IN THIS ISSUE

• February is a good time to buy a home

• APR is not a great number

• Quiz: Do you know what LTV stands for?

Read Time: 4 Minutes

With good reason, we recommended buying now

February 5, 2024

Hello Home Buyer.

The data is in: February is an excellent month to buy your first home finally.

Is it the best month in history? No. The best month in history to buy a home came sometime in mid-2020 if you ask me. 

But relative to the housing climate from 2023 and how housing will look through 2024 and 2025, consider yourself lucky if you're out shopping for homes right now.

It will cost more to buy homes later this year.

Heading into the second week of the month, here is what I'm seeing:

1. Mortgage rates are down

2. An imbalance between buyers and sellers
3. Sellers are getting greedy

Put it together, and you have a friendly climate for mortgage rates amid the potential for rising home prices. Your dollar goes farther right now. Later, it won't.

I made a video that talks about why now is an excellent time to buy. It's on our YouTube, and I'm sharing it below. If you're on the fence about purchasing a home or renting for another year, the video will help you choose.

Please give it a watch and leave your comments. I respond to everyone in the comment section personally.

Happy Homebuying!

KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

19

The number of days until a $100,000-$250,000 home gets purchased by a buyer and taken off the market. 19 days is an entire week faster than the general housing market, in which homes are sold in twenty-six days. 

$100,000-$250,000 is the typical first-time home buyer price range meaning the housing market segment you're in is the market's most competitive.

MORTGAGE SMART IN 60 SECONDS

Home Sales Are Popping Already 

New data from the National Association of REALTORS® shows an increase in homes going into contract, putting upward pressure on U.S. home prices.   

Every business day, we make a 60-second video for our customers, highlighting the latest and most important stories in mortgage and real estate.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for this and more.

WORD OF THE WEEK

APR

APR is an acronym for "Annual Percentage Rate". It's a calculation of the complete cost of a mortgage held to full term. APR is not your mortgage rate.

Learn more about APR and its shortcomings.

🤨 QUIZ TIME

What does the acronym "LTV" stand for?

A. Loan-to-Value

B. Lease Termination Value

C. Land Tax Valuation

D. Lease-to-Vest

Which answer do you think is correct?

🆕 NEW AND JUST FOR YOU!

This week, we wrote (and re-wrote) even more helpful articles to make you a better first-time buyer.

🏡 The Big List of First-Time Home Buyer Mistakes

🏡 Is Now A Good Time To Buy?

🏡 ZIP Code Invasions: Gen Z Home Buyers

🏡 What Is A Credit Score?

🏡 What Is The Federal Reserve?

Bonus: Have you tried our new search feature? Find fast answers to your first-time buyer questions.

Try the search feature here.

THE SIGNOFF MEME

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