7 things you need to know before buying a rental property

Is Buying A Rental House or Condo A Good Idea?

Owning a rental property has potential to create extra income if you properly prepare. There are a variety of circumstances that lead our clients to consider owning a rental property. We work with clients targeting investment properties to rent.

One of our top priorities is to ensure our clients are comfortable pursuing the option that best fits their needs. We work with clients that  would like to turn the investment into a full-time income, or are turning to rental options as a necessity. The following are a few areas that can begin the consideration process for owning rental property.

How do I prepare for owning a rental property?

1. Get your finances in order                     

You…

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What documents you need to keep after buying a home

When you buy or sell a home, you have to review, initial and sign many documents. So many that it can feel a bit overwhelming. So when the sale is final and you start to move in (or out), there is a huge temptation to throw all those documents away. That would be a big mistake, because you never know what problems or issues might arise in the future. To avoid those headaches, it’s important to understand what the closing documents are for, and how long you should keep them.

Here is a basic guide to help you:

Keep These Documents When Buying A Home

When you close on a home, you’ll get a mortgage agreement, various addendums and disclosures, the deed and the settlement statement, among other documents. Some documents you’ll get right away, and…

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Is it really better to rent rather than buy a home?

These days, people are questioning the value of homeownership and wondering if it's better to rent instead. Some experts have concluded that renting is better, and they've come up with several reasons, listed below.

However, those reasons are dubious at best and just plain false at worst, at least as it pertains to buying vs. renting in the Triangle region. Here are three common reasons why renting is better than buying, and our answers to them.

You don't have to pay taxes and fees

The argument goes that when you rent, that's all you pay. You don't have to pay the property taxes and other fees that go along with owning a home.

While it's true that you don't write out a tax check every year, you are covering the cost of those taxes and…

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Realtor.com recently released their national housing forecast for 2017 that includes big news for the Raleigh-Cary and Durham-Chapel Hill real estate markets. According to the report, home prices and sales are expected to rise across the country next year by 3.9% and 1.9% respectively, although the Triangle Area is predicted to see some of the highest increases across all of the markets.

Raleigh in particular could see home prices rise 4.16% next year with an estimated growth of 7.6% in home sales, which could make them one of the 10 strongest real estate economies in the nation next year.

The report ranks Durham –Chapel Hill just a few spots behind Raleigh, with an expected increase of 2.55% in home prices and 8.95% in sales. So far this year,…

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Durham & Chapel Hill real estate market update - Spring 2016So here we are again at the beginning of another spring market in the Durham/Chapel Hill area. The azalea's are in bloom, despite abnormally low temperatures, and things are looking beautiful. It's a great time to go out and start your home search, or is it?

Over the last few years the real estate market in our area has gotten tougher and tougher for buyers in Durham and Chapel Hill. We are seeing very little inventory and prices are going up up up. For example, in Orange County, year over year, the median sales price is up 34.8% and inventory is sitting at a 4 month supply, where 6 months is considered a balanced market. Durham county is up 17.1 % and inventory is sitting at a staggering low of 1.9 months of supply. So some buyers are asking…

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Why get pre-approved for a mortgage before looking at homes“Why do I need to get Pre-Approved?” is a question we get asked almost every day at My NC Homes when we speak with perspective home buyers. Some tell us "I went online and know I’m qualified". While that might be the case, it's important to understand the differences between Pre-Qualification and Pre-Approval when it comes to the mortgage process.

The Differences Between Pre-Qualification & Pre-Approval

Two often confused terms in the home buying process are a mortgage pre-qualification and a mortgage pre-approval. Even some loan officers and real estate agents will use the terms incorrectly or may not fully understand the difference between the two. If you are looking to buy a home in the Durham/Chapel Hill/Cary area it is critical that you get…

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Rent-to-own is never a good deal. It’s a lose-lose proposition for a buyer. In the 35 years that I’ve been in real estate, I’ve never met a single person who purchased a property in this fashion and had a positive outcome. While, in theory, it might sound like a reasonable idea for someone who is not yet in the position to buy a home and needs a year or two to build a good credit rating, in reality it simply does not work this way. These deals are usually predatory and designed to take advantage of tenants who have limited options due to their financial situation—and who will agree to unfavorable terms because they don’t know any better. In our experience, there are only two reasons why sellers pursue rent-to-own deals.

The Location is Unattractive

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I don’t think ARM’s or Reverse mortgage indicate a housing bubble, unlike the this article suggests.

I believe ARM’s are an ideal mortgage product for a significant number of home buyers and reflect the reality of today’s work environment; namely that most 25-45 year old buyers will very likely be moving either as their financial, personal or employment status changes. This is referred to as “playing the odds”.

Statistically speaking there an almost 90% chance that most of my buyers will be moving within the first 5 or 7 years of buying their home, so why would they not want a lower fixed rate for the first 5 or 7 years of their mortgage? The media did an absolutely awful job of reporting the issues with the real estate collapse in 2008-09. The…

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Beginning on January 10, 2014 new mortgage rules become effective for home buyers. For the majority of home buyers I work with in

Chapel Hill, Durham, and Cary NC in general I don't foresee any major impact, as the mortgage lenders I routinely work with have beenusing the lending criteria that will now be required for qualified mortgages. (Qualified mortgages are those that can be sold on the secondary market which accounts for 90%? of all mortgages.) These changes as well as others coming later in the year are part of the Dodd-Frank Act.

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, under the Ability-to-Repay rule, lenders are to consider eight factors. These include your current income or assets, current employment status, credit history,…

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Mortgage Interest rates quoted for my clients buying a home in Durham this week are back to the low 4% range - something we haven't seen since last Spring. The Durham Real Estate Market is continuing to be one where the homes in the low $300,000 and $200,000 range are getting lots of activity.

For home buyers in Durham who are using a FHA or VA mortgage loan, mortgage interest rates that were quoted this week are in the 3.75% range, again, something we haven't seen the last 3 or 4 months. This is all really good news for those who are buying a home in Durham AND home SELLERS in the Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary real estate market.

Why do Sellers care about mortgage interest rates? For homes in the "First Time Home Buyer" price range - mortgage interest…

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