What Has Non-Owners Afraid to Buy

What Has Non-Owners Afraid to Buy

Almost half of renters surveyed by Bankrate.com say they haven’t purchased a home yet because they believe their credit isn’t good enough to qualify for a mortgage or they can’t afford a down payment.

“A lot of people make assumptions that they can’t afford to buy based on just some perceptions, and many have not taken the step to figure out how mortgage-ready they are,” says Marietta Rodriguez, vice president of NeighborWorks America, a national home ownership programs.

Bankrate.com’s survey found that Hispanics are the ethnic group most likely to say that their credit is blocking them from home ownership. On the other hand, blacks and whites cited the main reason for not buying yet as they just weren’t ready to own a home yet.

Overall, 35 percent of non-home owners say they don’t want to own a house yet, according to the survey. Blame that percentage on the still-lingering after-effects of the housing crisis, says Pava Leyrer, COO for Northern Mortgage Services in Grandville, Mich.

“A lot of people went through some deep pains in the past 10 years or less,” such as foreclosures, job losses, or bankruptcy filings, Leyrer says. “All of those things are traumatic in your life.”

Fear aside, many non-home owners are under the assumption that they need a higher down payment to purchase a house than is actually needed. About 20 percent of respondents to Bankrate’s survey said they need between 11 percent to 20 percent for a down payment, while 17 percent said they need 6 percent to 10 percent.

Nearly a quarter of non-home owners said, however, they “don’t’ know” how much they need for a down payment. Only 9 percent of respondents said they could do a 1 percent to 5 percent down payment.

Many non-home owners seem to lack awareness that they can get an FHA loan with just a 3.5 percent down payment or a conventional loan with a 3 percent down payment, says Rob Chrane, president and CEO at Down Payment Resource in Atlanta.

“The biggest single issue is that consumers just don’t know these programs even exist,” Chrane says. “If you don’t know of the possibility then you don’t know to ask people for help with it.”

Source: “Bankrate Survey: Nearly Half of Renters Are Afraid They Can’t Buy,” Bankrate.com (Feb. 9, 2016)

Quicken Loans’ Super Bowl Ad Generates Buzz

Quicken Loans’ Super Bowl Ad Generates Buzz

Quicken Loans’ Super Bowl 50 commercial promoting its Rocket Mortgage app has sparked discussion online, including questions about whether the lender is making getting a mortgage too easy now.

In the 60-second commercial spot, the company touts: “You can get a mortgage from your phone.” The company says in the commercial that making the mortgage process easier would, in turn, create more home owners and lead to a more robust economy.

But on social media, viewers were quick to express concerns that making it too easy to get a mortgage could bring about a second housing crisis by extending loans to unqualified borrowers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau even weighed in to the Twitter blitz, warning consumers to be wary of technology in the mortgage application process (although it doesn’t refer to Quicken Loans by name).

Quicken Loans’ Rocket Mortgage doesn’t underwrite mortgages by just a tap on your smartphone. Instead, the company says it’s a way to skip the verbal interaction with a lender over the phone when consumers seek to obtain their rate options and will make shopping for a loan quicker.

Its commercial has certainly gotten people talking on social media, and Quicken Loans has been quick to engage with customers back on social media who have expressed concerns.

“By using social media to interact directly with consumers, Quicken provided an opportunity to engage with people who are either uninformed about the mortgage process or haven’t even given any thought to the idea of buying a home, and answer their questions in real time,” the National Mortgage News reports.

Source: “Quicken Renews Debate Over How Fast Is Too Fast to Get a Mortgage,” National Mortgage News (Feb. 8, 2016)

Boost Curb Appeal with $100 in 4 Easy Steps

Boost Curb Appeal with $100 in 4 Easy Steps

Does your listing need a more inviting first impression from the outside? Stager Cora Sue Anthony with Antony Staging in Oakland, Calif., says you don’t have to break the bank to get an instant lift to a home’s curb appeal. In fact, in a short video she highlights how spending just $106 on some paint and a new light fixture could instantly amp up a home’s curb appeal.

Here are four steps that can entice buyers:

1. Paint the front door. Try out a bold color – such as red – to get buyers’ attention focused on the door.

2. Paint the mailbox. Try either red or black. Anthony says since she painted the home’s door red in the video example, she painted the mailbox the opposite color – black.

3. Paint the railings. Use black to add depth.

4. Change out the light fixture. Make sure the new light fixture matches the aesthetics of the home’s exterior, but this can dress up the outside while also brightening the space.

Source: “How to Get Curb Appeal on a Budget,” realtor.com® (Feb. 5, 2016)

Housing Winners = Super Bowl Champs

Housing Winners = Super Bowl Champs

Realtor.com® predicts a Denver Broncos win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 this weekend. That could prove to be good news for the national housing market as well, the real estate site says.

“Although there is no economically driven correlation between the outcome of the Super Bowl and the housing market, we have found a promising real estate predictor for the Super Bowl that’s more effective than a coin toss,” says Jonathan Smoke, realtor.com®’s chief economist.

Realtor.com® used January’s performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average to predict the Super Bowl’s outcome. “Out of the 49 games to date, this predictor has anticipated the outcome of the Super Bowl 82 percent of the time,” realtor.com® states.

This year, the stock market ended January down 5.5 percent, which realtor.com® says indicates a win for the Denver Broncos. If the market had risen in January, the Carolina Panthers would be the anticipated winners.

History suggests a Denver win is also good for the overall housing market, says realtor.com®.

“Denver’s past wins in the Super Bowl – in 1998 and 1999 – were also strong years for housing,” according to realtor.com®. In 1998, home prices rose 6 percent and existing-home sales increased 13 percent, according to data from the National Association of REALTORS®. Also, housing starts surged 9 percent, with single-family starts alone up 12 percent. In 1999, the housing market also showed rises, with home prices up 7 percent; existing-home sales increasing 3 percent; and housing starts inching up 2 percent.

Source: Move Inc.

Your Online Sphere is Larger Than You Think

Your Online Sphere is Larger Than You Think

The idea that everyone is connected by six degrees is becoming outdated, as new Facebook research shows its users are connected to each other by an average of 3.57 degrees.

Facebook marks its 12th birthday today, which they’ve dubbed “Friends Day,” by reminding users how their online social circle makes them more connected than they might think, and they’ve developed a calculator to show you how close you are to everyone else.

“Our collective ‘degrees of separation’ have shrunk over the past five years,” says Facebook’s data team. “In 2011, researchers at Cornell, the Universita degli Studi di Milano, and Facebook computed the average across the 721 million people using the site then, and found that it was 3.74. Now, with twice as many people using the site, we’ve grown more interconnected, thus shortening the distance between any people in the world.”

To celebrate “Friends Day,” the social media channel also created a personalized video tool that allows Facebook users to turn their milestone moments with friends into short videos. These videos are shared to users’ profiles and posted on their friends’ news feeds.

Source: “It’s a Smaller World After All: Facebook Research Shows 3.57 Degrees – not 6 – of Separation,” Venturebeat.com (Feb. 4, 2016)

Groundhogs Know Best: Spring Buying Is On

Groundhogs Know Best: Spring Buying Is On

The infamous groundhog – Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil – may not only have the power to predict how many more weeks are left to winter but also the ability to predict the start to housing’s busiest time of year.

Phil didn’t see his shadow on Tuesday’s Groundhog Day, which, if superstition holds true, means that winter will be shorter this year, with a warmer February across the country.

If the groundhog is correct, Jonathan Smoke, realtor.com®’s chief economist, says, that could spark an early start to the spring home buying season.

“Over the 47 years for which we have sales data, when February’s temperature was above average, February home sales showed growth over the prior year 60 percent of the time,” Smoke writes in his most recent column at realtor.com®.

But what matters more than the weather is the health of the economy and the demand for housing, Smoke writes.

“When the market is strong and temperatures are cold, we still typically see growth,” he writes. “But when we have a strong market and warmer temperatures in February, we are far more likely to see growth.”

And “when the housing market is strong like it is now, and Phil doesn’t see his shadow, February sees an average 11 percent year-over-year increase in existing-home sales,” Smoke continues. “Thanks to Punxsutawney Phil, we know that the spring housing market starts early this year — and buyers and sellers had better be ready.”

Source: “Guess What? Spring Home Buying Starts Now (Thanks, Punxsutawney Phil!)” realtor.com® (Feb. 2, 2016)