This year, home values have continued rising. Between February and March alone, a home’s worth has increased by .63 percent, which is 3.3 percent higher than home values last year. For the fourth consecutive month, however, appraised home prices have come out 1.77 percent lower than homeowners expected. This has particularly become an issue for specific parts of the country. Let’s take a closer look. 

As a method of normalizing monetary policy, the Federal Reserve is planning a gradual liquidation of its massive portfolio of US Treasury and Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS). The rationale is that employment gains have been steady and averaging over 200,000 jobs per month. The core inflation rate (ex the volatile food and energy components) has also been hovering near 2%, which is the Fed’s inflation target. Putting more fixed income assets like Treasuries and MBS back into the market is one way of raising interest rates. If there is more supply on the market, all other things being equal, the price should go down. If the price of a fixed income asset goes down, the yield or rate goes up.

Throughout the past couple of years, real estate scams have steadily risen throughout the country. With such extensive practice targeting real estate professionals, cybercriminals have perfected their phishing strategies within the industry. Their tactics now range from successfully impersonating real estate agents and title companies to hacking consumer email accounts and inquiring about future real estate transactions.

For decades, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) have piloted the mortgage industry for the average homebuyer. Although the two government-sponsored organizations do not actually make the loans, they play a significant role in mortgage acquisition by purchasing the loans from private mortgage lenders.

Renovating a home can come with many homeowner benefits and opportunities. From complete design control to material discounts, the final product proves to be certainly worth the time and effort put into the planning and construction processes. Surprisingly, one of the most time consuming stages of the planning process may just be decoding the bewildering language in home blueprints. You see, blueprints and floor plans have their own sort of foreign language. Through various symbols, scribbles, and lines, architects lay out their vision for the home after renovations are complete—a vision that can sometimes get pretty confusing. But we’re here to teach you how to read any basic home blueprint or floor plan. 

For any first-time homebuyer, choosing between loan options may seem difficult. Whether it’s an FHA or conventional loan, there are many benefits for the borrower to consider. For young homebuyers with imperfect credit scores, however, a mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) may be a better fit. Let’s take a closer look at the advantages of choosing an FHA loan to see if it’s right for you. 

Fannie Mae Form 1003, also known as the Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA), is a loan application form used by lenders to acquire the details of a borrower’s financial and personal information. According to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, creators of Form 1003, the document is meant for borrowers seeking a loan for one to four units of residential real estate and should be submitted to the lender twice throughout the loan process.

According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), home builder confidence has climbed to a reading of 71—that’s the highest level of confidence in 12 years! Any reading above 50 is known as positive home builder sentiment, and with this month’s reading jumping 13 points since last March and six points since April, potential homebuyers can only hope the housing market will remain “good” throughout the upcoming months.

For the second time in two months, the Federal Reserve decided to raise the nation’s interest rates earlier this week. Although Wednesday’s rates only reflect an increase of a quarter of a percentage point, the surge represents one of only three rate hikes since the Great Recession—and with the government currently favoring two more increases this year, consumers are certain to feel the effects. Here’s how the latest interest rate hike could impact you.

With the busy spring home buying season quickly approaching, current homeowners throughout the country are preparing to sell, sell, sell. To lower the home’s time on the market and even increase chances of receiving an offer above asking price, many home sellers have considered various home renovations to make the house more appealing; however, gone are the days in which expensive kitchen and bathroom remodels provide the best return on investment. Instead, consider putting your resources towards one of the following: