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INTEREST RATES ARE LOW
Today’s low interest rates are helping rst-time home buyers nd a ordable housing options. Average weekly interest rates for a 30-year xed mortgage have remained under 5.0%.
TECHNOLOGY MAKES HOUSE SHOPPING FUN AND EASY
Today’s tech-savvy home buyers use mobile apps to quickly gather all of the key information on a property and to see extensive photos from their cell phones
or tablets.
If you’re just beginning your search, Realtor.com is a popular app because it generally contains the most accurate information gathered from more than 800 local MLSs (multiple listing services). There are many real estate apps that also allow you to save your favorite listings and create auto text/email noti cations to instantly receive updates about those listings or similar ones that meet your search criteria.
If you’re checking out homes in an unfamiliar area, AroundMe helps you get a quick sense of the neighborhood by telling you the location of local restaurants, supermarkets, other businesses and attractions.
There also are several free mortgage apps to help you determine how much you can a ord and to compare real-time rates from multiple lenders. Popular mortgage calculator apps include Zillow and Trulia.
OWNING A HOME CAN HELP YOUNG FAMILIES BUILD WEALTH AND COMBAT RISING RENTS For most Americans, homeownership is a primary source of net worth and is an important step in accumulating personal nancial assets over the long term. As the housing market continues to recover, property values have begun to grow again.
At the same time, rental vacancy rates dropped to their lowest point since 1985, pushing rent prices to climb 3.5 percent per year in real terms, according to a recent report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. That makes now a great time to start investing in your future – instead of your landlord’s.
For more information on resources for rst-time home buyers in Helena contact the Helena Building Industry Association at 449.3358
or visit nahb.org/
forconsumers.
But it’s important to keep in mind that interest rates
are sensitive to market forces and can change quickly. There’s no indication that rates will suddenly surge upward, but even a slight rate increase can push monthly payments to the point that a buyer might miss out on their rst choice for a new home.
HUGE DOWNPAYMENTS ARE NOT NECESSARY
While lenders are looking more closely at borrowers today than in recent years, there are options
for purchasing your rst home without a 20% downpayment. For example, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) o ers loans to rst-time home buyers with downpayments as low as 3.5%. However, these loans require mortgage insurance.
To ensure that the nancing process goes smoothly, buyers should consider pre-qualifying for a mortgage and having a nancing commitment in place before shopping for a new home. Buyers also may nd that some home builders have arranged favorable nancing for their customers or o er nancial incentives.
NEW HOMES ARE BUILT TO FIT YOUR LIFESTYLE
Designed to accommodate today’s busy lifestyles, new homes – including urban condos and single-family homes – feature open oor plans, exible spaces, low- maintenance materials and other amenities that appeal to younger buyers.
With energy costs near the top of consumer concerns, it’s good to know that new homes can be more energy e cient than ever. Innovative materials and construction techniques mean that today’s new homes are built to be much more energy e cient than homes constructed a generation ago. Not only can they be more a ordable to operate, new homes also are signi cantly more resource e cient and environmentally friendly.
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