Tag: homeowner

You Can Still Find Your Dream Home During The COVID-19 Pandemic

    In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, social distancing is our new normal—and could continue to be the norm for the foreseeable future. But staying at home and keeping a safe distance from others isn’t preventing real estate agents from helping their clients or potential buyers from exploring and finding their dream homes—they’re just having to get creative.

    Thanks to video conferencing tools like Zoom, Skype, and FaceTime, virtual tours are becoming the go-to method for real estate agents to show their properties—and for would-be buyers to continue to explore homes while they’re social distancing at home. Just how popular are these video walkthroughs? According to recent data from Redfinbb, requests for agent-led video home tours increased a whopping 500 percent last week.

    The Takeaway:

    What does this mean for you? The coronavirus pandemic doesn’t have to put your home search on hold. Thanks to technology, you can continue to tour properties and find the right home for you and your family—all from a safe distance.

    by megpachas

    Are Mortgage Myths Holding You Back From Buying A Home?

    According to a recent survey from Fannie Mae, a huge percentage of Americans are overestimating what it takes to secure a mortgage—and those misconceptions about mortgage qualifications could be holding people back from purchasing their dream home.

    Fannie Mae’s survey aimed at exploring how well consumers understand the basic requirements for obtaining a mortgage. And what they found were a lot of misconceptions. For example, the average consumer believes you need a 10% down payment and a credit score of 650 to secure a mortgage—when, in reality, you only need a down payment of 3% and a credit score of 580 to qualify. Most consumers (a whopping 77%) aren’t even aware that low down payment mortgage programs exist.

    The Takeaway:

    Don’t let your misconceptions about mortgages hold you back from buying your dream home. Getting a mortgage might be more attainable than you originally believed—even if you have a less-than-perfect credit score or a smaller down payment.

    by megpachas