Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence

Today, we're gonna talk a little bit about interest rates, because there's been some pretty substantial changes on what's going on in the market for sure. So always a hot topic with buyers and sellers with what's going on, but we're entering into some unprecedented times right now, so to avoid triggering all the regulation Z disclaimers and disclosures we have to go through, we won't get into very specific rate quotes, but, my goodness, Jon, we're in the low 3% range for just plain old vanilla 30 year fixed rate loans. It's getting, again, to the point we're almost at all time lows.- I mean, when's the last time we saw something like this? How far do we have to go back to see interest rates of low 3s?- Yeah, yeah, you know, 4 years ago we got pretty darn close and then prior to that we were sitting in a recession when rates were at super lows and there's a lot of things that are underpinning this, that are making this happen, but I think for our purposes the important thing is that this a tremendous win for buyers of course. It's a tremendous win for sellers too, you know, when sellers are entering the market, as you know, part of that question is "well how many potential buyers can I expose this home to?" And that exposure just got broader because now the affordability is more attractive and folks that maybe wanted to keep their purchase price here can now go here, and have the same kind of expense, the same monthly payment. So, it's a good thing, you never know how long it's gonna last, but for homeowners right now, and potential home buyers, it's really attractive.- Just out of curiosity, how much more buying power does a one point drop in interest rates give somebody in general? Just in general terms, we don't have to get into specifics.- So one point, so do you mean from four and a quarter down to three and a quarter?- Yeah, say four and a quarter to three and a quarter.- So I'm really gonna wing it here, Jon, but I'm gonna say 70 to 80 thousand dollars.- That's huge!- But same payment, yeah.- That's the difference between being able to buy in a community and not be able to buy in a community.- That's a good point, yeah. Now that's a severe window from low fours to low threes, but we're there, it wasn't that long ago that we were talking to home buyers, and the 4% interest range was the conversation. So, it's happening, home buyers are benefiting from it right now and home sellers hopefully too. Unfortunately, a lot of the things that are driving that are based on negative things that are happening in the economy, and the Coronavirus is big news right now as well and that's having a global economic impact too. So, it's not a positive that's it's happening because of that, and many economists are saying that this was gonna happen anyway, and the Coronavirus just sped things along, and that's a surprise for a lot of folks, you know, because a lot of folks look at where the stock market was, and they say "Everything is wonderful, "why would the interest rates be falling "because of negative news?" But what I like to say and I'm just mimicking a lot of economists, is that the stock market is not the economy. They're two different things, and there were a lot of indicators about average hourly work week, industry capacity, factory capacity that were down, and so these were things that are really the foundation of the economy, and this is why the interest rates have been pointing in that downward direction, and then the concerns over the Coronavirus and how that is gonna affect global economies is just speeding that up.

Today, we are happy to welcome a past client of both John and mine, Mr. Randy Magner. - Randy actually, you bought your house, what was it? Back in 2014 or 15?- 2014, six years ago.- Okay, so, Tony and I both had the pleasure of helping you find the home and Tony secured the financing for you to purchase the home.- Finally found our dream house. You did a very good job of locating that for us.- We needed to get into a certain school district so my daughter could go to a performing arts school. And we looked at a lot of houses before we finally found the right one.- Yeah, as I recall, we started off in the Warren Con/Troy section.- Yes.- And as we discovered, there was very few houses for sale in that part of Troy that fit what you were looking for. So, as we started to broaden out the search, we ended up having more things to look at, more choices and, of course, in 2014 it was becoming a very competitive market. So, we had to move quickly.- And as I recall, he was a pastor and also considered himself a bit of a handyman.- Yes, he considered himself a handyman, yes. We'll get into that.- So, you move into the house and, I think the first thing to go on the fritz was your dishwasher. Right?- Absolutely.- It quit working on you and it was a fairly new dishwasher, so we had the home warranty in place.- We had the owner's warranty.- So, the home warranty eventually replaced, got you a new dishwasher.- Did you not do some other things to the house once you moved in?- All I did was painted it, and we were done.- Okay. So, we had nice countertops, granite countertops--- Nice cabinets, hardwood floors on the whole first level, hardwood floors upstairs--- We also, we moved the laundry room from the basement up to the first floor.- And I had the master suite redone as well as the master bath was entirely updated with granite countertops, new cabinetry and ceramic tile.- That's right.- And a whirlpool tub.- You did a nice job with that.- We sold our house in Royal Oak and it sold, you sold it, within the first week.- Now with you saying that, it was 2013 that you bought the house, 2013. Because 2014 is where we're going with the story.- Is that when Snowzilla came through here? The Polar Vortex and Snowzilla. We had like six feet of snow in the course of one winter.- Yes, and--- That was the time, it was 2013, early 2014. We got hammered, in fact, I remember coming to, you had a housewarming party and there was like, it seemed like there was six feet of snow on the ground.- Yeah. So, as many of you who lived in Michigan in 2014 probably remember, around about August 14th, 2014, we had a horrific rain storm. And it seemed like the cloud just sat overhead and continued to rain on us.- Yeah, in fact, I can recall, I was, my office was at 13 1/2 in Woodward, at that time, and I recall leaving to go home about 6:30 and Woodward was starting to flood in some areas, or get water over it, the road. And cars just started backing up. Some were around 12 Mile and the rain just kept coming. I remember trying to cut through to get back east, to make my way back home and I remember trying to come across 11 1/2 Mile, and it was flooded. So, I had to turn around, come back to Woodward and then try to get through side streets. And some of the side streets were so flooded, in fact, that I had to just, I was doing what other cars were doing which was just driving over people's lawns on the sidewalks to avoid the big flood areas. I mean, you did what you had to do. And, it basically took me from 6:30 until about midnight to get home.- You were one of those people?---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

- Hey, everybody, welcome to "Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence" podcast, season two, episode two. This is your pilot, Jon Lafferty, with Century 21 Town & Country.- And copilot Tony Abate, with Ross Mortgage, and we are your real estate pilots. Our job is to be your real estate advocate and also make sure you're educated about the buying and selling process. We'll keep you informed throughout until we get you safely closed.- Today's episode is sponsored by Title One. When you're a seller or buyer, and you're feeling weary or small, with tears in your eyes, Title One will dry them all. They are on your side. If times get rough and friends can't be found, Title One can be your bridge over troubled title issues. You can reach Title One at 734-427-8000, or e-mail them at team1@titleoneinc.net Again, team1@titleoneinc.net- There you go. All right, and a I love the commercial, man. You could go into business and write those taglines, I think. In a real estate transaction there are many reasons why you can encounter turbulence. Today we are going to talk all things title with Ken Taylor from Title One. Welcome back to the jump seat, Ken.- Thank you.- Welcome back, yeah.- Yeah.- Glad you're able to join us for episode two.- Happy to be here.- All right.- In our last episode, we sorta talked a little bit about how you got into title, why you're in title, and some things about it, what a commitment for title insurance is, owner's policy, lender's policy, so I thought maybe what we'd do is, in this episode, maybe just talk a little bit about some general questions that maybe people have of differences between different ways to hold title, and red flags when you're purchasing a property to keep your eyes out for.- Yeah.- Well, first, let's talk about why, in Michigan, we have split title, what's called split title, and is it a benefit? Is it a detriment? If it's a benefit, who does it benefit? And what does split title mean? Split title means that in a real estate transaction, obviously, you have a seller and a buyer taking out a loan. You're gonna be purchasing two policies at a closing. A seller will provide an owner's title policy to the purchaser. The buyer provides a lender's title insurance policy to the lender and mortgage company. What they call RESPA, Real Estate Servicing Protection Act, made a rule that the consumer has the right to choose whoever they want for the service that they pay for, so the seller pays for an owner's policy, so they can choose a title company, whoever they want. Ken TaylorTitle One(734) 427-8000team1@titleoneinc.net---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

- Hey everybody, welcome to season two of Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence podcast. This is your pilot, Jon Lafferty with Century 21 Town and Country.- And co-pilot, Tony Abate, with Ross Mortgage and we are your real estate pilots. Our job is to be your real estate advocate and also make sure you're educated about the buying and selling process. We'll keep you informed throughout until we get you safely closed.- Today's episode is sponsored by Title One. When you're a seller or buyer and you're feeling weary or small, with tears in your eyes, Title One will dry them all. They are on your side. If times get rough and friends can't be found, Title One can be your bridge over troubled title issues. You can reach Title One at 734-427-8000, or email them at- team1@titleoneinc.net.- I didn't read that third paragraph, that's a good one Jon. All right, in a real estate transaction there are many reasons why you can encounter turbulence. Today we are going to talk all things Title, with Ken Taylor from Title One. Welcome to the jump. Welcome to the jump seat, man. Welcome to the jump sleet- Thank you guys for having me I appreciate it.- Absolutely. It's our first day by the way. I can tell.- It's my first day, I feel like Homer Simpson.- I didn't realize Jon was such a poet though.- He is, holy cow.- Skills that I didn't know he had.- Yeah, I think he wrote it at the traffic light right outside here, sitting in the car. Very good, Jon.- In blood. So Ken, how long have you been in title? What made you get into title? Let's start with just the basics there.- I've been in Title Insurance for coming up on 14 years now. I've been blessed to be with the same company, Title One the whole time. My, mother actually was, has been in the industry her entire life and got me started and more, the more and more I got to know the industry and move in different departments, found out I really enjoyed it and have stuck with it and gonna make a whole career out of it.- What do you like about title insurance?- I like, my favorite part about title insurance is, while in practice all real estate transactions are the same, they're not. The puzzle pieces always are a little bit different. The way to get to a closing table is just a little bit different in every transaction and that uniqueness is kind of what, you know, makes me go everyday. That everything is, nothing is ever the same. Every transaction no matter how on paper it looks like it's gonna be the same, is always different and new challenges every day and that's something that I look forward to everyday. Trying to put the puzzle pieces together, to get everyone to a closing table.- Wow.- Yeah, it's one of those unseen functions, you know, we all kind of walk folks through the process, but churning away in the background literally from start to finish and even before start, with pre Title and what have you, that is absolutely such a critical piece of the transaction.- That's correct yeah, it's a nice search, a nice, like I said, keep putting the puzzle pieces together. It's fun to draw a line from the start to end and, you know, we get to do that on every transaction which is fun.Ken TaylorTitle One(734) 427-8000team1@titleoneinc.net---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Today we are going to talk about the new loan limits that go into effect January 2020. What that means for buyers. Also we'll talk about what happens when an appraisal on a property comes in below purchase price. What options does a buyer have?Jon Lafferty:Let's talk about the new loan limits and how it might create some turbulence for buyers who are unaware of where those loan limits end and what that means, the difference between standard and jumbo. Tony Abate:Sure, yes. It's an important topic. It doesn't come up a lot. But your loan limits for the majority of mortgages do get changed on annual basis. You have your three typical buckets, conventional or conforming loans, FHA loans, and then VA loans. What happens is the government entity that has control over these, for instance, on conventional loans it's FHFA, which is the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Tony Abate:Basically what they do is they do an analysis and they evaluate the increase or decrease in home values nationwide. When there is an increase, then the logic is well then the conforming loan limit really should change with that. They compare third quarter to third quarter so that they can start a new year with an adjustment and give everybody some ramp up time. Tony Abate:For 2020, for instance, the new conventional loan limit is 510,400. Over half a million.Jon Lafferty:For Metro Detroit?Tony Abate:That's nationwide. Conventional is not local specific, if you will. Yes, in certain high cost areas like Hawaii where they get a bump. Jon Lafferty:Or Los Angeles or San Francisco. Tony Abate:Exactly. Yes, but for those of us in this area, 510,400. That's an increase over last year's number 484,000 and some change. That's as a result of a national price increase of single family homes for 4.9%. We can take that as good news, I would say because it does show health in the market. 4.9% is a nice increase, but it's not an unreasonable increase. It's not like the market has gotten away from itself. Just some historic analysis. When I got in the business, it was, let's see, 202,300 was the conforming loan limit. Have a Happy New Year and we'll see you guys next year in 2020. We'll start season two and looking forward to a lot more fun discussions, some great guests and looking forward to answering user... questions from you guys out there.Thank you for listening to Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence. If you'd be so kind to subscribe and review and rate we would appreciate it. Please share with your friends, family and co workers that they too can find us on Facebook, YouTube and avoidingret.com, where you'll find our contact information and every episode. You can also find us on Apple podcast, Google podcast and Spotify. ---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Jon and Tony share some humorous Christmas stories. We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Today we're going to talk with a local insurance agent about some of the turbulence you can encounter when trying to get homeowners insurance. Welcome back to the jump seat Christine Suchoski with Custom Insurance Agency.Let's jump right in talk about that PIP coverage.It's auto. Yeah.Yeah. Let's talk about that first because that's pretty top of Mind right now for a lot of people.Yeah, we're going through some changes here in the state of Michigan. This has been in and out of the courts for... oh, gosh, for years. What's happening here in the state of Michigan, the PIP, personal injury protection portion of your auto policy is what's in question here. They're looking to mandate your liability limits. What does that mean?What they want to do is, you, the policyholder, have an auto-related accident, and they want to know who's going to pay first? Who pays primary in an auto-related accident?Are you benefits coordinated? Does your medical pay first? Does your auto insurance pay first? To be honest with you, you really don't know until you call that 800 number on the back of your medical card for those of you who have medical insurance.Then at that point, you have an option, if your medical does pay primary, you can leave them as primary. If they pay secondary, well then your auto becomes primary. Then there are those of us who just don't have medical insurance.Auto insurance, at that point becomes the primary medical responsibility in an auto-related accident.I can understand here and paint the picture, so we're talking about a scenario where a person has typical auto coverage and typical medical coverage, and they get into an auto accident and they're hurt-Mm-hmm (affirmative).... and so medical bills ensue and then it's a question of were you're insured two ways, both through your own policy into your personal which one's going to write the first check, is that really what we're talking about here?Yes.Okay.See, personal injury protection basically covers your expenses, your medical care, if you will, recovery rehab, let's say there's some wage losses, it even covers funeral expenses too.But what's happening here in the state of Michigan, our rates are so high, because in the state of Michigan, if you were to get hurt, we have unlimited medical, for the rest of our life.And the auto policy.And the auto policy.Mm-hmm (affirmative).Yeah. But now what's going to happen here come next year when they're rolling this out to you guys, the policyholders an opportunity to put a cap on that to say, "Hey, I don't want unlimited medical anymore. I'm going to put a half a million cap on that and take a discount."They're offering you a discount by putting a cap on your medical protection. Health insurance will cover your medical expenses, but then the auto kicks in for all your ancillaries, your rehab, your recovery, do we have to do something to the house? Do we have to remodel?Right now with unlimited medical, we don't have to worry about that. But that's why our rates are so high. If you were involved in an auto-related accident right now and you had health insurance as primary, they have a schedule fee, if you will, "This is how much we can charge you for the X-ray, hundred dollars."But if you have auto as primary, you don't have a medical insurance and you have that same accident, they can charge you whatever they really want to charge you. 200, 300, 400, there is no fee schedule when the auto is paying first.Christine SuchoskiCustom Insurance Agency586-255-3477csuchoski@custominsuranceagency.com---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Jon and Tony are joined by Christine Suchoski (Custom Insurance Agency), and they are telling personal Thanksgiving stories then and now in this holiday special episode.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Today, we are going to talk about how divorces can impact both purchasing, selling, real estate and also financing real estate. So today, I'm pleased to have a colleague of mine, Mr. Marc Edelstein is here with us. How are you doing Marc?Good, good-Good. So Marc has been a lender for 17 years. He is a certified divorce lending professional. I think I got that right.Mm-hmm.And a lot of folks might not know that that's even a designation, it absolutely is. It's not something that a person gets overnight, it takes some effort, it takes some dedication. And I think in our business we kind of learn the hard way when we're early on, that a divorce in a transaction isn't just an extra document, it can absolutely affect the flow of the transaction and, whether it's even doable or not.Thanks for coming on board, Marc.Absolutely, thanks for having me.Yeah, yeah, yeah. We went over some Q&A prior to about some of the things that impact things, but Marc if we could, why don't we just kind of let you paint a 10,000 foot view picture of the kind of things that folks need to at least be thinking about when there's a divorce in their life, and there's going to be a sale of real estate, purchase of real estate, et cetera.Sure, sure, sure. When it comes to divorce in real estate, and divorce in mortgage lending, there are lots of mortgage lending guidelines that intersect with the family law. So a lot of times, we see a spouse that needs to re-enter the workforce after an absence being out of the workforce, or somebody who is going to be receiving some sort of support, whether it's alimony or child support, as their form of income on the other side of the divorce. And how can we use that income towards qualifying? So that's a big thing that we see a lot. The other thing is your mortgage debts tend to be joint with husband and wife. And so when one spouse is awarded the home for the divorce, and the other spouse is either getting an equity buyout, or just off of the home, if there's no equity to split, that mortgage becomes what we call contingent liability.And so how does the payment history after the judgment on that mortgage, that our borrower is not responsible for any longer, impact their ability to be able to purchase a home? As far as other guidelines and other things to consider, it's really the timing of filing of your divorce. If you file your divorce, and then you go to apply for mortgage to purchase a new primary residence, and your divorce is not final, it makes things very, very, very complicated. Most lenders will not grant you a mortgage approval without either a legal separation agreement, or property settlement agreement signed by a judge or your final divorce decree.Yeah, yeah. And, Jon, you probably had conversations. I mean, think about the natural progression of things. There's the unfortunate things that lead to a divorce, the divorce is filed, and then one or both parties are thinking, I need to move on. So I'm going to start house hunting. But they're in that window where the divorce is filed, but it's not finalized.Right. So you know Tony, on the loan application, we have a declaration section where we ask nine, 10, 11 questions about your citizenship, do you intend to occupy this home? Are you going to borrow any part of the down payment?Marc Edelstein(248) 379-6749 thatmortgagebanker.com---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Jon, Tony, and special guest Marc Edelstein discuss some of the spooky, creepy, and scary real life real estate stories they've experienced or heard about.Yeah. So we were just sitting around chatting, with Halloween around the corner, and in the business that we're in, we come across houses that have interesting histories. These guys sometimes see it on the lending side, I certainly see it in walking through homes, and so we all kind of had interesting stories about things that we've come across, and thought we'd share a few of them with you today.Perfect timing. Perfect timing. So let's just start.So, Marc, yeah, you were talking about something that you had come across ...Yeah, I had a client of mine who purchased a home. It was owned by HUD, and it was the scene of a murder, and she was the first buyer after this had happened. So the appraisal comes in, and of course you want to take a pretty good look at that appraisal, right, because you know what happened there, and you just see drywall missing for the first four feet up in certain rooms, where something clearly happened in that room, where that was needed for evidence.But I thought, for sure, this woman was going to back out of this deal once she found out that this had happened there, but she just ... she couldn't get over what a great deal she was getting on the house, that she put it behind her, and was like, "I'm still buying this house. I don't really care what happened."Wow. The whole half the drywall missing didn't dissuade her or anything?No.No. Wow.Wow.Crazy. And then did she find out? I mean, was it discovered or revealed?It was discovered early on. She had plenty of opportunity to decide to back out, but it was too good of a deal to pass up, I guess.Wow. Hope she's doing well in the crime scene.I know she is.Yeah? Wow. Wow.That's ... and she went ahead with it anyways. Well, so I, several years ago, had a buyer who was interested in a condo, and it was disclosed that the owner had died by suicide, but it was never clear what had happened, how he took his life. It was never clear.This condo had been on the market for must've been six or nine months. It was being sold through probate because he had no will, and so they determined that a family member was going to oversee and receive some of the proceeds. So in steps my buyer and decides that they are interested in it because it's an incredible deal. It's like $90,000 under anything else in there.Now, mind you, all the people had done in that place where he had taken his life was replaced the carpet, that's it. So on the wall you could still see the outline of some bodily fluids that had-Oh, man.... discolored that wall. So anyways-They were going to paint anyway, right?Marc Edelstein(248) 379-6749thatmortgagebanker.com---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

In real estate transaction there are many reasons why you can encounter turbulence. Today we're going to talk to Scott Hunter with Cruise & Travel Experts. And he's going to talk about turbulence that they had in the travel industry and a bunch of other stuff. I'm excited to have him on the program today. Hey, Scott, welcome.Thank you, Jon.Yeah. Good to have you, Scott.Good to be here.I'm serious. Is that now official?There's no script. Everything's fine.Okay, Tony, we're off book.I will tell you, if I could jump in, the first time I met Scott I was pleasantly surprised that travel agents as individuals was still a thing. I was one of those people. And I don't think I was alone, in thinking that everybody always made their travel arrangements through Expedia, or one of the other online things. I thought now I don't travel a lot. So that's probably one of the reasons why I concluded that, but when I hear that it's still active and running and the cool things that happen. And the fact that it doesn't cost extra. I thought that was all good stuff.Well just speaking, I mean, before Scott jumps in. It was interesting back in 2000 I want to say 10 or 11. I had a friend of mine, who ... He joined this company to become a travel agent. He's like, “Hey, go through me to get discounts and do stuff.” I was like, “Did this guy just sign up with him? What the hell just happened? He's saying he can do this stuff, but I have no idea, anything on what he do.” So, you and I have known each other for what, five, six years now. And one of the things that I've learned from you is that there's a lot of different things that you can do to help and assist and offer advice. And there's a lot of things that people don't think about when they're traveling. But before you jump into that, let's back up, let's take a snapshot of your industry.So back in the '90s, late '90s, early 2000s everybody officially proclaimed the travel agent dead, right? Because of the computer and online stuff and going to the airlines directly. So just a quick snapshot of your career, you're working for General Motors, the recession hits, and after 30 years there you say, “I got to get the hell out of here.” Pick it up from there.That's pretty much. Well, a couple years prior to that you could start seeing the writing on the wall and want to have something to fall back on. And as I've told you before, Jon and Tony also, I was the go to person at work, because in my desk drawer, I had AAA tour books and maps and all these various brochures that I'd like to look at to plan my own trips and people knew I had these things, so they always came up to me and we're asking for information and-So I mean, did you also have female co-workers coming up, asking you for those books on hedonism? Just kidding.I've always wanted to get a fam trip. A fam trip is actually familiarization trip. Where the hotels bring you down there and let you experience the properties. And I mean, I get a lot of those, but I've never had an invite to hedonism. I need to get one of those. I would have to experience the property.So your co-workers come to you. You're the go-to guy with books and magazines on different places to travel and maybe trip ticks as well that you used in the past. And so, at what point do you decide, “I got to pull the parachute and jump out?”Scott HunterCruise & Travel Experts(248) 891-6809http://www.thetravelingmanvacations.com---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

In real estate transaction, there are many reasons why you can encounter turbulence. Today, we're going to talk about the kind of turbulence that happens when a buyer falls in love with a house, and wants to write an offer, and doesn't know what to offer.Yeah, yeah. It's an interesting path it seems like that buyers go down. It's both emotional, and mathematical, and financial. They all play in, and Jon, I think when you referred clients to me on the loan side, we go through a lot of the numbers, and so people are thinking of the numbers, and then very often the question circles back to me, "Well, we like this house on 123 Elm Street. They're asking 220, what should I offer?" And immediately, the stay in your lane light starts blinking in my head, and we talk a little bit about how things go, and there's not an automatic reduction in asking price versus offer. And of course, referring back to the experts yourself and say, goodness, it all comes down to how motivated you are, but then also where's the price in the market?Well, and that question invariably comes up to you a lot because they're curious what's my payment going to be? With taxes and insurance, what am I looking at monthly payment wise? And so, I think that question it comes up to you sort of by default of, well, so it's listed at 220. What do you think we can get it for? And then, can you run the numbers for us? When it's kind of out of order, right? They should be talking with you to kind of figure out a scenario of maybe a range. If I offer full price, what's my payment going to be? If I offer this, what's it going to be? So, just for their own knowledge. And it's good that they do that because they should know kind of what they're looking at. So, that's good, and I would not discourage a buyer from doing that who wants to know what they're looking at.But there's a lot of factors obviously that go into what you should offer on a property. And if it's a day on the market, good luck getting a discount from list price on that property. If it's been on the market for awhile, well, there may be some room to negotiate. There are different reasons why things are priced the way they are. Sometimes it's a matter of reaching out to a listing agent to find out what the seller's motivations are. If they're willing to share that. Some listing agents don't share anything, and are incommunicado, and they do their seller a disservice by not answering phone calls or calling people back.And then, other times you have realtors that are very willing to talk. Not that they're doing anything to breach the confidentiality with their seller, but to be able to have a conversation just to figure out what the seller's doing, and why it's priced at where it's at, especially if it's been on for a long time.Now, one of the things though that I like to do for my clients is run comparables. What's sold recently that's similar? Sometimes an area, let's just take Royal Oak for instance. Royal Oak, you typically have a lot of comparable properties that have sold in and around the area. So, pretty easy to know what a comparable is. And even though I may be really, really familiar with an area, I still want to just double check real quick just to make sure what we're looking at, apples to apples.Every house ... Now, one could say that the bungalows in Royal Oak are all cookie cutter. They're all the same. Not so. some of them, well you know, our mutual friend and client who bought a bungalow in Ferndale. Now, one could say every bungalows is similar in Ferndale, but have you been in his house?---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Guest Tony Bucci with Mission Pointe Planning & Retirement talks about recent business roundtable proclamation that shareholder, employee, client & customer interests must be taken into account. Could this affect the current business model of iBuyer Real Estate programs that look to buy homes directly from sellers. Is this a good thing for you? Are there stocks or funds specifically for conscious investors? Jon Lafferty:(singing)Jon Lafferty:And it was you woman right down the line.Tony Abate:Just got that out of my head.Jon Lafferty:I do not sing. I cannot sing, but I'm going to keep that in your head for the rest of the day.Tony Abate:Aw, thank you.Jon Lafferty:Hey, everybody. Welcome to Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence podcast. This is your pilot, Jon Lafferty with Century 21 Town & Country.Tony Abate:And Tony Abate with Ross Mortgage and we are your real estate pilots. Our job is to be your real estate advocate and also make sure you're educated about buying and selling process. We'll keep you informed throughout until we get you safely closed.Jon Lafferty:In a real estate transaction, there are many reasons why you can encounter turbulence. Today we're going to talk with Tony Bucci with Mission Point Planning & Retirement about financial turbulence and how that may have an impact on your decision to whether to sell your real estate or buy. Welcome Tony.Tony Bucci:Hey guys. Thanks for having me back again. I appreciate being in the jump seat.Tony Abate:Good to see you, Tony.Jon Lafferty:Good to see you back in the jump seat. Before we get underway, Tony has a disclaimer he has to read. So we'll get that out of the way right now and then dive in and have some fun.Tony Bucci:You guys can appreciate being in a highly regulated industry and I am as well. So before we get started, it's important to know that securities offered through Securities America Inc, Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory service is offered through securities America Advisors Inc. Mission Point Planning & Retirement and Securities America are separate entities.Jon Lafferty:All right.Tony Bucci:Now that riveting part of the conversation is done with.Jon Lafferty:I feel like I was just in a coding class in Detroit. What the hell did that mean?Tony Abate:I think I was just Mirandized by a financial guy. Mirandize, is that the word?Tony Bucci:Could be. It could be.Jon Lafferty:So Tony, something happened a few weeks back. There was a Business Roundtable and they came out with this proclamation, I guess you could call it, basically saying that, “Hey, we need to consider not only the shareholder in the decisions that we make going forward, but also our employees, our customers and our clients.” And that was a bit of a shift from how things have been for quite a while. And so, I thought it was interesting enough that I said, “Hey, we've got to get Tony back in here to talk about this because there seems to be a bit of a shift. And why is that? Why is this happening?” It seems to be out of the blue, but it really isn't, is it?---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Jon Lafferty:What is that old commercial, "Bah, bah, bah, dah, dah, dah, wouldn't you like to be a butter too?"Tony Abate:No.Jon Lafferty:Where is it from?Tony Abate:"Wouldn't you Like to be a pepper?".Jon Lafferty:Oh! It's to be a pepper. You know I hate that soft drink. I've never liked it, but their commercials are pretty cool. Hey everybody. Welcome to Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence Podcast. This is your pilot, Jon Lafferty with CENTURY 21 Town & Country.Tony Abate:And copilot Tony Abate, with Ross Mortgage and we are your Real Estate pilots. I do like Dr. Pepper by the way just so you know. Hate the commercial. I'm on the polar opposite of you. Our job is to be your real estate advocate, and also make sure you're educated about the buying and selling process. We'll keep you informed throughout until we get you safely closed.Jon Lafferty:In a real estate transaction, there are many reasons why you can encounter turbulence. Today, we are going to talk about, I guess government oversight, and how it can help you in this discussion today.Tony Abate:Yeah, this is an interesting topic. It's really amped and flowed since before the recession, and then through this recession, and then back out of the recession.Jon Lafferty:I think what interested me about this topic, Tony, I came across a law that was passed in Canada back in 2016. The reason for it was because in Toronto and in Vancouver, housing prices were out of control. They were appreciating at such a rapid rate that people were getting priced out of the market. And so this was their attempt to try and adjust, to make a change so that people weren't buying above their means, and setting themselves up for failure.Jon Lafferty:So one of the first things that they did was they said, "Hey, if you're a first-time home buyer, and let's say the interest rate is three and a half, well, whatever you qualify at three and a half, you have to be able to qualify at four and a half. And if you can't qualify four and a half for that, well what do you qualify four and a half for?" Whatever that number is, that's what you qualified for.Jon Lafferty:So apparently the Canadian government in all their wisdom said, "Hey, this program is working fantastic. So why don't we just make it the law for everybody for any house that they want to buy?" So in the secondary mortgage market ... I'm sorry, not the secondary mortgage market, but in the buy up market, where people are selling that first home, or that next home to buy a bigger home, or something that is in a better area, now they have to go through the same test.Jon Lafferty:"Hey, I can buy a 600,000 dollar house at 3.5%. Would you be able to buy at 4.5%?" "Not a 600,000 dollar house. No, my purchasing power is only maybe 500,000. Well, crap, I can't buy in the area that I want to buy in, so where the heck's my incentive to move. There isn't one anymore. I might as well just stay put. I'm kind of happy with my house and so we'll just stay put and not sell."Jon Lafferty:And so it's created an arbitrary shortage of inventory now because people aren't moving up, and you've got the high-end houses, that are sitting longer and can't sell. So what's happening? It's forcing prices to come down.Tony Abate:Oh, man. Unintended consequences.Jon Lafferty:Unintended consequences.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Jon Lafferty:Hey everybody, welcome to Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence Podcast. This is your pilot, Jon Lafferty with Century 21 Town & Country.Tony Abate:And copilot, Tony Abate, with Ross Mortgage, and we are your real estate pilots. Our job is to be your real estate advocate, and also make sure you're educated about the buying and selling process. We'll keep you informed throughout, until we get you safely closed.Jon Lafferty:In a real estate transaction, there are many reasons why you can encounter turbulence. Today, we are going to talk about something that's pretty prescient in today's news: refinancing, interest rates. Tony, I have a lot of clients that are starting to ask me whether or not this may be a good time for them to refinance, and what things they should think about, and how do they know if the rate that they're getting is worth it, and how much should an interest rate be less than what they're currently financed at to make it worthwhile? All those kinds of questions I get, and I don't know what to tell them so I always send them your way to talk to you about it. Maybe we can talk a little bit about that today, and maybe shed some light on the whole process.Tony Abate:Yeah, well thanks for that, Jon. Yeah, interest rates are really attractive right now. Contrary to what all the pundits were projecting at the end of 2018, interest rates are very, very favorable, and there's predictions that they're going to reach all-time lows in the relatively near future.Jon Lafferty:What would be an all-time low?Tony Abate:Gosh, so 30-year fixed rate loans in the low-3% range. We kind of bottomed out in the three and a half range a couple years back, and we're close, we're in the high threes right now. There's a lot of signals that are suggesting that that's going to happen. Whenever this happens, the chatter about refinancing certainly picks up, and you certainly see the advertisement, the blanket statement, "Now is the time to refinance." To your point, I would say, sometimes it is, and maybe for some people it is, but it takes an analysis, just like anything else does. The opportunity is there, interest rates are very favorable right now.Tony Abate:The thing that I would advise relative to that is, when interest rates do go down, they can be fleeting. When the experts are projecting that interest rates are going to go down, they never go down in a nice, convenient, linear, straight line. It's a bumpy ride, and in fact, even though there's a lot of chatter about low interest rates, over the course of last week they actually increased by about 0.25%.Jon Lafferty:How does that happen?Tony Abate:In the course of a week's time, that's pretty extreme. The predominant trigger most recently had to do with the talk about the tariffs, are they on, are they off, are they good, are they bad?Jon Lafferty:Wait, tariffs affect interest rates for people to get a mortgage loan?Tony Abate:Yes, they do. I'll even go one step beyond. The talk of the tariffs affect the interest rates, they don't even have to be there, it's just the conversation about they're coming, or we're thinking about it, or, "Hey, watch out China," whatever the case may be. Interest rates are always a function of the strength of the economy, and one of the overriding things that's thought about right now is that as tariff activity increases, there's suggestion that that'll be good in the long run, but in the short run it's going to pinch the economy.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Today we talk about some needed changes to FHA that could make condo purchases easier for FHA buyers. Also, we’ll talk about the “R” word and what effect that might have on housing.In a real estate transaction, there are many reasons why you can encounter turbulence today. Today, we thought we'd talk about several different kinds.Yep.So, Tony, I think one of the things that that just happened recently was the changes to FHA that I think are going to be really beneficial for buyers and for condo associations. Talk a little bit about that.Yeah, this is a big deal, and just to kind of step back, you know from this before we dive into it, so FHA financing has been around forever. It's a wonderful tool, not only for first time home buyers but also for folks that are buying a primary residence and maybe they've got limited assets to put it in the transaction. Maybe their credit is a little bit compromised, and FHA has always been a perfect fit for this kind of thing. FHA, when you are financing a condo has kind of morphed over the last couple of decades and how that's being handled. So FHA has always had an approved list of condo projects that they would allow FHA financing to be used on.One of the things that happened is with their last batch of modifications to the policy, the approval came with an expiration, which makes sense, but historically they didn't have an expiration on the darn things. They were just approved ad nauseum.VA doesn't have an expiration.They don't. You're correct. You're correct. So with this change to have condo projects become approved for FHA financing and then have an exploration, there was no mechanism to let the associations know, "Hey, by the way, your FHA approval is going to expire." They just expired, and associations are busy, and they're not necessarily going to say, "Well, you know what? I know no one's asking about it now, but we better get our FHA approval re-upped."And we just had this conversation literally a month and a half ago.Yeah.Remember we were talking about that association, and we were talking about what they had to do to get re-approved.Right, right, right. Yeah. It's a great thing for an association to do, but it's got some heavy lifting to it. There's no doubt about it. And when you think about the flow of things when FHA changes procedure and said, "Okay, and here's a new set of requirements. And by the way, there's an exploration," everybody's expiration date was basically the same. And then of course over time, different condo projects would get approved at different times. But what happens is, is that you have a lot of condo projects that have FHA approvals that roll off that list in a short window of time. So if a home buyer says, "Well, hey, this is my zip codes. That's where I'm looking at." There's maybe 12 condo projects that they could embrace, and ten of them are expired on the FHA list. They were FHA approved and then they weren't.So that's a problem. It closes people out of appropriate home ownership that really fits their needs. So prior to the current setup, what FHA used to do is that they used to allow what was called the spot approval. And basically what that said is FHA responding and saying, Okay, this condo project is not FHA approved. However, if we can find out the short list of data bits on this condo project, we'll give a one time approval for this one unit and allow the transaction to go."---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Today we talk with American Home Shield Warranty expert Kristee Golan about home warranties, coverage & how they can be beneficial. Can having this warranty help offset the cost of a major furnace repair? Yes. Listen for more details.Today we are going to talk home warranties with local expert Kristee Golan of American Home Shield. Welcome Kristee.Thank you. Thanks for having me.Hi Kristee.Glad to have you. So tell us a little bit about home warranties. How they work and how they can be of a benefit to somebody who may be purchasing a home or thinking about selling a home.Absolutely. Well, a home warranty is a one year service agreement that clients can sign up for, which protects their major systems and appliances in their home for normal breakdowns that'll happen due to normal wear and tear. With us, we really talk about warranty as a benefit to the client in terms of that budget protection and really ensuring that they have that peace of mind down the road. Especially with first time home buyers really looking at the amount of money that they're putting into the home upfront and not having that expense down the line and having that peace of mind with a home warranty. So that's really the budget and the peace of mind is the number one.Well, Tony didn't we talk about that back, I want to say maybe a five or six podcasts ago, we were talking about one of the major things that buyers didn't anticipate when they purchased their home or maintenance and repair costs. They were way more than they anticipated. I think this goes exactly to that. It's peace of mind so that you don't have to worry if the furnace quits on you, you're not going to spend $500 or a $1,000 to get it back up and running.Right. Absolutely. Home warranty doesn't cover everything out there. I mean, really gives that, that buffer for those large expenses that'll happen down the road when you're talking about your HVAC giving out or your water heater giving out. Really giving that peace of mind to know that they're protected to have that coverage.Yeah, we did talk about that. I'm sorry. Our industry is partially blamed. One of the things we do is we get folks so laser focused on the money needed for a down payment, money needed for closing costs and that check that they're bringing to the closing that all those other very real things they kind of lose focus on that. And next thing you know that home buyer is purchasing that unexpected water heater or furnace repair or whatever.Mm-hmm (affirmative).Mm-hmm (affirmative) With us, I always say to my clients when I'm dealing with the homeowners, when I'm dealing with the realtors, I always talk about it's not if it's going to happen, it's when going to happen. And while we don't know that variable, an average of two claims happen within that first year of home ownership. And I know I think back to when I purchased my first home 15 years ago with my husband, we put all of our savings, everything that we had built up into that down payment for our home. The home that we purchased, there was a home warranty offered on it. And having that peace of mind, I believe we had three or four service claims the first year of homeownership.The funny thing about that is looking back at that story now, working for American Home Shield, I had an American Home Shield warranty 15 years ago on my home. So kind of crazy how it all comes back into play.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence – Episode 25---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence – Episode 24---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence – Episode 23---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence – Episode 22---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

In this episode we discuss how points reduce your interest rate, what they cost and when they might be the right choice for a buyer. We also talk about buyer getting seller to pay a percentage of their closing costs. What is the max amount you can ask a seller to pay? Does it depend on your loan type or downpayment amount? Listen to find out.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

In today’s episode we talk about the changing market and and buyer contingency offer. What a buyer who need to sell their home to buy should do first. All the moving parts in a contingent offer.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

In today’s episode we discuss the impact i-buyer purchases can have on seller bottom line.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence – Episode 18---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Todays episode we’ll focus on what's trending, changing and coming in housing and lending. We’ll discuss current home design trends you might want to avoid. Where are the hottest housing markets currently located? We’re seeing an uptick in more owners selling, what's happening out there? When an article claims you can save thousands of $$ by shopping your loan to multiple lenders…is that true? When a bank offers you home loan with a zero dollar origination fee…what's the catch? Will we see electronic closings soon, where a buyer could sign from their kitchen?---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

If you’re located in a moderate to low risk flood zone should you consider getting flood insurance? What it covers & does not. Where do most flood claims come from? Should there be a national database available for buyers to find out if a home has ever flooded?---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

InspectionsSigns of potential meth drug use in the home or apartmentCommon paraphernalia & equipmentOther signs of a meth labSigns that a place has been a marijuana grow house8 tips to try and track down if the place you are considering living had a meth lab or was a marijuana grow house---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Mortgage in which repairs, renovations or improvements are included in a new purchase or refinance loan.Conventional vs FHA 203K financingHome equity loan vs renovation loan.Benefits for a sellerBenefits for a buyerImprovements that can be done with a renovation loan---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

We take the issues & myths about VA Loans head on in this revealing episode.What is a VA loan & is it a lesser than conventional?Who can qualify for a VA loan?What is a COE and how does one get it?When should a VA buyer sit down with a lender?What makes a VA loan a better option for a Veteran?What is a VA funding fee?What closing costs MUST the seller pay?What are examples of allowable and non-allowable closing costs to the buyer?What is MPR and how can an experience listing and/or buyers agent help the buyer & seller avoid issues?What happens if the appraisal comes in lower than purchase price? Meet Tidewater, a game changer to contesting a low home valuation. You won’t find this special program on either conventional or FHA loans.VA condo approval process, its never been easier and faster.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Today Scott Whitfield with Wolverine Custom Golf is here to talk about the changing landscape of golf. How the changes in Golf (municipal courses closing, technology etc) impacts land & housing values.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence – Episode 11---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence – Episode 10---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Financial Advisor Tony Bucci provides his advice on diversifying your portfolio into investment properties.Management TemperamentLeverage vs Down PaymentEstablished areas vs Up & coming areasShort term rental considerations & issues that can occur---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Financial Advisor Tony Bucci with advice about putting yourself in a favorable position to purchase a home.What is a financial planner?How do I know they have my best interests in mind?How much should I put as a downpayment?If I want to sell some of my investments to buy a home will they actually agree with that if its the right decision or try to talk me out of it?When should you sit down with a financial advisor?---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

What is it and why is it important?If a person died or was murdered in a home does the seller have to tell you?If the basement has a leak, does the seller have to tell you?Does every seller have to provide a buyer with this document?Why does your lender need to see it?Inspector?When should negotiated repairs/credits be in writing and when they should notShould you give a copy of your home inspection report to your lender if they ask for it?---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Prepping to get pre-approved (what you need)Low down payment optionsInterest rates vs Buying PowerWhat if the appraisal value is lower than the purchase price?---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

In part 2 we talk again with insurance agent Christine to talk about some of the coverage options available. We discuss if the homes physical location can affect the policy cost. Mortgage vs replacement cost. Could the length of seller occupancy create turbulence with type of insurance you have and the loan process? What is a CLUE report and why is it important for a buyer.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

In part 1 insurance agent Christine stops by to talk about homeowners insurance. When should a buyer contact an insurance agent to start the process to get a policy? What goes into generating a quote? Tips for buyers to be mindful of when looking at homes.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Jon and Tony talk about some of the things you forget about that might keep you from buying or selling a home.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

Jon and Tony discuss how your income affect getting a mortgage, and that you are not out of luck if you have an irregular income flow.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret

In this first episode of the Avoiding Real Estate Turbulence podcast, Jon and Tony discuss buyers remorse. Specifically buyers remorse in millennials aged 23 to 30.---Avoiding Real Estate Turbulenceinfo@avoidingret.comhttp://www.avoidingret.comFacebook: fb.me/avoidingret