By our friends in KCM
If you’re looking to buy a home, the recent downward trend in mortgage rates is good news because it helps with affordability. But there’s another way this benefits you – it may inspire more homeowners to put their houses up for sale.
The Mortgage Rate Lock-In Effect
Over the past year, one factor that’s really limited the options for your move is how few homes were on the market. That’s because many homeowners chose to delay their plans to sell once mortgage rates went up. An article from Freddie Mac explains:
“The lack of housing supply was partly driven by the rate lock-in effect. . . . With higher rates, the...
Read More
By Kristine Gill | Better Homes
Experts outline the average cost to stage a home, including factors that affect costs and a breakdown of home staging expenses.
Preparing to sell your home includes embarking on a laundry list of tasks with conflicting advice from all sides. Friends and family might have might have told you that staging your home isn’t necessary, while your real estate agent might be suggesting it. So, do you need to stage your home? Or is a quick clean and decluttering just as effective?
“I can confidently say that staging always offers a return on investment,” says Dot Frank, a realtor with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Alliance Group....
Read More
From our friends in KCM
If you’ve been holding off on selling your house to make a move because you felt mortgage rates were too high, their recent downward trend is exciting news for you. Mortgage rates have descended since last October when they hit 7.79%. In fact, they’ve been below 7% for over a month now (see graph below):
And while they’re not going back to the 3% we saw during the ‘unicorn’ years, they are expected to continue to go down from where they are now in the near future. As Dean Baker, Senior Economist at the Center for Economic Research, explains:
“It also appears that mortgage rates are now falling again. They will almost certainly not...
Read More
By Kristine Gill | Better Homes & Gardens
More and more people are living in multigenerational homes. Here are some features to look for in a home for everyone, according to experts.
More and more, Americans are finding themselves living in multigenerational households. Some do it for financial reasons, while others are looking to care for aging relatives more easily. As more and more people seek to bring multiple generations of the family together under one roof, you might find yourself on the market for a home that can accommodate this type of living arrangement.
“The demand for multigenerational homes has exploded over the past few years, especially since the...
Read More
By Jillian Pretzel | REALTOR.COM
For most of 2023, homebuyers faced a daunting real estate market marked by dizzyingly high mortgage rates. Combined with steep home prices and a severe shortage of homes for sale, it’s no wonder many struggled or gave up their home search entirely.
But with this new year comes new hope: Could homebuyers get a break?
If you’re gearing up to buy a house soon, it’s time to forget the horror stories of last year and reset your expectations. Below are the old rules that no longer apply to the current real estate market—plus the new ones that will take their place this year.
1. Old rule:...
Read More
