FRIDAY - life's a rollercoaster
- Five signs you're ready to buy your first home
- 10 priciest metros where buyers can score the most down payment help
- Immigrants are closing gap in homeownership
- A surprisingly high number of first-timers now buying homes
- California home sales register nominal annual increase in September
- 12 Sleek Designs for Contemporary Garden Gates
Enjoy!
Five signs you're ready to buy your first home - Purchasing a home, especially for a first-time buyer, can be extremely stressful. As the housing market improves, many people are thinking about becoming homeowners, but how do you know if you’re ready? If you have positive cash flow, saved enough for a down payment, job security, and you’re ready for a commitment and to put down roots, you may be ready to buy your first home.
10 priciest metros where buyers can score the most down payment help - Trying to buy a first home in some of the most expensive housing markets is difficult as you try to save enough money for a down payment. What many would-be home buyers don’t realize is there is a tremendous amount of financial help available for first-time buyers in many of America’s priciest markets. In some, a buyer can score as much as $100,000 in down payment assistance. This type of assistance comes in several forms: low-interest-rate loans, grants, tax credits, and other creative financing options that can have buyers moving into a home of their dreams. For instance, in Los Angeles, you can get a down payment assistance of an average of $40,600. In some metro areas, buyers can even get interest-free, deferred-payment loans that don’t need to be paid back if they stay in the home for a certain number of years.
Immigrants are closing gap in homeownership - Immigrants are gaining on U.S.-born residents in homeownership, a positive development that’s likely enhancing their contribution to the economy, a Trulia study shows. Half of immigrants in the country owned homes last year, compared with 66 percent of U.S.-born residents, the smallest gap between the two groups in the past two decades, according to the study. The disparity peaked in 2001, when 70.3 percent of American-born residents owned homes, compared with 49.6 percent of immigrants. The primary reason immigrants are catching up is that their average tenure in the U.S. has increased, giving them more time to build up a work history, improve their credit scores, and save for a down payment. In 2014, 75 percent of immigrants had lived in the U.S. at least 10 years, up from 65 percent in 2005, according to Census and Trulia data.
A surprisingly high number of first-timers now buying homes - First-time home buyers may be entering the market in greater numbers than industry watchers had assumed, according to a Zillow survey. Over the past year, nearly half of home sales have gone to first-timers. That's a much higher proportion than some other industry estimates had indicated. And it comes as a surprise in part because ownership rates for adults under 34 are at their lowest levels since the government began tracking the figure in 1994. Zillow's survey results suggest that the trend is shifting, and that some of this year's growth in home sales has come from a wave of college-educated couples in their 30s, who are the most common first-time buyers. If the pattern in Zillow's survey holds, it could raise hopes that today's vast generation of 18-to-34-year-old millennials will help support the housing market as more of them move into their 30s.
California home sales register nominal annual increase in September - California existing home sales ticked up in September on a year-over-year basis for the first time in seven months as a shortage of homes available for sale continues to hold back the market, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said today. “While higher sales both on a monthly and an annual basis is a glimmer of good news, with most of the home-buying season behind us for 2016, it’s not enough to tip the scales for an increase above 2015’s sales pace,” said C.A.R. President Pat “Ziggy” Zicarelli. “With listings continuing to decline and demand still strong, especially at the lower end of the market, affordability will remain a challenge for would-be buyers.”
12 Sleek Designs for Contemporary Garden Gates - Set the tone for your garden with a sophisticated entrance of wood, glass or metal. Some of my favorites:
