Everything about living in Howard County

On April 9th, Over 40 exhibitors and educators alike will be on hand to pass along to your readers the “why” and “how” to live in Howard County. Real estate companies, mortgage brokers, housing specialists and county personnel will be in attendance. Everything from the mortgage process, to finding the right community, to the nuts and bolts of the home buying process will be covered.   Here is some more information on the fair:
- http://howardcountyhousing.com/housing-fair

The fair is also being held in conjunction with the quarterly Moderate Income Housing Unit (MIHU) Housing Lottery. This program is a Howard County Government program that provides houses (both for sale and rentals) at affordable costs for moderate income families.

More information on the Housing Lottery can be found at:
- http://howardcountyhousing.com/housing-lottery

Fair

Education Sessions

Don’t Miss the 2011 Come Home to Howard County Housing Fair!

Saturday April 9, 2011 from 10:00am – 2:00pm

Long Reach High School

6101 Old Dobbin Lane
Columbia, MD 21045

FREE EVENT!

Click here to register now!

ONLY event where you can learn everything about living in Howard County.

Here’s your chance to talk ONE-ON-ONE with more than 40 mortgage lenders, homebuilders & remodelers, housing specialists and real estate experts! At this annual FREE event you will:

• Meet real estate agents, mortgage lenders, housing specialists and county personnel.
• Learn about buying a home, mortgage programs, and more at our signature education sessions.
• Discover new communities and new homedevelopments on our narrated bus tour.
• Enjoy some family FUN with plenty of kids activities!

Go to my Maryland Real Estate Web Page

Bowie Crofton – Real Estate Blog Strategy Training for EXIT Mid-Atlantic

Wednesday August 4th
Blogging drives your story and your content on the internet – we live in a connected business world, and Facebook and Social Networking do not replace your Organic Visibility…

Special Ed Haraway in partnership with The EXIT Mid-Atlantic Broker Council ( including Washington DC, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia) are holding a focused blog training inviting their Real Estate Professionals to attend a fundamental training on Blogging for Marketing Strategy Wednesday August 4th; Going beyond understanding Websites and into an actual plan of action that drives Internet Results!!!

REGISTER

Baltimore Real Estate Internet Strategy Training for EXIT Mid-Atlantic

“If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us.” – Jim Rohn

Real estate is ending 2009 on a more positive note

Real estate is showing strong signs of recovery.  Last month, real estate sales were up over 7% for sales of existing homes.  The increase in real estate sales was seen in every region of the United States, due mainly to the first time home buyer tax credit, which was originally set to expire at the end of November, 2009.  Low mortgage rates and low home prices have also been catalysts.

Foreclosures will continue to rise with unemployment, keeping real estate prices from rising in harder hit areas, and home values as a whole are expected to remain flat for some time.

Interest rates are not expected to continue dropping and will most likely head in the opposite direction, expected to hold steady around 5.2%.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke himself recently locked in a refinance on his residence, a clear indication that rates just might be as good as they’re going to get.

For now, the data shows that real estate sales are on the rise and will continue to improve as long as the mortgage rates stay low and the tax credit remains in place.  What happens during the latter half of 2010 is up in the air, but for now the good news is far better than the news of a year ago.

This article was featured in Business Week. At first the headline seems very to be a very insulting statement! But the writer, Mark Roth, uses this dramatic title to get your attention to make excellent points for those who are on the fence. Namely those interest rates are at an all time low, in fact, the lowest in 40 years. He noted that in the late 70s, rates hit a high of 18%! Can you even imagine buying a house at 18%? I bought my second house with a 14% interest rate in 1985 and that was a “good” Rate. I have since refinanced that home a couple of times and now have a 5.5% rate. Generation X’ers probably would never dream of purchasing a home above 7% given all they have ever known are super low rates hovering between 5-6%. Mr. Roth points out the history of previous interest rates as well as the impact of rates on one’s purchasing power. I happen to agree with his prediction that as the economy becomes more stable; interest rates WILL rise to hedge inflation. My prediction has been that by this time next year, rates will have risen 1-2% at a minimum. With prices down and interest rates at historically lows, this may be the best time in our lifetime to buy a home.

If You Don’t Buy a House Now, You’re Stupid or Broke

Interest rates are at historic lows but cyclical trends suggest they will soon rise. Home buyers may never see such a chance again, writes Marc Roth

By Marc Roth

Well, you may not be stupid or broke. Maybe you already have a house and you don’t want to move. Or maybe you’re a Trappist monk and have forsworn all earthly possessions. Or whatever. But if you want to buy a house, now is the time, and if you don’t act soon, you will regret it. Here’s why: historically low interest rates.

As of today, the average 30-year fixed-rate loan with no points or fees is around 5%. That, as the graph above—which you can find on Mortgage-X.com —shows, is the lowest the rate has been in nearly 40 years.

In fact, rates are so well below historic averages that it should make all current and prospective homeowners take notice of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

And it is exactly that, based on what the graph shows us. Let’s look at the point on the far left.

In 1970 the rate was approximately 7.25%. After hovering there for a couple of years, it began a trend upward, landing near 10% in late 1973. It settled at 8.5% to 9% from 1974 to the end of 1976. After the rise to 10%, that probably seemed O.K. to most home buyers.

But they weren’t happy soon thereafter. From 1977 to 1981, a period of only 60 months, the 30-year fixed rate climbed to 18%. As I mentioned in one of my previous articles, my dad was one of those unluckily stuck needing a loan at that time.

Interest Rate Lessons

And when rates started to decline after that, they took a long time to recede to previous levels. They hit 9% for a brief time in 1986 and bounced around 10% to 11% until 1990. For the next 11 years through 2001, the rates slowly ebbed and flowed downward, ranging from 7% to 9%. We’ve since spent the last nine years, until very recently, at 6% to 7%. So you can see why 5% is so remarkable.

So, what can we learn from the historical trends and numbers?

First, rates have far further to move upward than downward; for more than 30 years, 7% was the low and 18% the high. The norm was 9% in the 1970s, 10% in the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, 7% to 8% for much of the 1990s, and 6% only over the last handful of years.

Second, the last time the long-term trends reversed from low to high, it took more than 20 years (1970 to 1992) for the rate to get back to where it was, and 30 years to actually start trending below the 1970 low.

Finally, the most important lesson is to understand the actual financial impact the rate has on the cost of purchasing and paying off a home.

Every quarter-point change in interest rates is equivalent to approximately $6,000 for every $100,000 borrowed over the course of a 30-year fixed. While different in each region, for the sake of simplicity, let’s assume that the average person is putting $40,000 down and borrowing $200,000 to pay the price of a typical home nationwide. Thus, over the course of the life of the loan, each quarter-point move up in interest rates will cost that buyer $12,000.
Loan Costs

Stay with me now. We are at 5%. As you can see by the graph above, as the economy stabilizes, it is reasonable for us to see 30-year fixed rates climb to 6% within the foreseeable future and probably to a range of 7% to 8% when the economy is humming again. If every quarter of a point is worth $12,000 per $200,000 borrowed, then each point is worth almost $50,000.

Let’s put that into perspective. You have a good stable job (yes, unemployment is at 10%, but another way of looking at that figure is that most of us have good stable jobs). You would like to own a $240,000 home. However, even though home prices have steadied, you may be thinking you can get another $5,000 or $10,000 discount if you wait (never mind the $8,500 or $6,500 tax credit due to run out next spring). Or you may be waiting for the news to tell you the economy is “more stable” and it’s safe to get back in the pool. In exchange for what you may think is prudence, you will risk paying $50,000 more per point in interest rate changes between now and the time you decide you are ready to buy. And you are ignoring the fact that according to the Case-Shiller index, home prices in most regions have been trending back up for the last several months.

If you are someone who is looking to buy or upgrade in the $350,000-to-$800,000 home price range, and many people out there are, then you’re borrowing $300,000 to $600,000. At 7%, the $300,000 loan will cost just under $150,000 more over the lifetime, and the $600,000 loan an additional $300,000, if rates move up just 2% before you pull the trigger.

What I’m trying to impress upon everyone is that if you are planning on being a homeowner now and/or in the foreseeable future, or if you are looking to move your family into a bigger home, then pay more attention to the interest rates than the price of the home. If you have a steady job, good credit, and the down payment, then you really are being offered the gift of a lifetime.

Marc Roth is the founder and president of Home Warranty of America, which touches just about every part of the real estate industry since it sells through builders, real estate agents, title companies, mortgage companies, and directly to consumers.