Patti Clarke - Realtor - Keller Williams Metro

10/23/2023

If you get a friend request from me, do not accept. I’ve been hacked. Sorry

10/02/2023

10/02/2023

Laughing my ass off
This is so frickin funny

12/09/2019

So excited...I pick up my puppy, pudge face, this Saturday! Maybe she will be Keller Williams mascot. Until then, I am losing sleep from excitement, saving newspapers, and getting ready for my world to change. More to come about my new family member

12/05/2019

So excited...getting a puppy a week from Saturday
Pictures and names to follow

04/05/2019

The True Definition of a First Time Buyer

First time home buyers are so critical for the housing industry. So much so that various financial incentives and loan programs are developed just to change a renter into an owner. These programs can be national ones such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac first time home buyer programs, to local and county governments, which can provide grants and forgivable loans to help first time buyers take the leap.

The biggest obstacle first time home buyers face is coming up with the necessary cash for a down payment, closing costs and cash reserves. Even the FHA program, favored by first time buyers, which has a minimum down payment of just 3.5% of the sales price can still keep future homeowners on the sidelines.

With a $200,000 home the minimum down payment amount is $7,000. There are also closing costs that have to be considered plus funds for an insurance policy, property taxes and impound accounts. When everything is all said and done the minimum cash to close could exceed $10,000 or more. That’s a number that first time buyers look at and it can seem a bit formidable for many.

For those who buy their second or third home the down payment and closing costs are typically paid for with proceeds from the sale of the previous property. Once someone gets in a first home, the real estate wheels begin to turn.

First time home buyer grants are free money. A grant can be used to cover the down payment and contribute toward closing costs. Typically, the grant does not have to be paid back as long as the buyers own the home for at least three years. Second liens are also available to help out with a down payment. These funds are in the form of a loan and not a grant. Again, if the owners keep the home for at least three years, the loan is forgiven.

But for those who have owned a home before and are looking at buying another but are looking for the type of loan available for first time buyers, there is an opportunity to qualify for a first time buyer grant or loan, even if they’ve owned before. How?

For most of these programs the standard definition of a first time home buyer applies. To qualify as a first time buyer, the borrowers must not have owned a home within the past three years. This means someone who owned a home four or five years ago may still be eligible for down payment assistance reserved for first timers. How does a lender know if someone qualifies as a first time buyer? Unless someone paid all cash for a previous home, there will be a mortgage listed on a credit report. The report will show when the mortgage was opened and when it was paid off. If three years have passed since the previous mortgage was retired, the buyers qualify for a first time home buyer loan.

Of course, just because someone qualifies as a first time home buyer it may not always the best choice. That’s a conversation that needs to be had between the buyers and their loan officer. But if someone is buying a first home and is wanting a little financial help with the necessary cash to close, first time buyer programs more than fill that need

04/03/2019

Detroit Tigers Opening Day April 4, 2019

04/01/2019

04/01/2019

Is Home ownership the Greatest Way to Secure Your Financial Future?

First-time home buyers tend to focus on two things: The price of the home they’re buying and the monthly payment. And it’s entirely understandable. Affordability is key when you’re buying your first place—or any place, for that matter. And it’s especially relevant considering rising home prices across the country.

But there’s something else to consider: The future value of the home. Equity growth is likely something you’ve at least thought about if you’re in the market for a home. After all, the idea of paying someone else’s mortgage payment interminably instead of building equity in your own place has probably been driving you crazy. But let’s dive in a little further.

Appreciation in a nutshell
“Appreciation, or the rising of home prices over time, is how the majority of wealth is built in real estate,” said Forbes. “This is the ‘home run’ you hear of when people make a large windfall of money. While prices fluctuate, over the long run real estate values have always gone up, always, and there is no reason to think that is going to change.”

That makes real estate one of the more stable long-term investments. A paper from economists at University of California-Davis, University of Bonn, and the Deutsche Bundesbank (the central bank of Germany) culled together “the annual returns of treasury bills, treasury bonds, equities, and residential housing from 1870 to 2015 for 16 now-rich countries such as the US, Germany, and Japan” to study the effects of different forms of investments. They found that, “in the average wealthy country, the annual return on housing during that period was just over 7% when adjusted for inflation, while the return on equities was just under 7%,” said Quartz. “At the same time, the risk associated with housing was far lower. By standard measures of uncertainty, housing was about half as risky as equities, and slightly less risky than bonds.”

This is, obviously, important to those who are purchasing real estate for strictly investment purposes. But it’s also something to keep in mind when buying real estate for personal use.