Do I really need a 20% Down Payment?



Summary

Our question for today is something that I talked about this time last year but I think it’s worth bringing up again for the benefit of buyers and that is “do I need twenty percent down payment to buy a home” and the answer is no. That’s probably the single biggest misconception that we see especially among first-time homebuyers. I can’t tell you how many aspiring homeowners I’ve talked to over the years who are saving for a down payment and then they roll their eyes and say but it’s going to take me years to get to twenty percent. The fact is that is just a myth you don’t need that at all.

The average down payment across the country for first-time homebuyers last year was six percent. The average down payment for folks who had a home to sell and were buying second or third or fourth homes was only 14 percent so even people who have equity to bring to the table aren’t paying 20 percent down in a lot of cases. There are many programs out there especially if you’re within certain income limits where you can buy a home for zero percent down. You can get grants which you never have to pay back to help with your closing costs and you can ask the seller to pay some of those other closing costs and wrap them into the price. There are many options and so I would encourage you as a first step if you don’t own a home but would like to, ask your friends and ask your realtor what local lenders they’ve had good experience with who’s worked really hard for them and then go talk to those people and see what your options are. I think you will be amazed by the possibilities that are within your reach.

If you’ve got a question for me or a coffee you’d like to see us try here please send that to questions@klinemay.com. As always if you’d like to keep up with what’s going on in our market, click the link below and that’ll take you to a display of the newest listings that have hit our Market in the last two weeks. Thanks for joining us we’ll see you again next time.


Should Buyers Wait to Get back into the market?



Summary Our question this week is should buyers wait to get back into the market or jump in now. Last week we talked about buyers getting back into the market as interest rates fall. So if you're a buyer one thing you have to be considering is when do I jump. Are interest rates going to continue to fall? When's the best time to get in? I think a real factor that needs to be considered is inventory is going to be tight.

Inventory is going to be very tight. Right now there are a fewer number of buyers in the market than there will be in June for example. Even though there will be more listings I think we're going to see the same kind of imbalance that we saw last year and sellers are going to really really be in control. Right now sellers are not reeling but they are a lot more open to negotiation. The market has been a little bit softer for the past six months or so. So for buyers I think this is an opportunity before things get very tight and before sellers get totally in control again, to have a little Fair negotiation.

Even though rates may drop a little bit more, refinancing is always an option. I think if I were a buyer I would strongly consider getting in the market now when there's less competition where I can get a more balanced deal from the sellers that are out there.

If you'd like to keep up with what's going on in our Market as always you can click that link below that'll take you to a display of the newest listings in our Market those that have hit within the last 14 days. If you've got a question for me or a coffee you'd like us to try send that information to questions@klinemay.com. Thanks for joining us we'll see you next time.