Cranbury Real Estate

From Tim McLaughlin, Senior vice President  Weichert Financial Services:

  According to the results of Fannie Mae’s April 2012 National Housing Survey, Americans’ attitudes about homeownership, the economy and personal finances “continue to move incrementally in a positive direction.” “This month’s survey shows a continued gradual improvement in consumer sentiment and outlook for home prices,” says Doug Duncan, vice president and chief economist of Fannie Mae. “After flat-lining at depressed levels for over a year, a growing share of consumers indicate that it is a good time to sell, suggesting rising optimism for the housing market and for prospective purchasers.” On average, Americans expect home prices to increase 1.3% over the next year, and the percentage of Americans who say it is a good time to sell their home continued to rise to 15% in April (up from low, flat levels during 2011). In turn, confidence in the economy’s direction rose to a survey all-time high in April, hitting 37%. Another positive trend, according to Fannie Mae, is the increased share of those who reported their income as “significantly higher” from 12 months ago, which is now at the highest level recorded over the past year and seven percentage points higher than those who reported income as “significantly lower.” ========================
WFIF Economic team suggest that early reports show that the critical spring home buying season has gotten off to its best start in five years. “Sales of new single-family homes totaled 83,000 units during the first quarter, up 16 percent from a year ago, while sales of existing single-family homes rose 7.2 percent, marking the best combined pace for first quarter home sales since 2007. The rise in existing home sales has generated a little excitement, as news is spreading that homes sold outside the foreclosure process are often receiving multiple bids and selling above the asking price.”
“The first quarter is typically the slowest quarter of the year, with March being the only busy month. Inventories of existing homes have fallen to just a 6.3-months’ supply, and the inventory of unsold vacant homes has fallen by 353,000 units over the past year. Inventories of new homes continue to decline and are now at a paltry 144,000 units nationwide. Only about one-third of those homes are actually completed. With inventories dwindling, home prices have improved a bit.”

As I walk through this lovely town of Cranbury, I notice that landscaping really does make a difference …

both positively and negatively. Not only does a well-landscaped home have a higher perceived value than one with a plain lawn, but one with a minimal landscaping effort actually can detract from a home’s value.

Luckily, landscaping projects don’t have to cost a lot and should be seriously considered by any homeowners planning to put their home on the market.

Here are a few tips to get you started on developing a landscaping plan:

-Start by measuring your property and then sketching out a basic layout, including all of the areas where you would like to add landscaping and make improvements. Once that is done, you can add costs to each and see how much can reasonably be accomplished given your budget.

-Be practical when deciding on your plan. While they might not sound glamorous, sensible improvements such as irrigation, fencing, lighting,equipment storage, privacy, and security can protect your property value far more than a formal garden with walls and water features.

-Consider enlisting the help of a professional who can help you best allocate your landscaping dollars. I have several landscape designers that I can recommend to you that can advise you on “sprucing up” your Cranbury property.  Ask your friends and neighbors for recommendations, especially those whose yards you admire.

CNN: Save $50,000 in 9 years  

Tim McLaughlin

Last Friday, CNN ran a special documenting the top 10 substantial money saving tips for consumers today. The number one tip: refinance your mortgage. Their headline was “Save $50K in 9 years” and they went into great detail to lay out how this could easily be accomplished assuming one qualifies. Being in the business, maybe we are too close to it to see the value at times, but here it is spelled out in detail:

The way to do it is to refinance into a lower rate while simultaneously reducing the payment terms. In this example, you will save 60% more in interest by refinancing into a 15 year mortgage rather than a 30 year term at recent rates (say 4.375% for a 15 year vs. 5.125% for a 30 year loan). Note your monthly payments will also rise, but you will pay back more of the principal over a shorter term, thus capitalizing on a lower rate and reducing your principal balance in a much shorter timeline. In this example, on a $280,000 refinance of a 30 year loan with 25 years left on it, your payments would rise $260 a month but you would save nearly $175,000 in interest and pay off your mortgage a decade sooner.

This strategy is very effective “if your current rate is above 5% and you don’t expect to move for at least three years…it pays to make an inquiry with your lender,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac.

Albeit, there are some questions related to this. One, can you qualify, and do you have enough equity? Many times borrowers will not pursue this strategy because they are not sure, or because it just doesn’t make sense to investigate. This is a very simple process, and your Weichert Financial Gold Services Manager can help you analyze this. Second, not sure if you can swing the higher payment? There are other alternatives; for instance, look instead at a 20 year loan, which will get you close to the goal. At recent rates around 4.875%, you’ll save $44,000 over 10 years on that $280,000 refi and $115,000 over the life of the loan, while cutting your monthly payments by $18, in the scenario detailed above.

The second step is making the decision that you can “invest” an additional $200 to $300 a month in a 15 year or 20 year mortgage to reduce the term of your loan and to deeply reduce your interest payment life of loan. But the first step, again, is to talk to your Weichert Gold Services Manager to understand the refinance trade option and get all the details.