Carollo's Blog on Real Estate- Featuring Queens and Nassau County Real Estate Information

First-Time Home Buyers Look at Houses Again

According to the article "First-Time Home Buyers Look at Houses Again" from The Wall Street Journal Online, "High home prices have helped drive many first-time buyers out of the housing market. Now, with prices falling in many areas, there are some signs that buyers are beginning to drift back."

Furthermore, "as more sellers begin to cut their asking prices and rates on fixed-rate mortgages have moved lower, some real-estate agents are reporting renewed interest from people shopping for their first home."

Find out if this market is the right time for you, the "first-time home buyer" to find your perfect home, read First-Time Home Buyers Look at Houses Again

The Biggest Housing Boom is Coming to an End

As prices continue to fall it seems as though the latest Real Estate Housing Boom is coming to an end.   So the question is How Bad will the Aftermath Be?  Well in an article posted today on RealEstateJournal.com titled Housing Markets May Land Harder Than Economists Expect various predictions are presented.  Do You Agree or Disagree?

Save Money on Your Next Move

When you are finally ready to move there's one added expense you might have forgotten about--the actual cost to move your stuff.  Fortunately there are a couple of ways you can save money! 

In this RealEstateJournal.com article Do it Yourself Options for Saving Money on your Next Move there are some suggestions on do it yourself ideas which will save you money when it's finally time to pack up and move.

What is My Home's Value?

Have you ever considered using the Internet to find the value of your home?  Can you rely on the numbers these sites give you?  Well after reading Pros and Cons to Calculating Your Home's Value Online from RealEstateJournal.com you may want to think twice about using the numbers these sites give you.

Setting the Right Price for your Home

Now sellers are facing the challenge of setting the right price for their home in a rather uncertain market.  Setting the right price makes the difference in how fast your home is going to sell.  In an interesting Wall Street Journal article four unusual strategies for setting the price of a home are discussed.

These strategies are:

• A Range on the Home
• Slashing Early
• Slashing Often
• Playing With Blocks

If you want to know what each of these strategies are about click here to read Sellers Find it Difficult to Set a Price in a Volatile Market from RealEstateJournal.com

Exotic Mortgages: Another Fad?

With so many different mortgage options out there it can be very confusing for first time homebuyers.  Here is a link to an interesting article on RealEstateJournal.com about exotic mortgages.  If you have no idea what an exotic mortgage is then this is probably a pretty good article for you to read. 

The article also gives a pretty informative list of the most popular types of mortgages with their PROS and CONS.  Click here to read the entire article

30-year, fixed-rate, interest-only mortgages
These relatively new mortgages allow the borrower to make interest-only payments for the first 10 years. The principal balance is repaid over the final 20 years.

Advantages: Rate doesn't fluctuate; lower initial payments

Disadvantages: Fixed rates are generally higher than adjustable-rate mortgages; borrower doesn't build equity in the first 10 years (unless the home is appreciating); payments increase dramatically starting in the 11th year (however, lenders assume that the borrower's income has grown substantially over the first 10 years).

Adjustable rate, interest-only loans
The program is best suited for borrowers who have a proven track record for managing their finances well and understand the product's pros and cons.

Advantages: Rate can go down; initial payments are lower; borrower can pay down principal balance at any time and it resets the next month's payment.

Disadvantages: Risk of payment shock as rate can go up; risk of payment shock when amortization period begins; borrower not building equity during the interest-only period; these loans can have a balloon payment at the end of the interest-only period; also, at the end of the initial fixed-rate term the rate can adjust as often as every month.

40-year fixed-rate loans
This loan offers a payment nearly halfway between interest-only and 30-year fixed. The 40-year fixed works for buyers focused on the long-term value of their property and who want to build equity each month.

Advantages: Stability of a fixed rate and predictable payments; lower payments than traditional 30-year fixed rate loan.

Disadvantages: Rate slightly higher than 30-year fixed; longer term to pay off loan (slower equity build); balloon payment after 30 years.

Option ARM

Advantages: A popular product over the past few years because it allows consumers the option of making their payments in one of four different ways: Interest only, fully amortizing over 30 years, fully amortizing over 15 years or a minimum payment for 12 months.

Disadvantages: This loan shouldn't be used to qualify someone who wouldn't normally qualify for a regular fixed-rate loan. Sees gradually increasing minimum payments for the first five years, resulting in a higher loan balance and a significant payment shock in year six, when the loan is recast and fully amortizing payments are required.

'Piggyback' with home-equity loan
A primary mortgage can be combined with a home-equity loan or line of credit.

Advantage: Tends to eliminate the requirement to pay private-mortgage insurance.

Disadvantage: Sees payment shock of 48 percent over five years, beginning in the second year when the floating rate on the home-equity line of credit begins to adjust and increasing in year four when the fixed period on the first loan expires.

If you still want more information about Mortgages a great site is the Mortgage Professor.  This site even features a glossary with plenty of mortgage vocabulary that you may have always wanted to know more about.

Boom Prices Won't Tank

In a recent RealEstateJournal.com article, Harvard University predicts a soft landing for the housing market.

Here is some of the article:

Climbing interest rates and cooling speculative demand is putting pressure on the housing boom, but as long as jobs continue to be created and builders curb production, the sector will experience a soft landing, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The center's "State of the Nation's Housing" report, released on June 13, predicted that even though home-price growth will fall to more moderate levels in many areas, sharp drops in prices are unlikely. The absence of severe overbuilding or big job losses in major metropolitan areas is an important factor in the stability, the report said.

About 1 million people became homeowners last year, and mortgages including low-down payment, hybrid-adjustable and interest-only loans helped them make the purchases amid higher home prices and interest rates, the report said. Most owners with adjustable loans have To continue reading this article click here