more than their current balance to improve their cash position, possibly, to have funds available in case they need it. Other reasons could be to use it for an investment such as rental property or other things. Still others may use it to make capital improvements on their home like remodeling or a pool.

Another legitimate reason to refinance may be to combine a first and second lien on the home that might result in lower payments and a savings in interest.

One more situation that causes a person to refinance a home is to remove a former spouse or co-borrower from the existing mortgage. In the case of a divorce, a couple may no longer be married and one of the former spouses may have no financial interest in the home any longer but because they signed the note originally, they are still liable along with the other spouse. This could be an untenable position.

There can be a lot of reasons that cause a homeowner to refinance the home. The equity is a valuable asset that has powerful borrowing power combined with the good credit and income of the homeowner. A Refinance Analysis can help you to determine the new payments and how long it will recapture the cost of refinancing.

For the recommendation of a trust lender, give me a call at (609) 462-2505.

The soothsayer in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar issued his famous warning “Beware the Ides of March.” Who knew that in 2020, around the middle of March, the world, as we knew it, would force such dramatic changes on us from the Coronavirus.

In America, it has brought our economy to its knees as we sheltered in place for over four months. During this time, changes have affected our lives and many of those changes could be permanent.

Previously, smaller homes were becoming the trend for not only efficiency but upkeep so owners would have more time to do things including travel. Now, travel is minimal and our world, in some respects, is reduced to our home.

For families with children, their home has become a school. With so many people working from home, it has become our office or store or studio. If there is more than one working adult in a home, it needs to have space for each party to work. The home fitness industry is experiencing record sales in exercise equipment so the home can become a gym.

Since we’re all spending more time at home, it is also the place to recreate. We’re cooking more; a larger kitchen and dining area would be nice. We want to enjoy the yard, garden, pool or balcony and our current home may not even have them or we’d like to upgrade.

People are wanting and needing more space to do all of these things at home. Many experts are anticipating that these changes we thought were temporary may be part of the new normal even after a vaccine and cure have been discovered.

If you have had any of these thoughts and would like to know more about how to buy or sell a home in our current market, we would love to tell you about the many options available while being responsible to stay safe. Whether it is buying for the first time, moving up or moving on, I would like to help. Call me at (609) 462-2505.

The seller can put a price on the home but the value is ultimately, determined by the buyer. Individually, a buyer could pay over market value because they love the location, or the elevation of the home or the proximity to something that is important to them. The shortage of available homes resulting in increased competition among buyers could drive the value higher.

Most experts agree initially pricing it properly will generally result in the highest sales price. If a home starts out too high, it could actually sell for a lower price after it has been on the market for a while. It gives the impression that there must be something “wrong” with the house because it didn’t sell immediately.

So, how does a seller determine what price to put on the home? It has nothing to do with what the seller needs to get out of it. Nor does the price the seller paid for it make any difference now. Even if the seller made considerable improvements, they may not affect the value of the home.

There are three common sources for a seller to determine market value: an appraisal, a broker price opinion or an automated value model found online.

AVM, automated value models, are mathematical estimates that analyze limited public record data to determine a value. While this process can easily compare square footage, age, number of bedrooms as objective data, it is much more challenging to make adjustments for subjective data like appeal, quality of construction, floorplan and updating. Zillow Zestimates are the most common AVMs but there are many others providing similar services.

Appraisals can only be made by a licensed appraiser. Most mortgages require an appraisal as part of the underwriting process to verify that there is ample collateral to secure the mortgage in case of default by the borrower. FHA, VA, FNMA, Freddie Mac and USDA as well as most private lenders require an appraisal especially for high loan-to-value mortgages. In some situations where the risk is lower, some lenders may use an AVM.

An appraisal requires the appraiser to visit the property, perform a visual inspection, analyze the property considering three approaches to value and accurately report the property information that is verifiable.

Broker Price Opinion, BPO, as the name indicates, is a price opinion on a property made by a licensed real estate agent. The determination of whether the estimate accurately reflects the market will depend on the experience of the agent with that type of property and market area. It is possible that a BPO could be more sensitive to the actual market because it will consider homes currently for sale and recently expired properties as well as comparable sales.

While all three methods, used recent, comparable sales to arrive at a value, the appraiser and the real estate professional can make a series of adjustments for the differences in the comparables. While the appraiser is highly trained in this technique, the real estate professional also adds credibility to this process based on their experience in how the buying public might react to specific features and the home in general including positive and negative influences.

Current condition of the property is very important for a number of reasons. In some price ranges, a buyer may only have the necessary down payment and closing costs but is not able to make improvements like paint, floor coverings, appliances or other major items. In this situation, a buyer would have to live with the house in its current condition until they could afford to make wanted improvements.

Investors may not be deterred by making an additional investment in the home after purchasing it but will probably be motivated to do so only if it will increase the potential profit to be made.

An AVM can be a tool that a homeowner, prospective buyer, mortgage officer, appraiser or real estate agent can use to get a quick idea of price but there are inherent limitations that can only be considered by personal examination balanced with experience in the market place.

Experience and understanding of the subject property and the marketplace are critical to having confidence that a value is accurate. Any person could go through the same steps to arrive at a value but an experienced, well-trained professional is far more likely to assess all of the variables more accurately. If you are curious what your home is worth, call (609) 462-2505 or email MadolynGreve

You’ve done your homework, contacted a mortgage company and believe you are pre-approved. That part of the process is finished and you can concentrate of finding a home and moving…or can you?

Pre-qualified and pre-approved are two different things but some people, including some in the business, use the terms interchangeably. Pre-qualified is an opinion of likelihood that a borrower will be approved based on preliminary information about their income and credit. Whereas, in a pre-approval, the borrower’s credit report is updated and pulled, income and assets verified and involves pre-underwriting.

Even when you have a highly qualified loan officer, the real decision maker is the underwriter who can commit the lender. Generally speaking, a person who has been pre-approved receives a written letter stating the terms and conditions of the commitment.

A second opinion from a different lender can be a comforting thing for a borrower. It will either confirm that the first lender was correct and that the rate and terms being offered are competitive or it will reveal that there could be differences that would warrant more investigation.

Mortgage money is a commodity and while competition usually keeps lenders close to each other in the rates and terms they offer, you won’t know for sure unless you shop around. The cost for being pre-approved is usually a nominal amount and when you are considering the size of the mortgage you’ll be borrowing for up to thirty years, it makes sense to get a second opinion.

Occasionally, during the process of being pre-approved, an unexpected credit problem may be discovered. It is better to learn about it early so you’ll have time to correct it before you have contracted on a home.

Your real estate professional, Madolyn Greve, Broker Sales Associate, will be able to recommend lenders who are active, experienced in the area and can share their experience with you regarding previous loans they have made. The benefits far exceed the time and effort it takes. You’ll be looking at the right priced homes; getting the best loan, rate and terms; have increased negotiating power with the Seller and can close quicker because many of the verifications have already been made.

Paying off your mortgage can provide peace of mind and is a worthy goal but is it the best thing for you to do at this time.

Do you have higher interest rate debt currently? If you have credit card debt with double-digit rates or personal, car or student loans, you’ll probably save more money from interest by paying these things off before you pay off your mortgage which is usually one of the lower rates on debt.

Many financial advisors recommend funding your annual retirement contribution before paying down a mortgage. If your company offers matching funds for your contribution, you would be leaving money on the table by not making the contribution to your retirement. For instance, you would be getting a $10,000 value by putting $5,000 into your retirement if your company matches it.

Creating an emergency fund is another favorite of financial advisors. When the rainy day arrives and you need funds, it may be difficult to get money from the equity of your home, especially if you have lost your job. Six months’ worth of living expenses is a good target to have available should you need it and a year’s worth would be even better.

Children’s college funds may be another priority that takes precedent overpaying off the mortgage. Whether you’re saving or investing to pay for their education, it is going to cost more than it did when you were in school.

When you are ready to start paying off your mortgage, decide on the best way to do it. Regular principal contributions on a monthly basis are very predictable and will get the job done. Setting up an automatic bill pay with your bank will assure that you don’t re-prioritize that extra amount every month because there is always going to be something else to do with extra money.

It is important to be sure that the lender applies the additional payment amounts to the principal and not to the escrow account.

Use the Refinance Analysis to see what extra amount you’d have to pay to retire your mortgage in a certain time frame or by making a specific additional amount each payment, you can find out when the loan will be paid. Regardless of which way you go, prepaying a loan will save interest, build equity and shorten the term on a fixed-rate mortgage.