Palm Springs Real Estate Podcast with Will Cook - Debunking 4 Major Real Estate Myths

Debunking 4 Major Real Estate Myths

11/01/16 • -1 min

Palm Springs Real Estate Podcast with Will Cook

There are four real estate myths that, unfortunately, too many people believe. Some of them could even cost you a lot of money.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

There are four major real estate myths that I wanted to debunk for you.

1. Realtors get kickbacks from lenders, home inspectors, and other referrals. This is not only untrue and unethical but according to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), it’s also against the law. No professional Realtor is going to jeopardize their career or reputation just for a kickback. Most agents, however, will give you recommendations for vendors like lenders or inspectors because they build professional relationships with these people and they know that they’re good at what they do. It only helps to ensure a smooth transaction for everyone involved.

“

Realtors won’t jeopardize their career
just for a kickback.

”

There are four real estate myths that, unfortunately, too many people believe. Some of them could even cost you a lot of money.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

There are four major real estate myths that I wanted to debunk for you.

“

Realtors won’t jeopardize their career
just for a kickback.

”

Previous Episode

Why Mortgage Interest Rates Are Still Low

Today we’re going to talk about one of the reasons that mortgage interest rates are so low right now.

At the beginning of the summer, the U.K. voted to leave the European Union. This became known as "Brexit," and it has created a lot of uncertainty and worry for our neighbors across the Atlantic.

Here in the U.S., though, Brexit has been nothing but good for our real estate market. Because of Brexit, investors all over the world want a safer place to invest, and this has pushed already-low mortgage interest rates down even further because they are investing in our housing market.

“

Here in the U.S., Brexit has been
nothing but good news
for mortgage rates.

”

In fact, we are now in the middle of the second-longest run of cheap mortgage rates in history. Currently, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 3.46%; this is only a few points above its all-time low of 3.31%.

What does all of this mean for you?

First, if you are looking to buy a home, now is an unusually good time to do so because these low rates mean you will be paying less. As an example, if you were to take out a 30-year, $250,000 mortgage today versus a year ago (when interest rates were almost 4%), you would save more than $25,000 over the lifetime of the loan.

Next Episode

What to Do If Your Appraisal Comes in Low in the Middle of a Transaction

If a home appraisal comes in lower than the sales price in the middle of a transaction, what should you do? Here are your three options.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

Low appraisals can be a real challenge in our market today. Low appraisals have become more common because our home prices have been appreciating quickly over the past several years and there are fewer and fewer comparable properties. It seems that each sale is higher than the last.

So what is an appraisal? It’s a price that a willing buyer and seller will settle on. In reality, a home must be sold to three different groups: the buyer’s agents, the buyers themselves, and the mortgage lenders. The brokers help us find the buyers for your properties, the buyers have to feel that the sales price is justified, and the lenders have to agree on the value because they’re the ones putting up most of the money for the house.

“