Instead of talking to you about the latest market trends and statistics here in Chicago, today we are going to do a little something different. The holiday season is finally upon us, so we wanted to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
We could not do what we do without all of your support. We both want to thank you for all the support you’ve shown us throughout the last year. So to all of our friends, families, and especially our past clients, have a joyous holiday season and a very happy New Year!
Today we are going to discuss why you should consider buying and/or listing during the holiday season. There are many different reasons why listing or buying now is a good idea. We’ve got a list of 11 reasons for you, but we’ll give you the most important tips for buyers and sellers here. This is what you should know.
For sellers, there is less competition for your home on the market, and the buyers that are out in the market right now are highly motivated to buy. In addition to this, your home looks its best when decorated for the holiday season.
For buyers, both the interest rates for mortgages and the loan process are more favorable this time of year. The system isn’t backed up, so lenders can close deals quickly. As for interest rates, they are still hovering near historic lows, but won’t be for long. It’s expected that the Federal Reserve will increase the rates significantly over the next few months, so it’s ideal to lock one in now while they’re low.
If you have any questions for us, or know someone looking to buy or sell this holiday season, give us a call or send us an email. We would be glad to help in any way we can!
Today we are here with David Bowen of Wintrust Mortgage, who is here to answer a recent question I got from a client, who asked “How should I aggressively pay off my mortgage?” Dave has the answer, and he’s here today to explain the process you should follow.
Everyone wants to shorten that 30-year mortgage term as soon as possible. To make sure you are financially capable of paying off that mortgage aggressively, you need to ask yourself a few questions. The first one is “Are all my credit cards paid off?” The lower the debt you have, the more you can aggressively pay down that mortgage balance.
One thing you’ll also want to make sure you have before you start paying down that mortgage heavily is some emergency funds. You want at least 6 months of reserves to cover all your household expenses.
One simple way to cut a huge amount of time off your mortgage loan is by making one extra payment a year. If you make thirteen payments a year instead of twelve, you will chop off about 8 years on your mortgage.
As long as you have the things above covered, you should be able to aggressively pay off that mortgage and pay if off as soon as you can.
If you have any questions about your mortgage or how you can pay it down quicker, give David a call at (708) 705-7911. If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!
Today, we’ll highlight how TRID affects the lending world. TRID stands for TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure. This changes the entire lending world as we know it, and we’ve been getting ready for it for the past couple of months.
TRID helps the consumer understand the loan process. It removes the original HUD-1 closing statement. It also gets rid of the TIL disclosure and the Good Faith Estimate. Now, the process will combine a closing disclosure statement with a loan estimate.
Everything will line up at the time of the closing. Previously, a closing statement would not make the TIL for the client. All the numbers were different. Today, things will be more simple. Numbers will appear the same and it will all be much clearer, especially for the lender.
The HUD-1 is gone completely. As of October 5th, the new process started. This is a national mandate, too.
The only thing that impacts a Realtor is that there will be no more rushed closings. There might be thirty-day closings in the future, but there will be no next-day closings. There is a three-day waiting period for the consumer to review the document. This is a good thing because it makes the system run smoother, as the consumer has plenty of time to review documents.
Right now, we’re expecting 45-day closings. We want to give mortgage companies, title companies, and attorneys enough time within this system. It might take a while to jump back into the thirty-day range.
Thanks for joining our video blog today! Reach out if you have any questions regarding this topic.
