April 24th, 2025 10:39 PM by Linda Holley
Are you interested in buying a home? It's time to buy because home prices are falling. Don't wait - that home you love will be gone. Here's more tips and information that I hope you will find helpful as you consider the essentials: interest rates, mortgage, and insurance.
1. Loan Prequalification: Always get another mortgage lender to take a second look, even if you have been preapproved. Call me and I'll refer you to Melissa Cohn, William Raveis Mortgage, who can generally get most buyers approved.
2. The Underwriter Approved Loan saves time...just add a contract, and it's ready to go.
3. Use a lender who checks credit without "hard pulls" on buyer's credit; otherwise, the buyer is bombarded with calls and letters from other lenders.
4. Homebuying costs include closing costs; title cost, pre-pays (insurance, association dues, taxes), recording fees, document stamps on deed. Insurance is prepaid for the first year. Taxes are
5. Buyer's brokerage commission cannot be financed.
6. William Raveis Insurance handles homeowners' property insurance, condominium, automobile, and umbrella. Call me and I'll connect you with Pedro Delgadillo, our Florida expert.
7. First-Time Homeowners Loan. For those who have not owned a home in the past three years.
8. Hometown Heroes Program: the best time to apply for this grant is June - August so the funds can be reserved. Grants can be up to $30,000, which is repaid when property is sold. Do not have to be a first-time homebuyer. There are restrictions on who you must work for (Florida employer) but no restrictions on the type of job, and there are limits on income. Must have a home under contract to apply. Contact the Florida Housing Authority for approval.
9. Interest-only loans will keep the payment down. An option for higher interest rates but plan for a loan modification later.
10. For rehab loans, the lender looks at completed value; must be owner-occupied; the mortgage payment is deferred during the rehab process, but the deferred payments are added to the mortgage balance at the end.
11. Bridge Loans - buyers locate the new property, but no mortgage payments until their current home sells.
12. Cross-collateral loans on both new and current home. 100% financing available.
13. Bond Yields. Mortgage rates are tied to the 10-year bond yields. When President Trump threatened to fire Jerome Powell, the bond yields dropped.
14. The Federal Reserve is an independent agency located in Washington, DC. There are 12 federal banks across the US. Florida is under the Atlanta Federal Bank. They are not funded by Congress - their money is generated from their operations. Jerome Powell can be fired for fraud only, and President Trump can't do that. The Fed Reserve's goal is to maximize employment, stabilize prices, and moderate long-term interest rates in the US.
15. Tariffs and Mortgage Rates. Inflation weakens the economy. Today we have stagnant inflation, which is hard to dig out of. The "Fed" deals with the rate of inflation before it deals with the economy. At the end of last year, the Feds started cutting rates, but tariffs are affecting mortgage rates today.
16. Rate lock. Do this at the time of preapproval and the rate can be floated down if interest rate goes down.
17. MORTGAGE RATES WILL COME DOWN - Buy your home now and modify the loan later; when the rates go down, home prices increase. So, buyers, now's the time...find your home and we can make it happen for you at William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage, and Insurance.
Call Linda Holley, Realtor, GRI, SRES, CIPS, William Raveis Real Estate, 941-914-4914 if you have questions about real estate. I can also refer you to excellent sources for mortgage and insurance and negotiate a great deal on your Florida home.
IT'S TIME TO BUY!
Do you have a question? We can help. Simply fill out the form below and we'll contact you with the answer, with no obligation to you. We guarantee your privacy.