Monthly Archives

June 2017

How to Purchase a Brand New Home in Tomball ISD with $1000 Down!

written by Jordan Marie Schilleci, Realtor®, Jo & Co. Realty Group

Below you will learn about: my sweet friend Luis’ journey to finding the perfect home, a neighborhood that pays your closing costs, how you can own and move into a brand new home with $1000, and so much more..

First a little story..

Yesterday was the most rewarding day of my whole entire career, and no, it was not a day I received my largest commission check. Yesterday wasn’t even a day that will lead to my largest commission check. And while I like to pay my bills, buy new shoes, take my family on vacations, eat yummy food at a restaurant once in a while, and all those normal things normal folks like to do, what I love more than anything is helping people. It is true. I love to help people.

One of my greatest friends..

Let me tell you a story. I have a friend named Luis. Luis and I have been friends for what feels like 10 years. He was working at my school while I was in college, and he was the go-to guy for anything IT related. But he was also my go-to guy when I needed someone to talk to. He was older and wiser. He once told me, “You should write a book.” Which by the way, is on my to-do list one day. Any who, so yes, Luis is one of my greatest friends.

A six month journey..

Well back in January (yes 6 months ago this journey began), he wrote to me on Facebook and told me he wanted to buy a house “sooner rather than later”.. Lol. Well, yesterday he bought that house. We communicated often, and went out almost once a month to look at houses, but didn’t act on any particular home until yesterday. You can ask him to confirm this.. I was nothing but patient along this timeline, because as time passed, I could tell there was something holding him back. I feel a lot of it was not yet finding the right home, but another huge part of it, was that he was scared. Fear was holding him back.

Owning your first home is scary..

Owning your first home is scary. I would know, I just purchased my first home last year. I luckily had my husband by my side, so there was two people carrying this weight, but for Luis, it was just him. Over the last six months, I am thinking he came to realize, it wasn’t truly, “just him’, because it wasn’t. I was there next to him. I always had been.

I do this to help friends..

Last night after the papers were signed, the sold sign was placed in the yard, while I was driving him back to his car (Thanks Black Walnut.. Lol.), he told me “I don’t think I would of done this with out you.” I wanted to cry. I got goose bumps. This is why I do this. I do this to help friends.

This last month, he felt more anxious than all the other months to find a home. He opened up to friends and family members about how he wanted a home. He told his cousin in Austin, that he was looking, and his cousin, who is a real estate agent for KW, got all excited for him, and hooked him up with a local agent (I could probably throw a rock at this agent’s office, because it is so close to where I live). Luis was thankful and wanted to “call this agent when he got home”, but his cousin fed on his excitement, and went ahead and “set up an appointment” for Luis when Luis got home. Luis was polite and he went to this appointment.

Can I talk to someone human?

As he was walking out of another agent’s office, he called me. He explained what happened. He wasn’t calling me to tell me he was using a different agent, but he was just calling me, as a friend, to talk. And we did talk, which led me to hooking him up with a new lender, and finding the new build neighborhood which covered one’s closing costs. But then last night he explained why he called me right away. He was sitting there at the table with the KW agent, and she was rattling off this and that while talking at him, and the thought that crossed his mind was “Can I talk to someone human?” Wow.. He just summed up a typical real estate agent, in a way that I had never heard of before.

We are not all like this.

I don’t know why I am telling you this, but if you have come across one of these types of agents before, please know, we are not all like this. Yesterday, Luis and I looked at two older homes (both remodeled) before finding the brand new home he ended up purchasing. He was really excited about the second one. He was almost positive that this was the one. He could see himself having friends over in this home and cooking for them. He could see himself fixing up the backyard and maybe installing a hot tub.

During the excitement of planning his future in this home..

As we were about to walk out of this fully renovated home, I couldn’t help but point out that the ceiling had a patch that we hadn’t noticed during the excitement of planning his future in this home. Also, the dry wall that made up the ceiling appeared to not be appropriately attached to the beams; I could see a wave in the construction. I assured him we could get it inspected, but I wanted him to take note of the imperfections. I put his needs before my own. I didn’t think about the paycheck that would hit my bank account in 30-45 days. I thought about his future. I thought about his need for making a good investment. My clients making a good investment, is one of the most important things to me in my business. I like sleeping at night. I am proud to be a real estate agent.

Why you clicked on this post..

I really do love making dreams home true. So, yes, let me get to the reason why you clicked on this post! The neighborhood that we ended up in was a needle in a haystack. It zones to Tomball ISD, and for only $1000 up front, one can secure a home in this neighborhood. No strings attached. A $1000 check or money order, and you have yourself a brand new home, with one of the lowest monthly payments around. And the good news doesn’t stop there. This neighborhood covers all of your closing costs, minus that $1000 you put down to secure the home. And it gets better than that. If you fall within the income bracket of being able to afford the home, but making less than $79,000 (after subtracting any cost for childcare), you qualify for a 0% downpayment loan option. Yes, I just said $0 downpayment. This truly means, that with $1000, you can buy a brand new house!

Let me break down how this works..

Let me break down how this works.. There is a loan, commonly known as the USDA loan. I briefly talked about it here in my last post. A USDA loan can only be used in certain parts of the state. You must be outside of city limits, and you must make less than a certain amount. For a family of 5, the allowed income goes up about $20,000. You can find out if you qualify here. You do need to have a decent credit score, but I can help you figure all that out.

The great news keeps coming..

The coolest thing about this neighborhood is their tax rate. This neighborhood has the lowest tax rate I have ever seen! You might not know what this means, but what it means is, that you can purchase about $20,000 more of a home here. The taxes in Texas are a bit different than other states, so I am all answers, if you have questions! But let me break down your monthly payment, and if you make at least $50,000, and have low debt, you typically quality for the payment I am about to break down..

A monthly payment of $1192.90

So the least expensive home in this neighborhood is currently listed at $169,900 (their prices go up every 3 months). With the guarantee fee (lender fee) of 1%, your loan amount would be $171,616.16. With an interest rate of 4.25%, your principal and interest amount is $844.35 a month. Add in $236 a month for taxes, $63 for their “in-house” home owner’s insurance, $49.55 for the .35% PMI (private mortgage insurance), and your monthly payment lands you around $1192.90. (FYI, The HOA fees $360, so you could add $30 to your monthly payment if you would like to budget for this. The HOA fee is paid up front by the builder for the first year.)

A monthly payment of $1273.04

Now if you want a little bit of a bigger home, with a covered patio, higher ceilings, etc, you would want to go one step up to the home they currently have listed at $181,900. With the guarantee fee (lender fee) of 1%, your loan amount would be $183,737.37. With an interest rate of 4.25%, your principal and interest amount is $903.00 a month. Add in $250 a month for taxes, $66 for their “in-house” home owner’s insurance, $53.05 for the .35% PMI (private mortgage insurance), and your monthly payment lands you around $1273.04.

There are homes in this neighborhood ranging from 1400 square feet to 2600 square feet, from 3 bedrooms to 5 with a game room. All are below $230,000, with a monthly payment under $1725. The homes are energy efficient and boast granite counter tops! There are beautiful trees every where you look, side walks, and a play ground is about to be constructed.

If this sounds like the neighborhood for you, I would love to tour it with you sometime. It is located just 2 minutes from Tomball Parkway 249, nestled perfectly between Spring, Tomball, and The Woodlands.

As always, my cell phone number is below. I look forward to helping your dreams come true!

Jordan Marie Schilleci, REALTOR®
Beth Ferester & Company

832-493-6685 call/text anytime | rewithjo.com | 24hourlistings.net | blog.rewithjo.com

June 23, 2017 0 comment

Market Updates The Facts The Woodlands TX

Is it a buyers’ market or a sellers’ market? :: Market Update for The Woodlands | Early Summer 2017

written by Jordan Marie Schilleci, Realtor®, Jo & Co. Realty Group

People are always asking, “Is it a buyers’ market or a sellers’ market?”, and honestly, there isn’t a black and white answer to this question. There are so many factors: the price of the home, the seller’s motive (or lack of) in selling their home, and yes, even the choice in real estate agent the seller picked to list their home.

The Price of the Home

This is a factor because there are typically more buyers in the lower price ranges than the higher price ranges. While this is commonly known, another way to look at this factor is, listing your home the right price right away will help the seller attract many buyers which decreases their days on market (also known as DOM). And this is also a no brainer, but many sellers and real estate agents like to think that this doesn’t apply to “my” house or “my” listing.

The Seller’s Motive

This factor is a huge one. Some sellers do not have to sell their current home in order to purchase their next, so they kind of lack motive in selling quickly. This typically leads to listing the home high in hopes to get what they want, which once again leads to a high DOM.

Choice in Real Estate Agent

I know this is a bit controversial of me to publicly say, but it is true. I could write a whole book on this topic, but I will try to keep it to one paragraph. Choosing a real estate agent that doesn’t use a professional photographer, leads to homes not being marketed properly, which leads to low showings and high DOM. Choosing a real estate agent that doesn’t guide a seller in listing their home at a price that will compete in the current state of the market also leads to low showings and high DOM. In most cases, when a buyer sees a high priced home, they think it is the seller that is unrealistic, when sometimes it was the seller’s agent who was misleading the home price. No matter what the case is, the thought of “not wanting to deal with an unrealistic buyer” crosses their mind. They in turn decide to wait for the price to lower before they make a move, which typically takes weeks and more commonly, months, and by the time the house they originally had their eye on is a realistic price, they have already made an offer on another home. Choosing the wrong real estate agent is almost detrimental to the ultimate sales price of a particular home.

I’m not sure if you noticed, but in every factor listed above there was a reoccurrence: price. So if your home is listed at the right price, you will find yourself in a seller’s market. If your home is listed high, then you will find yourself in a buyer’s market.

Now again, this isn’t black and white. Let’s break down the numbers for May 2017..

Number of Sales :: 252
Compared to last year, this is an increase from 212.

Average Sales Price :: $435,251
Compared to last year, this is a decrease from $472,148.

Days of Market :: 44
Compared to last year, this is a decrease from 54.

Number of New Listings :: 322
Compared to last year, this is an increase from 259.

Current Number of Listings :: 1046

Inventory :: 4.15 months
This just means that if no more homes hit the market, the current inventory would carry us a little over 4 months.

There are many factors in determining the market outlook. Some of which are out of our control, but many of which are in our control. Sellers, as long as their agent has been guiding them in the right direction, are ultimately the deciding factor in whether on not it’s a buyers’ or sellers’ market. The choices they make throughout the process of listing their home will ultimately decide the outcome. If one is adamant about getting their home sold, they are setting themselves up to sell in a sellers’ market. If one just wants to see what they’ll get, and the selling price of their home is inconsequential to a large degree, they ultimately make it a buyers’ market.

If you have any questions, call or text me. My cell is 832-493-6685.

Thank you,

Jordan Marie Schilleci, REALTOR®
Beth Ferester & Company

832-493-6685 call/text anytime | rewithjo.com | 24hourlistings.net | blog.rewithjo.com

June 23, 2017 0 comment

A Look Into..Real Estate Tips Understanding Real Estate

How to lower your closing costs when purchasing a home..

written by Jordan Marie Schilleci, Realtor®, Jo & Co. Realty Group

Below you will learn about: 5 different types of loans, a builder that covers all closing costs, a real estate agent that will help with closing costs assistance with her one-of-a-kind program, a breakdown on closing costs, and so much more..

There are many options for lowering your closing costs and/or down payment amount, but the first question you need to answer (or investigate) is what is your credit score?

If there are imperfections on your credit report making it drastically lower than needed, I personally do not recommend hiring anyone but a lawyer to help remove things from your credit report. I can recommend a low cost and reputable law firm, if you need one. If you are only off by 10-20 points, most lenders can give you recommendations on how to bump it up and do a “rapid rescore” all in the same week.

Below, I will break down the different types of loans options in relation to credit score..

5 Different Types of Loans

FHA :: 3.5% Down (580 minimum credit score and less than $2000 in collections debt.)

If you find your credit score at least a 560, you can probably repair it to meet the minimum 580 required to obtain an FHA loan. FHA loans require 3.5% down plus closing costs.

USDA Loan :: 0% Down (620-640 minimum credit score and a income must fall between a bracket.)

A USDA Home Loan is a 0% down loan from the USDA loan program, also known as the USDA Rural Development Guaranteed Housing Loan Program, is a mortgage loan offered to rural property owners by the United States Department of Agriculture.

A “rural property” is defined by the USDA as any property in open country that is not part of or associated with an urban area. Rural areas are more closely defined as any town, village, city or densely settled area that has a population of less than 10,000 residents.

USDA Mortgages require a low PMI of .31%. This fee is much less than the PMI required on FHA mortgages or mortgages where the borrower pays less than 20 percent of the down payment and is 2 percent of the purchase.

Typically, a family of 1-4 that makes less than $79,000 would qualify for this loan, as long as the credit score is at or above 640, and the income is enough to afford the mortgage. You are allowed to subtract childcare expenses from your income. If you have financing questions, Bryan Neal at Nations Lending is an amazing resources and lender. His direct number is: 608-852-3083 and his email address is: bryan.neal@nationslending.com.

You can follow this link to view the map of areas that are eligible for this type of loan. One neighborhood in the Tomball / Pinehurst area is the LGI neighborhood of Decker Oaks. In Decker Oaks LGI offers 100% closing cost assistance, and combine this with the USDA loan that requires 0% down, and this allows you to bring little to the table! They have many homes ranging from 170k – 200k. The tax rate out there is the lowest I have ever seen before, at 2.01%. Combine the low tax rate with the low cost of insurance, you’re looking at a $1300 payment +/- on a $180k home.

Conventional Loan :: 5% Down (620 minimum credit score.)

Conventional loans require 5% to 20% down. One very important thing to keep in mind, when purchasing FHA or Conventionally, and a home buyer puts less than 20% down, they will be required to pay PMI (primary mortgage insurance). This is a monthly paid insurance that will be there until 20% of your loan is paid down with a conventional loan or you refinance your FHA loan.

VA Loan :: 0% Down (620 minimum credit score.)

This is the only loan where you could possibly bring little to nothing to closing, but you must meet the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs requirements.

Conventional 1% Down With Equity Boost (700 minimum credit score.)

If your credit score is above a 700, then you might qualify for a “Conventional 1% Down With Equity Boost” with Morton Mortgage. They are a local company here in the Spring / Houston area.

Things To Note..

One thing you must keep in mind is that with all loans, you must have two years of job history with the same employer or within the same field. Your debt to income ratio is very important here, so you might be advised to pay down your debt to become qualified, so that your debt is no more than 36 percent of your gross monthly income.

Choosing the right lender is key with the use of these programs. I personally have a one or two I recommend, and would love to get together to discuss this further. One thing to keep in mind is that only certain lenders are designated to write specialty loans.

Purchase a brand new inventory home! [LINK]

Another options to lower closing costs is to purchase a brand new inventory home. There are many home builders that offer closing cost assistance. KB Homes is a great reputable company to go with. I personally like to offer an additional $1000 of closing cost assistance on these homes to my clients. Here is a list of some of their latest inventory homes. There are many other builders in the area that offer much of the same incentives, feel free to reach out, and I can give you a list in your area and within your budget.

Closing Costs Breakdown

Here is a very basic break down of what may be included in your closing costs:

Lender fees such as origination, points, and underwriting,
Cost of appraisal, home inspection, and survey
Title fees: such as title insurance, settlement, title search, document preparation, notary, transfer fees and attorney fees
Prepaid interest for the month
Mortgage insurance premium and property taxes

If you are not from Texas, and buying a home here, the taxes are something you should really look into. On average, they can add anywhere from $400 to $800 to your monthly payment.

Prepaying your mortgage insurance and property taxes are the bulk of your closing costs, because they typically cannot be rolled into the loan.

Down Payment Assistance Programs

Harris County Downpayment Assistance Program “DAP” [LINK]

Grants are available in the following amounts: $9,500 (for pre-owned homes), $14,200 (for new construction), and $14,400 for disabled borrowers. Home buyer must be a first time home buyer to obtain grant, purchasing a home in Harris County outside of the city limits, and meet the income requirements.

Houston Assistance Program “HAP” [LINK]

Houston’s Housing and Community Development Department (HCDD) administers the City’s Home buyer Assistance Program (HAP) for eligible low- to moderate-income families. Funds may be used to assist an approved applicant in paying down payment, closing costs, and principal buydown. An eligible first time home buyer (or one that hasn’t owned a home in the past 3 years) can obtain up to $25,000 in assistance.

Home of Your Own “HOYO” [LINK]

This loan is available to individuals with disabilities who are low to moderate income and first time home buyers. It is a $7,500 to $14,500 grant for home buyers purchasing a new home in Montgomery County outside the city limits of Conroe.

SETH 5 Star Texas Advantage Program (640 minimum credit score.) [LINK]

Texas home buyers, that are income eligible, can qualify for a 3% to 6% down payment grant (a grant is something you do not have to pay back). Only areas of Texas that are ineligible are these: El Paso, Grand Prairie, McKinney, and Travis County.

Mortgage Credit Certificate Program “MCC” [LINK]

First time home buyers, and those who have not owned a home in the past 3 years years, can receive an annual tax credit up to $2,000 every year for the life of your home loan.

Closing Words & How I can attribute to your closing costs..

I hope you have found the information in this post as helpful. If you have any questions or are thinking about buying or selling your home, I would love for you to reach out to me. Oh, and I also offer a program to help with closing costs. You can find more info about it here.

Thank you,
Jordan Marie Schilleci, REALTOR®
Beth Ferester & Company

832-493-6685 call/text anytime | rewithjo.com | 24hourlistings.net | blog.rewithjo.com

June 21, 2017 0 comment