Today’s adventure included a 450 year old oak tree. I was showing a house in Granby CT and on my way there I drove by this amazing tree. After the showing I made sure to drive home the same way to be able to stop and admire this wonder. My pictures don’t do it justice, but you can listen to my thoughts as I drove away.
The better part of today was real estate time spent showing houses to a buyer client of mine. We started late this morning in the Leeds section of Northampton, Massachusetts next to the Mill River. I got there early and took a quick walk up the street to see the river. It had just snowed last night a few inches of beautiful fluffy clean white snow and the river was babbling up against the white fresh white blanket of snow. It was simply lovely.
After showing houses in Northampton, we took the back roads to Chester, Massachusetts. The drive from Northampton through Westhampton and into Huntington was simply breathtaking. The fresh snow was highlighting and outlining the beautiful vistas along these country roads. At one point we turned a corner and on my left was a grove of apple trees covered in snow; their twisted old branches were made more graceful with the blanket of snow and beyond the apple orchards was the valley opening up below.
Mortgage rates are on the rise and home buyers and home sellers in Western Massachusetts need to know what the changing rates mean to their buying and selling power.
Let’s take a look at a specific example in a post that I wrote for Masslive.com:
Susie Buyer wants to purchase a $200,000 house. Her current loan is set at 5% with $10,000 down over 30 years. Her monthly payment is approximately $1,230.
She waits on making her purchase and interest rates rise to 6% changing her monthly payment to $1,350.
Now, you may say to yourself, “well, that is only $120 a month, not a big deal”. However…this change will affect her debt to income ratios and in many cases will reduce her buying power. It is very possible that Susie will now have to reduce her purchase level to $184,000 or lower to meet her guidelines and keep the monthly payment at about $1,230. Now I think we can all agree that $16,000 or more is pretty significant.
Susie qualifies for less home, which will surely be disappointing to her when she starts to comparison shop, but is also significant for home sellers.
When rates go up the pool of buyers who qualify to purchase your home goes down.
What can you do about it?
Buyers can get qualified now and lock in their rate for as long as possible.
Sellers can make sure that their home is priced competitively to attract as many qualified buyers as possible.
The important thing is to understand that 1% is more than you think.
If you are searching for a home and are interested in exploring the option of a short sale home for sale or foreclosure home, I can help.
It isn’t always easy to find properties that are actually available via the internet. I can locate properties that are actually available to purchase and do the legwork for you!
Welcome to Map Mondays! Each week I will create and highlight a Google map featuring homes for sale from different towns or in different niches. Today’s map is First Time Home Buyer in Chicopee, MA 01013.
Are you a home buyer looking for your first home in Chicopee, MA? This map shows homes for sale in Chicopee, MA priced $0 – $250,000.
Finding the right home is an important process and I love to help. I host a series of videos on real estate. To see the videos visit my YouTube Channel.
If the search shown above doesn’t fit your needs, I can help you to get the information you need. Please don’t hesitate to ask, I am here to help! You can call me at 413-575-3611 or email me at lesleylambert@parksquarerealty.com.
