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Mortgage rates held steady this week — a breather that might not last. With the sharp rise in rates and home prices, buying a home can feel like an especially daunting prospect right now. As a buyer, you’ll want to think through how much money you’ll really need. Learn more in this week’s stories.
June 2022 mortgage rates forecast
While there have been some ups and downs, mortgage rates are overall trending up. There are many factors contributing to this, including inflation and the looming possibility of a recession. If you’re uncertain whether you should buy or refinance at this time, here’s what the experts say about the direction of rates.
Determining how much money you need to buy a house
Buying a home can be an important step towards building wealth, but it’s an expensive prospect. Consider the three main components of the cost: down payment, closing costs and monthly mortgage payments.
Buying a home in cash
Cash offers are not uncommon, but even if you can afford to do it, that doesn’t mean you should. Making a cash offer does carry significant benefits, such as reducing your costs over the long term. However, you’ll also want to consider the opportunity cost, since you could use those same funds for other worthwhile purposes.
Hispanic homebuyers and riskier financing
A Pew Charitable Trusts study found that Hispanic homebuyers are more likely to use non-traditional financing to buy a home. These non-traditional options, such as land contracts and lease-purchase agreements, are almost always riskier compared to standard mortgages. Reimagining credit and income verification, as well as other policy measures, could help address this disparity.
BRRRR: Maximizing opportunity in a hot housing market
The BRRRR method, which stands for “Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat,” is a potential pathway for investors to generate passive income. With the BRRRR method, an investor buys properties at an undervalued price, fixes them up to make them attractive to rent, secures tenants and then does a cash-out refinance to purchase more rentals.
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