As we start the month of September, low inventory continues be an issue for the buying public in most of the areas that we service in the North/Northeast side of Atlanta. It is good news for sellers, though, who want to take advantage of the market before new construction begins to compete with sellers seeking to sell residential real estate. Most of the lenders we know confirm that rates have definitely taken an uptick by over 1% over the past 6-8 weeks. Why would a seller want to consider selling now? Sales prices have come up some and rates are still reasonable. In many instances sellers may be able to take advantage of the low inventory pressure for buyers and still get a great deal if they are buying up with very reasonable interest rates. Please call us today if you want to review the numbers in your area.
We know that you want your real estate decisions to make financial sense. Here are two great tips from Dave Ramsey to get your home mortgage paid off early. His example is based on an average $220,000, 30-year mortgage with a 4% interest rate: 1) Make an extra house payment each quarter, and you’ll save $65,000 in interest and pay off your loan 11 years early.  2) Divide your payment by 12 and add that amount to each monthly payment, or pay half of your payment every two weeks, also known as bi-weekly payments. You’ll make one extra payment each year, saving you $24,000 and shaving four years off your mortgage. Of course, always make sure the additional money is applied to the principal and not to next month’s payment. We are also a part of the Dave Ramsey ELP network, so let us know if you are a Dave Ramsey listener when we talk.
