Beautiful Cambridge ranch plan by Celebrity Homes- ready in 45 days. 19879 K Street in Canterberry Crossing, Millard Schools, over 1600 sq ft, covered deck & underground sprinkler system, all appliances, blinds & gas fireplace. $269,900, 402-689-3315 Call Monica today to take a look! www.MonicaLang.com Home includes a 10 year structural warranty. www.2-10.com 12/29/2017

There’s More to a Bubble Than Rising Home Prices What truly causes a housing bubble and the inevitable crash? For the best explanation, let’s go to a person who correctly called the last housing bubble – a year before it happened. “A bubble requires both overvaluation based on fundamentals and speculation. It is natural to focus on an asset’s fundamental value, but the real key for detecting a bubble is speculation…Speculation tends to chase appreciating assets, and then speculation begets more speculation, until finally, for some reason that will become obvious to all in hindsight, the ‘bubble’ bursts. I have taken to calling the housing market a ‘bubble’.” – Bill McBride of Calculated Risk calling the bubble back in April 2005 Where do we stand today regarding speculation? There are t... 12/28/2017

Top 4 REAL Reasons We Buy a Home We often talk about the financial reasons why buying an Omaha home makes sense. But, more often than not, the emotional reasons are the more powerful or compelling reasons. No matter what shape or size your living space is, the concept and feeling of home can mean different things to different people. Whether it’s a certain scent or a favorite chair, the emotional reasons why we choose to buy our own homes are typically more important to us than the financial ones. 1. Owning your home offers stability to start and raise a family From the best neighborhoods to the best school districts, even those without children at the time of purchase may have this in the back of their minds as a major reason for choosing the location of the home that they purchase. 2.... 12/27/2017

Top 5 Benefits of Hiring a Real Estate Agent The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently released their 2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers in which they surveyed recent home buyers and sellers about their experiences. An entire section of the profile is dedicated to buyers’ experiences with their real estate agents. If you are looking to buy in 2018, here are the top 5 benefits of using an Omaha real estate agent when buying your dream home as cited by recent buyers: 1. Helped the buyer understand the process – 60% If you are new to the home buying process, an experienced real estate professional can explain exactly what to expect during the entire transaction so you aren’t caught off guard. 2. Pointed out unnoticed features/faults with the property – 56% Whether it’s point... 12/21/2017

Rents Are on the Rise: Don’t Get Caught in the Rental Trap! There are many benefits to homeownership. One of the top benefits is protecting yourself from rising rents, by locking in your housing cost for the life of your mortgage. Don’t Become Trapped  A recent article by Apartment List addressed rising rents by stating: “Rents are up 2.7% year-over-year at the national level. Year-over-year growth continues to fall between the 2.1% rate from this time last year and the 3.4% growth rate from October 2015.” The article continues explaining that: “Despite the seasonal slowdown, rents are still up year-over-year in 89 of the 100 Largest cities. Additionally, the Urban Institute revealed that, “Over a quarter of renters, or 11.1 million households, are severely cost burdened, spending at l... 12/19/2017

What is the Cost of Waiting Until Next Year to Buy? We recently shared that over the course of the last 12 months, home prices have appreciated by 7.0%. Over the same amount of time, interest rates have remained historically low which has allowed many buyers to enter the market. As a seller, you will likely be most concerned about ‘short-term price’ – where home values are headed over the next six months. As a buyer, however, you must not be concerned about price, but instead about the ‘long-term cost’ of the home. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae all project that mortgage interest rates will increase by this time next year. According to CoreLogic’s most recent Home Price Index Report, home prices will appreciate by 4.7% over the next 12 months. What ... 12/14/2017

Getting Pre-Approved Should Be Your First Step In many markets across the country, the number of buyers searching for their dream homes greatly outnumbers the number of homes for sale. This has led to a competitive marketplace where buyers often need to stand out. One way to show you are serious about buying your dream home is to get pre-qualified or pre-approved for a mortgage before starting your search. Even if you are in a market that is not as competitive, knowing your budget will give you the confidence of knowing if your dream home is within your reach. Freddie Mac lays out the advantages of pre-approval in the ‘My Home’ section of their website: “It’s highly recommended that you work with your lender to get pre-approved before you begin house hunting. Pre-approval will tell you ... 12/12/2017

The #1 Reason to List Your House Today! Many people believe that selling their house during “the spring buyers’ market” is the best thing to do. Their reasoning is that there will be more buyers than there are during the winter months and, therefore, their house will sell quicker and for a higher price. Historically, this made sense. However, today’s Omaha real estate market is not following the rules of the past. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) measures buyer “foot traffic” each month. It receives data on the number of properties shown to a prospective purchaser by a Realtor® (based on the number of lockboxes used). The data reveals the number of buyers out actively looking for a home, not just window shopping on the internet. NAR explains: “Foot traffic has a strong correla... 12/07/2017

5 Reasons to Sell This Winter! Here are five reasons listing your Omaha home for sale this winter makes sense. 1. Demand Is Strong The latest Buyer Traffic Report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows that buyer demand remains very strong throughout the vast majority of the country. These buyers are ready, willing and able to purchase… and are in the market right now! More often than not, multiple buyers are competing with each other to buy a home. Take advantage of the buyer activity currently in the market. 2. There Is Less Competition Now Housing inventory is still under the 6-month supply that is needed for a normal housing market. This means that, in the majority of the country, there are not enough homes for sale to satisfy the number of buyers in the market. This ... 12/05/2017

The Real Reason Home Prices are Increasing There are many unsubstantiated theories as to why home values are continuing to increase. From those who are worried that lending standards are again becoming too lenient (data shows this is untrue), to those who are concerned that prices are again approaching boom peaks because of “irrational exuberance” (this is also untrue as prices are not at peak levels when they are adjusted for inflation), there seems to be no shortage of opinion. However, the increase in prices is easily explained by the theory of supply & demand. Whenever there is a limited supply of an item that is in high demand, prices increase. It is that simple. In real estate, it takes a six-month supply of existing salable inventory to maintain pricing stability. In most housing... 11/30/2017

Low Interest Rates Have a High Impact on Your Purchasing Power According to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, interest rates for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage are currently at 3.92%, which is still near record lows in comparison to recent history! The interest rate you secure when buying a home not only greatly impacts your monthly housing costs, but also impacts your purchasing power. Purchasing power, simply put, is the amount of home you can afford to buy for the budget you have available to spend. As rates increase, the price of the house you can afford will decrease if you plan to stay within a certain monthly housing budget. The chart below shows what impact rising interest rates would have if you planned to purchase a home within the national median price range... 11/28/2017

Access is an Important Factor in Getting Your House SOLD! So, you’ve decided to sell your house. You’ve hired an Omaha real estate professional to help you with the entire process, and they have asked you what level of access you want to provide to potential buyers. There are four elements to a quality listing. At the top of the list is Access, followed by Condition, Financing, and Price. There are many levels of access that you can provide to your agent so that he or she can show your home. Here are five levels of access that you can give to buyers, along with a brief description: Lockbox on the Door – this allows buyers the ability to see the home as soon as they are aware of the listing, or at their convenience. Providing a Key to the Home – although the buyer’s agent may need to st... 11/21/2017

Your Friends Are Crazy Wrong If They're Telling You Not to Buy The current narrative is that home prices have risen so much so that it is no longer a smart idea to purchase a home. Your family and friends might suggest that buying a home right now (whether a first-time home or a move-up home) makes absolutely no sense from an affordability standpoint. They are wrong! Homes are more affordable right now than at almost any time in our country’s history except for the foreclosure years (2009-2015) when homes sold at major discounts. As an example, below is a graph from the latest Black Knight Mortgage Monitor showing the percentage of median income needed to buy a medium-priced home in the country today in comparison to prior to the housing bubble and bust. As we can see, the percentage ne... 11/16/2017

7 Reasons to List Your Home This Holiday Season Every year at this time, many homeowners decide to wait until after the holidays to put their homes on the market for the first time, while others who already have their homes on the market decide to take them off until after the holidays. Here are seven great reasons not to wait: Relocation buyers are out there. Many companies are still hiring throughout the holidays and need their employees in their new positions as soon as possible. Purchasers who are looking for homes during the holidays are serious buyers and are ready to buy now. You can restrict the showings on your home to the times you want it shown. You will remain in control. Homes show better when decorated for the holidays. There is less competition for you as a seller right n... 11/14/2017

5 Reasons Homeownership Makes ‘Cents’ The American Dream of homeownership is alive and well. Recent reports show that the US homeownership rate has rebounded from recent lows and is headed in the right direction. The personal reasons to own differ for each buyer, but there are many basic similarities. Today we want to talk about the top 5 financial reasons you should own your own home. Homeownership is a form of forced savings – Paying your mortgage each month allows you to build equity in your home that you can tap into later in life for renovations, to pay off high-interest credit card debt, or even send a child to college. As a renter, you guarantee that your landlord is the person with that equity. Homeownership provides tax savings – One way to save on taxes is to own your own hom... 11/09/2017

Low Inventory Causes Home Prices to Maintain Fast Growth The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their latest Quarterly Metro Home Price Report last week. The report revealed that severely lacking inventory across the country drained sales growth and kept home prices rising at a steady clip in nearly all metro areas. Home prices rose 5.3% over the last quarter across all metros. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at NAR, discussed the impact of low inventory on buyers in the report: “Unfortunately, the pace of new listings were unable to replace what was quickly sold. Home shoppers had little to choose from, and many had to outbid others in order to close on a home. The end result was a slowdown in sales from earlier in the year, steadfast price growth and weakening affordability... 11/07/2017

Thinking About Buying? Know Your Credit Score Knowing your credit score or getting a recent copy of your credit report is one of the first steps that you can take toward knowing how ready you are to start the home buying process. Make sure all the information listed on your report is accurate and work to correct any mistakes. The higher your credit score, the more likely you will be to receive a better interest rate for your mortgage, which will translate into more ‘home for your money.' Many potential buyers believe that they need a 750 FICO® Score or higher to be able to purchase a home. The truth is that according to Ellie Mae’s Origination Report, over 53% of loans were approved with a FICO® score under 750 last month! Here are some tips for improving your credit score: Make payment... 11/02/2017

Don't Let Fear Stop You from Applying for a Mortgage A considerable number of potential buyers shy away from jumping into the Omaha real estate market due to their uncertainty about the buying process. A specific cause for concern tends to be mortgage qualification. For many, the mortgage process can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be! In order to qualify in today’s market, you’ll need to have saved for a down payment (73% of all buyers made a down payment of less than 20%, with many buyers putting down 3% or less), a stable income and good credit history. Throughout the entire home buying process, you will interact with many different professionals, all of whom perform necessary roles. These professionals are also valuable resources for you. Once you’re ready to apply, here are 5 easy... 10/31/2017

Buying a Home Can Be Scary... Unless You Know the Facts Some Highlights: Many potential homebuyers believe that they need a 20% down payment and a 780 FICO® score to qualify to buy a home, which stops many of them from even trying! Here are some facts: 40% of millennials who purchased homes this year have put down less than 10%. 76.4% of loan applications were approved last month. The average credit score of approved loans was 724 in September.   10/27/2017

Millennials Flock Towards Low Down Payment Programs A report released by Down Payment Resource shows that 61% of first-time homebuyers purchased their homes with a down payment of 6% or less. The trend continued among all buyers with a mortgage, as 73% made a down payment of less than 20%. An article by Chase points to a new wave of millennial homebuyers: “We teamed up with Google to help us better understand what customers are searching for and how the home buying landscape is evolving. We found that millennials and first-time homebuyers are making a big splash in the market, and affordability remains top of mind.” Among millennials who purchased homes, David Norris, Loan Depot’s Head of Retail Lending, said: “It’s clear from the survey results that Millennials have a lot of anxiety b... 10/24/2017