Improve Your Credit Score When Buying a Home Using These 4 Tips

Today I’m going over four tips for improving your credit when applying for a home loan.

How can you improve your credit score when applying for a house loan?

First, don’t open or close any credit accounts, as that will lower your score. 

Second, check your credit card balances. You want to keep your credit card balance at 25% or less or if you can, pay off the cards each month. 

You want to keep your credit card balance at 25% or less.

Third, this may be common sense, but don’t switch jobs. You generally need two years in the same line of work and one year with the same employer. 

Finally, don’t buy new furniture or a car until after you’ve purchased the home. Those types of big purchases could significantly affect your credit score. 

If you have any questions about buying a home or getting a better credit score, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’m more than happy to help!

Spring 2017 Greater Milwaukee Metro Home Price Update

 

Friends and Clients —

If you are looking to sell your home, then three recent developments make this spring a unique moment to do so quickly and at a top price.

First, mortgage rates have stabilized.
From a low of 3.41% last July, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate spiked up after the election and reached a high of 4.31% in December.
However, rates have stabilized over the past few months, and despite the increase, they are still near historical lows.

Second, jobs are up.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 235,000 new jobs in February and 2.3 million over the past year. This reflects continuing growth in consumer and business confidence over recent months.

Third, housing inventory is at a record low.

February saw a 17.9% year-over-year drop in the number of homes on the market. This is the 100th consecutive month of year-over-year declines, going back to October 2008.
So what do these three developments mean for you?

First, if you’re looking to sell your house, they mean you will be able to do so quickly.

Demand for homes is strong and will continue to get even stronger due to the growth in jobs and the low and stable mortgage rates.

The statistics bear this out: homes sold within an average 68 days this February compared to 75 days in February 2016.

Second, it means you can expect to sell your home at a top price.

Because of strong demand and low inventory, prices continue to increase. On a national level, home prices rose 6% year-over-year in February. This agrees with what I’ve been seeing around the Greater Milwaukee metro as well.

In short, this spring is a fantastic time to sell your home if you’ve been considering it for a while.

In case you're curious about how much your home is worth in the current market, check out my home value calculator that takes into account recent Greater Milwaukee metro sales:
Enter your street address here to find out what your home is worth
And what if you're looking to buy a home?

The current low mortgage rates are definitely worth taking advantage of, as they allow you to afford a more luxurious home.

Several amazing homes have recently come on the market around the Greater Milwaukee metro area. To see all the homes that are available right now, take a look at this complete listing:

Click here for all available Greater Milwaukee metro homes for sale

Whether you’re selling or buying this spring, just give me a call at 262-797-6453 in case you have any questions. I’m here to help, and I can give you more detailed information about the situation on the ground.

Should You Worry About Rising Interest Rates?

Should you be concerned about the impact rising interest rates will have on the current real estate market?

As you probably know, over the last couple of months, interest rates have been on the rise. Should you worry about these increasing rates? 

Over the past couple of months, fixed-rate mortgages have gone up just over 0.5%. Rates can be as high as 4.25% and as low as 3.5%.

In real terms, this rise in rates means that if you took out a 30-year mortgage on a $250,000 home, you would pay as much as $100 more each month and pay an additional $35,000 over the life of the mortgage. That is a sizable chunk, so some people are nervous that increasing rates will slow down the market.

Our market is not going to slow down anytime soon.

However, the market is not about to slow down anytime soon. Why? Historically speaking, these rates are still incredibly low. Back in the 90s, rates were as high as 10%. In the 80s, interest rates were at 16%! As you can see, these 4.25% rates are still incredibly low.

What does that mean for you? 

As a buyer, these low rates create a great opportunity for you to buy an amazing home, which is way better than renting.

If you want to sell your home, you are in a great position to do so quickly and get top dollar.

If you have any other questions about interest rates and our current market, give me a call. I would be happy to help you!