Buy! Don't Rent!

It's a great time to buy a house. Interest rates are still incredibly low and available homes are abundant. Personally, I can see the market is improving and business has really picked up. What great news!
A lender sent this article to me today and thought I'd share.



Homeownership Makes $ense


Bring on the buyers! At last, the housing market is beginning to make sense again. The ownership line is finally crossing over the rental line on the great Homeownership graph.

It is now more expensive to rent than to buy a home in 72% of major metropolitan areas across the US, according to the Trulia Rent vs. Buy Index released Monday.

This is due to rising demand for rentals and falling home prices combined with low interest rates.

Pete Flint, chief executive and co-founder of Trulia says: "Since the start of the Great Recession, many former homeowners have flooded the rental market… Following the principles of supply and demand, renting has become relatively more expensive than buying in most markets."

The index compared the median list price and rent paid for a two-bedroom home in 50 cities. It then assigned a price-to-rent ration to each city with 15 signifying a buyer's market and 21 or more signifying a renter's market. The space between the two numbers signifies a balanced market.

The cost to rent includes rent and insurance. The cost of ownership includes mortgage principal and interest, closing costs, property taxes, hazard insurance and any homeowner association dues.

Not surprising, the most affordable markets are Las Vegas and Miami where the price-to-rent ration is 6 and where the foreclosure rates have topped the charts. Las Vegas was atop the foreclosures list in Q3 with one in every 25 homes was in foreclosure.

The index reported that homeownership was cheaper in the metro areas of San Francisco, Seattle, New York and Kansas City, MO, all of whom had price-to-rent ratios over 21.

Other metros like Oakland, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Miami and Phoenix are experiencing elevated rates of unemployment or foreclosures and close economic centers with projected job growth are still more affordable to renters.

This is truly great news for the Housing Industry.

Don't be Scared to Buy a Home

Buying a Home Shouldn’t Be Scary






by Nancy Chandler Associates, REALTORS on Tuesday, October 12, 2010 at 3:47pm
As Halloween approaches, you might wonder if this is a good time to consider buying a home in Virginia Beach. Will you be spooked by housing costs and condo fees and real estate jargon that turns you white as a ghost because you don’t understand it. Trust us when we say that bidding on a home for sale needn’t be scary – with the right Realtor to show you all the best “haunts” suited to your family and lifestyle, you can still find a terrific deal for your needs and budget.
One plus to house hunting in October is this gorgeous Fall weather we’re currently enjoying. Here you’ll truly see neighborhoods at their most active. You’ll get a feel for various dynamics – kids at play, weekend warriors tackling their landscapes – and traffic low in the off-season. Especially if you have children, you’ll want to pay attention to school districts and opportunities for extracurricular fun, like proximity to the beach and aquarium and other favorite family spots. Some neighborhood associations may sponsor seasonal gatherings or block-wide yard sales as a sign of solid community. As real estate professionals who know the Norfolk/Virginia Beach areas, we are more than aptly qualified to match the community to your needs.
This year, as you prepare for Halloween and get your kids’ costumes ready, why not do some trick or treating of your own and check out our available listings for homes in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. What we have to offer will definitely keep you cozy through all the holidays.