Sacramento CA Real Estate Podcast with Thomas March - What You Need to Know as a First-Time Home Buyer

What You Need to Know as a First-Time Home Buyer

11/03/14 • -1 min

Sacramento CA Real Estate Podcast with Thomas March

There are many great Roseville and Sacramento area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (916) 529-5342 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

What You Need to Know as a First-Time Home Buyer

The Sacramento real estate market has changed dramatically in the past year. We are seeing a lot more inventory on the market, as well as historically low interest rates. This surge in market activity has had us talking to a lot of first-time home buyers lately. Deciding to purchase your first home is a big step, and there is a lot of information you should be aware of. That is why we are joined today by our preferred lender Doug Jones. Doug is going to talk to us about some great programs that are out there, designed for first-time home buyers.

There are some great programs out there right now for first time home buyers in the finance world. A lot of programs that require little down payments. There are a lot of reasons to put a small down payment on a home, but for first time home buyers, it's because you don't quite have the cash reserves to put $20,000 down on a home.

There are 2 primary options that offer low down payment plans for 30-year fixed mortgages. FHA financing allows you to get into a home with just a 3.5% down payment. Conventional financing requires a minimum 5% down payment.

The other 2 options are a little more complex. With VA financing, you aren't required to pay any down payment, but the catch is you will need to be either active-duty or retired military or national guard. If you have a document called the DD214, you are all but guaranteed a VA loan with 0% down.

Another program is USDA. This is a rural program for unincorporated areas such as Lincoln, Loomis, and parts of Auburn. Those allow a small down payment as well.

Another question that we get a lot from first time home buyers is what kind of down payment assistance we can offer. We can offer some great down payment assistance programs through CHDAP, or the California Housing Down Payment Assistance Program. This program is designed to be combined with an FHA loan to bring down the payment to between 1/2% and 1%.

For conventional financing, while CHDAP doesn't lower the down payment from 5%, it allows you to use 3% of that 5% to cover closing costs. There are definitely a lot of great programs out there for first time home buyers.

Previous Episode

Sacramento Real Estate Market Update for Fall 2014

Hey there everybody. Welcome back to our blog. Today what we'd like to do is give you a brief market update on what has been going on in both Sacramento and Placer Counties lately. We hope you take the information from this market update and absorb it so you can know exactly what's going on in real estate. First, let's talk about Sacramento County.

We currently have 3,349 homes for sale, a 41.2% increase over last year at this time.
We have had 1,726 homes go pending so far this year, an increase of 8.3% over last year
Right now, the average price per square foot for a home in Sacramento County is $174, 14% higher than last year

Overall, Sacramento County sees positive signs for both buyers and sellers. Right now, we are selling homes at 101.2% of asking price and the average days our homes are on the market is under 21, so they are selling quick. On the other hand, extremely low interest rate and an increase in inventory give buyers more options and more savings. Now, let's talk about Placer County. Right now in Placer county:

We have 154 homes on the market, a big 56.3% increase from the inventory we had at this time in 2013.
The average price per sq. ft. in Placer County is $191
There are less than 3 months of inventory on hand, making Placer County a better place for sellers.

If you would like to get some more market statistics or just have any questions we can answer, please give us a call or send us an email. We'd love to help out!

Next Episode

Where's the Market Heading and What Does It Mean For You?

It's that time of year again! The holidays are upon us and the new year is right around the corner, making now a perfect time to stop and take a look at what's happening in the Sacramento market.

Currently, there are 3,522 homes for sale, which is a 2.1% increase over last month and a 25.2% increase over last year. A total of 1,354 properties sold last month, which is a 5.6% decrease from last month and a 4.1% decrease over last year. These numbers are nothing to worry about, however, because the number of pending homes is up 11% over last year and we have 1,489 homes pending, which is a slight 1.4% increase since last month.

Where is the market heading and what does it mean for you

What this tells us is we currently have a pretty stable market. There is still under three months of inventory here in Sacramento, which is technically a seller's market, but low interest rates make it a good time to buy as well. As we head into the winter market, many people think the market will slow down, as people are pulling out of the market for the holidays. Right now, if you're a buyer, you should take advantage of the fact that many buyers are pulling out of this very competitive market.

We hear from many buyers that they would rather wait until spring to look for a home because there is a higher inventory. While that's true, there will also be a lot more buyers out there to compete with. We truly believe that the current market is one of the best ones to buy a home in. Interest rates are expected to rise sometime next year, so now may be the most ideal time to buy a home for years to come.

Rising interest rates also affect sellers. When rates go up next year, many buyers are going to realize they can no longer afford homes they were initially interested in, or may find out that they are no longer eligible for financing. Since buyers are likely to leave the market in droves next year, now is also the time to sell, while buyers are still clamoring for homes. It's probably not in your best interest to wait until spring next year.

These are just a few things to think about as the year comes to an end. If you would like to discuss what these conditions mean for you, or if you have any general questions...