Whitney Minnich Real Estate and Community Updates

Buyers Say Garages, Updated Kitchens Aren’t as Important as This July 25, 2018 The home’s garage, large backyard, and updated kitchen may not be as important to home shoppers as the school district, according to a new survey released by realtor.com® of more than 1,000 people who closed on a home in 2018. Seventy-eight percent of buyers surveyed say they’re willing to give up home features to get their school district of choice, and home shoppers are willing to give up their most desired home features to get that. “Most buyers understand that they may not be able to find a home that covers every single item on their wish list,” says Danielle Hale, chief economist for realtor.com®. “But our survey shows that school districts are an area where many buyers aren’t willing to compromise. For many buyers, ‘location, location, location,’ means ‘schools, schools, schools.’” The extent of compromises that buyers are willing to make to get their top-choice schools may be su

FHFA Ends Effort on Credit Scoring Overhaul July 25, 2018 The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced this week that it is suspending an initiative to update the credit score model used by government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That initiative would have potentially helped to provide millions of creditworthy Americans who have been unable to be scored with a credit score and a path toward homeownership. The FHFA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac have been evaluating the impact of a new credit score model on access to credit. However, the FHFA says that it needs to instead shift its focus to the implementation of Section 310 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act that was enacted in May. The act modifies many of the changes that were made by the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. It also contains a provision that requires the FHFA to use alternative credit score models. "After careful evaluation,

The Rise of the Accessory Dwelling Unit Where affordable housing is scarce, these secondary homes may be the answer. Here’s what you need to know about today’s version of the mother-in-law apartment. Share July - August   2018   by   Karen Springen When Jeni Nunn, an agent with Intero Real Estate in Santa Clara, Calif., and her husband bought their 1,270-square-foot house, they planned to use its deep backyard to build a pool or playground. But they switched course when Nunn’s dad and mom (diagnosed with Parkinson’s) couldn’t find an affordable condo nearby. Instead, four years ago, they built a 640-square-foot, wheelchair-accessible, one--bedroom house, with room for their baby grand piano, for $160,000—a bargain in the Bay Area. “For us, it’s the perfect scenario,” says Nunn, who is also a mother of four. “I can send my 3-year-old into the backyard. ‘Go to grandma’s house!’ ” Nunn’s own build-out put her at the leading edge of the movement to

Portland's hot housing market is cooling off By Elliot Njus | The Oregonian/OregonLive | Posted July 20, 2018 at 05:00 AM | Updated July 20, 2018 at 09:36 AM Doug Wicks put his Northeast Portland house on the market on Sunday and had a couple of offers by Tuesday.  There was no bidding war. No all-cash offers from developers. No plates of cookies, like a neighbor had received from a desperate buyer hoping to gain an edge.  A year ago, the same house probably would've attracted a pile of offers, most of them over asking price. But Wicks isn't sweating it.  "Two offers certainly meets my needs," said Wicks. "We're going to get asking price or better. We're thrilled. I don't need cookies."  Summer has brought a dramatic shift in the Portland-area housing market. Sales have slowed. The inventory of homes is growing. Prices continue to climb, but not nearly as fast as in recent years. Longtime real estate brokers and market-wa

'Brady Bunch' House Is Ready For A New Story July 19, 2018 5:21 PM ET CAMERON JENKINS The story continues for a house Americans used to visit every week.  The Brady Bunch  house is ready for a new family. The famous home featured in the beginning and ending credits of the 1970s sitcom  The Brady Bunch  is for sale, according to  a report by the Los Angeles Times . This is the first time that the home has been on the market in nearly 50 years. And it's going for a pretty hefty price — $1.85 million. This is a huge jump from what it sold for in 1973, at $61,000. Megafans may be disappointed to know that inside, the house looks very different from the sitcom set with its large open staircase. The show was filmed in a Los Angeles studio. The house's  Zillow listing  promotes it as a three-bedroom, three-bathroom family home with nearly 2,500 square feet of living space. Just as in the perfect fictional home created in the studio, the real hou

Many Owners Lack Sufficient Insurance to Cover Disasters July 20, 2018 Many homeowners have limits on their home insurance policies that are too low to cover the full cost of repairing or rebuilding in case of a natural disaster—and the problem is particularly alarming in areas at risk of hurricanes and flooding,  The Wall Street Journal  reports. Catastrophic damage left in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria last year revealed a widespread lack of full insurance coverage for many homeowners in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere, according to the  Journal . The problem is that while many homeowners may have home insurance, their policies are too low or they don’t have flood coverage, which generally must be purchased under a separate policy. “Many people thought that they had a fully insured home or fully insured business” before last year’s storms, says Iraelia Pernas, executive director of Acodese, an industry group for insurers in Puerto Rico

What Does a Successful Buyer Look Like? July 18, 2018 Sure, there are housing shortages and rising home prices and interest rates, but some consumers just aren't fazed. Thirty-four percent of home buyers told realtor.com® they weren't being stopped by price and rate hikes. According to the newly released survey The Home of Home Search, based on responses from more than 1,000 consumers who closed on a home purchase in 2018, 42 percent of respondents only had to make one or two offers in their home purchase process. Fifty-one percent of buyers said they didn’t pay above asking price, and 28 percent said they paid less than what was listed. Danielle Hale, realtor.com®’s chief economist, says part of the reason for the sunny outlook is that the buyers who make it to the closing table are ready to roll with this challenging market. “Successful home buyers in 2018 have been exceptionally well-qualified,” she says. “We are seeing the impact of the inventory crisis

The Ideal Age for First-Timers to Buy July 18, 2018 Apparently the magic number for first-time home buyers is 28. That’s the average age that most Americans think a person should be when they buy their own home, according to a new Bankrate.com report conducted  last month among a sample of 1,001 respondents. This may be a bit optimistic in practice, at least for buyers in today’s market. The National Association of REALTORS®’  2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers  found the median age of first-time buyers was 32 years old for the second year in a row. The Bankrate study did find some differences in opinion between genders and regions of the country. While a quarter of men think people should strive to buy their first home by age 25, just 12 percent of women say the same. Those who live in the Northeast appeared to have lower expectations for buying a first home than other survey participants. Nearly one in five living in this region responded that the right ag

Daily Mortgage Rate Update Rates for 7/18/2018 as of 8:00 AM. Rates are FLAT compared to 7/17 Market - 10 year treasury yield is UP today and at about 2.87%+ https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=US10Y 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 .

3 Bathroom Trends Homeowners Might Want to Avoid Share July 17, 2018 Bathroom makeovers can help enhance a property, but homeowners should be careful not to be too trendy or it may have the opposite effect. HouseLogic detailed several recent bathroom trends that homeowners might want to reconsider, including: Tiny tiles Mosaics of tiny colored tiles may be on-trend and offer a retro vibe to your bathroom, but they’ve also earned a reputation as being a pain to keep clean. Tiny tiles mean more grout to clean and maintain. Instead of doing a large space of tiny tiles, HouseLogic recommends using them as an accent, such as the wall surrounding your vanity. Choose a place where they won’t get wet on the floor, in the tub, or in the shower so that cleaning them is less of a chore. Hardwood floors The flooring may be a hot choice for the rest of your home, but they can be a pain in the bathroom. “It will warp next to a shower or tub if not dried after each us

Breaking Down Home Maintenance: The Costs, Timelines Share July 17, 2018 The cost to maintain a home is something financial experts recommend budgeting for early on, in preparation for choosing which house to buy. On average, homeowners spend 1 percent of their overall home cost in maintenance every year, according to a new study by Porch.com. The upkeep costs can vary based on style, age, type, and even location of the home. The average cost to maintaining a home each year is about $16,000, according to Porch.com’s analysis. Where does all that money go? A few chores that routinely pop up on a homeowner’s to-do list include pool keeping, lawn maintenance, and repairs and replacements of appliances. View the chart below from Porch.com to see the estimated frequency of maintaining certain aspects of the home, and the average costs. Read the full report here: https://porch.com/resource/cost-of-home-maintenance-in-america © Porch.com Sour

Daily Mortgage Rate Update Rates   for 7/17/2018 as of 8:00 AM.  Rates are   FLAT   compared to 7/16 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 7/16/2018 as of 8:00 AM. Rates are FLAT compared to 7/13 Market  - 10 year treasury yield is   FLAT   today and at about 2.85%+    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 .

10 Fastest Appreciating Housing Markets in the U.S. Residential home prices are set to appreciate at 4.4 percent nationally, over the next 12 months, according to  Veros Real Estate Solutions'  (Veros) VeroFORECAST that was released on Tuesday. However, housing markets out West are likely to see a much faster appreciation that the rest of the country, the forecast predicted. The latest quarterly forecast covers the 12 months from June 1, 2018, to June 1, 2019, and integrates data from 1,005 counties, 354 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), and 13,877 ZIP codes covering 82 percent of the U.S. population. The forecast for Q2 2018 projected that the 10 highest-appreciating markets were concentrated in five states in the West. The forecast also found ten markets that were projected to see a slight depreciation in home values over the next 12 months. All these markets were in the East and South, Veros said. “Washington State and Nevada occupy six of the ten highest-appreciati

Homeowners are sitting on a record amount of cash — and not tapping it Homeowners now have a collective $5.8 trillion in tappable equity, the highest volume ever recorded. The average homeowner with a mortgage gained $14,700 in tappable equity over the past year and has $113,900 available to draw. Consumer confidence in the housing market, which has been quite bullish, is actually dropping now. Diana Olick |  @DianaOlick Published 11:33 AM ET Mon, 9 July 2018   Updated 6:16 AM ET Tue, 10 July 2018 U.S. homeowners today are getting richer by the minute, but they are less likely to cash in on their newfound wealth than during previous housing booms. As home values rise, home equity lines of credit, often used to tap home equity, are flatlining, and the overall amount of money people are taking out of their homes is shrinking. The collective amount of so-called tappable equity, which is the appraised value of a home minus the 20 percent most lenders require borrowe