April 2018 - Realty Solutions Group

A Home Buyer’s Guide to Motivated Sellers

Home shoppers outnumber home sellers in many places. If you’re a home buyer, you need every competitive advantage you can get. That’s why it pays to know how to find motivated sellers and persuade them to choose you.

The definition of “motivated seller” has changed since the depths of the economic crisis about a decade ago, when many motivated sellers were trying to avoid foreclosure. There are fewer of these desperate sellers now, but you can still find motivated sellers if you know where to look.

What is a motivated seller?

“A motivated seller is someone that needs to move out quickly,” explains Sonia Figueroa. Figueroa, a real estate agent with Century 21 Affiliated in Chicago, lists common motivators:

The home has been on the market for three months or more, and the sellers feel impatient
The sellers are relocating for a job
The sellers are divorcing. “They’re super motivated because they want to get rid of each other, get rid of their assets and be done,” Figueroa says.
The owner died and the sellers are the heirs. “They just want to price it to sell it, to divvy up the money,” Figueroa says.

Identifying a motivated seller

Here are telltale signs that the seller is motivated: The home is priced to sell quickly, it has been fixed up and staged, and the listing photos were taken by a professional photographer, says Stacy Hennessey, a real estate agent with McEnearney Associates in Falls Church, Virginia.

Another sign is when the seller is willing to negotiate. That’s not the norm in a typical seller’s market, where “if you don’t come with a full-price offer or a near full-price offer with terms that the seller likes, they can say, ‘Thank you, but no. Next!’” says Terri Robinson, a real estate agent with Re/Max Select Properties in Ashburn, Virginia. A motivated seller will make a counteroffer, even to a lowball bid.

And sometimes a home’s listing contains the phrase “motivated seller,” or the seller’s agent says the seller is motivated.

Tips for buying from a motivated seller

Ask what the seller’s priorities are. “The question becomes what are their hot buttons? What are their needs?” Robinson says. Maybe the sellers need a place to live while renovation work on their new house is wrapped up. Or maybe the sellers want certainty that the buyer can qualify for a mortgage.

Offer to solve the seller’s problem. “From the very beginning, having your agent tell the listing agent that you will be flexible and you want to help them out” can give you the competitive edge, Hennessey says.

Get preapproved for a mortgage. With a mortgage preapproval, you can close faster and the seller is assured that the deal won’t fall apart because of problems getting financing.

Offer flexibility on the closing date. Your offer is more competitive if you can adjust your timing to the seller’s timing, Hennessey says. One seller might want to close as quickly as possible, and another might want to wait until the end of the school year.

Offer a larger-than-usual earnest money deposit. Offering more than your area’s customary deposit is a signal that you’re serious. “My sellers always ask me what the deposit is,” says Creig Northrop, president and CEO of Northrop Realty in Clarksville, Maryland. A 1% deposit is standard in Northrop’s market. More than that is “showing sincere interest. So if you can get in the 2% to 5% range of deposits, you’re in really good shape,” he says.

Pay your closing costs instead of asking the seller to pay. Depending on where you are, it might be customary for the seller to pay certain closing costs. Offer to pay them yourself.

Offer to rent the house to the seller for a limited time. Sometimes sellers want to close the sale of their home a few days or weeks before moving into their next home. You can offer to let the seller rent the home for a few days or weeks. Customarily, buyers charge a daily rate of the mortgage payment divided by the number of days in the month. Your offer will stand out if you don’t charge rent.

This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by Forbes.

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Tackle This Common Home Worry With a Plan

If a dripping faucet wakes you up at night, the thought of paying a plumber may be what keeps you from falling back asleep. Most homeowners have experienced anxiety related to their home, according to a new report, with home repairs and maintenance topping the list of stressors.

NerdWallet’s 2018 Pulse on Homeownership reports that nearly two-thirds (65%) of homeowners say they’ve experienced anxiety related to their home. Of those, 75% say unexpected home repair costs were the culprit. Maintenance was the second most common stressor, with 52% citing it, according to an online survey, conducted by The Harris Poll, of 2,036 U.S. adults in March.

“When you buy a home, you take a leap into the unknown. So it’s no wonder that homeowners say they’re anxious in our survey,” says Holden Lewis, NerdWallet’s home analyst. “Don’t spend your last dime on the down payment. Instead, set aside a few thousand dollars to take care of unexpected maintenance and repairs. Having an emergency stash will help you sleep better.”

You may not be able to completely eradicate your anxiety around home repair and maintenance costs, but you can lessen the gut-wrenching effects. Here’s how:

1. Create a home maintenance budget

Properly maintaining your home can prevent bigger repairs down the road. For example, fixing that leaky pipe right away could save you from having to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars later to replace a damaged wall, ceiling or floor.

For most owners, funding an annual maintenance budget that equals 2% of your home’s value is reasonable. The expenses covered would include small repairs, regular servicing of your HVAC and other home systems, repairing and cleaning gutters, having your chimney inspected and cleaned, and other tasks to keep your home safe and problem-free.

» MORE: Budgeting for new homeowners

2. Build and maintain an emergency fund

When an unexpected repair pops up and it’s not covered by your home maintenance budget, an emergency fund allows you to address it without racking up credit card debt.

Ideally, you’ll have several months of living expenses saved up that you can easily access. If you don’t have an emergency fund, set small, attainable goals to build one. Start with $500, and work your way up to two months’ worth of living expenses. Amassing this fund shouldn’t take precedence over paying your bills, but the more you have set aside, the easier it will be to manage your expenses and anxiety when life (or your home) throws you a curveball.

3. Plan for bigger, unexpected costs

Finding out your home’s previous owner did a hack job on the roof or learning your foundation is sinking could leave you with costs far exceeding your emergency fund. Long before a problem like this arises, know your options for financing these big-ticket repairs.

“If savings and insurance don’t cover these high costs, your best bet might be to finance the repairs with a home equity line of credit, or HELOC,” Lewis says. “A HELOC acts like a credit card and is backed by your home’s equity. We’ve found that many homeowners get HELOCs just so they’ll have a readily available source of money in case of emergency.”

» MORE: How to pay for emergency home repairs

A separate NerdWallet survey of U.S. adults conducted by The Harris Poll in March found that 27% of homeowners have taken out a HELOC and 25% haven’t used it. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of those who have opened a HELOC did so to cover the costs of home repairs.

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The article Tackle This Common Home Worry With a Plan originally appeared on NerdWallet.

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Lay Groundwork for Better Home Value With Artful Landscaping

When designing his current home, Andre Kim knew he wanted a garden. Not just a few herbs or tomato plants, but a permanent feature that could change his family’s diet and help them feel more connected to the land.

Kim, a real estate developer from Los Angeles, found Farmscape, an urban farming company in California, and hired the team to design his dream garden. Three years later, Kim’s family can’t imagine life without their four raised beds, full of organic vegetables. Each week, the garden is meticulously seeded, pruned and weeded by a Farmscape farmer. Over the two growing seasons each year, the family harvests more than a dozen crops.

Kim says the garden has significantly increased the time he spends outside and is easily the landscaping feature his family enjoys most. “All around, one of the best things we could have done for this house,” he says.

But will that beautiful garden lead to a better price when it’s time to sell the home?

When landscaping is really dialed in — like the gorgeous backyards you see in Home Depot commercials — people will definitely pay for it, says Ryan Lundquist, a certified residential appraiser in Sacramento.

Don’t aim for a 100% return on your landscape investment, though. Making sure your house stands out in the crowd is a more realistic goal.

Landscaping can enhance marketability, and homes with attractive yards are likely to sell faster than those without, says Jim Murrett, president of the Appraisal Institute. The key is choosing updates that make sense for your area.

Demand for local produce is high in Southern California, according to Kim, and multiple real estate brokers have said the garden adds to his home value.

Mark Gochman and Tamara Rothenberg, who also worked with Farmscape and installed an expansive, terraced garden on their Los Angeles property, have received similar feedback: “We’re planning to rent out our home … and the Realtors we consulted all cited the farm as a big selling point for potential renters,” they said in an email.

While urban farms may appeal to Californians, other outdoor improvements may be more desirable in your market. Use these tips to prioritize projects that scream “added value” where you are.

1. Think about maintenance. Will watering that giant garden be easy and affordable? Will the humid climate have you refinishing that wood deck year after year? Considering upkeep in advance can help avoid an unnecessary burden — on you and your home’s future owner.

2. Clean, then customize. Unkempt landscaping can damage a home’s appearance and make buyers worry about what they might find inside, Murrett says. Pruning or trimming doesn’t require much money or effort, but it gives new life to an overgrown yard.

3. Keep it tasteful. Visit open houses in your area to discover the latest landscaping trends. If you plan to sell in the next year or two, avoid features that may not appeal to the average buyer. But if you plan to stay awhile, don’t be afraid to customize landscaping to your lifestyle.

4. Focus on space and comfort. Designs that create outdoor entertainment space or add shade often have the biggest impact on home value because people can envision themselves spending time there, Lundquist says.

5. Let the market be your guide. In a well-manicured neighborhood, great landscaping is expected, so don’t bank on a big reward. Spending top dollar on landscaping in an area with lower-value homes doesn’t make sense either, Murrett says. It’s “going to stick out like a sore thumb.”

Photo of Andre Kim’s raised-bed vegetable garden courtesy of Andre Kim.

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Take Your Basement From Fright to Functional on a Budget

A finished basement increases your home’s usable space, but taking it from concrete and cobwebs to a comfy hangout spot may be pricier than you think.

The cost to finish a basement and turn it into a livable space ranges from $6,500 to $18,500 on average, according to analysis by Home Advisor. Basement remodeling projects — to improve or replace existing features — tend to cost between $10,000 and $30,000.

Your basement finishing costs could fall anywhere on the spectrum, depending on room size, where you live and how extensive the improvements are.

Find out what factors affect the cost to improve a basement and how to keep expenses under control.

» MORE: Ways to finance your dream home-improvement project

Breaking down the cost to finish a basement

Finishing, remodeling or renovating: While contractors might see subtle differences, all three terms describe a basement improvement project.

No matter what you call it, finishing typically involves adding walls, a floor, electricity and lighting so the basement is ready for habitation, says Bryan Sebring, a certified graduate remodeler and owner of Sebring Design Build in Naperville, Illinois.

Flooring and wall coverings like paneling are the biggest expenses, making up approximately 15% of the total cost to finish a 1,200 square-foot basement, Sebring says. Plumbing and electricity are next, at around 14% and 11% of the cost, respectively, while interior carpentry needs — like trim and railings — account for about 10%. Remaining costs may include things like drywall and insulation, cabinets and countertops, painting and even cleanup.

Exact costs will vary depending on basement size, whether extra features like a bathroom or wet bar are included, and how fast you want the job completed, Sebring says. And that’s assuming your unfinished basement is in good condition.

It’s important to have your basement inspected for foundation and drainage issues before finishing. If an inspection reveals water damage or the risk of water seepage, basement waterproofing and possibly foundation repair will likely add to the cost.

» MORE: How to pay for emergency home repairs

How to plan your basement finishing project

Consider needs and neighborhood

Do you want a place for the kids to hang out after school, or are you dreaming of a state-of-the-art man cave? The way you’ll use the space will dictate how extensive the improvements need to be.

Look at other houses in the neighborhood as well, says Nick Yahoodain, president of Advanced Builders & Contractors in Los Angeles. If unfinished basements are common in your market, improving other areas of the house might be a smarter investment.

Set a budget

Make a list of the features you absolutely need, then add a few things you’d like. Once you’ve decided what you’re willing to spend, talk to a contractor. That discussion should help you separate realistic improvements from the upgrades that will bust your budget.

It’s not uncommon to spend 15% to 20% of the home’s value on a basement improvement project, Sebring says. He cautions against spending more unless you’re sure you’ll live in the house for more than five years.

Think about ROI

Yahoodain considers the effect on value to be the “golden rule” when it comes to home improvements. Will a finished basement help you rent or sell your home in the future? If the answer is no, your money might be better spent in another part of the house, he says.

Though basements — even finished ones — don’t usually add square footage to your home for appraisal purposes, they can have a positive impact on marketability. A basement finished to include a bathroom, bar area and living space recoups around 70% of its cost in improved resale value, according to Remodeling magazine’s 2017 Cost vs. Value Report.

Hire the right pro

In many cases, basement finishing is best left to professionals, but choosing a contractor requires some research. Take the time to:

Request estimates from more than one contractor to avoid overspending
Read verified reviews of each pro and the materials they suggest
Ask for past customer referrals and find out if their projects were finished on time and within the original budget
Check with your local building department or state consumer protection agency to be sure potential contractors are properly bonded, licensed and insured

Make your finished basement more affordable

1. Keep it simple

Opt for standard materials and fixtures instead of custom features to avoid premium prices. And resist the urge to add features that require expensive plumbing or electrical work like a wet bar or home theater system.

2. Opt for open space

Unless you have a genuine need for an enclosed workshop, office or exercise room, leave the space open. Carving your basement into separate rooms means paying for additional studs, electrical wiring, drywall and doors, and limits the ways you can use the space.

3. Choose carpet

Hardwood, laminate and tile flooring significantly increase the cost to finish a basement. Sebring, who calls carpet “the king of basement flooring,” says many people are scared about the consequences if a carpeted basement floods. But even top-of-the-line vinyl and tile has to be pulled up if there’s serious water damage, he says, and you can replace carpet multiple times for the same cost of installing hard flooring once.

4. DIY (with caution)

All but the most skilled and motivated homeowners should leave basement finishing to the experts. “You run the risk of not understanding the building codes and having to tear it out and redo it,” Sebring says. Hiring subcontractors and managing the job on your own, rather than hiring a general contractor, could save some cash, but be prepared to treat it like a full-time job, he says.

The article Take Your Basement From Fright to Functional on a Budget originally appeared on NerdWallet.

In less than 5 years, Realty Solutions Group is among the top independent brokerage firms in S/E Wisconsin.

Why Tax Cuts Aren’t Good News If You Plan to Get a Mortgage

Tax cuts are great, right? Not necessarily, if you’re planning to get a mortgage in the next few years.

Mortgage rates have increased dramatically in 2018, and tax cuts get at least some of the blame for that. Expanding federal budget deficits brought about by the tax cuts could shove mortgage rates even higher, perhaps past 6% in the next couple of years.

Higher rates could make it harder to afford a home. But that’s not a reason to buy hastily and risk ending up with the wrong home in the wrong location. Before 2008, mortgage rates north of 6% were pretty common, and there’s always the option of getting an adjustable-rate mortgage with a low introductory rate.

How tax cuts lead to higher rates

Tax cuts result in higher interest rates in two ways, economists say:

They stimulate the economy, which leads to inflation
They swell the budget deficit, forcing businesses and consumers (including home buyers) to compete with the federal government to borrow money

Let’s unpack these effects.

A hotter economy brings inflation

Congress passed tax cuts near the end of December, and they went into effect in January. Mortgage rates began climbing in the second week of the year. The 30-year fixed averaged 4.59% in March — half a percentage point higher than in December.

» MORE: See NerdWallet’s daily mortgage rate survey

Why did rates go up? “Passing of the tax cut bill, which heats up the economy,” says Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American Financial Corp.

The tax cuts give consumers more money to spend: Disposable income is projected to grow 4.4% in 2018 and 2019, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That stimulus, on top of an economy with a low unemployment rate, could cause prices to rise eventually. And long-term interest rates, such as those for mortgages, “are usually a reflection of expectations for inflation,” Fleming says.

Deficits make borrowers compete

Mortgage rates are expected to get a further upward push in the next four years as federal budget deficits grow, according to the latest CBO projections. The deficits are expected to increase from 4.2% of gross domestic product this year to 5.1% of GDP in fiscal 2022.

“Throughout the projection period, rising federal debt relative to GDP exerts upward pressure on short- and long-term interest rates,” including mortgage rates, the CBO says in its April budget and economic outlook.

As the U.S. government, foreign governments, businesses and consumers all try to borrow at the same time, they bid up the price of money — and that means higher rates on everything from government bonds to mortgages.

“When people crowd into the market, you have to pay more because there’s competition out there,” says Robert Frick, corporate economist for Navy Federal Credit Union.

» MORE: 3 housing trends for spring 2018

The CBO predicts that yields on 10-year U.S. Treasurys will rise to 4.1% in 2020 and 4.2% in 2021, up from 2.3% in 2017. That matters because rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages tend to follow 10-year Treasury yields. If the 10-year Treasury rises, mortgage rates will go up, too, by roughly the same amount.

The last time the 10-year Treasury hung around 4.1% was December 2007. That month, the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.1%. That’s a jump from March 2018, when the 10-year Treasury averaged 2.84% while the 30-year mortgage averaged 4.59%.

But incomes may rise, too

Economists emphasize that the tax cuts bring more than higher deficits and interest rates. They’re expected to result in higher incomes, too, in two ways:

Even if your income stays the same, your take-home pay increases as less tax is withheld
More jobs are created as people, businesses and government spend more, and employers raise wages to compete for workers and hang on to the employees they have

“The interest rate is not the only thing that’s moving. Income is growing faster. So that’s potentially an offset,” says Tian Liu, chief economist for Genworth Mortgage Insurance.

Fleming, of First American Financial, says higher incomes mean more buying power, which is good for the housing market. Others in the housing industry echo this optimistic view.

On the other hand, Liu points out that a mortgage rate increase of even half a percentage point can gobble up a modest increase in take-home pay. “I think affordability will get more eroded in 2018,” Liu says. “I think that’s really a headwind for housing.”

» MORE: How to buy a home when mortgage rates are rising

Some are skeptical that wages will rise quickly. Dean Baker, senior economist for the Center for Economic and Policy Research, believes the economy might have the capacity to create many more jobs before wages start going up.

“If we actually start to get close to full employment and it’s starting to put pressure on the economy, we’d see higher inflation, leading to higher interest rates,” he says. “I don’t know if we’re at that point yet.”

How to deal

You can’t fight higher interest rates and inflation, but you can learn to live with them:

Don’t rush. Buy a home when you’re ready to own and not before. If your life and career are still in flux, keep renting until you know it’s time to settle down. If you need to wait to save up for a down payment, keep doing that. In a recent survey conducted on behalf of NerdWallet, 11% of millennial homeowners said they should have waited until they could make a bigger down payment.

» MORE: Buying a home as an unmarried couple? Do these three things

Keep things in perspective. Today’s 30-year mortgage rates are under 5%. From 1972 (when Freddie Mac’s records begin) through 1979, the 30-year fixed averaged 9.03%. It averaged 12.71% in the 1980s, 8.12% in the 1990s and 6.29% from 2000 through 2009. And in those decades of higher mortgage rates, people still bought houses.

Learn about ARMs. As fixed mortgage rates rise, more borrowers will get adjustable-rate mortgages, says Mat Ishbia, president and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage. The introductory rates on ARMs tend to be lower than fixed-rate mortgages. ARM rates can rise later, though. Ishbia says educating consumers about ARMs will become an important part of his company’s business in the next few years.

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The article Why Tax Cuts Aren’t Good News If You Plan to Get a Mortgage originally appeared on NerdWallet.

In less than 5 years, Realty Solutions Group is among the top independent brokerage firms in S/E Wisconsin.

Love That Home’s View? See How Much More You’ll Pay

A house with a fabulous view can be hard for a home buyer to resist. But seeing the mountains, water or city lights from the comfort of home comes at a price. The hazy part is figuring out what that added cost is — and whether it’s worth it.

That’s where real estate appraisers and analysts who study home values can help, even though they recognize there’s no simple answer.

“Views are actually really difficult to quantify,” says Andy Krause, principal data scientist at Greenfield Advisors, a real estate research company. “It’s somewhat subjective. What makes a better water view? Do you want it to be wider? Do you want more of the water from a taller angle? You know, some of that is in the eye of the beholder.”

Assigning a dollar value can also be difficult because not all views are equal or valuable, and a view that’s sought-after in one location may not be in another.

In Manhattan, a place that overlooks a green space or woods will cost you a lot extra. In the countryside? Not as much, says Mauricio Rodriguez, a real estate expert who chairs the finance department at Texas Christian University’s Neeley School of Business.

» MORE: Find out how much home you can afford

Putting a price on it

So how do you put a price on a variety of views? Krause, who builds automated valuation models that analyze home data, produced these estimates for what five different types of views might add to a home’s price in Seattle:

5 to 10%: For a home on flat ground with an unobstructed view of an open space or a park, a seller could add 5 to 10%. In other words, if an identical home without a view is worth $500,000 elsewhere in Seattle, this view could boost the price to $525,000 to $550,000.
10 to 30%: A home partway up a hill with a partially obstructed water view over neighbors’ rooftops could increase the overall price by 10 to 30%. It depends on how much of your field of vision the view fills, both vertically and horizontally, Krause says. In this example, a home otherwise worth $500,000 might fetch $550,000 to $650,000.
30 to 50%: This time Krause considered the same home as above, in the same location, but with an unobstructed view. “You still have the neighbors above looking down into your house, but you have a nice water view,” he says. With this clearer view, the $500,000 home could sell for $650,000 to $750,000.
50 to 75%: Next, envision a home atop a hill with an unobstructed cityscape or open-space vista. To buy the $500,000 home in this location, a buyer might have to pay $725,000 to $875,000.
75-100% or more: Finally, imagine a house with a stunning, unobstructed view of a big lake or the ocean. This type of prized view can boost the value of a home worth $500,000 in an ordinary location to $1 million or more, Krause says.

» MORE: Try out NerdWallet’s home value estimator

How to shop for a home with a view

If having a view is a must on your homebuying list, here are a couple of tips from the experts:

1. Find out if the view is protected

Frank Lucco, a residential real estate appraiser and consultant in Houston, once had clients with an expensive home who sued after a high-rise office tower went up across the street. The building disrupted their view and gave office workers a view of their formerly private backyard and their teenage daughters using the pool. The lawsuit was dismissed, Lucco says, and a bit of detective work could have told them that commercial development was allowed.

To avoid a similar outcome, Lucco says before you place a bid on a home, ask planning authorities what the zoning allows and if high-impact developments are planned nearby.

2. Look for diamonds in the rough

Bargain-hunters can occasionally find views for cheap because poor design — walls where a big window or a deck might go, for instance — blocks what should be a nice view.

“It may cost you $15,000 to $30,000 to do a very limited remodel that gives you a better angle, or higher vantage point, or a rooftop deck,” Krause says. But that could be a deal compared with buying a home that already takes full advantage of its view. Lucco suggests inspecting the home’s deed for any restrictions limiting additions to the height. Pay careful attention to homeowner association rules, too.

A view can be one of the most attractive aspects of a home. Knowing that you paid the right price for it can make the scenery that much more enjoyable.

This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by The Associated Press.

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The article Love That Home’s View? See How Much More You’ll Pay originally appeared on NerdWallet.

In less than 5 years, Realty Solutions Group is among the top independent brokerage firms in S/E Wisconsin.

3 Months, 3 Housing Trends: Seller’s Market, Higher Rates, HELOC Comeback

Competition among home buyers will be fierce in most of the country as home sales heat up in April and May before peaking in June. But you can increase your odds of getting the home you want by casting a wider net, pouncing quickly and not letting minor defects derail the deal. Here are three housing and mortgage trends for buyers and owners to pay attention to over the next three months.

Seller’s market. If you’re a home buyer, there are strategies to help you rise above rivals in this seller’s market.
Higher rates. Mortgage rates are expected to keep going up, but not as quickly as earlier this year.
HELOCs return. If you’re a homeowner and you want to borrow against your equity, you might prefer a home equity line of credit over cash-out refinancing.

It’s still a seller’s market

It’s hard to be a home buyer these days, especially in the major metro areas where there aren’t enough homes on the market to meet demand. Any housing supply under six months is considered a seller’s market — and nationally, it’s been a seller’s market for at least the past four years. In February, for example, all the existing homes for sale would have been sold in just 3.4 months at that month’s sales pace.

As a result, buyers find themselves in fierce competition with one another.

Dana Bull, a real estate agent in Boston, says it’s not unusual for a home to receive more than a dozen offers. One of her clients recently made a bid for a home that had 23 competitors.

Making the problem worse, a lot of would-be sellers are afraid to put their homes on the market because then they’ll become buyers and face the same trouble finding a home for sale, says Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American Financial Corp.

Bull has a few suggestions for buyers who brave the market this spring:

Expand your search. Look in a wider geographic area and for various kinds of homes. If you can’t find a home you like in the city you want to live in, search one town over. If you’re looking for a condo downtown, be open to buying a house outside the city center.
Be aggressively available. After a house has gone on the market, “when is the first available time that you can see that property?” Bull says. “Make sure you can get in there early, so that you can start building a rapport with the listing agent or the sellers.”
Don’t let minor problems be deal-breakers. Make the offer contingent on the home passing inspection, but make it clear that you’re not going to ask the seller to make repairs unless they total thousands of dollars. Bull says her clients typically set this threshold at $10,000 to $12,000. This lets the seller know that “we’re super-serious and we’re not going to walk away unless a major, major defect is found,” Bull says.

Mortgage rates trend upward

Mortgage rates rose sharply in the first three months of 2018, and are expected to continue trending upward. The average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage in the fourth quarter of 2017 was 4.08%; that average zoomed to 4.45% in the first quarter of 2018, according to NerdWallet’s daily survey of mortgage rates.

The upward trend is expected to continue, but rates aren’t predicted to rise as steeply in the second quarter as they did in the first. Mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the National Association of Realtors all forecast the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage to rise 0.2% of a percentage point from April through June.

Fleming says mortgage rates are going up because of the prospect of higher inflation. Unemployment is low, workers have more money in their pockets because of tax cuts and Congress might increase infrastructure spending this year. Each of those factors has the potential to push the inflation rate higher — and mortgage rates respond to the outlook for inflation.

Fleming says there’s some good news here: Inflation could lead to higher wages, and rising incomes mean home buyers can afford more.

His advice is to keep some perspective: In 1981, mortgage rates jumped to 18%, he says — “and, by the way, people kept buying houses back then.”

HELOCs to make a comeback

Home values have rebounded since the Great Recession, with median home prices rising over 30% in the five years ended in 2017. As their homes gain value, some homeowners will want to borrow against their growing equity to pay for home renovations or other expenses.

Millions of homeowners will opt for home equity lines of credit, according to a report from TransUnion, the credit reporting company. It expects 1.6 million homeowners to get HELOCs in 2018, and an additional 8.4 million from 2019 to 2022.

Another common way to extract home equity is through a cash-out refinance. But if you have a low mortgage rate, you’ll probably want to keep your current loan instead of getting a cash-out refinance at today’s higher interest rates.

Be aware that the new tax law changed the rules on deductibility of home equity debt in 2018 and beyond.

First, Congress changed the dollar limits. Borrowers may deduct interest on up to $750,000 in mortgage debt on their first and second homes combined ($375,000 if married filing separately). With the new tax rules, mortgage and home equity debt are both included in those dollar limits.

Second, deductibility now depends on how you use the money. Mortgage and home equity debt is deductible only if the money is used to “buy, build or substantially improve the taxpayer’s home that secures the loan,” according to the IRS. If you use a HELOC to consolidate debt, pay for college or for other purposes besides renovations or homebuying, those expenses aren’t tax-deductible.

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The article 3 Months, 3 Housing Trends: Seller’s Market, Higher Rates, HELOC Comeback originally appeared on NerdWallet.

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