If you’ve ever walked the balance beam, you know the importance of staying focused on your core. A similar law is acting in today’s real estate market. If you want to land a nice piece of Orlando real estate, stay focused on the core issues and you will be able to walk into your new dream home in Ocoee, Windermere, Gotha, and Winter Garden and in the surrounding communities of Isle Worth, Bay Hill, Heenes Pointe, Lake Butler Sound, Cypress Point, Turtle Creek, and Vizcaya.
What are the core issues in today’s Florida real estate market? Home prices are one. Rising mortgage rates are another. Timing is another—and if your time is not right, be sure to ask us about Orlando vacation rentals and Florida homes for rent to keep your dream alive.
Now, if the only source of real estate information you have is foreboding headlines, you will fall off the beam pretty quickly like people who run to and fro with the stock market. Headlines shout that home prices are falling. Intimidating, isn’t it? You may worry that any property you purchase, let’s say a home for $400,000, will not hold up during your retirement and you may only get $300,000.
One way to build core strength is to find a home in the right neighborhood. Good neighborhoods are always in demand and properties keep their value. Resort areas are holding up, too. We are fortunate to live in an area with many beautiful family friendly neighborhoods to ensure your investment.
Waiting may cost you more. Why is that? If you wait to purchase, thinking the homes will get cheaper, you may be caught off guard by the rising mortgage rates. According to the chief economist at Lending Tree, a national mortgage company, as the economy recovers, finance costs will rise. So, waiting may save you some on the surface price but sneak up on you with higher interest rates during your transaction.
When inflation is threatening, investors tend to stay away from long-term investments. That could drive up mortgage costs since fixed long-term mortgage rates are funded by these investors who are currently in a holding pattern of sorts. However, although inflation is a concern, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke does not think “stagflation” is on the horizon. Stagflation is defined as a slowing economy and the rising prices of inflation.
So, the home prices and mortgage rates are on two ends of the teeter totter. Are you able to stabilize the board by staying closer to the fulcrum and carefully balancing the two? Today is actually a great time to seek out a home. For example, if you find a home today that is priced at $250,000 and put 20 percent down with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 6 percent, your monthly payments will be $1,199.10 for principal and interest. However, if prices drop an additional 10 percent over the next year and the home is still on the market, it will be priced at $225,000 but mortgage rates may rise to 7 percent, which all adds up to about the same payment.
For more information and guidance about available properties in the area, contact Mary Jamieson Luster at (407) 909-2604.
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