La Jolla Real Estate, Del Mar real estate, Rancho Santa Fe Homes, Carmel Valley Real Estate, University City and
Downtown San Diego real estate, homes and condos for sale in California - Ruth Mills & the Mills Team, REALTOR.






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 December 15, 2009

I have not said this before, but the time has come to buy, buy, buy!
This is almost the perfect storm for home buying. Interest rates for mortgages are unbelievably low, the home prices are moving up and the government has extended the $8,000 tax credit for first time buyers (people who have not owned a home in the last three years). The government also offered a tax credit of $6,500 for move up homeowners.
The low interest rate can save you several hundred dollars each month. I just looked at the Freddie Mac site for the latest interest rate and it was listed as 4.71%. Let me show an example of how the interest rate can dramatically impact monthly mortgage payments, i.e., if a buyer obtains a $400,000 home loan at 4.71% vs. the same loan at 6%, it could save the owner approximately $430 a month for an estimated total of $5,160 each year.

The low interest rate gives the buyer more purchase power by qualifying for a larger loan. These low interest rates might end soon because the Feds have said they would stop buying up the mortgages before the summer which will drive up interest rates.

The most important part for buyers right now is to not miss this opportunity for the low interest rates, the tax credit that is ending on April 30th and the low home prices.