If you’re looking for more information on the Home-Buying Process, look no further.

Sign-up for our next monthly Home Buyer Class to learn step-by-step what you need to know before you begin your home search.

The Class is completely free and there are no contracts of commitments whatsoever. Our goal is to educate as many people as possible on what to do (and more importantly what NOT to do) when buying a home. Most Minnesota first time home buyers don’t take the time at the beginning of the process to get educated–which can mean trouble later on.

Here are just some of the topics we’ll be covering in detail:

• Twin Cities and MN Housing Market
• Getting Pre-Approved for a Mortgage
• First Time Home Buyer Grants and Programs
• Credit Scores
• PITI and Monthly Payments
• MLS Searching and Showings
• Making Offers and Negotiating Contracts
• Final Walkthrough and Closing Day!

In addition to the above information we will also be answering questions before and afterwards to help you get started whenever the time is right for you.

Here are the details on the Class:

What – Minnesota First Time Home Buyer Class

Where – Cornerstone Mortgage: 436 Gateway Blvd, Burnsville, MN 55337

When – Thursday, April 25th, 2013 – 6:30-8:00pm

Upcoming Dates for 2013: April 25, May 16, June 13, July 18, August 15, September 12, October 17, November 21, December 19

Space is limited – please sign up beforehand

SPECIAL BONUS: We will also provide a copy of your Credit Report and Credit Scores to all attendees – this can help discover any inaccuracies or problems on your credit report that could delay your financing approval later on in the process.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

—> REGISTER HERE <—

*PLEASE NOTE: this is is not the Homestretch Class put on by the Minnesota Home Ownership Center. That Class is 8 hours long and there is usually a fee to attend. Our class does not hand out any type of certificates and does not meet the requirements for Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Unless you have been approved for a specific program that would require you to attend the Homestretch Class, we recommend coming to ours first and learning whether or not you need to spend 8 hours of your time in another class.

We have hit some substantial numbers this past month, including sale prices and inventory levels. The video below, made by the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORs, highlights some of the notable data from January 2013 in the greater metro area of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

• Pending Sales are up 13% from 2012 in Jan. (this is the highest January level since 2005)
• Closed Sales are also up 11% from 2012 in Jan. (this is the highest January level since 2005)
• Supply of Active Homes was at 11,977 – down 32% from last year and 48% since 2011 in Jan.
• This marks a 10-yr. low in Inventory of Homes for Sale
• Median Sale Price rose by 14%, which is the highest level in Jan. since 2009
• Monthly Supply of homes is under 3 months–definitely a “seller’s market”

A lot of these factors are due to the economy slowly but steadily rising, and the lack of bank-owned properties for sale that dominated the MN Real Estate scene for the better part of 5 years. While most of these stats are good for home owners and potential sellers, if you’re a first time homebuyer in MN you may be finding it difficult to make an offer on a home without competing against multiple buyers.

Keep checking back for more info as we head into the Spring Selling season in Minnesota.

Are you ready to start the home-buying process, but don’t know what step to take first?

Join us for our next 90-minute First Time Home Buyer Class in MN to learn the easy step-by-step process to buying your first home. Carrie Guarrero and Steve Howe will be presenting all the information you need to know to get started, and avoid the mistakes others have made in the past.

 

The best part is: it’s totally free!

There are no contracts to sign and we have nothing to sell you. Just good information to help educate you on the Minnesota real estate market and home-buying process.

We will be covering a TON of useful topics, such as:

• Twin Cities and MN Housing Market
• Getting Pre-Approved for a Mortgage
• First Time Home Buyer Grants and Programs
• Credit Scores
• PITI and Monthly Payments
• MLS Searching and Showings
• Making Offers and Negotiating Contracts
• Final Walkthrough and Closing Day!

In addition to the above information we will also be answering questions before and afterwards to help you get started whenever the time is right for you.

Here is all the info on the Class:

What – Minnesota First Time Home Buyer Class

Where – Cornerstone Mortgage: 436 Gateway Blvd, Burnsville, MN 55337

When – Thursday, March 21st, 2013 – 6:30-8:00pm

Upcoming Dates for 2013: March 21, April 18, May 16, June 13, July 18, August 15, September 12, October 17, November 21, December 19

Space is limited – please sign up beforehand

SPECIAL BONUS: We will also provide a copy of your Credit Report and Credit Scores to all attendees – this can help discover any inaccuracies or problems on your credit report that could delay your financing approval later on in the process.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

—> REGISTER HERE <—

*PLEASE NOTE: this is is not the Homestretch Class put on by the Minnesota Home Ownership Center. That Class is 8 hours long and there is usually a fee to attend. Our class does not hand out any type of certificates and does not meet the requirements for Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Unless you have been approved for a specific program that would require you to attend the Homestretch Class, we recommend coming to ours first and learning whether or not you need to spend 8 hours of your time in another class.

We setup a search on the MLS to fit their needs, and a house popped up that was ideal for their situation. The only problem was that it already had an offer accepted on it—total buzz kill!

Luckily we had a few months until their leases were up, so we continued to look at a handful of other homes in the meantime.

Whether it was fate, destiny, or just happenstance, their house came back on the market a few weeks later! We quickly setup a showing and started crunching some numbers to see if it was in their budget to make an offer.

After talking with the Listing Agent, we decided to make a bid before anyone else was able to submit another offer on it. And once we came to terms with the seller, I was thrilled to call them and say, “You got the house!”

Aaron and Rachel were so excited that their “dream home” became available again, and even referred me to a family member looking to purchase in the coming year as well. We took care of the inspection and loan processing right away, and closing went as smooth as possible.

I was extremely happy to help this awesome young couple find a home they could “grow into” for a number of years, and feel honored that they recommended me to help their family as well. In fact, they told me: “The process was fun and informative. Our realtor was very organized and kept our best interest in the forefront of the process every step of the way.”

Congrats on your first home—and your new marriage, Aaron and Rachel!

From the various news outlets reporting this development, it sounds like in addition to rate increases, FHA may begin requiring monthly mortgage insurance to be paid for the life of the loan, instead of phasing it out after a certain number of years or equity position is reached. While that wouldn’t necessarily change any qualifying requirements for a borrower, it would mean that those fees on your monthly PITI payments would stay forever.

Why The Change FHA?

HUD and FHA are citing losses from loans originated in 2007-2009 as being a reason for the rate hikes. Essentially, they ended up losing money on loans that were foreclosed on from this period of time. Most likely this was due to somewhat looser qualifying rules, and the fact that prices continued to decline after this period of time in the real estate market. Since most FHA home buyers would only put down the minimum 3% or 3.5% (FHA changed their minimum down payment requirement from 3% to 3.5% in 2009) this meant they had a very small equity window. Once prices decreased, this equity was wiped out completely and if they ran into financial trouble (such as a job loss, divorce, or death of an income-producing family member) then they would not have an option to sell the house without attempting a short sale.

According to the latest numbers from FHA themselves, about 15% of all homes purchased in the first half of 2012 used an FHA Loan. Keep in mind this is for all home sales in the U.S. So a large number of people are using Conventional Financing, or even paying cash (i.e. investors, older buyers “downsizing” after selling their expensive homes). While this 15% might not seem like a very large number to you, compare this to the mid-2000s when FHA was only utilized by about 5% of home purchases. In essence, the use of FHA mortgages has more than tripled in the past 5-7 years.

What Will The Rate Increases Be?

While we don’t know for sure yet, it sounds like the monthly mortgage insurance premiums will be increasing by 10 or 15 basis points. A “basis point” is 1/100th of a percent of the loan amount. Don’t mistake this for the purchase price though. If you’re confused, don’t worry–you’re not alone.  Let’s break down what this means for an average first time home-buyer purchase.

• Purchase Price: $150,000
• Down Payment of 3.5% of Purchase Price: $5,250 ($150,000 x .035)
• Loan Amount: $144,750 ($150,000 – $5,250)
• 1 Basis Point of Loan Amount: $14.475 ($144,750 x .0001)
• 10 Basis Points of Loan Amount: $144.75 ($14.475 x 10)

So, on a typical purchase of $150,000 this increase of 10 basis points is going to equal $144.75 more per year in mortgage insurance payments. Divide that by 12 and this equates to about $12 per month.

For FHA buyers on the fence of whether or not now is the time to buy a home, this small increase may be the tipping point. And I think one thing is for sure–FHA won’t be reducing their rates anytime soon. If anything, we’ll see another increase in the next couple of years if they continue to see losses.

The main message is similar to recent months in the past: fewer homes are available than a year ago, while buyer demand remains strong because of low interest rates and historically-low prices.

These two factors are contributing to the increase if prices year-over-year from 2011 numbers, which is encouraging for home-owners and sellers, but not welcome news for First Time Home Buyers and people looking to purchase properties.

Some other influences on this recent shift in the market towards sellers is a reduced number of Foreclosures and Short Sales for sale. This is due in part to most of the “subprime” mortgages already resetting in previous years, and the fact that the majority of people who bought since 2008 were much more financial capable of weathering financial trouble. After all–lending restrictions tightened up in 2008, so if you weren’t a prime candidate for getting a mortgage, you probably weren’t able to buy a home to begin with.

Keep checking back for more updates on the market and how this affects first time buyers in MN like yourself.  Thanks!

If you’re looking for a complete step-by-step explanation of the Home-Buying Process, you’ve found it!

Join us for our monthly MN First Time Home Buyers Class here in the Twin Cities metro area. During this 90-minute seminar, we will give you all the tools you need to start the home-buying process and be able to buy your first home.

The class is totally free, and there are no strings attached whatsoever. Whether you’re planning on moving in the next couple of months or sometime next year, you owe it to yourself to come to this class. Don’t make the mistake of waiting too long to get educated. By taking the time to learn the details of the MN Housing Market you’ll have peace of mind knowing what steps to take along the way.

Carrie Guarrero and Steve Howe have designed the class to explain all the ins-and-outs of how to buy your first home in a low-pressure atmosphere.

Here are just some of the topics we will cover:

• Twin Cities and MN Housing Market
• Getting Pre-Approved for a Mortgage
• First Time Home Buyer Grants and Programs
• Credit Scores
• PITI and Monthly Payments
• MLS Searching and Showings
• Making Offers and Negotiating Contracts
• Final Walkthrough and Closing Day!

In addition to the above information we will also be answering questions before and afterwards to help you get started whenever the time is right for you.

Here is all the info on the Class:

What – Minnesota First Time Home Buyer Class

Where – Cornerstone Mortgage: 436 Gateway Blvd, Burnsville, MN 55337

When – Thursday, February 21st, 2013 – 6:30-8:00pm

Upcoming Dates for 2013: February 21, March 21, April 18, May 16, June 13, July 18, August 15, September 12, October 17, November 21, December 19

Space is limited – please sign up beforehand

BONUS: We will also provide a copy of your Credit Report and Credit Scores to all attendees – this can help discover any inaccuracies or problems on your credit report that could delay your financing approval later on in the process.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

—> REGISTER HERE <—

*PLEASE NOTE: this is is not the Homestretch Class put on by the Minnesota Home Ownership Center. That Class is 8 hours long and there is usually a fee to attend. Our class does not hand out any type of certificates and does not meet the requirements for Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Unless you have been approved for a specific program that would require you to attend the Homestretch Class, we recommend coming to ours first and learning whether or not you need to spend 8 hours of your time in another class.

If you’re a home-owner or potential seller, this news is most likely encouraging. However as a first time home buyer, you may not be as thrilled with the market numbers again this month.

What we’ve been saying for the past several months continues to be true: less homes are available on the market, more buyers are present, and prices continue to increase from the same time last year. If you’re buying your first home, you may encounter fewer homes to go on showings at and also more multiple offers on the properties that are priced competitively.

This video, produced by the MPLS Area Association of REALTORs goes into detail on the actual numbers of buyers, sellers, prices, monthly supply of inventory, and so on.

Check it out to keep updated on the local real estate market!

Are you sick and tired of renting? Have you always wanted to own a home? Are you looking for information about the Home-Buying Process here in Minnesota and interested in taking advantage of First Time Home Buyer Programs?

If so, you should check out our next free First Time Home Buyer Class. The first step in the process is getting educated about real estate and finding a Team of Professionals to work with – that’s why we are here to help you!

Carrie Guarrero and Steve Howe have designed a class to explain on the ins-and-outs of how to buy your first home in a low-pressure atmosphere. We don’t have anything to sell you, there are no contracts to sign, and it’s totally free. Just information – the way it should be.

Here are just some of the topics we will cover:

• Twin Cities and MN Housing Market
• Getting Pre-Approved for a Mortgage
• First Time Home Buyer Grants and Programs
• Credit Scores
• PITI and Monthly Payments
• MLS Searching and Showings
• Making Offers and Negotiating Contracts
• Final Walkthrough and Closing Day!

If you’re thinking about buying a home in the next 2 years, you owe it to yourself to be an informed home-buyer. In addition to the above information we will also be answering questions before and afterwards to help you get started whenever the time is right for you.

Here is all the info on the Class:

What – MN First Time Home Buyer Class

Where – Cornerstone Mortgage: 436 Gateway Blvd, Burnsville, MN 55337

When – Thursday, January 17th, 2013 – 6:30-8:00pm

Upcoming Dates for 2013: January 17, February 21, March 21, April 18, May 16, June 13, July 18, August 15, September 12, October 17, November 21, December 19

Space is limited – please sign up beforehand

BONUS: We will also provide a copy of your Credit Report and Credit Scores to all attendees – this can help discover any inaccuracies or problems on your credit report that could delay your financing approval later on in the process.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

—> REGISTER HERE <—

*PLEASE NOTE: this is is not the Homestretch Class put on by the Minnesota Home Ownership Center. That Class is 8 hours long and there is usually a fee to attend. Our class does not hand out any type of certificates and does not meet the requirements for Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Unless you have been approved for a specific program that would require you to attend the Homestretch Class, we recommend coming to ours first and learning whether or not you need to spend 8 hours of your time in another class.

What am I talking about? Who WOULDN’T want to save 10, 15 or even 20 precent off their purchase just by opening up a store credit card?

This Guy <–

The Holidays bring with them fun events, laughter, tasty meals, and lots of declining credit scores.

Instead of worrying about Santa’s naughty or nice list, first time home buyers should be paying attention to their FICO scores.

If you’ve done some research on how credit works, or been pre-approved with a good mortgage lender, you probably know that hard inquiries on your credit report can dock you between 5-10 points each time. This means that anytime someone pulls your credit with your permission (for the purpose of acquiring new credit) your score will be reduced by that amount of points for the next 90 days.

So even if you open up 3 or 4 department store lines of credit (in order to save your 10% on a $20 purchase!) your credit could drop 30 or 40 points for the next 3 months.

This could be potentially disastrous for you if you’re in the middle of buying your first home, or are planning to start looking after the New Year.

So, remember to just say “no” at the checkout counter. And above all else, always consult with your mortgage loan officer on anything related to your finances in order to make sure you’re getting the best advice.