Protect Your Future Ability To Purchase A Home

No matter what your financial situation, trying to stay in your home and pay your mortgage is your best option when considering the effect alternative options would have on your credit score and future home purchasing possibilities.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac define foreclosure as, “Any 120 day mortgage late within the last 24 months, any notice of default or settlement on a real estate secured trade line (short sale), any deed-in-lieu or forbearance agreements.”

Simply put, whether you are 120 days late on your mortgage, short selling your home or being foreclosed upon, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac define all these events as “foreclosure.” And, a foreclosure will result in significant damage to your credit; depending on your credit score, down payment and your previous home-loss situation, you will have to wait two to seven years before you could qualify for a mortgage to purchase another home.

So, before you abandon your mortgage — if you’re thinking about doing so — be sure to consult with your lender or loan servicer. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also has a program, “Keep Your Home. Know Your Loan,” in place to assist homeowners before they fall behind on mortgage payments. See www.HUD.gov for details.

Compare Mortgages To Save

When you’re in the market to buy a home, it’s important to compare lenders to find the best rate and terms for your mortgage. According to a recent survey by Harris Interactive and LendingTree, 40% of home buyers obtain only one mortgage loan quote before making their decision on a lender. Understandably, without much comparison shopping, only about a quarter (28%) of those surveyed feel they got the best rate and terms.

Mortgage shopping can be frustrating and complex — especially if you haven’t done it recently. But when you are considering a financial commitment for the next few decades (15 to 30 years for most loans), you owe it to yourself to find the right loan package that fits your needs the best. Give us a call for lender recommendations. We’re always here to help!

Beyond Staging:
Be Sure To Tell Your Home’s Unique Story Staging has been around for quite some time. It helps home sellers arrange each room in their home to look inviting, desirable and picture-perfect for new buyers. Buyers are drawn in by the vignettes created in each room — comfortable seating areas, room to entertain, spa-like looks in a bath, delightfully calming bedrooms, relaxing outside spaces — and easily picture themselves living in that home.

Taking staging a bit deeper, you can create “house stories” about your home to offer a glimpse into its unique, historic or personal past. Your home doesn’t need to be star-quality or high-end, but the stories you share can create a sense of intrigue that brings buyers in — and ultimately sells your home.
Buyers are often interested by the background and roots of a home. Highlight the important aspects of your home and tie them into the house story. If a notable person or family lived there once upon a time, be sure to let buyers know. The same goes for its history being close to points of interest such a train stations, museums, old buildings, etc. Perhaps an important event took place at your home or on your street long, long ago.

If you built your house for a specific reason at a certain time, share those tidbits too. Tell the story of who lived in your home and where they are today…or where they are going. We’ll help you market your home — physical features and story together — to get it sold!

Credit Score Know-How

1. Checking your credit report will not affect your credit score. Using www.AnnualCreditReport.com allows you one free report every 12 months from each of the three major credit bureaus.
2. Once you are 30 days late paying a bill, your credit score can drop, sometimes a significant 60 to 110 points.
3. Opening new credit accounts can lower your credit score, so consider doing so carefully.
4. Getting access to your actual FICO credit score — or at least the one that credit reporting agencies show lenders — will cost you a fee, usually $7.95 to $15.95.
5. The higher the balances on your credit cards, the lower your credit score will be.
6. Monitor your credit reports regularly for signs of fraud by keeping track of the total number and types of accounts you have open, their balances and your personal information on each report.

PRE-LOVED

Why Resale Homes Stand Out In Today’s Market
Consumers love “new” — it’s why that word is so universally used in marketing campaigns. When it comes to homes, though, new isn’t usually a home buyer’s first choice. Whether you call them existing, resale, used, classic, previously owned or pre-loved, non-new homes today comprise more than 90% of home sales nationwide — for some very good reasons.

Of course, whether to purchase a resale or a new home is a personal preference. If you’re thinking about buying a home in today’s market (or selling yours), consider some of the advantages of resale homes (the term most often used in the real estate industry) you may not have considered.

Cost Savings
Resale homes generally are less expensive than comparable new homes. The median sales price nationwide for existing homes sold in December 2010 was just $168,800, compared with $197,000 for new homes.

One reason: Resale sellers have more bargaining room than builders, who have to make a return on the costs they shelled out for land, building materials and labor. (In fact, if a builder can’t foresee the required return on a proposed project, they’ll simply wait until market conditions improve.)

In addition, today’s bargains are mostly found in resale homes — short sales, foreclosures, tax sales, fix-ups, divorce sales, estate sales, etc. Builders, on the other hand, are more likely to upgrade features rather than drop sales prices to get their homes sold. (Their profit margins are often pretty narrow to begin with.)

A third consideration: Older homes in older communities often do not have homeowners associations that require you pay dues — as some newer home communities do. Without a monthly dues expense, you’ll have more money to put toward your monthly mortgage payment, and you won’t be restricted as to what you can and cannot do with your property.

Bottom line: The mort-gage you qualify to borrow will likely go further buying a resale home versus new construction.

Close-In Convenience
Many resale homes are in older neighborhoods closer to downtown business districts, shopping areas and cultural venues. New homes, on the other hand, can often be located in communities further away from cities and desirable amenities, making commute times longer. The money you save with a shorter commute from your resale home could help you pay off your mortgage faster.

Variety
Name a home style — bungalow, Cape Cod, ranch, contemporary, split-level, Victorian, craftsman, colonial, etc. — and you can find it in a resale home. Now go out and look at the new-home projects in your area. You’re not likely to see big style differences from one project to another because builders all tend to target the most popular current size and design trends to maximize their return on investment.

Character And Extras
Resale buyers can cash in on the upgrades people have added to a home over time — saving big money over the cost of those upgrades in new construction. Typical money-saving extras: fenced yards, decks, pools, play sets, built-ins, security systems, window treatments, upgraded appliances, high-quality fixtures, etc. “Builder bland” walls won’t be a problem (though “wrong” colors could be, if you don’t share the resale seller’s taste).

Added to that, a resale home, and its already finished-looking neighborhood, typically offers more-mature landscaping — shade trees, filled-in flower beds and ground covers, effective privacy hedges, and so on. Many resale homes also come with larger yards than you’ll find in newer developments — a good thing if you’re looking for “elbow room.”

No Guesswork
What you see is what you get with an older home — no wondering about what the development and your view will look like once construction is finally completed, about whether the developer will finish the home or community amenities as promised, or about what other types of development will take place nearby. With a resale property, nearby homes, schools, stores, places of worship and recreation facilities are usually already in place, so you can check them out. The home itself is finished and ready for inspection.

Superior Construction
Today’s mass-produced homes sometimes compare poorly with more-solidly constructed older homes. Although building codes have generally improved over the decades in terms of safety and energy efficiency, many older homes come with more-robust framing and construction materials, stronger floors and thicker walls than are found in some brand-new homes.

Ready To Buy Or Sell?
We’re here to help you find your next perfect home — whether you choose a well-loved resale or shiny-new construction. Just contact us at your convenience, and we’ll be happy to discuss all your home buying (or selling) options in detail.

GOODER GROUP®
2724 Dorr Avenue Fairfax, VA 22031-4901
(703) 698-7750