Homebuying for First-Timers

I was privileged to be interviewed a few days ago by a writer for the Christian Science Monitor. Reporter Mike Farrell was investigating what he called the "psychology" of the First-Time Homebuyer and how it might have changed or be different in the current economy from years back. His article appears here:
http://features.csmonitor.com/economyrebuild/2009/04/15/first-time-homebuyers-jolt-market-into-life/

--be sure to click the "sound" button at the top of the article for additional audio comments by Farrell.

One of the things we spoke about--which didn't make its way into the article, was about mortgage assistance programs. Most first-time homebuyers aren't aware of some of the programs that *still* have money! There are down-payment assistance programs here in the city of San Jose for public school teachers, and special loans for all participants statewide who are members of California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS). Several cities have down-payment assistance programs--Milpitas and San Jose to name a couple--that work in the form of an equity-share partnership between the homebuyer and the city.

The moral of the story is that First-Timers should look for a Realtor & Loan Officer that knows about these programs--how to qualify for the programs and how to process a transaction using these programs. I am always thrilled to work with first-time homebuyers and have been involved with many specialized financing options available for more than three years.

If you're already a homeowner, please pass this tidbit on to your friends who are still renters! They don't know what they don't know. :-)

Happy Homes!
-Marci

The high cost of waiting!!

Many of the potential buyers I've been talking to for the past few months say to me "I'm going to wait! I know prices will continue to come down!" So I did a little research using my calculator.

Let's say that today you could buy a home and use a fixed-rate mortgage loan for $500,000 at 5.5%. At the end of 5 years, you would have paid approximately $132,640 in total interest.

Let's then imagine that you WAIT! and get that same home for $30,000 less than today---but at that point interest rates have gone up to 7.25%. So let's see--now you have a loan for $470,000 at 7.25%. At the end of 5 years, you would have paid approximately $165,954 in total interest.

So 5 years from now, you have paid $33,314 MORE in interest just to save $30,000 on the purchase price.

Somebody check my math okay? But I've run the numbers a couple of times just to see what happens. "Waiting" looks like it might actually be costing you more than jumping in right now!

Home buyers are in the eye of the perfect storm---the lowest home prices in years combined with the lowest interest rates in years. This kind of real estate junction is rare indeed and we should ALL be taking advantage of it.

If you've been "waiting" to buy, please give me a call and let's look at the numbers together and talk about your options. Don't miss out on the incredible opportunities available in TODAY's real estate market.

Happy Homes!
-Marci Orler, the First-Time Homebuyer Specialist