Conduct a home energy audit

A do-it-yourself energy audit can teach you how to be more energy efficient and make you a more-educated consumer should you decide to hire an expert.

What you’ll save on fixes

By following up on problems, you can lower energy bills by 5% to 30% annually, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. With annual energy bills averaging $2,200, according to Energy Star, investing in fixes or energy-efficient replacement products could save you up to $660 within a year.

And self-audits can cost virtually nothing if you already own a flashlight, ladder, measuring stick, candles, eye protection, work clothes, dust mask, and a screwdriver—or roughly $150 if you're starting from scratch. As for time commitment, expect to spend two to four hours to investigate home systems, refer to utility bills, and conduct research about local norms for products, such as insulation, say experts.

Types of DIY audits

Since there are a variety of ways to conduct a do-it-yourself audit, you’ll need to know your tolerance for the tasks involved.

Some require you play home inspector, climbing into attics and crawlspaces on fact-finding missions and delving into unfinished portions of your home to look at duct work. Questionnaire-based audits rely the assumption that you can answer such questions as how many gallons of water your toilet tank holds to the R-value (thickness) of insulation in your home.

If you don’t have time to familiarize yourself with your home’s systems or confidence about diagnosing problems, are disabled, are squeamish on ladders and in crawlspaces, or are already planning to invest in a major remodel, you may benefit from hiring a pro.

Even homeowners who complete a self-audit often hire a professional to double-check their diagnoses. A self-audit may reveal drafts but not their exact source, such as ducts or insulation, for instance. Because the costs to address a draft can range from minor to major, investing in a paid audit may be justifiable.

What should you check?

All the home systems and appliances that contribute to energy costs. Here’s the breakdown of a typical home's energy usage that Energy Star references:

• Heating (29%)
• Cooling (17%)
• Water heating (14%)
• Appliances (13%)
• Lighting (12%)
• Computers and electronics (4%)
• Other (11%)

Self-audits hone in on details pros may not

While the pros use special equipment to focus on hard-to-research aspects of a home’s building envelope and indoor air circulation, DIY audits can teach you—based on the questions they ask—to identify and address the numerous small ways in which your home wastes energy.

Since lighting, electronics, and appliances collectively account for nearly 30% of the average home’s energy costs, you can make an impact on your bills by replacing old appliances with energy-efficient replacements and simple fixes—plugging appliances into power strips versus wall outlets, making sure refrigerator doors are properly sealed and don’t leak air, and opting for a programmable thermostat. 

How to spot common energy leaks

1. Check your home’s exterior envelope—the windows, doors, walls, and roof exposed to outdoor air. Hold a candle or stick of incense near windows, doors, electrical outlets, range hoods, plumbing and ceiling fixtures, attic hatches, and ceiling fans in bathrooms. When smoke blows, you’ve got a draft from a source that may need caulking, sealant, weather stripping, or insulation.

2. Check insulation R-value or thickness. Where insulation is exposed (in an attic, unfinished basement, or around ducts, water heaters, and appliances), use a ruler to measure, recommends the DOE. Compare your results against those suggested for your region via an insulation calculator.

Although examining in-wall insulation is difficult, you can remove electrical outlet covers, turn off electricity, and probe inside the wall, the DOE notes in its DIY audit guide. However, only a professional’s thermographic scan can reveal if insulation coverage is consistent within a wall. Insulation can settle or may not be uniformly installed.

3. Look for stains on insulation. These often indicate air leaks from a hole behind the insulation, such as a duct hole or crack in an exterior wall.

4. Inspect exposed ducts. They may not work efficiently if they’re dirty, have small holes, or if they pass through unfinished portions of the home and aren’t insulated. Look for obvious holes and whether intersections of duct pipe are joined correctly. Since ducts are typically made out of thin metal that easily conducts heat, uninsulated or poorly insulated ducts in unconditioned spaces can lose 10% to 30% of the energy used to heat and cool your home, says DOE.

When should a professional make repairs?

The DOE recommends calling a contractor before insulating ducts in basements or crawlspaces, as doing so will make these spaces cooler and could impact other home systems, such as water pipes. Plus, these ducts might release noxious air. DOE also recommends you hire professionals to clean ducts periodically. If you’ve noticed that some rooms get disproportionately hot or cold, bring that to a pro's attention. It could be duct related.
      
In addition, some DIY audits—like the City of Seattle’s free online audit guide, suggest hiring a pro if you suspect asbestos materials have been used in insulation or around pipes, ducts, or heating equipment. Airborne or crumbling asbestos particles are a health hazard. And a pro might be the right choice when dealing with insulation around or near electrical or examining electrical systems with bare wires.
      
A self-audit, like a paid audit, serves as a jumping-off point to help you set priorities for making your home more efficient. Whether or not you choose to make repairs yourself, one thing’s for sure: You’ll come away knowing more about your home’s strengths and weaknesses than you did before.

Better Mortgage Rates Start With Better FICO Scores

If you plan to use a mortgage for your next home purchase, you’ll want to keep your credit scores as high as possible. Credit scores play an out-sized role in determining for which mortgage product you’ll qualify, and to which rate you’ll be assigned by your lender.

The higher your credit score, the lower your mortgage rate will be.

What Is A Credit Score?

History has shown that the best way to predict a person’s behavior over the near-term future is to look at that person’s behavior in the recent past. It’s a concept similar to the First Rule of Physics — an object in motion tends to stay in motion.

We can apply this theory to consumer credit, too. A person who has recently paid his bills on-time should continue to pay his bills on-time in the near-future.

This is the basis of credit scoring; using your past to predict your future.

To mortgage lenders, your credit score represents your likelihood of making on-time mortgage payments for the next 90 days. “90 days” matters because, after 90 days without payments, a homeowner falls into default.

Higher credit scores correlate with lower default risk which explains why people with high credit scores tend to receive lower mortgage rates than people with low credit scores. This is true across all loan types, including conventional, jumbo, and FHA mortgages.

Like most else in finance, those with the lowest risks get to pay the lowest rates.

Lenders Use The FICO Scoring Model, Exclusively

There are three main credit bureaus in the United States. They are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Each offers a bevy of credit-scoring products, available for purchase on their respective websites. Prices range from “free” to several hundred dollars.

None, however, are particularly relevant in the home-buying process. This is because the nation’s mortgage lenders rely on a different credit model — the FICO model.

FICO is named for the Fair Isaac Corporation. It was “invented” in the 1950s and has become the mortgage industry standard for credit ratings. Today, FICO scores are omnipresent to the point that people generically refer to all credit scores as “FICO scores”.

This is akin to calling all adhesive bandages “Band-Aids”. FICO is the brand name — not the product.

FICO scores range from 300-850.

Credit Scores Change Mortgage Rates

Your FICO score has always influenced the mortgage rate for which you’re eligible. In 2008, though, it began to change your loan fees.

In response to major mortgage market losses, in April 2008, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac introduced something called Loan-Level Pricing Adjustments (LLPA). Loan-level pricing adjustments are “discount points” added to a mortgage rate, based on a specific borrower’s risk to the lender.

A discount point is a loan fee, paid at the time of closing. 1 discount point is equal to 1 percent of your loan size.

Example : A $300,000 mortgage that’s assessed 1 discount point will have $3,000 in extra fees due at closing.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac know that low credit scores correlate to high default rates so, like an insurance policy, they assigned the highest costs to the highest-risk borrowers.

Assuming a 20% downpayment, look at how discount points change based on credit score. Fees get massive for FICOs under 700.

• 740+ FICO  : There are no discount points required. This loan is “low risk”.
• 720-739 FICO :  0.250 discount points are charged to the borrower, or $250 per $100,000 borrowed
• 700-719 FICO :  0.750 discount points are charged to the borrower, or $750 per $100,000 borrowed
• 680-699 FICO :  1.500 discount points are charged to the borrower, or $1,500 per $100,000 borrowed
• 660-679 FICO :  2.500 discount points are charged to the borrower, or $2,500 per $100,000 borrowed

Now, not many new home buyers just have that kind of extra cash just laying around. Therefore, as an alternative to paying discount points with cash, many choose to “roll up” the fees into their respective mortgage rates. In general, 1.000 discount point can be “traded in” for a 0.250 increase to your mortgage rate.

Example : A consumer with a 680 FICO score is required to pay 1.500 discount points at closing, or can alternatively accept a mortgage rate increase of 0.375%.

This is why it’s important to keep your credit score high. There are real dollar costs for having scores under 740.

Improving On Your Credit Score

If your credit score is not as high as you’d like, the good news is that you can take steps to raise it — sometimes without even changing your spending habits.

What Makes up a Credit Score?
FICO scores are based on specific credit history, with hundreds of inputs used to find your score. There are 5 main parts of your credit score.
Payment History : 35% of your credit score
Payment history measures how you've paid on your debts. Payment history is the largest part of your credit score because if you've recently missed payments your creditors, it's likely those missed payments will continue, and may lead to default. Payment history also measures how "severe" a missed payment has been. An item in collection is worse than an item paid 30 days late.
Tips to improve : Make payments on time, all the time — even items in dispute. Pay the bill and worry about refunds later.
Amounts Owed : 30% of your credit score
Amounts owed measures how "maxed out" you are. Amounts owed is the second-largest part of your credit score because a person that is maxed out has no safety valve in the event of a crisis. Amounts owed is not about the dollar amount you're borrowing — it's about the dollar amount you're borrowing relative to the amount available to you.
Tips to improve : Don't close out "old" credit cards, and don't lower your available credit limits. Having access to credit is good.

Credit History Length: 15% of your credit score
Your credit history is your track record with respect to managing credit. Credit history matters in the FICO model because "experienced users of credit" are viewed differently from new users of credit. Similar to the hiring process for a job, the credit bureaus want to see this isn't your first experience.
Tips to improve : Don't close cards with "history". You need them to show you're experienced with credit.
New Credit : 10% of your credit score
This category accounts for your recent attempts to secure new credit. In general, the more credit for which you've applied, the more damage it will do to your credit score. This is more true for credit cards than for mortgage applications. A consumer in search of new credit cards is presumed to "need" more credit lines.
Tips to improve : When you shop for a mortgage, multiple credit checks can count as a single credit inquiry, protecting your credit score.
Types of Credit : 10% of your credit score
The type of credit you carry matters and not all credit types are the same. Installment loans such as mortgage loans and student loans, for example, are considered "better" than credit cards and charge cards. This is because installments loans eventually pay down to zero. Consumer cards, by contrast, can only go up.
Tips to improve : Don't carry an abundance of store charge cards. Interest rates are high and the FICO model looks unfavorably upon them. 

Real Estate Terminology translated

By now, you’ve probably heard the age-old rules of thumb about translating home listings from real estate lingo to plain English: ‘cozy’ = tiny, ‘needs TLC’ = needs massive repairs, and ‘all original details’ could mean beautiful moldings or moldy linoleum, depending on the home.

Almost everything about the real estate market has changed over the last few years, though, so we thought it was time to provide you with an updated real estate lingo decoder that accounts for those changes in the market.

To that end, here are 14 line items of real estate jargon, divided into 2 buckets and decoded for the post-recession house hunter.

Bucket #1: Transaction signals.  Distressed properties – foreclosures and short sales - make up about a third of the homes currently on the market, and these transactions have their own unique flow, timelines and challenges compared with “regular” equity sales.  So, it only makes sense that listing agents have developed a set of abbreviations to brief prospective buyers on what they can expect and should be prepared for if they make an effort to buy such a home, with just a glance at the listing:

1.       REO:   Real estate owned by the bank/mortgage servicer, this acronym refers to homes that were foreclosed and repossessed by the former owner’s bank.  It also signals that buying this property will involve doing a deal with the bank; possibly dealing with a different escrow timeline, offer process or contract forms than a non-REO sale; and almost always taking the place in as-is condition, among other things.  Oh, yeah – and it might also involve one more thing: a great deal.

2.       S/S, Subject to bank approval:  What once stood for stainless steel is now being used to describe a short sale – a property whose seller anticipates will net them less than they owe on the home.  Short sales are often described as “subject to bank approval,” which simply points out the obvious truth about these transactions, that the seller has very little control over whether the bank will allow the transaction or what price and terms the bank will approve of, and that the transaction might very well take the better part of your natural life could take 6 months or longer to close.  Talk to your agent for more details about short sales, and to determine how you can tell the success-prone short sales from those that are less likely to close.

3.       Pre-approved short sale:  Many knowledgeable agents say no short sale is truly “pre-approved” unless and until the bank looks at a specific buyer’s offer and the seller’s financials at the same time, but some listing agents designate a short sale as “pre-approved” when a previous short sale application was approved at a given price, but fell out of contract for some other reason.

4.       Motivated seller:  This is a perennial term in listing parlance, but against the backdrop of the current market, translates to something like, “Have mercy on me.”  I kid – this phrase often signals a seller’s flexibility in pricing and/or urgency in timing.

5.       Coveted:  In a word, “expensive.”  No, seriously, even on today’s market, many locales have a neighborhood (or a few) which have been relatively recession-proof, have been fairly immune to the foreclosure epidemic and have seen home values continue to rise. If you see the word ‘coveted’ in a listing, chances are you’re house hunting in that sort of neighborhood, or there’s something about the individual property the home’s seller is trying to position as unique and desirable, as compared to competing listings (i.e., the view, location of the lot, or floor plan).

6.       BOM, often accompanied by “No fault of the house:”  Homes go in and fall out of escrows on today’s market constantly, often due to things the seller has no control over.  BOM indicates a home that was in contract to be sold, but is now “Back on the Market.” “No fault of the house” may describe a situation in which the buyer lost interest in the home after a long short sale process or failed to get final loan approval, as contrasted to a situation in which the home’s inspection turned up deal-killing problems or the property failed to appraise at the purchase price.

7.       Not a short sale, not a foreclosure.  Sellers on “regular” equity transactions are often more negotiable on items like price and repairs, and are certainly able to close the transaction (i.e., let the buyer move in) sooner than sellers of REOs and short sale properties.  Some also pride themselves on having maintained their homes in better condition than the distressed homes on the market.  For buyers that seek quick certainty and closure, non-distressed homes can be especially attractive.

Bucket #2: All about the Benjamins.  The government’s role in financing homes has grown exponentially over the housing recession, so the alphabet soup of government housing and home financing agencies, their guidelines and programs is now more important to understand than ever.

8.       OO/NOO:   Owner-Occupied and Non-Owner Occupied – You’ll see this on listings in two different ways.  First, the vast majority of home loans must comply with government loan insurance guidelines, including guidelines around how much of a condo complex must be owner-occupied (i.e., 75 percent, minimum, in most cases).  Also, some bank-owned property sellers will consider offers from owners who plan to occupy the property if they buy it as much as a week or 10 days before they will look at NOO or investor offers.

9.       FHA:  Short for the Federal Housing Administration, which backs the popular 3.5 percent down home loan program. FHA guidelines also include somewhat strict condition and homeowners’ association dictates, so if  a home’s seller notes that they are not taking FHA loans, they might be saying that the property has condition or other issues which disqualify it for FHA financing.

10.   Fannie, Freddie:  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, federally controlled company/agency hybrids that now back most non-FHA (conventional) home loans, and thus provide the guidelines most Conventional loans must meet, including guidelines around seller incentives like how much closing cost credit a buyer can receive.

11.   DPA/DAP:  Down-Payment Assistance or Down-Payment Assistance Program

12.   FTH/FTB: First-time homebuyer/First-time buyer – cities, states and large employers like universities tend to be the last bastion of these programs which offer mortgage financing or down payment assistance, usually to people who have not owned a home in the relevant city or state anytime in the preceding 3 years.

13.   HUD:  The federal department of Housing and Urban Development, which governs the guidelines for FHA loans, acts as a seller of homes which were foreclosed on and repossessed for non-payment of FHA-backed loans, and publishes the Good Faith Estimate and settlement statement forms every buyer and borrower will be provided at the time they shop for a loan and close their home purchase, respectively.

14.   HFA:  Short for Housing Finance Administration, this acronym refers to a loose body of state and regional agencies which offer an array of financing and counseling programs that varies by state, from down payment assistance for first time buyers to the Hardest Hit Funds that offer foreclosure relief assistance and principal reducing loan modifications to unemployed and underwater homeowners in the states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis.

3 Last-Minute Real Estate Regrets - and How to Combat Them

Any time you make a major commitment, financial decision or move to the next step in your life, there’s a chance you’ll have regrets at the last minute. Just as brides and grooms commonly experience cold feet before they walk down the aisle, many a home buyer has found themselves sitting at the closing table, pen paralyzed over paper, mentally cataloging their last-minute regrets.

The first step in dealing with last-minute regrets is to understand that they are totally normal - even rational. The fact that you're fixated on your deal, or that you're scared you've made the wrong decision is a sign that you are treating this transaction with the gravitas it deserves.

If you are buying or selling a home, here are three last minute regrets you might encounter, and some ways to rethink and counteract them.

1. I left money on the table - could have gotten more (or paid less) for it. This regret showcases a classic case of buyer’s - and seller’s - remorse. The day an offer is signed, sometimes within moments after acceptance, sellers second guess whether they might have been able to get more cash if they’d negotiated harder, and buyers beat themselves up over not going in lower or holding out against the seller’s counteroffers.

Conquer real estate remorse by understanding that the universe in which you pay or receive anything other than what you and the other side actually DID agree to is a hypothetical fantasyland. It doesn’t exist. Your decision made sense when you made it, and did actually result in a deal - unless you realize that the home does not actually suit your needs or you receive new information that changes your understanding of the home’s value (i.e., later disclosures or inspection reports reveal significant problems) within the time frame you have for resolving such issues, a deal is a deal.  

So stop torturing yourself and let it go. Be content with the fact that you bought a home at or near the bottom of the market, or that you got your home sold at a very tough time to do so, and turn your attention to the next phase.

2.  I’m overwhelmed by the 30-year mortgage commitment.  Thirty years seems like a long, long time. But here’s the rethink: you need to live somewhere forever, and I hope that your forever will last 30 years times three!  So, unless you have access to free housing somewhere, here are your options:

• You can rent a home and pay rent to a landlord every month for the rest of your life, or
• You can buy a home with cash, or
• You can use mortgage financing to buy a home, and make payments on it over time.

So, in fact, the commitment you make to paying on a 30-year mortgage, which you have the power to pay off entirely over time, is less onerous and lengthy than the alternative: paying monthly rent ad infinitum. While it’s true that your mortgage binds you to a particular property unless and until you can sell it or otherwise move on, if you select your home wisely you will (a) relish that stability and/or (b) select a home with good prospects for resale in the long-term.  (If you think you’ll want or need to move in less than a 7- to 10-year time frame, you might be well-advised to continue renting rather than buying a home.)

The fact that you take out a 30-year mortgage (or a 15-year one, for that matter) does not bind you to that time frame; many homeowners elect to pay their mortgages off early. Putting a plan in place to shave off five or 10 years from your mortgage commitment by paying extra toward your mortgage principal on a regular schedule is one way to control your regret and put it to good use.

3. I can’t believe I went through all of my cash cushion!  In this relatively new mortgage era, lenders are requiring buyers to put some of their own skin in the game, by requiring down payments in a way they once did not. Beyond that, the vast majority of the down payment assistance programs that once helped buyers meet these requirements are now gone (state, local and employer-funded programs are the last bastions of down payment help). As a result, today’s buyers frequently spend a couple of years saving up their cash, and optimizing their credit creating strong financial habits and getting used to having a fluffy cash cushion along the way, then end up writing a couple of checks - earnest money deposit, increased deposit and cash to close - that wipe nearly the whole thing out in 45 days or less.

And that can be traumatic. But if your spirits are feeling as deflated as your savings account when you write those checks, keep in mind that you are investing that money in a home that your family will be able to live and flourish in, and eventually either pay off or have equity in, if you continue your responsible financial trajectory.  Additionally, this is precisely the reason you saved the cash in the first place. 

Finally, due to your timing vis-a-vis home prices and interest rates, you are getting the most home-buying bang your hard-earned bucks could have bought anytime in the last decade or so.  And that’sreally something to be proud of - not to regret. 

Things You Can Inspect & Do to Your Home before Winter Hits

Here are some tips before winter hits

As a homeowner, you probably know that there are a handful of maintenance tasks you need to complete as you prepare for the harsh, winter conditions. But you may not have a carefully crafted and comprehensive list of tasks. Whether you're making your list or want to compare your own against ours, here's what we consider the essential must do's for the home before winter hits.

Conduct a Roof Inspection
A professional roof inspection can identify roof damage while it still costs hundreds, instead of thousands, of dollars to fix. This inspection should also tell you the condition of your attic ventilation, key in preventing the formation of destructive ice dams. If you simply can't come up with the $100 fee, at the very least conduct your own visual inspection to look for signs of wear-and-tear.

Make it Green: The most energy-efficient roof really depends on your location. Metal roofing works best for warmer climates, but an upgrade to roof insulation is universally green and a great idea before winter hits.

Clean Your Gutters
Probably the most common and least neglected task of the bunch; don't take your gutter cleaning for granted. Proper cleaning involves more than just throwing easy-to-reach leaves out of the channel. Flush your downspouts and keep an eye out for any signs of gutter deterioration.

Make it Green: Retrofit your gutters to collect rainwater and snowmelt next spring and summer to aid your lawn irrigation.

Insulate and Seal Windows
If you don't already have double-pane windows, it's time to jump on the bandwagon. With heating costs, few home improvements pay for themselves as quickly as replacement windows. And regardless of the number of panes, take a look at your window frame. It may need new sealant.

Make it Green: Truly green windows are more than just double-paned. Different glazes will allow you to use day lighting techniques, and window treatments will allow you to block the heat gain of next summer's mid-afternoon sun.

Seal and Inspect Doors
Some homeowners pay so much attention to their windows that they forget their doors. Take a look at your entry door for air leaks and use weather stripping to help seal the joints. Take a look at your garage door, too, for both insulation and home security value.

Make it Green: A new wood door for the entry, garage, or both will increase your home's curb appeal and it's insulating R-value simultaneously.

Evaluate the Furnace/Heating System
This one has a ton of upside. Catching problems with your heating system before winter hits almost always saves a bunch of money and will give you some time to plan for a replacement system, if necessary. If nothing else, at least change the filter, no matter the age or condition of your heating system.

Make it Green: For replacement systems, start with the big ideas first. Get an estimate for geothermal heating and cooling. If that doesn't pan out, take a look at split-system heat pumps or furnaces with an Energy Star label.

Winterize Your Landscaping
Just because you'll be spending most of the winter indoors doesn't mean all your maintenance is on the home itself. Properly close your swimming pool, winterize your sprinkler system, and prepare your garden for next year's planting.

Make it Green: Take the winter to grade your personal landscaping conservation practices. Is it time to start composting? How much water would you save with a fully-automated sprinkler system? Is there a good spot to plant a new tree in the spring?

Miscellaneous and Emergency Preparation
For most homes, winter means the looming possibility of snow and/or ice storms. A back-up generator is a great idea, but still no substitute for an emergency kit, complete with food and water, a reliable radio, and first-aid kit. Investing in a snow blower isn't a bad idea, either.

Open House Sunday

We're hosting an open house at the Khoury home at 501 E College in Fayette. The open house is from 2-4 pm on Sunday Oct. 23.
What the Khourys did to this home is amazing. They bought the old 1 1/2 story - 2 bedroom home in 2009. They completely gutted the home, all new wiring and plumbing, all new stud walls, drywall and insulation, added a 20 foot addition; then added a whole new second story. The home is about 2900 sq ft. The first floor has a beautiful kitchen, dining and living room and a 1/2 bath. Upstairs are master bedroom suite, 2 more bedrooms and another bathroom and laundry room.

More details on my website.

Tackling the Down Payment

The many dimensions of buyer readiness all boil down to two major factors: motivation and cash on hand. A recently released American Dream Home Survey showed that there are plenty of renters that hope to one-day own a home. Our stats showed just fewer than 60 percent of those surveyed intend on purchasing a home. That means motivation isn’t the primary issue.
So what’s intimidating your future homebuyers? The down payment.
When it came down to home buying obstacles, the down payment was the single largest hurdle ownership hopefuls said they are facing. In an era of a fluctuating stock market, high-consumer debt levels, and rising costs to rent, it’s hard for tomorrow’s homeowners to put pennies aside to reach their dream
1) Know your financing
Every buyer’s circumstances, credit history, and resources are different. It pays to know the government programs and local lenders who provide down-payment assistance. While special financing programs won’t help in every scenario, checking into your local and federal options will help you know how much work stands between you and the homeownership dream.
2) Be straightforward
Home ownership is a rosy thought for many.  You have to be willing to tell your buyers the truth. And if home ownership is not within reach right now, be willing to say so and use the opportunity to advise and help your clients over the savings and down payment hurdles.
3) Encourage some good ole fashioned savings
When it comes to ownership, nothing beats preparation. When assistance programs fail, encourage your buyers to do things the old fashioned way. That means first figuring out what they can actually afford (check out this post for tips on figuring out affordability) and two encouraging your clients to come up with a savings plan.
The down payment hurdle is a serious obstacle for buyers and agents, but lets not let that put a stop to the dream of home ownership.