Ruby Zuluaga Realtor

04/16/2022

Having the right storage supplies can bring owners a harmonious home aesthetic. These tips can help your clients choose flexible and attractive home storage options that work with their decor.

Share these tips with your clients to help them take a deep dive into decluttering and storage for greater efficiency and enjoyment of their abode.

01/24/2022

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Consumers’ Preferences for the ‘Perfect’ Kitchen
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January 21, 2022
The kitchen is a prime attraction when buyers are shopping for homes, but it’s not just a place for cooking. It’s also an area for entertaining and even working.

Consumers ranked efficiency and functionality as the most important aspects of the perfect kitchen, according to a survey of more than 1,000 Americans from HomeAdvisor. The perfect kitchen, most respondents say, also has a gas stove with four burners and an overhead hood.

04/09/2019

Drop in Mortgage Rates Could Put Market in 2005 Territory






April 9, 2019
The recent plunge in mortgage rates may help the market for home loans surge to a 14-year high, according to recent housing forecasts. In the past month, mortgage rates have posted their biggest drop in a decade, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 4.08 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey.

The rate decline has enticed more home buyers to enter the market, prompting mortgage demand to reach its highest level since the fall of 2016. Mortgage applications jumped 18.6 percent last week as borrowers rushed to lock in lower financing costs. Mark Watson, director of forecasting for mortgage advisory firm iEmergent, predicts $1.2 trillion in home lending this year, which would be the best year since 2005. “We think the lower mortgage rates will create a huge push, partly from millennial buyers,” Watson told HousingWire. “That is going to support strong growth in home sales over the next several years.”

iEmergent projects a 3.9 percent increase in total home loan volume this year. That’s more optimistic than other forecasters, such as Freddie Mac, which is predicting a 1.5 percent increase in total mortgage lending for 2019, and the Mortgage Bankers Association, which predicts a 1 percent gain.

But the threat of higher mortgage rates is diminishing. The Federal Reserve announced at its January meeting that due to a slowing economy, it does not plan to raise its short-term key interest rates again this year. Therefore, mortgage rates will likely stay low for a while, which will bode well for the housing market, Watson says. “The benefits of the decline in mortgage rates that we’ve seen this year will continue to unfold over the next few months due to the lag from changes in mortgage rates to market sentiment and ultimately home sales,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

04/05/2019

Though most expect an economic downturn soon, buyers see greater opportunity in the housing market and believe it is more resilient than in 2008.

02/16/2019

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Home News and Commentary Daily News
Mortgage Rates Drop to Lowest Levels in a Year
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February 15, 2019
Mortgage rates for 30, 15, ARM. Full information at http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/
© REALTOR® Magazine

Cooling inflation and slower global economic growth prompted mortgage rates to drift down to the lowest levels in a year, Freddie Mac reports.

“While housing activity has clearly softened over the last nine months and the lingering effects of higher rates from last year are still being felt, lower mortgage rates and a strong job market should rekindle demand for the spring home buying season,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgages for the week ending Feb. 14:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.37 percent, with an average 0.4 point, dropping from last week’s 4.41 percent average. A year ago, 30-year rates averaged 4.38 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.81 percent, with an average 0.4 point, falling from last week’s 3.84 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.84 percent.
5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.88 percent, with an average 0.3 point, falling from last week’s 3.91 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.63 percent.

The combination of cooling inflation and slower global economic growth led mortgage rates to drift down to the lowest levels in a year. While housing activity has clearly softened over the last nine months and the lingering effects of higher rates from last year are still being felt, lower mortgage....

02/16/2019

Realtors this is why it’s SO IMPORTANT to partner with an Experienced Mortgage Broker VS a Retail Lender. The buyers below were previously quoted 5.25 max purchase price $270k for an FHA loan by a retail lender.

Thanks to our OUTSTANDING WHOLESALE pricing my 3.99 rate gave them the PURCHASING POWER to land their dream home at $310k.

RATE MATTERS in TODAYS market where home values are on the rise! Let me help get your buyers into their dream home! 😊✌🏻❤️🏘

02/10/2019

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Home News and Commentary Daily News
Mortgage Rates Fall to 10-Month Low
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February 8, 2019

Borrowing costs were cheaper this week, as mortgage rates continued inching down. “The U.S. economy remains on solid ground, inflation is contained, and the threat of higher short-term rates is fading from view, which has allowed mortgage rates to drift down to their lowest level in 10 months,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “This is great news for consumers who will be looking for homes during the upcoming spring homebuying season. Mortgage rates are essentially similar to a year ago, but today’s buyers have a larger selection of homes and more consumer bargaining power than they did the last few years.”

Freddie Mac reports the following averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Feb.7:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.41 percent, with an average 0.4 point, dropping from last week’s 4.46 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.32 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.84 percent, with an average 0.4 point, dropping from last week’s 3.89 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.77 percent.
5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.91 percent, with an average 0.3 point, falling from last week’s 3.96 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.57 percent.
Source: “Mortgage Rates Drop,” Freddie Mac (Feb. 7, 2019)

The U.S. economy remains on solid ground, inflation is contained and the threat of higher short-term rates is fading from view, which has allowed mortgage rates to drift down to their lowest level in 10 months.

02/08/2019

“Why are you selling your house?” might seem like a perfectly innocent question from home buyers, but watch out—if you're the home seller they're asking, this is one of the diciest questions you can answer. The reason: Pretty much any explanation you give is bound to contain revealing info that these home buyers could use against you, thereby compromising your negotiating power.

“Home buyers are looking for any indication that you’d be willing to accept an offer that’s below list price,” says Annapolis, MD, real estate agent Greg Beckman. “If you say the wrong thing to a buyer, the person might make you a lowball offer.”

To prevent that from happening, Beckman recommends sellers let their listing agent handle communication with prospective buyers. “Let your agent do all the talking,” he says, adding that sellers shouldn’t be present for showings or open houses.

06/14/2018

Our house is in perfect condition'
Your home is your castle, and in your eyes it may seem perfect—but don't make claims that aren't true, says Cara Ameer, a Realtor® with Coldwell Banker.

“The home inspection may reveal otherwise, and, as a seller, you don’t want to wind up putting your foot in your mouth," she explains. Bottom line: “There simply is no such thing as ‘perfect condition.' Every house, whether it is brand new or a resale, has something that needs to be fixed, adjusted, replaced, or improved upon."

‘It's been on the market for X...'
Never, ever discuss how long the home has been on the market with prospective buyers, says Pam Santoro, a Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. This info is often listed and available on the home's information sheet, but bringing it up—especially if the home has been available for eons—can send sellers the wrong message. No one wants to buy a white elephant—and, if they do, it's probably because they think they'll be getting it dirt-cheap.

‘We’ve never had a problem with...'
If you're hoping to move quickly, you may be tempted to tell a few little white lies. So you never had a problem with weird neighbors, eh? Or flooded basements? Or vengeance-seeking poltergeists? Realtors agree that your mistruths—however insignificant they might seem—could come back to you with teeth.

“You're setting yourself up for potential liability," explains Ameer. “You may not even be aware of the problem at first, but it could translate into an embarrassing moment upon inspection." So come clean with what you know and admit what you don't.

‘We always wanted to fix/renovate that, but...'
Tempted to mention, “We always thought about knocking this wall down and opening the space for more light?" How about “We planned on renovating this bathroom but ran out of cash"? Mum's the word when it comes to fixes you intended to address. Nobody cares about good intentions.

“When sellers point out things they might change, this only alerts the buyer of more upcoming costs for them," says Maryjo Shockley, a Realtor with Keller Williams. Who knows? Your buyers may not even want to knock down that wall or redo the bathroom. So why plant those ideas, along with those dollar signs?

‘We spent a ton of money on X, Y, and Z'
Just because you love the Brazilian koa wood flooring you installed throughout the first floor, that doesn't mean prospective buyers will be willing to shell out for it.

“The buyer doesn’t care whether you spent $10,000 or $100,000 on your kitchen," says Ameer. “They are only going to offer what they feel the home is worth in relation to area comparable sales." So, save your breath, or else you'll risk sounding like you're trying too hard to justify your price. Desperation isn't cool.

‘I’m not taking less than X amount for my home'
When it comes time to sell, it makes sense that you want top dollar. We get it! But at the same time, it's important to be realistic and open to offers within a reasonable range.

“If you send a message that you are inflexible or not open to negotiating, it may not invite buyers to even try to work out acceptable price and terms as they will feel defeated from the start," says Ameer. “Word may spread that you have this sentiment as a seller, and people may start to avoid the house."

04/20/2017

gives many people the urge to purge their file cabinets of extraneous financial records. But some people hold on to personal and business data indefinitely, because they don't want to be caught off guard by an unexpected IRS inquiry. Here are basic records retention guidelines for individual and business taxpayers to help reduce the mounds of paperwork that are collected over the years.