BLOGS

How Homeownership Can Bring You Joy If you're trying to decide whether to rent or buy a home, you're probably weighing a few different factors. The financial benefits of homeownership might be one of the reasons you want to make a purchase if you’re a renter, but the decision can also be motivated b

How Today’s Mortgage Rates Impact Your Home Purchase If you’re planning to buy a home, it’s critical to understand the relationship between mortgage rates and your purchasing power. Purchasing power is the amount of home you can afford to buy that’s within your financial reach. Mortgage rates direct

How Homeownership Can Help Shield You from Inflation If you’re following along with the news today, you’ve likely heard about rising inflation. You’re also likely feeling the impact in your day-to-day life as prices go up for gas, groceries, and more. These rising consumer costs can put a pinch on y

The Dream of Homeownership Is Worth the Effort If you’re in the market to buy a home this season, stick with it. Homebuyers face challenges in any market, and today’s is no exception. But if you persevere, your decision to purchase a home will be worth the effort in the end. In fact, a recent survey

Where Are Mortgage Rates Headed? There’s never been a truer statement regarding forecasting mortgage rates than the one offered last year by Mark Fleming, Chief Economist at First American: “You know, the fallacy of economic forecasting is: Don't ever try and forecast interest rates and or, more spe

Balancing Your Wants and Needs as a Homebuyer Today Since the number of homes for sale is low today, it can feel challenging to find one that checks all your boxes. But if you know which features are absolutely essential in your next home and which ones are just nice bonuses, you can land a home tha

What You Can Expect from the Spring Housing Market As the spring housing market kicks off, you likely want to know what you can expect this season when it comes to buying or selling a house. While there are multiple factors causing some uncertainty, including the conflict overseas, rising inflation,

What You Need To Know if You’re Thinking About Building a Home If you’re ready to move up, you may be trying to decide whether you want to buy a home that's already on the market or build a new one. And since the supply of homes available for sale today is low, you’re willing to consider either aven

Key Terms for Homebuyers  Some Highlights Knowing key housing terms and how they relate to today’s market is important. For example, when mortgage rates and home prices rise, it impacts how much home you can afford. Terms like appraisal (what lenders rely on to validate a home’s value) and the inspe

Are You Wondering if This Is the Year To Buy a Home? Every year, many renters ask themselves the same question: Should I continue renting, or is it time to buy a home? If you’re a renter, chances are you’ve asked yourself that question at least once, and it’s likely because you’ve faced an increase

Don’t Get Caught Off Guard by Closing Costs As a homebuyer, it’s important to plan and budget for the expenses you’ll encounter when you purchase a home. While most people understand the need to save for a down payment, a recent survey found 41% of homebuyers were surprised by their closing costs. H

Down Payment Assistance Programs Can Help You Achieve Homeownership For many homebuyers, the thought of saving for a down payment can feel daunting, especially in today’s market. That’s why, when asked what they find most difficult in the homebuying process, some buyers say it’s one of the hardest s

Millennials: Do You Need a Home with More Space? If you’re a millennial, homebuying might be top of mind for you. Your generation is the largest group of homebuyers in the market today and has been since 2014, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). And while other millennials are l

How Supply and Demand Can Impact Your Buying and Selling Goals In today’s housing market, there are far more buyers looking for homes than sellers listing their houses. Based on the concept of supply and demand, this means home prices will naturally rise. Why is that? When there are more people tryi

Are You Ready To Fall in Love with Homeownership? Financial benefits are always a key aspect of homeownership, but it’s also important to understand that the nonfinancial and personal benefits are why so many people genuinely fall in love with their homes. When you own your home, you likely feel a s

Don’t Let Student Loans Delay Your Homeownership Dreams If you’re looking to buy a home, you may be wondering how your student loan debt could impact those plans. Do you have to wait until you’ve paid off your student loans before you can buy your first home? Or could you qualify for a home loan wit

The Top Indicator if You Want To Know Where Mortgage Rates Are Heading Mortgage rates have increased significantly since the beginning of the year. Each Thursday, Freddie Mac releases its Primary Mortgage Market Survey. According to the latest survey, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has rise

Why a Move Could Bring You More Happiness This Year Over the past two years, we’ve lived through one of the most stressful periods in recent history. Because of the health crisis, many of us have spent more time at home and that’s led us to re-evaluate both what we need in a house and how much we ap

Owning Is More Affordable than Renting in the Majority of the Country If you were thinking about buying a home this year, but already pressed pause on your plans due to rising home prices and increasing mortgage rates, there’s something you should consider. According to the latest report from ATTOM

Buyers Want To Know: Why Is Housing Supply Still So Low? One key question that’s top of mind for homebuyers this year is: why is it so hard to find a house to buy? The truth is, we’re in the ultimate sellers’ market, so real estate is ultra-competitive for buyers right now. The number of buyers sear