Whitney Minnich Real Estate and Community Updates

How to Sell Your Parents' House With Your Siblings' Help—and Avoid a Family Feud By  Margaret Heidenry  |  May 10, 2018 When your parents pass away, you might find yourself tasked with selling their house—and if you have siblings, hopefully they will offer help on this front. Problem is, in the same way you all squabbled over who had the better bedroom or more toys growing up, you may find yourself embroiled in a whole new kind of family feud as you attempt to unload this baggage-laden piece of real estate. At best, the sale could turn into a major headache. And at worst, unresolved issues from childhood might resurface and tear your family apart. Here's how to navigate selling a house with your siblings without drama—or wrestling each other to the floor like you did when you were kids. First things first: Should you sell it or keep it? Michael Mazek , an attorney in Chicago, says the most common problem when it comes to an estate is that there's usual

Fannie, Freddie’s Holiday Gift: No Foreclosures December 11, 2018 Mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced a nationwide suspension of eviction lockouts on foreclosures for the holiday season. The foreclosure moratorium will last from Dec. 17 to Jan. 2, 2019, and applies to all foreclosed occupied homes owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “As we have done in past years, we are suspending evictions from Freddie Mac-owned homes to help provide families with a greater measure of certainty during the upcoming holiday season,” says Yvette Gilmore, Freddie Mac’s vice president of single-family servicer performance management. The moratorium, however, does not apply to other pre- or post-foreclosure activities. Legal and administrative proceedings for evictions can continue, but families will be able to remain in their home during the holiday moratorium. “We believe it is important to extend the timeline of help for struggling borrowers duri

Why 90% of Millennial Renters Want to Own But Can’t December 10, 2018 Nine out of 10 millennial renters say they want to purchase a home, but few are planning to do so in the near term, according to a new survey by rental website Apartment List. The chief reasons keeping them from homeownership are affordability (72 percent) and lack of savings for a down payment (62 percent), the survey of 6,400 young adult renters shows. Nearly 50 percent of respondents say they have zero savings, while only 11 percent have saved $10,000 or more. Student debt is a main culprit, the survey finds. Twenty-three percent of college graduates without student debt could save enough for a down payment within the next five years compared to 12 percent of college graduates who do have student debt, according to the survey. However, down payment aid from family members is helping to make homeownership more attainable. Such help usually occurs among the highest millennial earners, the survey finds

Daily Mortgage Rate Update Rates for 12/14/2018 as of 10:00 AM. Rates are flat compared to 12/13 Assumptions: 30 day lock, on a purchase loan for a primary home, loan amount of $300,000 (75% loan-to-value) with taxes and insurance and with credit scores of 740+. APR is not the interest rate but reflects the rate with charges that are paid to get a loan.  Rates are subject to change without notice.  JUMBO pricing is based on 20% down, 6 months reserves, and a 550K loan amount. All other assumptions are the same. Market - 10 year treasury yield is down today and at about  2.888%+  https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=US10Y For more information and the latest market update  contact Evan Karr with Priority Home Lending .

California Passes Solar Panel Requirement on New Homes December 10, 2018 Starting in 2020, all new homes constructed in California will be required to have between 2 kilowatts and 3 kilowatts of electricity sourced directly from solar panels. State legislators, whom have been considering such a measure for some time, officially voted recently to amend state building codes. Other states are watching how the change plays out and may want to follow suit, California officials have said. “These provisions really are historic and will be a beacon of light for the rest of the country,” says Kent Sasaki, chair of the California Building Standards Commission. “It’s the beginning of substantial improvement in how we produce energy and reduce consumption of fossil fuels.” The new mandate, however, won’t be cheap to homeowners. The upfront costs of installing typical solar panels ranges from $8,000 to $12,000. The timing of the move also worries residents who lost their homes in

Why You Shouldn’t Put a Home Search on Hold in December December 12, 2018  December is typically the slowest month in the housing market, but it can be a great month for home buyers who have been sidelined to finally make their move. This month may be busier than previous December’s for that reason, too, economists say. Some buyers may be looking to take advantage of steadier mortgage rates—which are still averaging below 5 percent—and home prices that are easing somewhat. “I see more people buying right now because they’re afraid rates will be higher in 2019,” Lynn Fairfield, a real estate professional with RE/MAX Suburban in Chicago, told CNBC. Mortgage rates are still nearly a percentage higher than they were a year ago, but they are still under 5 percent. Freddie Mac reported last week that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage  averaged 4.75 percent . Rates are largely predicted to move higher in 2019. Housing affordability has become a mounting issue in the housing market

The Housing Slowdown Is Here—and These 10 Cities Are Getting Hit Hardest By  Clare Trapasso  |  Dec 3, 2018 Is the party really over? Over the last decade, the seemingly unstoppable growth of the American housing market has created a bonanza for sellers, a cutthroat environment for buyers, and an endless source of fascination for just about everyone else. It seemed to be an economic perpetual-motion machine. Could home prices in top markets really just keep going up and up ... and up? Well, no, actually. In the last few months, the real estate market has actually begun slowing down—including in some of the big cities that have been leading the go-go post-recession housing boom. What does it all mean? We decided to explore beyond the alarmist headlines to find the 10 metropolitan areas* that are seeing the biggest shifts—and why. To be clear, prices aren't always  dropping  in these places, which are predominantly located on the West Coast. Mostly, they'r

Daily Mortgage Rate Update Rates for 12/13/2018 as of 10:00 AM. Rates are lower compared to 12/12 Assumptions: 30 day lock, on a purchase loan for a primary home, loan amount of $300,000 (75% loan-to-value) with taxes and insurance and with credit scores of 740+. APR is not the interest rate but reflects the rate with charges that are paid to get a loan.  Rates are subject to change without notice.  JUMBO pricing is based on 20% down, 6 months reserves, and a 550K loan amount. All other assumptions are the same. Market - 10 year treasury yield is FLAT today and at about  2.90%+  https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=US10Y For more information and the latest market update  contact Evan Karr with Priority Home Lending .

How Long Does It Take to Pay Off a Net-Zero Home? December 11, 2018 Net-zero homes—those that make as much energy as they put out—may cost more up front to build, but they can save homeowners money on their energy bills. Eventually, that savings adds up and the home can pay for itself, no matter where you live, a new study shows. Net-zero energy homes usually are outfitted with rooftop solar panels, energy-efficient insulation, triple-pane windows, energy-savvy appliances, LED lighting, and smart thermostats. Builders will take the home’s design and natural lighting into account too, such as the position of windows and overhangs that could supply additional solar heating in the winter or shade in the summer months. The Rocky Mountain Institute , a research nonprofit focusing on clean energy, looked at how long it takes for the savings on a net-zero home to cover the initial costs of a 2,200-square-foot home in the 30 largest U.S. cities. Here are the top cities where y

Housing, income and jobs reshape Portland in the last decade By Elliot Njus | The Oregonian/OregonLive  Posted December 05, 2018 at 09:05 PM | Updated December 05, 2018 at 09:28 PM The Portland area has grown older, better educated, wealthier and more populous over the past decade.  At the same time, it's grown less affordable, particularly for renters, even as an economic upturn took hold, and the financial boost has not been felt equally.  Newly released Census data offer a new glimpse at how neighborhoods in metro Portland -- Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas and Clark counties -- have changed over a 10-year period ending last year.  The numbers split the decade in half, with the period from 2008 through 2012 capturing a period of economic bust and the period from 2013 through 2017 reflecting a boom -- and the growing pains that came along with it.  Here are a few takeaways. If your neighborhood's mentioned here,  tell us about the changes you've seen . And