Use This Playbook to Hack Your Mortgage

Our new playbook has 29 pages of great information for owners and buyers.

I am beyond excited to finally release something that we've been working on for a long time, and it's called the Mortgage Hacks Playbook. If you're a homeowner or you're thinking about buying a home, this playbook can help you greatly, and it covers everything you need to know. 

This Mortgage Hacks Playbook we put together is 29 pages. It's for homeowners who already have a loan, and it’s also for people who are thinking about buying, selling, or investing this year. Since we're in a shifting market, we have to get creative with financing, and this can help with that.

"This playbook has concepts that could save homeowners thousands of dollars."

The first section covers the different types of financing options that can help you get through to buying a home, including interest rate buydowns, seller financing, ARM loans, and 20-, 30-, and 40-year conventional mortgages. We cover the pros and cons associated with each type of loan. 

The biggest value in this book is for homeowners who currently have a loan on their homes. That is because we get deep into how to reduce the costs associated with that loan and save you thousands of dollars over the lifetime of your loan. This is possible through different products like biweekly payments, using HELOCs to buy investment properties, and all kinds of different options. 

Call, text, or email us if you have any questions or want access to the guide. Know that our team has the best Realtors in town, and we work with some of the best lenders, so we can help you apply the ideas in this playbook. We look forward to hearing from you!

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Click below to preview our Mortgage Hacks Playbook and find out how to gain full access to all 29 pages!

Seasonality and Cyclicality of the Market

Our market naturally moves in both seasons and cycles.

Much like most things in life, real estate moves in both seasons and cycles. Let’s begin by talking about the seasonality of our market.

This is especially important right now because we are heading into a season that is traditionally slower. There are other factors, of course, that are slowing things down, like interest rates, inflation, and the stock market, but this period is just naturally slower. However, believe it or not, sales tend to pick up a little bit during the holidays since children are out of school and people need to move for work reasons. Further, you’ll see another uptick in the new year with people moving for their New Year's resolutions.

From there, the market is a little quiet, with people going out of town for spring break, but it explodes again after that. This is a time when the market has more opportunities for buyers but is also a little more competitive.

Finally, we head into the summer, and while many people tend to move during the summer, the high heat and children returning to school can close that season early. 

"We are heading into a season that is traditionally slower."

So we are here in the Fall, and that is a season that is especially good for investors. Home sellers are typically more willing to negotiate in this season, particularly those who listed in the summer and have sat on the market for a little bit.

This is the seasonality of our market. The cyclicality is a little bit different. When we say that the market is cyclical, we mean to say that the market goes through seven to ten-year upticks, followed by a one- to two-year correction. That’s what we are seeing right now, where even though there are other factors like interest rates driving things down, it’s also a natural slowing of the market. In fact, the correction is even a little bit overdue, with all of the unnatural stimuli we’ve seen in the market. 

What does this mean for you? You should give me a call or an email, and we can discuss your particular situation. I’d be delighted to help you out.

Should You Wait To Buy a House?

With what we know about the market today, there’s no better time to buy.

Should you wait to buy a house? There are two prevailing reasons why people are waiting to buy: They are either waiting for prices to go down because they are under the impression that home prices will continue to slide, or they are waiting for interest rates to decline. 

In reality, no one can predict whether either will happen—in the near future or the long term. What we know right now is that we are in a shifting market. We know interest rates are right around 7%. We know some sellers are finally getting motivated enough to price their homes correctly and give proper incentives to get their homes sold. 

So, should you wait to buy a house? The short answer is no. If you are in a position to buy a home, it’s a great time to purchase real estate. If anything, some are calling this market shift the Buyer’s Revenge Market. There's a short window of time where buyers can negotiate and get the upper hand.

"What we know right now is that we are in a shifting market."

Furthermore, experts and economists alike are still extremely optimistic about our market—especially in Austin, Texas. With 188 people moving here daily, Austin's housing demand is still relatively strong. 

It's a great time to invest in real estate. It’s a great time to buy your first home. It’s a great time to move up into the home you truly want. Most buyers are still sitting on the sidelines, waiting for something to change. That is where the opportunity is: To act when others are waiting.

What's the best first step to see if it makes sense to buy a house now? Give me a call, shoot me a message, and we will schedule a consultation. I’d love to connect with you.

One Strategy To Help Buyers and Sellers Win

How interest rate buydowns can help both buyers and sellers win.

What exactly is an interest rate buydown? There are a lot of terms within real estate that we can negotiate, including price, closing date, closing costs, and repairs. However, recently the phrase “interest rate buydown” has come up more than it has in the last five to 10 years, so it’s important that you’re informed on what it entails. 

In our market, mortgage interest rates have become what we're calling now “the great equalizer.” Buyers have some power when negotiating contracts, and sellers are using these buydowns as a proactive way to attract buyers. Right now, interest rates are at about 7%, and that is not that palatable for most buyers, so interest rate buydowns are being used to bring down the price. 

There are a couple of different ways to structure an interest rate buydown. The classic way is to do one permanently, which means that you’re paying the lender to bring the cost down for the entire span of the loan. It’s usually a point or 1% of the loan and buys the rate down 0.25%.

"Buydowns are a great temporary solution to help buyers and sellers both win."

What’s becoming more common is a 2-1 buydown. This is temporary and costs less money. It buys the rate down two points for the first year, one point for the second year, and then after that, it will reset up to the full interest rate that was originally quoted. It saves everyone money.

We're anticipating that interest rates will drop back down to normal levels, which is in the 4% to 5% range, in the next 6 to 24 months. Therefore, these buydowns are a great temporary solution to help buyers and sellers both win even with today’s rates. 

If you'd like to talk about buying a home, selling one, or implementing the 2-1 buydown strategy, please reach out; I’d love to help you. Call or email anytime! I am looking forward to connecting with you.

Pricing Your Home in a Correcting Market

These three strategies are the keys to pricing well in a correcting market.

How do I price my home in a correcting market? Many people are asking this question lately. With this, there are a few common things people are talking about: rising interest rates, decreasing sales, and increasing inventory. Does that mean we are going to experience a housing crash? I don’t think so. After two years of an incredibly hectic market, we’re just settling down to a normal seller’s market. Therefore, how do we price accordingly?

1. Don’t be overpriced. There are many things you can do to get your home ready, but this is not the kind of market to test a higher price. In the previous market, we could take the last sale and ask a little higher, but that is no longer the case. The last thing you want to do is chase the market down, as that leaves you looking desperate and open to lowball offers. 

   “We’re just settling down to a normal seller’s market.”
   

2. Price below the market value. This works well because, as the market is shifting down, we’re already below the sales that we are comparing to. If you have a lot of comparable sales that are waiting on the market, you can undercut them and sell quickly. 

3. “Test market” your price. How do you test the market without actually being on the market? We use a comprehensive, pre-market strategy called “test marketing”. We come up with a price range and shop it around to buyers in the area, like a pre-sale. Then we gather that feedback and use it to prepare your home and get it priced accurately for the market while building interest in the home.

These are my favorite strategies for pricing in a correcting market. To learn more about them, reach out to me for a consultation. Call me today, I’d be happy to help you out.