It seems like I just can't get away from the F word.
It's in newspapers, on television, talked about in the line at Starbucks.
What can we do to stop the F word?
For those of you that may be getting scared at this point, I'm talking about Foreclosures!
Foreclosures are on the rise in many places all over the nation. How can we reduce the numbers and prevent more in the future.
Just like everything else in Real Estate, Disclosure and Educating your clients can prevent many mishaps.
As a Real Estate Professional, there are a few things that I recommend to my buyers to help make sure they have a great future.
- Make sure the lender has included Principal and Interest in their estimated payment
- Make sure my clients get an estimate on utility bills for the home that they would like to put an offer on
- Make sure my clients get an estimated payment with the appropriate Property Tax Rate and Homeowners Insurance included
If you are considering buying a home, sit down and go through all of your finances to see what exactly you can handle. In the end, you are the only one who knows.
Don't start with price, start with what you need. Generally, clients come in and say they want to look between a certain price point. Try starting with square footage or number of bedrooms. You might find something for less that will save you all the way around. Bigger isn't always better.
Take into consideration that the market fluctuates. If you get a job transfer next year, will you be set to move?
Take into consideration that the job market changes. If you had to change jobs, would you be set until you find another one?
Take into consideration everything.
Buy a home and Live the American Dream of homeownership!
But most importantly, use you Realtor to guide you to make a great decision!
We would all like to see one less F word.
Very nice. I hope that more agents will be concerned with how much house their client can afford from now on. When the mortgage broker won't - you should at least ask the question... "are you SURE you can afford this?"
:)
Eva
Thanks Christopher, I'm finding that the banks are having to recover their costs more than ever right now. Which is then passed along to the consumer, of course. Sad. I do my best to not let my clients get themselves in that position.
You are right Eva. Thanks!
Stephanie, I hate the "F" word.. Especially if it comes back... That is why on all my Good Faith I will place what the taxes will be next year. In Florida taxes are on avg a little over 2% of the purchase price but won't take affect until the following tax year. So if you close today you won't see this change until November.
For example:
if someone bought a home 10 years ago and paid 100K taxes should be around $2,300
They sell it for 500,000 today. Taxes will remain 2,300 until November then go $11,000
It can be very scary
Even the 'drive-by media' has to admit that the majority of the loans made in the recent past are performing well.
Stephanie,
So glad you wrote this..I'm picking it for the localism WIR.