Whitney Minnich Real Estate and Community Updates

Condo Buyers Could Get Fast, Automated Appraisals June 29, 2018 Consumers who buy a condo or refinance an existing condo mortgage may be eligible to bypass an in-person appraisal and have a faster automated appraisal, Freddie Mac announced this week. Freddie Mac’s automated collateral evaluation appraisal waiver gives eligible borrowers of mortgages for condos the opportunity to save on the traditional appraisal. Borrowers could save about $500 on appraisal fees and potentially close seven to 10 days faster, Freddie Mac notes. “We continue to see the share of condo loans we purchase increase, especially among first-time home buyers,” says David Lowman, executive vice president of Freddie Mac’s single-family business. “ACE for condos will help increase the efficiency of the mortgage origination process, offer greater certainty, and help save our clients, and their customers, time and money.” Freddie Mac uses ACE to assess the need for a traditional appraisal b...

8 Nabbed in Cybercrime Ring Targeting Real Estate June 29, 2018 Authorities in the United States and Africa have arrested eight people for alleged involvement in an international online fraud scheme that targeted Crye-Leike, a real estate company based in Memphis, Tenn., as well as other entities. The suspects, along with four others who are still at large, are accused of attacking computer servers and using bogus email messages to steal millions of dollars from individuals and companies involved in property transactions in the U.S., according to the Justice Department. Five of the suspects—who are citizens of Ghana, Mexico, Nigeria, and the U.S.—were arrested stateside. The other three were taken into custody overseas and are awaiting extradition to the U.S. In addition to its efforts to disrupt real estate deals, the ring, which has been in operation at least since 2012, also was involved in credit card and gold buying scams, law enforcement officials say. The su...

Daily Mortgage Rate Update Rates for 6/29/2018 as of 10:30 AM. Rates are THE SAME compared to 6/28 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. For more information and the latest market update  contact Evan Karr with Priority Home Lending .

Daily Mortgage Rate Update   Rates for 6/28/2018 as of 9:30 AM. Rates are FLAT compared to 6/27 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. For more information and the latest market update   contact EvanKarr with Priority Home Lending.

Portland's housing market slows down, though stiff competition remains for first-time buyers By  Elliot Njus enjus@oregonian.com The Oregonian/OregonLive Portland's housing market is showing signs of relief for would-be buyers. The inventory of homes on the market climbed in May. Fewer bidding wars broke out, and price growth has slowed. But it's a tale of two markets, brokers say. While the top of the market is cooling off, there's still stiff competition over homes that are affordable to first-time buyers. New numbers from the  Regional Multiple Listing Service  show there were 5,380 homes on the market at the end the month, the most of any May since 2014. The median home price rose to $409,000, an increase of 5.4 percent from a year earlier. Prices are climbing half as fast as at this time in 2017. Sales, however, are falling. The listing service said some 2,800 homes sold in May, a decline of 3.2 percent compared to a year ago. Other indi...

HOME Survey: Housing and Economic Outlook Remains Steady in Second Quarter of 2018 WASHINGTON (June 21, 2018) — New findings from the National Association of Realtors® show that a high number of Americans, 75 percent, believe that now is a good time to sell a house, while 68 percent think it is a good time to buy.   That’s according to NAR’s second quarter  Housing Opportunities and Market Experience  (HOME) survey 1 , which also found that a majority of consumers believe prices have and will continue to increase and that homeownership strengthens our nation’s communities. Optimism that now is a good time to buy remains stagnant from last quarter; 39 percent strongly agree that now is a good time to buy, while 29 percent moderately agree. Among renters, however, those positive feelings have fallen significantly from 55 percent in the first quarter to 49 percent this quarter. Optimism is highest among older buyers (65 or over) and those living in the Sout...

How Much Influence Should Kids Have in Buying Decisions? Fifty-five percent of homeowners who have a child under the age of 18 say their kids’ opinions factored into their homebuying decision, according to a Harris Poll survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults. What’s more, 74 percent of millennial parents—those up to age 36—indicate they took their kids’ opinions under consideration when buying a home. Renters pay even more attention to their children: 83 percent say their kids’ opinions mattered in their housing decisions. Though the trend is strong, real estate professionals and psychologists are torn on how much kids should be involved in real estate matters. Moving is a big decision, and involving the children more in the process may help them feel a greater sense of control and ownership, clinical psychologist Ryan Hooper told the  Chicago Tribune . On the other hand, children could feel rejected if their parents are unable to fulfill their requests, Hooper says. Ad...

Daily Mortgage Rate Update Rates for 6/27/2018 as of 10:30 AM. Rates are LOWER compared to 6/26 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. For more information and the latest market update contact Evan Karr with Priority Home Lending .

WANT TO SEE inside Portland’s weirdest, wildest, most wonderful, and whimsical? $30 will get you a secret map + wristband with directions to explore some very weird houses on a self-paced, self-guided tour that treats you to some of Oregon’s most remarkable and creative homes. SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, June 30, 2018 from 10am-6pm Portland's weirdest homes will open their doors, and the creative residents will share stories about where they live. Which just happens to be some of the most peculiar places in Oregon. SUPPORT AFFORDABLE HOUSING: 10% of sales go directly to  Central City Concern , a local Portland nonprofit supporting affordable housing. DID YOU KNOW: Weird Homes Tour launched in 2014 in Austin, Texas and since expanded to cities like Houston, New Orleans, Detroit and now Portland too! With Austin Monthly Magazine naming it the “Best Home Tour in Austin” and  The Austin Chronicle listing the tour as one of the Top 10 Art Events of 2017. Purchase your ticke...

Housing market remains strong, despite mortgage rate worries by  Paul R. La Monica      @lamonicabuzz June 26, 2018: 10:55 AM ET The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates, and that's led some to worry that mortgage rates will spike and put an end to the housing boom in the United States. Not so fast, according to the head of a big homebuilder. Stuart Miller, executive chairman of Miami-based builder Lennar, said Tuesday that "concerns about rising interest rates and construction costs have been offset by low unemployment and increasing wages." He added that there is still a "short supply" of houses on the market   after   "years of underproduction of new homes." And he said "demand remained strong" and "affordability remained consistent" thanks to rates that remain relatively low. Miller made those remarks in Lennar's earnings release Tuesday morning. The company reported revenue and profits that topped Wall S...