How Can You Avoid Paying Mortgage Insurance?

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On a million-dollar home in our area, the mortgage insurance could cost up for $400 or $500 per month. So, how can you avoid a situation like this?

It's called an 80-10-10 loan. It's when you get an 80% first loan, a 10% second loan, and you come up with the remaining 10% in cash. This allows you to avoid the mortgage insurance because you're not paying the full cost. The second loan will probably be a slightly bigger interest rate, but it will still save you enough that it's better than paying private mortgage insurance every month.

If you have questions about this type of loan, please don't hesitate to contact me! I would be happy to discuss it with you.

When Will Interest Rates Rise?

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We wanted to spend a moment today discussing the FED’s recent decision to not raise interest rates, and how that’s going to affect the market going forward.

As you know, they met in September and decided to keep rates where they are at for the time being. Most experts agree that they will stay in the high 3%, low 4% range throughout the rest of the year.

Just because rates aren’t going up now doesn’t mean that they won’t go up in the future. We believe that rates will be raised at some point by the end of the year (the next FED meeting is in December). However, this rise is going to be slow and steady, maybe by just ⅛ or ¼ of a percent at first. Rates may rise up to 4.5% or 5% by the end of the year, but it’s not going to be any more drastic than that, like some people have anticipated.

If you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you!

How Can You Make Your Ad Dollars Go Further?

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Today, I discuss a crucial topic for those of you who are looking to sell your home for the highest price. Online marketing and demographic marketing are the way of the future of our industry, and the sooner you realize it, the better. 

When I get on Google to do a search, they already know who I am: they know I'm a father, that I like to golf and go skiing, among other things. On the right-hand side of the browser, they are going to promote products and services geared specifically to me. Many people don't realize that we can do the same thing in real estate.

Technology has made demographic marketing a whole lot easier. We can figure which demographic is most likely to buy a particular property and spend the majority of our advertising dollars in the right place. Take Facebook sponsored ads, for instance; if you're looking to sell a property in a development for people 55 years and older, it makes no sense to promote that property to someone who is 25 years old! If you have a property on a golf course, you want to target people who have an interest in golf; you're not going to neglect other buyers, but you're going to focus on people who have expressed an interest in or love for golf because they're the most likely to buy the home.

In short, the best way to get your advertising dollars to go further is to leverage demographic targeting for your online campaigns. If you would like more details on how to implement this strategy, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We love this stuff, and would love to help get your listing in front of the most interested buyer!

How Does Our Business Help the Community?

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Hey everyone, today we just wanted to spend a minute to talk about the Real Estate Foundation. I got the idea for starting this foundation from a fellow agent and friend J.T. Hardcastle a little over a year ago. The concept is quite simple.

At the successful close of each transaction, we make a sizable donation to a local school or nonprofit. We let the buyer clients choose where the donation goes, and we have made many donations to some wonderful schools and nonprofits in the area. We love giving back, and so do our clients. This is a great way to help others in need while helping you out as well. Click Here to visit The Real Estate Foundation website for more information. 

If you or someone you know is interested in buying or selling in the area and is passionate about a nonprofit, we would love to hear from you. Just give us a call or send us a quick email.

Is It Time For You to Buy a Home in the Bay Area?

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 I get a lot of questions about whether one should buy or rent a home. To learn more about the pros and cons of this situation, I'm going to lay out an example for you.

Let's say you buy a standard $800,000 home with 20% down. This would make your mortgage payment close to $4,000 a month. If you were renting this same home, it would be around $3,500 a month. 

That's a monthly differential of about $500, but you can't just stop there. Owning a home has many tax benefits, so with this particular property, you can write off about $4,000 per year. This will take off about $800 per month from your mortgage payment, so your net payments when you buy will only be $3,200 per month. 

The other thing to consider is that a home will appreciate when you buy it. If the home appreciates by only 4% per year, in two years you'll have a home that is worth $65,000 more than what you purchased it for. 

You'll also be paying down the mortgage, so you'll have an extra $10,000 from those payments. 

Instead of paying for someone else's mortgage, invest in your own future with a home purchase. Now is a great time to buy. Affordability is high and interest rates are low, so you have a great opportunity to buy a home.

If you need any assistance whatsoever, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm always willing to help you!

Will the Danville Market Stay Hot in 2015?

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Hey everyone, welcome back. A lot of people have been asking lately about the market, so we thought today would be a great time to give you a brief update on what's been going on.

Home prices in our area are up an incredible 11% from this time last year, and we expect them to continue to go up by another 5-7% this year. There are 4 factors that are going to continue to drive this seller's market going forward:

1. Supply and Demand
This is simple economics. We've got low inventory and a lot of buyers out here looking. They want homes and if you have them, you are in control.

2. The Job Market
The Danville job market is continuing to get stronger, with a lot of high paying jobs coming to the area.

3. Low Interest Rates
We are still seeing rates at or near historic lows, in the high 3%'s and low 4%'s.

4. The Peninsula Effect
People who live in the peninsula have been getting priced out of their market. A $2 million dollar home in the peninsula is comparable to a $1 million dollar home in Danville. This is bringing over buyers from the East Bay and driving prices up.

If you have any specific questions about the market, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to talking with you!