Tag Archives: Olathe Home Buyers

Need to schedule a quick showing to have a shot at WINNING that hot new listing before it’s gone?

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The Jason Brown Group

See a HOT new listing and in a hurry to get in and see it before it’s gone? Tired of calling listing agents and waiting forever for a call back? Down on the home buying process because every house you call on has already gone under contract? Avoiding a significant delay in getting a showing scheduled can be the difference between losing and WINNING that new listing… It does not have to be that way!

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Instead of calling the listing agent, contact The Jason Brown Group and you’ll be assured of getting a quick response to work on scheduling a showing. Want to schedule to get in to see multiple homes? Attempting to schedule four showings with four listing agents could costs you four days of your time… And the likelihood of losing out on the HOT new listings… It does not have to be that way! With just a little planning, a Jason Brown Group buyer’s agents can schedule to get you into MANY homes all in a row.

All buyer’s agents with The Jason Brown Group are experienced agents and licensed in both Kansas and Missouri, so we can show you ANY active listings in the metro area. When working with one of our buyer’s agents, YOUR best interests will be represented throughout the real estate process, which is critical because you can bet the listing agent with the sign in the yard is representing the home SELLER’S best interests.

Having a buyer’s agent assist you costs you nothing because the buyer’s agent commission is already factored into the price you see on all listed homes. So contact The Jason Brown Group today to let us know the addresses or MLS numbers of the homes you’re wanting to see. We’ll get back with you quickly to work on scheduling showings…

Contact The Jason Brown Group to Schedule a Showing!

Posted by Jason Brown

 

Despite Tripling Of Gas And Bread Prices, Low Interest Rates Keep Kansas City Mortgage Payments Same As 20 Years Ago

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

The stats below have been sitting on my desk for some time now and I just got around to looking them over. It was eye-opening and something I wanted to share it here. The stats compare recent prices to prices from about 20 years ago. Take a look and you’ll see how much bread, gasoline, vehicles and home prices have gone up. Then take in that mortgage interest rates have been cut in HALF — that critical detail has kept the average monthly mortgage payment virtually the SAME as two decades ago.

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Gas prices have nearly tripled… Car prices have doubled… Average home sale prices have nearly doubled… Despite all this, because mortgage rates are at historical lows, the average monthly mortgage payment is virtually UNCHANGED! The Johnson County Kansas real estate market has been stable for well more than a year. Add in that mortgage interest rates have nowhere to go but up and that makes this one of the best opportunities ever to buy a first home or make the move up that you’ve been delaying.


Posted by Jason Brown

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Remember When Kansas City Home Buyers Were Trusted On Their Stated Income Level?

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

It’s hard to believe that stated income loans – a.k.a. liar loans – were a common lending practices just a few years ago.  A borrower who was between jobs could simply tell the lender they’re monthly income, accept a slightly higher interest rate, the lender wouldn’t verify the income and the buyer was on their way to closing. Amazing. But those days are gone and it’s become much more black and white to get a mortgage loan today. If you don’t have a 3.5% down payment, you better have VA loan eligibility or be talking to me about one of the special loan programs out there that require you to jump through hoops to get a loan.

You definitely need to have stable employment and decent credit scores. Think about this for a moment… I actually had a buyer with 800 credit scores and 50% down get harassed late in the process to provide additional documentation. He was self-employed and my first thought was, wouldn’t a bank WANT a buyer with 50% equity to default on the loan.  But it took just a moment to rationalize things and realize that banks don’t want any more REO properties on this books — even ones they’d make money on by taking back through the foreclosure process and selling later.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Is It Time For Kansas City Home Buyers To Get Off The Fence?

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

At least one economist believes that “every major price index points to a housing market that has hit bottom”. If true, that would be music to Kansas City home seller’s ears. But it would also mean that prices would likely start trending up at that point. When they do – and they will eventually – then lookers who didn’t buy will have missed out on some great deals. Buying at the bottom of a down market is going to make a lot of people money but buying at the perfect time involves as much luck as skill, mainly because we’ll already be well into a recovery by the time it’s reported.

Even though it will take history to show us whether this was the perfect time to buy, indications are present that now could be the time to get off the fence. I pay close attention to the economists who study our real estate markets daily and to hear a reputable economist’s assessment that we’re now at the bottom of the real estate market is promising news. If more economists jump on board touting that we’re indeed at the bottom, it will be PAST home buyers who bought at the perfect time.

The above quote from William Wheaton, Professor of Economics and Real Estate at MIT in Boston Massachusetts certainly got my attention and Professor Wheaton further points out that home prices have stabilized in nearly every United States region and that median U.S. home price increased from $164,000 in February of 2010 to $182,600 in August of 2010 — which is a  HUGE 11% increase in just 6 months time!


Posted by Jason A. Brown

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I PITI The Fool Who Doesn’t Know What This Acronym Means When Buying A Home

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

When getting Pre-Approved for a home loan, there’s more to the process than just rushing to get the Pre-Approval Letter in hand. Yes, that letter tells you the lender is willing to give you a loan.  But what it doesn’t tell you is how much your monthly mortgage payments are going to be. And, if you ask me, that’s the most important aspect of getting Pre-Approved. Of course closing costs are very important too, but it’s the monthly payments that you could be faced with making for 5, 10, 15 years…

So be sure you consider each component that makes up your monthly mortgage payment. PITI is an easy acronym to remember for the four core aspects of a monthly mortgage payment. They stand for Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance. The Principal is the portion of each monthly payment that’s being deducted off the total amount you still own on the home. In other words, if you’re selling your home later and $5,000 of your monthly payments over the years have gone towards principal, that’s $5,000 in equity you’ve built up by way of your monthly payments.

The next aspect is Interest. We all know what this is. It’s how the lender profits by loaning you the money to buy the home. If the principal and interest portion of your monthly mortgage payment is $1,000 per month, possibly $950 of each payment is going to interest. This is certainly the case in the first several years of a mortgage loan because mortgage loans have the earliest payments front loaded with interest.  This is how mortgage loans have been done for decades and essentially your monthly mortgage payments are being recalculated each month based on the new loan balance (after taking your previous month’s payment into consideration). In case you’re wondering at what point would the principal pay-down portion of a monthly mortgage payment equal the interest portion, I belive it’s somewhere around year 20 on a 30 year mortgage loan.

The next aspect is Insurance. By insurance we mean Homeowner’s Insurance – a.k.a. Hazard Insurance. If you’re home burns down, Homeowner’s Insurance is what’s going to rebuild the home. Why do lenders require this be included in your monthly payments (if you have less than a 20% down payment)?  Well, for a buyer who has just a 5% down payment, it would mean the bank actually “owns” 95% of the risk in your home. So, if it burns down, the borrower lost 5% of the asset but the lender would be losing 95%! If a borrower has more than a 20% down payment, most lenders feel the borrower has such a big interest in making sure the home has insurance in place that they don’t require it be included in the borrower’s monthly mortgage payments.

The next aspect of the mortgage payment is Taxes. By taxes we mean County Property Taxes.  Your lender doesn’t want a lien placed on your home by the government in the event you don’t stay current on your property taxes. So, if you have less than a 20% down payment, the lender will collect your property taxes in your monthly payment. This portion of your monthly payments goes into an escrow account so the money is there when the property taxes actually come due.  This is important to the lender because if they have to foreclose on you in the future, they won’t have to worry about the government standing ahead of them in line with an interest in the property.

But wait… there’s more. Although PITI are the four main aspects of a monthly mortgage payment, if you have less than a 20% down payment you can also expect to add a fifth critical item to the equation — Mortgage Insurance. Borrowers with less than a 20% down payment are considered higher risk loans. To cover this risk, lenders will require the borrower to pay for Mortgage Insurance, which means the borrower is paying for insurance that guards against possible losses the lender might incur from the borrower defaulting on the loan. Also, some condo and townhome association dues are collected as part of the borrower’s monthly mortgage payment, thus adding a sixth component to the monthly mortgage payment for some borrowers.


Posted by Jason A. Brown

Careful Analysis Early In The Kansas City Home Buying Process Can Prevent Buyer’s Remorse Later

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

We’ve all had cold feet when contemplating a purchase at some point in our lives. Cold feet can come from an indecision of which item to purchase or, in some cases, it comes when you realize you shouldn’t even be buying the item at all. When dealing with Kansas City homebuyers, it’s critical that we determine early on that a buyer is prepared both emotionally and financially for the purchase they’re about to make. If you buy a wrong car that can be stressful but it’s usually not an earth-shattering mistake. If you buy the wrong home however, that could be a very, very costly mistake. Along with marriage, the decision to buy a home is one of the most important decisions most of us will make in our lifetimes.


While it’s better to have cold feet early in the process than buyer’s remorse later, the best option is to work to avoid either situation altogether. That’s why it’s so important that Kansas City home buyers consider a few core issues before beginning their home search. If there is any uncertainly about your job situation or job security, you should consider buying a smaller, more affordable home — or renting until your situation becomes more clear. Having a stable income is the only way you will be able to enjoy home ownership. If you believe there’s any chance you could get laid off or relocated or if you are self-employed and your income level fluctuates greatly, you could be setting yourself up for a lot of stress later. Having to turn around and sell a home quickly, usually leads to financial losses, even in a seller’s market.

If you already have a lot of debt that you aren’t able to pay down significantly each month, then buying a home is just going to add to your monthly expense burden. If a Kansas City mortgage lender says you qualify for $2,000 a month house payment, that means that’s the MAX you qualify for – and it means that if you go that high with your payment, you’re likely going to be in a poor position to satisfy some of your other wants and needs later. If a lender’s Pre-Approval tells you that you can afford a $300,000 home, you might only want to go up to $250,000 to leave yourself some breathing room going forward.

Additionally, you should also have cash reserves in the bank. Without getting too deep into any client’s financial affairs, there’s a tell-tale sign of someone who’s about to put themselves in a difficult situation. That’s the question of how much of a down payment the buyer has… FHA loans require a 3.5% down payment and conventional loans require a 5% down payment. If a buyer doesn’t have at least this much in savings, they really should be renting and working to save up the money to purchase a home. There are also future home repairs that a buyer needs to consider. If the air conditioner goes out, you had best have a home warranty in place or savings to pay for the repairs. If you don’t, you’ll either have to hold off on the repairs or make monthly payments on the repairs — neither being great options.

Posted by Jason A. Brown