I was on Zillow the other day looking at real estate when it occurred to me that I never really touched upon the so-called “Zestimates” offered up by the famous real estate portal.Most consumers have heard of the Zillow Zestimate, which made its debut back in 2006.But they’ve been largely written off by industry folk (real estate agents) as “unreliable” and various other expletives, assuming the value estimation is lower than it should be.First things first, Read More

If you’re thinking about buying a home, you’ve probably heard mortgage rates are rising and have wondered what that means for you. Since mortgage rates have increased over two percentage points this year, it’s natural to think about how this will impact your homeownership plans.Today, buyers are reacting in one of two ways: they’re either making the decision to buy now before rates climb higher or they’re waiting it out in hopes rates will fall. Let’s look at some context Read More

So, you’re thinking pretty hard about buying or selling a home in 2022 and want to know how the housing market will look. Well, housing market predictions are about as reliable as a weather forecast—no one can predict what’s going to happen with 100% accuracy. But we can check out what real estate experts are saying and make some guesses about the future from there.Remember, a housing market forecast can only give you an idea of what Read More

If you’re planning to buy a home, it’s critical to understand the relationship between mortgage rates and your purchasing power. Purchasing power is the amount of home you can afford to buy that’s within your financial reach. Mortgage rates directly impact the monthly payment you’ll have on the home you purchase. So, when rates rise, so does the monthly payment you’re able to lock in on your home loan. In a rising-rate environment like we’re in today, Read More

As you go through the process of buying a house, you’ll come to realize that there are a variety of different factors that make up a given home’s level of affordability; it’s not just asking price, but also interest rate, taxes, cost to maintain the home and any other expenses associated with purchasing and living in the house. While a home might be within your price range at first glance, these additional factors could actually push Read More