Is this the right time to sell?

 By Liany Lynn Foe

One of the most popular question I received revolves around “Is this the right time to sell?”.  Even though there is no right or wrong answer and most of the time the reason to sell has nothing to do with the housing market itself, it is always good to recognize the housing market condition to be able to get the best possible price.  

The current housing market has now recovered from its previous low a few years ago.  House prices have climbed back and most houses have recovered if not exceeded the original price.  If you bought the house when the price is low, then you might have positive equity in your house from price appreciation.  In this situation, selling a house will make sense. Off course you might want to wait a little bit if you bought the house when the price is high and there is not enough equity yet.  But even if you are planning to sell your house, how do you know if this is the right time? Some things to consider are listed below

1. Available inventory remains low

Current house inventory remains lower compared to the peak.  Some new housing developments can be seen around Portland, Beaverton, and Hillsboro area, but at the time of writing, there is still more demand than house supply.  For houses at certain price range and in certain location, there are more home buyers available than sellers. This condition creates seller market where houses tend to sell faster with multiple offers.  For the rest of 2018, we anticipate seller market will still hold.

2. Interest rate is on the rise

Interest has been on the rise in recent years and chances is it will continue to rise.  Higher interest rate will make it more costly to borrow and will increase the cost of borrowing itself so potential buyers are trying to take this opportunity before rate goes up too high.

3. Job market remains robust

The job market condition around Portland area continues to perform well and unemployment rate has been the lowest in many years.  With stable employment, comes stable income and more opportunities to own a house. Also, stock market has been doing well lately (at the time of this writing) and helps to fund new home purchase.  

4. More buyers are ready to buy

 Also, the millennial generation is now ready to move out and start their own family.  Portland population has increased dramatically recently.

In summary, consider the housing market and the job market condition when you are planning to sell.  Let me know if you have any questions regarding selling or buying your next house and I will be happy to help.  

© Liany Lynn Foe

Your loan is Approved!

By Liany Lynn Foe

Often the first step towards home ownership starts with these 4 words.  It opens path for many to be the first homeowner, investors, etc. However, the opposite 4 words also dashed many of their dreams , “Your loan has been denied”.  So, how do you avoid these dreaded 4 words?

Nowadays, anybody who makes an offer on a house, has to have a pre-approval letter to be submitted together with the offer letter.  To get pre-approval letter, your loan officer will pull your credit from 3 major bureaus and submitted your loan to Fannie Mae for approval.  Once the your home offer is accepted by seller, then the real application loan process begins.

So, what information does your loan officer collects from you? Everything about you and that means your paycheck stubs, W2, tax return, employment letters, bank records.  There are other investigations that the loan agency collects to verify your income, your equity and in most cases, the buyer/borrower is not even privy to.

Each loan application is unique. After each application is reviewed by automatically, the next step of application is verification by live underwriters.  The underwriters scrutinize each application case by case to make sure proper documentations are submitted, the property being considered is bonafide, and there is no problem with the applicant’s background and financial state.  Because of this scrutiny, each loan application can take between 30-45 days to complete.

How do you make sure you are prepared with this process then?  Below I provide you some tips to make sure your application process goes smoothly the first time:

1. Start early before you are looking for a house.  
2. Preview your credit score for free at AnnualCreditReport.com.  This is the only government approved website to check your credit score for free.  If you need to work on your credit, then start early to avoid any surprises.  I will have another article on this topic later.
3. Provide complete documents to the loan officers and work with them to secure loans.

Here are a few things that you should NOT do when applying for a loan:

1. Apply loan at many lenders at the same time.
2. Change jobs or becoming self employed.
3. Use credit cards excessively or open many new credit cards.
4. Spend your money on new trucks, new furniture.
5. Falsifying debts and liabilities.
6. Co-sign a loan

So, there it is!  I hope this article provide you with some guidance on how to have a smooth home buying experience for you.  Please let me know if you are looking for a loan and I can introduce you to trusted and well qualified loan officers to help you.