Is Starbucks Affecting Your Omaha Home's Value?

The Omaha area has an excellent variety of homes within a vibrant market of both buyers and sellers. If you're considering purchasing property in Omaha, GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're thinking about selling your property, CLICK HERE for a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions you have regarding current market trends or your own home's value, please don't hesitate to call me at (402) 614-6922, or email me at adam@brileyhomes.com.

Hey everyone, today I want to talk about the Starbucks effect. I should probably explain what it is first. What we refer to as "The Starbucks Effect" is a recent trend that has started to occur in real estate where homes that are within a quarter mile of a Starbucks appreciate at a much higher rate than homes that are further away. 

No, it's not the fact that they live near a Starbucks that is raising the value of their homes, but one thing Starbucks is really good at is targeting up and coming neighborhoods. So, by default, that area will appreciate more than other parts of town. Dunkin Donuts has had a similar effect. This study was conducted by Zillow.

I thought this was an interesting piece of information you should know about. If you have any questions, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. Talk to you soon!

Are Interest Rates More Affordable Today?

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The Omaha area has an excellent variety of homes within a vibrant market of both buyers and sellers. If you're considering purchasing property in Omaha, GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're thinking about selling your property, CLICK HERE for a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions you have regarding current market trends or your own home's value, please don't hesitate to call me at (402) 614-6922, or email me at adam@brileyhomes.com.

Since the new year has begun, we've heard a lot of talk about interest rates. People have been constantly asking us where they are now and where they are headed, so we thought it was a good idea to update you on the latest facts and statistics in the mortgage world.
 
You can usually get a good picture of the status of interest rates by looking at the numbers for 30-year fixed mortgages. Back in 2013, we saw rates down to 3.875%, but by 2014, they had risen to nearly 4.5%.

These rates won't last, though. Most economists are predicting rates to rise in the next year, and we very well may be near 5% by the end of the year. Locking in a rate now is going to save you hundreds of dollars a month in your mortgage payment, not to mention tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.

If you have been thinking about buying in the past few years, now represents your best opportunity to get an affordable home with an even more affordable interest rate. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this topic further, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

A Beginner's Guide to Escrow

There are a variety of opportunities in the Omaha real estate market for both buyers and sellers. If you're a prospective buyer click here for a full home search, or if you're considering placing your home on the market, get a free home value report, right here.

The word "escrow" is thrown around a lot in real estate, but it doesn't always refer to the same thing. Today, we want to give you different examples of where this word is used so you can be better informed. 

The 1st time you hear the word escrow is probably when you are a buyer. When you write a purchase agreement, you are going to also write an earnest deposit, which shows your good faith in purchasing the home. The deposit is then put into an escrow account, a 3rd party that's going to hold the money until the day of closing. 

The 2nd time you will probably hear the word escrow is when working with your loan officer. You will have to "escrow" about 7 months of property taxes and 1 year of homeowner's insurance. This money will be held in your mortgage company's escrow account. 

The last time you will hear it is with the title company and "closing of the escrow". This is where the title company transfers ownership from the old seller to the new buyer. 

If you have any questions about escrow, or about real estate in general, give us a call. We'd love to answer them for you. 

How Can You Know What Mortgage is Right for You?

 
There are a variety of opportunities in the Omaha real estate market for both buyers and sellers. If you're a prospective buyer click here for a full home search, or if you're considering placing your home on the market, get a free home value report, right here.

With so many different mortgages out there it can be difficult to know which kind might be right for you. Because staying informed is one of the best ways to ensure you make smart real estate decisions, we have put together a list of 4 types of mortgages you need to be aware of to be a smart home buyer:

1. Fixed-rate: These mortgages charge you the same rate for the agreed upon term - either a 15-, 20-, or 30-year period. While it's great to know exactly what to expect, the downside is when rates go down, your payments will not. 
2. Adjustable-rate: This mortgage is a bit more of a risk. There is no long-term rate - rather, the period is usually 3 to 5 years. The upside is you initially lock in a lower rate; the downside is your payments vary and will go up when rates go up.
3. FHA: These are often used by first-time home buyers. With an FHA loan you can get into your home with as little as 3.5% down. The downside is that there is a cap on how much they can loan you.
4. VA: Both active and former U.S. service members are eligible for this loan. You can get into a home with no money down, but there is a cap on how much you can borrow.

Knowing the difference between the many loans out there is an important step in being an educated home buyer. If you have further questions about borrowing, don't hesitate to give us a call or shoot us an email. We would love to help you make the best possible real estate decisions.

How Mortgage Lenders Determine your Loan

There are a variety of opportunities in the Omaha real estate market for both buyers and sellers. If you're a prospective buyer click here for a full home search, or if you're considering placing your home on the market, get a free home value report, right here.

When you are purchasing a home, you will probably need to apply for a mortgage. Lenders will then take many factors into account to determine how much of a loan you qualify for. What exactly are those factors? We are here to let you know so you can be prepared before you go meet with a lender. Here are the 3 main things that lenders look for:

1. Credit Score

 The first thing that lenders will look at is your credit score. There are 3 scores from 3 different bureaus. They range in value from 300-800 and the higher the score, the better.

2. Debt-to-Income Ratio

 The 2nd thing lenders will look at is how much money you have coming in vs. how much money you are spending. If you are married, they will look at both you and your spouse's ratios.

3. Down Payment

 The last thing they will look at is how much you are going to put down for a down payment. There are a lot of different loan programs out there, from FHA loans where you can put 3.5% down, or conventional programs where you can put anywhere from 5%- 20% or more down. 

If you have any questions about financing or about real estate in general, be sure to give us a call. We'd love to help out with anything you need.