What is going on with Real Estate and Interest rates? This is a question that many are asking right now, including myself. I started in the mortgage business while I was in college in the early 1980s, so I have seen a lot about the industry. My father was in the mortgage business before me so you could say I grew up in the business. I received my bachelor’s degree in economics and started full-time in the mortgage industry in 1986. Things have changed over the years in the business, but the core of the business has remained the same. When I started in the business there were no computers and everything that is now printed by a computer was hand typed and there were no fax machines or cell phones at that time either. From a technological standpoint, there have been many changes but the way we qualify a potential home buyer for a home loan has not changed. The Stock Market’s DOW Industrial average was around 2500 in the early 1980’s so things have changed there as we are over 38,000 today. I have observed many changes, some for the good and some not so good but overall up to this point in my life I can say the business cycles have been pretty consistent.
What I am seeing now is something I have never seen, nor did I think I would see in my lifetime. Like I said above the business cycles have been pretty consistent over the decades until now. With all the economic data I see and more importantly, what I am observing is happening right now is scary. I have always trusted the economic numbers that have been spoon-fed to us from the government until now. Yes, I have lost confidence in the system I helped create throughout the years. When the executive branch of our government stands in the public eye and lies directly to us I have to believe that everything that doesn’t fit their agenda is a lie and that is very sad for America. When I hear the powers at be say that Bidenomics is working and America is thriving I have to call B.S. We all know that things cost more than ever at the store, at the gas pump, and with housing so why is it that the powers at be say otherwise? I try my hardest not to get into politics on this blog but is has gotten to the point that I have to bring it into the conversation as this is why the Real Estate markets are sluggish and interest rates remain high.
My observations in the Real estate markets are that people want to buy but with prices so high and interest rates that are too high, they can’t buy. Inflation has made the cost of everything go up and the value of the dollar goes down. So, when prices of Real Estate should have gone down with higher interest rates and lower demand, we have seen Real Estate values stay the same and, in some markets, continue to go up. The reason for this is that inflation has caused the dollar to go down so much that housing prices have stayed the same which means that they have gone down as inflation has eaten away the buying power of consumers. To put in in other words as inflation makes the price of things increase it also devalues them in that fewer people can afford to buy them. What higher interest rates should have done without inflation is to cause fewer people to be able to afford housing thus slowing the demand and making sellers of real estate have to lower prices in order to sell. As we have observed with the higher interest rates over the last 2+ years Real Estate prices have not reduced as they should have or were intended to do. They have stayed steady or have gone up and this is due to the inflation or the devaluing of the dollar which is the same thing.
What is going on here, you ask? It is pretty simple from my standpoint, but I am not sure our education system is actually teaching these concepts for the younger generation to fully understand. To be clear, how the dollar devalues is simple economics. The government is spending more money than ever, thus putting more dollars into the world economy. When you have an oversupply of anything the value of that item will go down and that is what we are seeing with our US Dollar. The national debt has risen over the last 3 years from $30 trillion to north of $34 trillion consumer debt (Revolving debt credit cards) has risen to historic highs of over $1 trillion in the US alone. This means that every Citizen of the US bears the liability of government spending. When we send Billions and Billions of US dollars overseas this becomes a double whammy in that there more dollars are in circulation but no benefit to the American Citizen. Ironically a lot of the money the US is sending overseas is to protect the borders of other countries while our borders are wide open. This poses many problems for our economy, the most obvious problem is that as more dollars are pumped into circulation the value will continue to decline, thus inflation. You may have heard that” core inflation” has come down which we all know to be a lie, however, core inflation is the price of those goods that exclude energy (gas and fuel) and food prices which is what most middle-class Americans use the most. When your cost of living goes up so high that you can only afford food and housing you have lost wealth and wealth potential.
How do we get out of this cycle of lies and deception from those we used to trust to give us the truth and who are constantly lying to us? I would say vote them out and start over, however, deception, lies, and corruption have taken over the media, social media, and the voting booth. You see when the average citizen loses confidence in the voting system, we have lost our constitutional Republic. When you hear that the United States is a democracy it is not, it is a Constitutional Republic, that is the kind of rhetoric we are hearing that is either a lie or something they want you to believe. I am tired of people blindly believing everything they are told; we need some real changes quickly or our way of life we grew up with will be gone forever. We as a nation are as close to a tipping point as ever before in our history and my fear is that with spending for foreign wars, out-of-control illegal immigration, and corrupt leadership we are very close to something we all should fear. What we need to do is to come together to see what is happening right before our eyes and collectively do something about it. If we don’t stand united, we will fall divided.
To conclude, the Real Estate and Mortgage Markets are being drastically affected by the ridiculous monetary policies put forth by the current administration. With out-of-control spending outside of our own country, cutting oil production in our country, and starting foreign wars we stand to be in this type of crazy economy for a long time without some significant changes. My next big concern will be a crash of the stock market due to American companies not being able to profit like they have been able to in the past. We must also watch the emergence of the BRICS monetary system that Russia and China are spearheading this could cause further inflation by the devaluing of the dollar on the world stage and if the BRICS system replaces the US Dollar as the world’s reserve currency, then we have more problems than I can write here. This has not been covered in the media and is one of the biggest threats to the US Dollar in our lifetime. This could also be one of the underlying reasons it seems we are marching into World War 3 to prop up the dollar. To think how many people will die in a war so the US Dollar is protected when other moves could have been to avert this situation. This is a very pivotal time in our history, and it seems that our media is more concerned about who’s feelings are getting hurt rather than the hard-hitting stuff we all know is going on and we should be concerned about. So, if you are reading this I hope you understand the magnitude of what I have written and I pray it doesn’t get censored in our so-called free society.
PS
I fear we may have gone too far with out-of-control corruption to the point where the economy as a whole is suffering from incompetent leadership. If we don’t get immigration under control we will have too many people trying to get the same jobs and the same housing that American-born people need. As it is those same immigrants are getting government checks or taxpayer money to compete with natural Americans for housing, food, goods, and services not to mention that these people have not been investigated properly at the border so there may be bad people that could hurt Americans or damage property or worse we don’t know. This is causing a higher demand for housing and the longer it goes on the more it will hurt the American people. Crime is also rising in the cities where these migrants have gone and is getting worse every day.
Have you been trying to enter the Real Estate market but just cannot save the money required for a down payment and closing costs? Then you have come to the right place. We have a new program that will give first-time buyers or homebuyers in general up to 5% of the purchase price for a down payment and closing costs. This program is great as you are not required to be a first-time homebuyer to qualify for this. We have partnered with a company that has a program called Chenoa. This is a pool of funds that are designated to assist home buyers with the costs of getting a home.
The Chenoa program is paired with an FHA Loan and this works great as FHA only requires a 3.5% Down payment and that would leave you with 2% left for closing costs. It is conceivable for a home buyer to get into a home with no money out of pocket. In this crazy Real Estate Market, I would advise my clients to have at least 1% of the sales price as a minimum. This would be for additional items such as inspections to make sure the house you are buying is in good condition. Although the market is crazy, and sellers are calling the shots you still have the ability to negotiate work to be done on a house prior to closing.
Since the Real Estate market is so competitive this program will allow for a buyer to still be “in the game” as a buyer you will not need to ask the seller for any concessions towards the purchase because you as a home buyer do not have enough money. In a regular Real Estate market, sellers will generally help pay closing costs if the price of the home can absorb those fees. In this market asking the seller to pay for anything is tough as there will be a line of people trying to buy the same house with more money down or no concessions from the seller. This is where this program makes good sense for a buyer as they will not have to ask the seller for any money towards closing costs.
The documentation for this program is the same as a regular FHA loan. You will need to provide 30 days of pay stubs, 2 months of bank statements, W2s for the last 2 years, and a 620 Credit score. There are income limitations that are you cannot make more than 130% of the median household income for your area in Califonia. It can also go fast as there is no more additional underwriting that some other Down Payment Assistance programs require such as CalhFA. This will also help to get your offer accepted as you can close this in 30 days or less. At MAE Capital Mortgage we are here to walk you through this loan and all the loans in our arsenal. It doesn’t cost anything to see if you qualify for this we are just a phone call or a click away. We look forward to assisting you with this product in California. Call us at 916-672-6130 to talk with a licensed Loan Officer or Click Here to provide your information confidentially.
The first thing everyone needs to know is that we at MAE Capital Real Estate and Loan want all of our clients to be safe and healthy. Whatever your view is on the COVID outbreak is you will have to follow some rules when looking at homes during this time. People are still listing homes for sale, although things have changed dramatically in how your Agent can show a home to potential home buyers. The Listing Agents must also follow strict rules in order to list your home for sale and showing it to potential home buyers.
When a potential home buyer wants to see a particular home, he or she must sign a “Coronavirus Property Entry Advisory and Declaration Form” or PEAD-S for short. Everyone who is going to look at the house must sign this form prior to entry. This form must be presented to the listing Agent of every home you want to see. So, my advice would be to do some reconnaissance before asking to see a particular property. What that would be is to get in your car and go look at the outside of the homes and the neighborhoods before asking to go inside. What this will do is eliminate those houses that are not in a good location or have bad or dirty neighbors. Once you have done your recon trips on houses that interested you online then you can narrow down the ones you want to see inside. This is very important as not to waste your time and your Agent’s time at looking at homes that you would never want to buy anyway.
Once you have your list of homes you want to see the inside on present it to your agent so he or she can send you the PEAD-S for you to sign on each house you want to see. Note this form is sent to you from Docusign which is an electronic signature application. To help your Agent narrow down the amenities you wish to have in a house you should complete a Home Shopping Checklist and you can find this on our site by clicking here or on the link, there are many helpful tools to help you organize your finances as well as your wants and needs in a home. When it is time to go look at the homes on your list you will have to have signed each PEAD-S form for each property and your Agent has to have sent it to the listing Agents on each house you want to see and they have to have received it. Sometimes it can take a while for a Listing Agent to see the actual form as they may be busy when it is sent over. Patience will be your mandate for this process and all other process during this COVID crazy times.
Once your Agent has set the times and the Listing Agents have been given the PEAD-S forms then you can enter a house. Entering a house comes with another set of rules we must all follow. Every person entering a property MUST wear a mask and gloves we also provide booties to cover your shoes when entering a home. Although it should be a given but when looking at homes you should not touch anything other than door handles to open doors to inspect the house. Be sure to bring your checklists with you so you can see if the house offers all the items you want to have in a house.
For the Agent that listed the houses you are seeing you should be aware that the rules also state that the homes that are being actively shown must be cleaned between each showing. This is important for you to know as we in the Real Estate Industry need our client to be safe in the process of looking for homes. Also, we want to make sure that the seller’s of homes are also protected, so although it is a little extra work it is our responsibility to our Home Buyers and Sellers out there to be safe. We are all inconvenienced right now with the all that is going on but at least we can still show and sell homes during this crisis, but if we don’t follow the rules we may lose this privilege.
Patience is going to be your theme during the process of buying and selling a home in these trying times. Viewing homes is not the only area where you will need patience, also know that with interest rates at historic lows and lenders are backed up with refinances during this time and some lenders are still working from home in different parts the country so the loan process has also been painfully slow. So weather you agree with what is going on in the world or not, in order to buy a home or sell a home you will be burdened with additional requirements all due to the Novel Coronavirus narrative. We are here to help you with both your Real Estate needs and your home loan needs, remember bundle and save. www.maecapital.com.
It’s March 2020, not yet spring but in California it is always spring like weather. Do you know what your house is worth this year? Have you thought about selling and buying another home? This might be the perfect year to do just that. Why, you ask? Well when the earth the stars and the moon all align you should take notice. The interest rates are at historic lows would be the first good reason. The second good reason would be that our economy is at full employment (Full employment is when the unemployment rate is less than 4%). The third and most important for sellers is that the housing prices are still high, and we have not seen any correction in prices.
Interest rates are important for a variety of reasons. When you are selling a house, you want the rates to be as low as possible so more potential buyers can qualify your house. Low interest rates also provides a sense of security for home buyers when they are shopping. Low rates also create a sense of urgency with potential buyers as they don’t want to miss the opportunity to get a low interest rate. At MAE Capital Real Estate and Loan having control over both the Real Estate and the loan process can further save potential buyers and sellers as we will give buyers money towards their loan to lower their interest rate even further when we represent a buyer and do the loan. With Rates so low putting your home on the market sooner than later will get you property sold faster as the inventory is so low currently.
In addition to low interest rates Americans are fully employed according to the labor department. So, with the majority of Americans employed in this booming economy there should be more potential home buyers in the market today. These young buyers have more information at their fingertips than ever so they know that rates are low and that they can afford to buy. In a market where most people are employed wages tend to be a bit higher so employers can keep those employees they have and not lose them to their competition, thus keeping job security and higher wages to potential home buyers. This sense of job security is also making existing homeowners feel more comfortable with their finances and are exploring the possibility of selling and moving up.
We have not seen the influx of sellers yet as most potential sellers like to wait until spring to put their house on the market traditionally. Those that make the move early will reap the rewards from a quick sale at the top of the market if their house is price properly. All of this creates stability in the Real Estate prices as the current supply is less than the demand which usually means that prices should increase, We have not seen the increases yet as we are still seasonally stagnant with buyers waiting for the spring inventory to hit the market. With that said if you are thinking of selling your home this year it would be prudent to get your home on the market as soon as possible with rates low and full employment. Here at MAE Capital Real Estate and Loan we are here to help. We have programs for first time home buyers, we have the lowest rates in the market on home loans, we bundle our services to save our clients money and if we list and sell your home represent you when purchasing your next home we will kick in money to lower your payment even further. Give us a call (916-672-6130) or check out our site and download our App.
Hey there fellow bloggers and Real Estate enthusiasts we have a new Application/ App that just hit the market the beginning of the year and it's FREE. The app can be found both on Google Play and The Apple App Store and it is the MAE Capital App. This App is unique in that you can search Real Estate in the Quad County area around the Sacramento Area. As we are located in in Rocklin this is the beginning of a growing market for MAE Capital as we currently arrange loans up and down the State of California we are slowly growing the Real Estate presence throughout the state and always looking for partners to help.
The MAE Capital App is unique in that is combines or bundles the Real Estate process with the Home Loan process. Not seen in any other App on the market till now. You can search Real Estate and then see if the houses you have been looking at will qualify for financing as well as you. With one App you now have the power to see all the property on the market in real time and the search engine is Metrolist or the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The searches have been broken down to towns and cities so you don’t have to dig too hard, the App will take you to the area you want to research. The App will show you open houses in the area so you have that information at your figure tips when out driving around looking at homes. Read about the tips and tricks to buying and selling Real Estate in the App.
You can get Pre-Approved right on the app with a push of a button and inputting some basic financial information. You can apply for a home loan and scan and upload all the documents you need to be approved for a home loan within the App. You can see current interest rates and get the status of your home loan all through the app. If you don’t understand the process flow or know what to expect, all the information is right there in the App. You can get all the information you need on your phone today.
If you are thinking about selling a home or piece of property in the near future we have the tools to help you understand the ins and outs of selling Real Estate. You can search property that has sold in your area to get an idea of what your home is worth. You can reach out to one of our Agents with just a few clicks in the App and an Agent will call you and go over what you need to do. If you aren’t ready to talk yet you can do the research yourself and learn what will be expected and how to prepare your home or property for sale. Then you can get qualified to buy your next home on the very same App.
If you are a Real Estate Investor you can search property and put parameters in that fit exactly what your investment needs are such as fixers or good rental properties. We also have all the information you need to know about obtaining a Private Money Loan to act as a cash buyer or buy a property or land that a bank won't lend on. Private Money is also a necessity when you are looking to flip homes as most traditional lenders won’t lend on extreme fixer properties. Do all the Research then contact one of our Agents to see the property you want to see. Our App is a one stop shop for Investors and good investors know that time is of the essence and the App can save you time and money.
If you have been thinking about buying Real Estate or Selling Real Estate you need this App. Or if you just like to look at Real Estate and wonder how much homes are listed for get this App. Get all the power in the palm of your hand and save thousands when working with MAE Capital as we will bundle the services to save you thousands. Which means we will take some to the Real Estate commission that is generated in the transaction and apply it towards your home loan to lower your interest rates and lower your monthly payments. MAE Capital Real Estate and Loan is your true partner giving you the tools and the information to be cutting edge in the Real Estate game. Click here to Download the App from the Apple store and click here to Download the App from Google Play the android solution.