Teresa Stryker

Keeping You Up To Date On The Housing Market! What You Can Do Right Now To Prepare for Homeownership Rising rental costs may make it seem impossible to prepare for homeownership if you’re a renter. But the truth is, there are ways you can and should prepare to purchase your first home. Here’s some expert advice on what to do if you’re ready to learn more about how to escape rising rents.... >>Start Saving Even Small Amounts Now As Cindy Zuniga-Sanchez, Founder of Zero-Based Budget Coaching LLC, says. I recommend saving for a home in a ‘sinking fund’ . . . . This is a savings account separate from your emergency fund that you use to save for a short or mid-term expense. Zuniga-Sanchez adds saving in smaller increments can help make a large goal such as saving for a down payment achievable. >>Assess Your Finances and Work on Your Credit Another tip experts recommend: take a look at your overall finances and credit score...

Keeping You Up To Date On The Housing Market! What Buyers and Sellers Need To Know About the Appraisal Gap Why does an appraisal gap happen?... Basically, with the heightened buyer demand, purchasers are often willing to pay over asking to secure the home of their dreams. If you’ve ever toured a house you’ve fallen in love with, you understand. Once you start to picture yourself and your furniture in the rooms, you want to do everything you can to land the property, including putting in a high offer to try to beat out other would-be buyers. When the appraiser comes in, they look at things a bit more objectively. Their job is to assess the inherent value of the home, so they’re going to study the facts. In simple terms, while homebuyers may be willing to pay more, appraisers are there to assess the market value of the home. Their goal is to make sure the lender isn’t loaning more money than the home is worth. It’s objective, rather than...

Keeping You Up To Date On The Housing Market! The Difference in Net Worth Between Homeowners and Renters Is Widening Two major personal wealth goals homeownership and net worth work hand-in-hand. Below are just a few reasons why, if you’re looking for financial security, homeownership should be a top priority.... The gap between homeowners and renters continues to widen. That’s because homeownership contributes massively to an individual’s overall net worth. Odeta Kushi, Deputy Chief Economist at First American, highlights this idea. . . . between 2016 and 2019, housing wealth was the single biggest contributor to the increase in net worth across all income groups . . . . When we look even closer at the most recent data from 2019, the average homeowner’s net worth is more than 40 times greater than that of the average renter. The gap exists in large part because homeowners build equity as their home appreciates in value and they pay off...

Keeping You Up To Date On The Housing Market! Selling Your House Is Twice as Nice Compared to this time last year, selling your house is twice as nice. Let's connect so we can strike while the iron's hot.

Keeping You Up To Date On The Housing Market! If Housing Affordability Is About the Money, Don’t Forget This. Since home prices are rising, it’s true that homes are less affordable than they have been since the housing crash fifteen years ago. Headlines making these claims aren’t incorrect; they just don’t tell the whole story. To paint the full picture, you have to look at how today stacks up with historical data. A closer analysis of affordability going further back in time... reveals that homes today are more affordable than any time from 1975 to 2005. Despite that, the chatter about affordability is pushing some buyers to the sidelines. They don’t feel comfortable knowing someone else got a better deal a year ago. However, Are Homes Really Less Affordable if We Consider Equity? In a recent post, Odeta Kushi, Deputy Chief Economist at First American, offers a different take on the financial components of housing affordability. Kushi proposes we...