1963 Mortgage Interest Rates
You've probably heard it countless times in the last year or so: "Mortgage Interest Rates at Historic Lows!"
What does that even mean?
How about this perspective instead: "Buy a home with 1963 mortgage interest rates."
If you weren't around in 1963, or just don't remember it, well, we certainly know an awful lot of things were far cheaper back then, and mortgage interest rates were, too.
How about a 1963 Chevy Impala with a 327 V-8 engine and automatic transmission? Manufacturer's retail price new was $3,725.75.
Or two dozen oranges for just 89 cents? Gasoline for just over 25 cents per gallon? The price of real estate? The list goes on.
It's incredible to think that in 2010, mortgage interest rates are about what they were in 1963....the year President John F. Kennedy was in office and the year Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
In fact, at 4.42 percent, average, for a 30-year mortgage, as reported by Fannie Mae, rates are actually slightly below what they were in 1963. That's pretty amazing. There's not much available at the same rate as almost 40 years ago, but 1963 mortgage interest rates certainly apply.
Should you buy a condo or house and take advantage of what could be once-in-a-lifetime low rates? It warrants careful consideration. In fact, one of our fellow bloggers just explored the topic in his post entitled "Why Should I Buy Now?"
Personal circumstances vary, of course. Generally speaking, if you don't have a property to sell first, you're in an excellent position to purchase a house, townhome or condo in the current economy because many sellers have lowered prices and/or provided incentives.
If you have a property to sell first, however, it's important to price it correctly and realistically to reflect the current market. Our condo specialist Realtors can assist with this. Be sure the property is up to date, clean, well-staged and with great curb appeal. Real estate sales may be down in the current economy but there are still plenty of properties bought and sold every day. It takes careful strategy to get it done, with the help of one of our professionals.
And if you're wondering where to find these great mortgage rates, we're more than happy to suggest a great resource, Bank of America. Whether you are looking for condo financing or financing for a house, investment property or other real estate, the people we've worked with at Bank of America are ready to talk with you about your needs. Click the link in the previous sentence to get started.
As you shop for the best mortgage plan for your needs, please know that mortgage interest rates available through lenders fluctuate weekly, sometimes daily, but the overall trend for many months now has been for these rates to be historically low. Interested in a 1963 mortage interest rate? Here's your chance!
What to Expect from a Listing Presentation
If you are not familiar with Real Estate, then you may not understand what is involved in a listing presentation. Although listing presentations may vary by Realtor, there is a list of things that should be covered in the presentation. Some of these items include explaining how the agent will prepare the property in order to market it, going over what marketing strategies will be used to inform the general public that the property is listed, and going over the listing agreement and explaining what it means. It is also a good idea for the Realtor to explain what happens after the listing agreement is signed.
It is important for the Realtor to prepare the property in order to market it. During the listing presentation the Realtor should make sure that the home is clean and if repairs and/or improvements are needed, that they are taken care of. The Realtor may suggest trimming trees, adding some landscaping or painting some walls. The idea is to make the property as attractive as possible. Once the property is ready, then the Reator will want to come over and take pictures of the property. He/she will also want to take measurements of all the rooms and gather the information needed to list the property on the MLS. Once the necessary information is gathered, the Realtor will want do a competitive market analysis to see what would be the best price to market the property.
The Realtor will want to explain to the seller how he/she will be marketing the property. The agent will explain what websites, signs, open houses and/ or other forms of marketing that will be used. It is important for the seller to understand the efforts the Realtor will make in order to sell the property.
After the Realtor explains what mediums will be used to market the property he/she will want to sit down with the sellers/owners and go over the listing agreement. The Realtor will go over all the details of the agreement and have the sellers sign and initial where needed. This is also the time where the agent will guide the sellers as to what price would be the best to market the property. The agent will use his or her expertise and knowledge and the information from the competitive market analysis to suggest a listed price. Once the price is agreed upon and the listing agreement is signed, the agent will then send the listing agreement and disclosures to the broker. The process of what happens after the listing presentation should also be explained to the seller/owner.
For instance, once the broker receives the listing agreement, the broker/owner will review it and sign it. The broker is responsible for getting the listing agreement back to the Realtor as soon as possible, so that the agent can not only provide the seller with the contract but also list the property on the MLS. The property needs to be listed on the MLS within 5 days after the broker signs the agreement. This begins the marketing period for the listing of the property.
Condominium Insurance
When looking for condominium insurance there are crucial questions to ask to help guide you to the coverage you need. To state the obvious, a condominium is not the same thing as a house. Usually, there is no backyard or basement, and you don’t have to worry about cutting the grass or shoveling the front walk. Insurance is another area where homes and condos differ. Condo owners are typically responsible for insuring just a portion of their property on their own. However, rules differ from complex to complex, and it is important to ask the right questions to ensure you have proper insurance coverage.
What are your ownership and insurance responsibilities in the condo association’s Master Deed? In other words, what does the association expect from you regarding insurance requirements? Individual owners have a collective responsibility for insuring areas of the complex owned in common - building exteriors, hallways, pool area, etc. Individual unit owners typically are responsible for separately insuring everything within the four walls of their unit. The condo association’s master policy, as well as association rules, should spell out clearly which parts of the complex are insured through association dues and which parts are not.
How much is the association deductible? This is an area many condo owners don’t think about. Condominium insurance typically includes commercial insurance coverage for the commonly shared building and common areas which usually includes an association deductible. In the event of a natural disaster or hurricane or whatever and the condo association needs major work the association will tender the claim to their commercial insurer. But would be a deductible and that deductible would be assessed against all unit owners so if there were 10 unit owners, it would be divided 10 ways. You could really be hit with bill you weren’t expecting or did not know about if you didn’t do your homework.
It is also important to know how to lower you condominium insurance. Several questions need to be asked that can factor in to reducing your costs.
- Have your agent properly estimate the value of what is being insured by you for your condo.
- Apply modification credits. For condos that can mean sprinkler systems and central monitoring burglar and/or fire alarm.
- Shop around. It is often inconvenient and may require some effort but finding the right policy and coverage can save you money in the long run. Finally, keep in mind that there may be discounts. Many companies offer discounts such as non-smoker or retired.
Selling a Condo
If you're looking to sell a condo but do not know how to go about it, this article may be of interest to you. Selling a condo starts with choosing the real estate firm you would like to represent you. There are all types of real estate agencies out there today. National brands dominate, but there are also the mid-size local firms and the small mom and pop type shops as well. Where do you start, who do you choose?
My first suggestion is to start with finding a condo real estate brokerage first. There are all types of real estate firms, but if you're selling a condo, why not choose a real estate agency that specializes in selling condos. Think if you own a Cadillac and you'd like to have someone buy it off of you. Or better yet, let's say you want to buy a Cadillac. You wouldn't go to a Lexus dealership for a Cadillac. A buyer of a condo is going to end more often in front of a real estate agent that represents condominiums. By going to a real estate company that specializes in the sale of condominiums, you're more likely to have an agent that will have a database of buyers that can potentially buy your condo immediately saving you time and money.
Think of the common sense. All day long buyers are going to a "condo only" brand because they want to buy condominiums. They're not looking to buy vacant land. They have one purpose and that is to find the condo of their dreams. So to start off, find a real estate brokerage that specializes in the sale of condominiums. Once you've done this, you'll have to decide what real estate agent you'd like to represent you. There are dozens of Realtors that work in an office and all are different. You have to be very choosy on this. My best recommendation would be to ask the managing broker to have three different people in the firm for you to do a face to face or phone interview with. Remember, this will be a person that you'll be doing business with for possible the next six to twelve months. You're going to want to get to know this person and their assets.
This is your start. Selling a condo starts with the company and individual within the company that will handle your transaction. Choose them wisely.
Sell your condominium
When selling your condo, you will need to list your condo for sale with your real estate company. What should you expect? The moment of truth has come and you're prepared to choose a real estate company to represent your condominium in Chicago for sale. You've interviewed three agencies and after listening to their presentations you decide to pick the one you like best. Now what? What happens now that you've signed a listing agreement for six months?
When selling your condo, you really want to make sure that you participate in the process. Of course you can sit back and let the Realtor do their thing. That's what you're paying them for, right? Or you can really get involved to help the real estate company in every way possible.Â
To sell your condo quick, one of the most important aspects is pricing the condominium right. Your real estate agent should bring you statistics on four categories: active condos, condominiums that are under contract, condos that have sold in the area and condos that were listed for sale but never sold. These condominiums are called expired listings. From these four categories, you and your real estate agent should begin to start seeing a fair market price for your condominium. The key is to make sure that you're not above the competition. You're a consumer like anyone else. You're going to go after the best deal. The same adheres to the condominium buyer. He or she will be analyzing the exact same data as you. They're going to know what condos are for sale in the area and what one's closed for what price.
Setting the price is the most important part to selling your condominium. Not that is done. What's next? The real estate agent will come back to the real estate office and input your condo listing into the computer. So now your property will be viewed by all the real estate agents in the industry. There are tens of thousands of realtors with access to the Multiple Listing Service. When they are in front of a buyer and the requests information on a condo, they access all the listings available. When a buyer wants to see your condo through another real estate agent, that agent will get a hold of your agent to set the appointment. If that realtor sells your condo, the two companies will split the commission.
Condo Real Estate
Condo real estate can be one of the best buys right now. In today’s market condos can be purchased at levels under market value like I’ve never seen before. There are condos for sale, that when purchased, can easily be less than rent.Â
How can you own a condo when you do not have enough for the down payment? There are a several ways this can be done. Have you ever thought of partnering with a friend who has the money? There may be a friend that you’d like to live with that can come up with the down payment for the condominium and you can pay more of the monthly expenses. This would be mutually beneficial for both parties.
Condo real estate is a good investment right now. What if you were to go to someone that had money and suggest that you find a great deal, they put the down payment down and you will live in the condo and pay all the expenses. They get half ownership interest in the condo and you get half ownership in the condo as well.
Do you really want to own condo real estate? There really is nothing that’s stopping you other than you. There are a number of sellers that cannot sell their condominium right now because it’s a buyer’s market. You can propose buying with nothing down and buying it twenty four months from now. This is called a contract sale. The seller would have you in as someone paying on his condo so it’s not vacant and you’ll have twenty four months to come up with the down payment, more than enough time to save if you really want to own a condo.
So many people wonder how to own condo real estate, they just have to want it bad enough. Are you willing to do everything it takes to own real estate right now? If so you can own your own condominium, or condominiums. You can begin this process with an investor and start finding the deals for them. As you find and do all the management, they put up the cash. The split is fifty-fifty allowing you to begin the process of condo ownership and the investor reaps the rewards of you finding the deals. It’s a win-win for both parties.
Condo real estate can be purchased right now. If you want it bad enough, you can buy the condo you want today.
Condos
Condos are a niche in the real estate business and should be treated that way. So many real estate companies try to sell all kinds of product, but ultimately it hurts the consumers when the sales people are not well versed on condo law and the condo market.
Condos are different than homes in so many ways that the real estate agent needs to choose ultimately where they want to specialize in. Some agents make the mistake of trying to do both sides, but in the end, it really hurts the customer.Â
Condos are everywhere today. You see them predominantly in big cities. It makes all the sense in the world to put up condos where there is limited space to build on but the need for more housing. Downtown areas of cities are perfect for this. Instead of building a few residences on some prime downtown property, we’ve put up skyscraper condo towers that ultimately allow hundreds of people to live in this area instead on a few. Condo towers dominate many city skylines now. And then there are small cities. Even in small cities across America, condos are popular enough to be popping up. It’s a way of living now in America. There are many people that prefer condos over homes and we’re seeing that ins statistics as the condo closings to homes is slowing catching up.
There was a time that almost 100% of transactions were homes closings. Not today. There are cities like Miami and Chicago where more condos close in those cities than homes. Condos are beginning to dominate many urban areas around the country. And the cost for condos can be extremely affordable, buying condos in the range of less than $100,000, making it more affordable than renting an apartment. And then there are condos that run as high as forty million, penthouses that are constructed in these mammoth skyscrapers condo developments.
Whatever the style or priced condo that’s right for you, there is enough of variety. Condos are here to stay and the volume of existing condos is increasing year after year. There will come a time very soon in the near future that there will be more sales of condos than homes, guaranteed. If you’re a Realtor selling at a company that does not specialize, it might be in your best interest to start thing about specializing in the selling of one style of real estate so your customer benefits. Condos are very unique and take a special salesperson to handle all aspects of the transaction.
