Why Buying A Home With A VA Loan Is A Good Idea?

Even though Charlotte, NC. is not located near a military base; we are home to a wide array of military veterans who have proudly served our country. Being a retired service member I believe we are entitled to the benefits and help fellow veterans achieve the goal of home ownership through the VA loan. But I have a lot of people who ask me is it a good way to go? There are many benefits to utilizing the VA home loan program. They are no harder to qualify for than a regular FHA or conventional loan would be....Here is a list of the benefits i see with using a VA loan. First, no money down. Yes you read that correctly. When you purchase a home through the VA you are not required to put any money down for down payment. So, right off the top you have saved at least 3.5% of the sale price (which would be the lowest amount you would have to put down) on a FHA loan. You can use some of that savings to help defray closing costs you cannot get the seller to pay. Or as I have had some veterans do; asked for less in closing costs to get a reduced price and used the money they saved to pay the closing costs. Second, you do not have to pay any mortgage insurance. On any loan that has less than 20% down you are required to pay mortgage insurance premium on them. On a VA loan there is no insurance premium. It can and does make a significant difference in your monthly payments. Third, the interest rate is comparable to the FHA interest rates right now. A lot of people are under the impression because it is a VA that the interest rates are going to be higher to cover the fact that you did not have to put any money down on the house.... In fact that is wrong and the interest rates are very close to one another. These for me are three main reasons the VA loan program works and all veterans entitled should take advantage of it as I did. But, what prompted me to write this is a situation I am working on right now. I have a client that is buying a home through a VA loan. The VA is asking for additional information from her that most likely she would not have had to provide if she were going FHA. She is getting frustrated with the VA and is contemplating switching to a FHA loan. The price point on the house is $125,000. The interest rates for the FHA loan and the VA loan are identical in this scenario because of her lock in dates. The payment difference is $104.00 a month more for the FHA with 3.5% down and mortgage insurance added in. Now the mortgage insurance is for only 5 years. But after those five years the payment will only be less than the VA by $6.00 a month. Factor in how much more she paid out over five years ($6840.00 plus the 3.5% down payment of $4375.00) and you are not recouping all that money back before the mortgage is paid off...This is a perfect scenario as to why the VA is a better program for you if you qualify. Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker Coldwell Banker United www.davedicecco.com

Closed Home Sales Prices In Charlotte, NC. Increasing as Inventory Decreases

As people ask me how the housing market is in Charlotte, NC. I cannot help but be ecstatic about the housing market. Prices are increasing and buyers are getting interest rates at the lowest levels ever seen. A factor that helps sellers decide if the it is the right time to put their homes back on the market is the average sale price of homes that sold. There are many pricing matrix's Realtors use. Some prefer the median price of homes; others the average overall price. For me, I believe the average sold price is the best indicator. This is tell you numbers based on what people paid for a house actually. Now, in Charlotte, NC. you may want to have the numbers broken down even more precise by your neighborhood or area. However; this is an indication of where the market is headed. Three years ago in Charlotte, NC. when we thought the housing market was beginning its recovery from the fallout the average sale price of a home that sold was $208,521.00. during that time period we had in the Charlotte, NC. market we had 9,208 available homes on the market. Two years ago in Charlotte, NC. the average sale price of homes that sold was $199,129.00. That actual saw a drop of 4.5% from the previous year and had people wondering if the prices had bottomed out or not. But a factor they did not realize was inventory levels also dropped substantially in that year to 7,297 available homes for sale. that was a 20.7% decrease in inventory. Coupling that with prices going down and people were waiting. Last year in Charlotte, NC. the average sale price of homes that sold was $212,097.00. That was a 6.5% increase over the previous year and a little over 25 form 2010. The trend for just about each and every month in Charlotte NC. last year was an increase in prices. That coupled with low interest rates helped spur the housing market. To the point that inventory levels last year were down to 4,999. That was a 31.5% decrease in available inventory of homes..... because of the low inventory it spurred a lot of buyers to get into bidding wars on homes and forced prices up. As we enter into 2013 it looks like the trend is going to stay that way.....It seems that interest rates are low and are going to maintain a low level right now. That with consumer confidence on the rise; has more buyers are out looking and buying homes. That has caused an economics class scenario of supply and demand.... Looking to sell your house this year; now may be a great time to be on the market. housing prices are increasing, inventory levels are low and days on the market are balanced. Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker Coldwell Banker United www.davedicecco.com

Housing Inventory In Charlotte, NC. Down To Balanced Market Levels

Every day I get asked how is the housing market in Charlotte, NC. My standard answer is it is great. Because whether you are a buyer or a seller the market is doing extremely well right now. For sellers, one factor that the market is improving is the overall days on the market it takes for a house to sell. Most economists and experts agree a balanced market (one that does not favor either the seller or the buyer) is one where the inventory levels are at a 6 month supply. So, how is the market in Charlotte, NC. Inventory levels doing right now? Well the trend is heading back toward a balanced market like we had in 2007. In 2010 we had an average of 12.5 months’ worth of inventory on the market. This means that based on the amount of homes that sold there was enough homes out there to supply every buyer in Charlotte for a little over a year. In 2011 we saw that number drop slightly to 10.6 months’ worth of inventory. It was not great but a step in the right direction. That decrease was a decrease of 14.7%. It may not seem like a lot but it was significant in leading us toward the housing recovery we are going into right now. In 2012 we saw the largest drop in available inventory in many years down to 6.1 months’ worth of inventory. That was a substantial drop in available housing of 42.5%. It has left us at a balanced market right now. It has also led to many multiple offers on homes and buyers being not able to negotiate as well as they had in the past. This bodes well for sellers looking to sell their homes since the average to sell their home has been cut in half from 2 years ago. It is almost down to the levels of the pre housing crash... Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker Coldwell Banker United www.davedicecco.com