Agent Irvin Ricano

Agent Irvin Ricano Real Estate Agent for Keller Williams Downtown
Real Estate Investor
Entrepreneur

The federal reserve has decided to start lowering interest rates and you may be wondering whether it is good idea to ref...
09/20/2024

The federal reserve has decided to start lowering interest rates and you may be wondering whether it is good idea to refinance your home. One thing that a lot of home owners don't know is that refinancing cost money. 2-6% of the loan. So, does refinancing make sense?

The first question you should ask is "does refinancing make a big impact to my mortgage payment?" If you are going from 6% to 5.5% that would be about $100-$150 monthly payment difference. To some it would be a lot but if your mortgage is $2800 a month it may not be so much. I would consider at least refinancing at a 1% difference from your current interest rate. The could equate to $300 a month saved.

This leads to my second question you should as yourself. "Is the cost of refinancing worth the lower payment?" Refinancing is 2%-6% of the loan. That could be thousands. Spending $5000 to save $150 a month would take 2.8 years to break even. You could have already moved by then. Saving $300 month would be more worth it because it would only take you 1.4 years to break even.

What type of refinancing are you doing? Are you doing a cash-out-refinance to improve the home? Any improvement that makes your home value go up is always worth it. But, if the interest rate is not desirable then a Home Equity Line of Credit may be a better option. It's like a credit card and your home is the collateral. We'll go more in depth on that type of loan in the future.

If you are refinancing to do a home improvement it may be worth it just to sell and transfer your equity to a home that has what you need. . Home renovation are very stressful and come with a lot of doubt. I'm the one to know I have done this a lot. Let me handle all of your stress by finding you the new scenery you are looking for.

Stay tuned for more real estate tips.

When you make the decision to improve your home it is good to know what to focus on. The question to ask is what will ma...
09/16/2024

When you make the decision to improve your home it is good to know what to focus on. The question to ask is what will make my home more comfortable and simple.

The best home improvement is to add more living space. Extra living space gives you just that more space to live.

Once you have that extra living space or already have had it, the second best improvement is to convert it into a bedroom or bathroom. Deciding which one should be simple. If you have 3 bedrooms and 1 bath it would not make sense to add another bedroom. Adding a bathroom would be appreciate by everyone in the home.

The the area that gets used the most in your home is the kitchen. The kitchen is where we eat, have some good laughs, and have important conversations. A good looking kitchen makes your neighbors jealous. And, it could mean the difference between someone making an offer on your home or your neighbors.

Stay tunned for more real estate advice!

This is an overview of how interest rates and down payments effect purchasing power. This example is for a $450k home. I...
09/05/2024

This is an overview of how interest rates and down payments effect purchasing power. This example is for a $450k home. If your interest rate goes down 1% you would need to make $105k instead of $115k. If you made a 20% down payment instead of a 5% down payment you would need to make $100k instead of $115k. Now if you can get 1% lower interest rate and put a 20% down payment you would need to make $92k a year. The mortgage system is complex but if you focus on getting a good credit score and saving as much as you can on the down payment you could make less per year and buy more. Again, I know a lot of us don't have a 90k down payment but like I have said before get into something that you can afford now and let Denver's strong housing market make you money. You can build a great credit score and its free so I would start building that up as soon as possible. Stay tuned for more tips and trick on how to get the home you want.

Pro tip: Two brains are better than one or in this situation two incomes are better than one. If you have a partner consider adding their income to qualify for more. Those of you that are on your own, qualifying with a friend is starting to become a common thing. Especially with increasing home prices. Just make sure you and your friend are okay living with each other.

Here is a snap shot of how much you need to make a year to afford a $450k home in Denver in our current situation. This ...
09/03/2024

Here is a snap shot of how much you need to make a year to afford a $450k home in Denver in our current situation. This is with 5% down and no credit card debt or financed debt. You can see how much you can afford by Googling "Mortgage Calculator" then clicking "Purchase Budget." Everyone's situation is different and I would speak to a lender for more accurate results. This is just to get an idea.

For the average American the numbers can be a little discouraging. But, with all goals in life it requires work. The best way to get your dream home in my opinion is to get into something now even if it is not your dream home. I started with a 1 bed 1 bath 600sqft tiny home. I let the market work for me and transferred all of my equity to the next bigger home. I am fortunate to be able to purchase my desire home now but it took a decade of letting my equity work for me. It can too for you. You just have to start now. I'll will be showing you how interest and debt impact your purchasing power in a future post so stay tuned.

There are many methods to build credit but this one will definitely help you keep good credit habits and stay out of deb...
08/29/2024

There are many methods to build credit but this one will definitely help you keep good credit habits and stay out of debt. Many think there is a secret formula to getting a good credit score (700-750). There isn’t. It just patience and consistency. The best method that I have seen is litterly by having one credit card, making one payment every month and having a zero balance at the end of the statement end date. That’s it. If you want to get closer to 800 that will take a bit more skill and time but let’s take one step at a time. I’ll be going over more credit building tips. Stay tuned.

Pro Tip: There is a method called Credit Card Churning. This is a methode that gets you paid while you build your credit. It is very difficult and takes a lot of skill. One bad step and you’re in debt. I only recommend it for the ones that are good with credit cards.

Saving for a down payment can be hard but with a little determination it can be done. This is the best way to save money...
08/22/2024

Saving for a down payment can be hard but with a little determination it can be done. This is the best way to save money. The most important thing is to break down your goal into small increments that are achievable. Once you know what those small increment are you need to stay consistent with it. That’s were technology comes in and sets your goal on auto pilot. Now that your are saving in the background all you have to do is wait. Soon enough you’ll be that much closer to your goal. Stay tuned for more money saving tips.

Pro tip: If you are still a few thousand dollars shy away from your goal you can opt in for down payment assistance programs like CHAFA. These programs let you borrow money with no interest and you only have to pay it back when you sell the home.

Here are some tips to help you improve your DTI so you can qualify for the home you want. Now, the goal is to get your d...
08/19/2024

Here are some tips to help you improve your DTI so you can qualify for the home you want. Now, the goal is to get your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio percentage as low as possible. As a summary, we need to stop taking unnecessary debt especially when we don't have the money for it. If we do incur debt we need to pay it off as soon as possible. Not only does holding debt cost you more because of interest but it lowers your credit score too. This makes it even harder to get the dream home you deserve. It's complex I know. I will be going deeper into DTI so you can become a pro. Stay tunned.

P.S. Remember to reach out if you have any question.

Pro Tip: It's important to remember when you pay off a loan (credit cards don't apply because they do not close after you pay them off) it will negatively effect your credit score because the account will close. When it comes to just loans, pay them off 6 months before you start your home search. This will let your credit score bounce back to get the best interest rates. If you absolutely need to buy a home and are about to pay a loan off ask the company of the loan if they could hold your last payment or close the account after you buy the home.

A down payment is an important part of the home buying process and is not to be skipped. It is important to know how muc...
08/13/2024

A down payment is an important part of the home buying process and is not to be skipped. It is important to know how much you will have to save to get in the price range of the home you are looking for. If you are trying to get into a 500k home at at 3% down payment you will need to have save at least 15k. Now just because you have 15k does not mean you automatically qualify for a 500k home. Your debt-to-ration and credit score will have a huge impact. Having a good down payment will get you a step ahead. I will show you multiple ways of saving for a down payment in future posts. Stay tunned.

There are many credit reports out there especially third party company's such as Credit Karma. The credit report you wan...
08/12/2024

There are many credit reports out there especially third party company's such as Credit Karma. The credit report you want to focus on is what's called a FICO score. 90% of lenders will use this score to qualify you for a loan. You can get a free copy of your score from Experian, TransUnion or Equifax. Below you will see most of the factors impacting your credit score by percentages. Scores range from 300-850. 850 being the best score. Most consumers are around 700-720. So, do not feel left behind if you are not at 850. I will be posting tips on how to build a good credit score. Stay tuned.

I’m sure most of you have heard of a credit score but for those that have not it basically is a score that tells you how...
08/08/2024

I’m sure most of you have heard of a credit score but for those that have not it basically is a score that tells you how good you are a managing and paying debt off. This is really important because it will determine how much your monthly payment will be and even how big of a loan you can qualify for. In short, the higher your credit score the lower you interest rate will be and the lower your credit score the more you will pay on interest. At the moment, rates are around 6.5% and just lowering it by 1% could save you about $200 a month on your mortgage. There are a lot of factors that can impact your score which are listed below. We will go over these in another post. So, stay tuned.

What is a debt-to-income ratio (DTI) and why does it matter? This ratio can be complicated but here is the simplest way ...
08/07/2024

What is a debt-to-income ratio (DTI) and why does it matter? This ratio can be complicated but here is the simplest way to see it. You take your monthly debt and divide it by your monthly income. An example is, your monthly debt is $1650 divided by your monthly income of $5000. Your debt to income ration is 0.33 or 33%. Why does this matter? Well, lenders use DTI to see how much of a loan you can qualify for. From here it can get more complicate and harder to understand but the only thing you should be worried about is keeping your DTI as low as you possibly can by not taking any new debt or by paying it down. This will help you qualify for a bigger loan.

I know its complicated but I am here to answer all of your questions.

This is one of the most frequently asked question that I receive. Now, this question is more complicate to answer becaus...
08/06/2024

This is one of the most frequently asked question that I receive. Now, this question is more complicate to answer because everyone's situation is different. But, these are the basics. Each one will affect how much you qualify for so it is best to improve all of them. I know some of these are unfamiliar so I will go over each one in future posts. Stay tuned.

1. Your debt-to-income ratio.
2. A down payment.
3. A good credit score.

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917 Auraria Pkwy
Denver, CO
80204

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