Leveraging your Home Equity in this changing market

Leverage Your Equity

Have you considered leveraging the equity in your current house to find the home that better fits your needs, be it larger, smaller, different neighborhood, or better amenities.

The Big Objection

The first objection I get when I bring up this topic is “interest rates!”.  The fact is we are coming out of three years of the weirdest real estate market in history for interest rates. They were driven to virtually zero for two years in the Fed’s attempt to stimulate the economy. That combined with a lack of homes for sale due the pandemic (the supply side), and a lack of borrowers causing lenders to offer below market rates (the demand side).

What Happened to the Low Rates?

Once the Fed started bumping up the discount rate mortgage rates rose too as demands for home loans went up because buyers were trying to capture what they felt was left of the low rates. Now things have settled done and rates have stabilized and on some loan types have fallen.

Another aspect the current rates is the highly unusual rapid appreciation of home prices, some as much as 10-15% per year, have stabilized at a more normal 2-4% per year. This is a good thing because when housing prices outpace inflation by what amounts to up to 150% a year buyers are priced out of the market. This makes it much more difficult for a seller to find a qualified buyer.

The Whole Story

What does this all mean for you the homeowner? Well, you have had an equity windfall over the past three years. The growth in value has stabilized and the housing market has cooled somewhat. Now is the time to consider your options.

Let’s Talk

Give me the opportunity to sit down face to face with you and chat about your options. Let’s meet at your home or at some neutral location, I am a coffee geek so any venue that works for you works for me.

I have time this weekend, what is a good time and place for you?