The Biggest Hurdles to Home Ownership

With mortgage rates still near historical lows, why aren’t more home owners making a move? Housing analysts blame student loan debt, overly strict lending standards, and lost equity as the leading culprits behind a sluggish housing recovery. But what do home owners say?

Mortgage information site HSH.com surveyed 786 home owners at the end of 2013 about their experiences when it came to finding and financing their home. The top six biggest hurdles to home ownership were identified as:

1. Home prices (flagged by 23.5% respondents): Rising home prices are not just difficult for young home buyers. Home owners aged 50 to 59 reported the highest incidence of struggling with higher home prices.
2. Down payment (22.9%): Those aged 18 to 29 reported the least trouble with down payments, while home owners aged 30 to 39 and 50 to 59 reported the highest incidence of down-payment struggles.
3. No issues (20.9%): A significant portion of respondents said they don’t face any hurdles to home ownership, with older home owners reporting fewer hurdles than their younger counterparts.
4. Credit score: 12.8%
5. Interest rates: 12.6%
6. Property taxes: 7.3%

SOURCE: Daily Real Estate News

If you have any questions, feel free to contact James Y. Kuang at (626) 371-5662 or by email - james.kuang@coldwellbanker.com

www.cbprosperity.ca

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Live The Life Of A Landlord

If you’ve ever considered investing in rental property, now is a great time to make plans! Low prices and low interest rates make conditions for investing in rental property the best we’ve had in 15 years.

Fundamental benefits of owning income property include:

• monthly cash-flow of spendable income;
• equity growth by loan principal reduction;
• price-value increase as an inflation hedge ; and
• tax benefits of passive income and profits.

And remember to consider:

• Financing – Guidelines for financing income property are different from guidelines for financing a primary residence. How much do you qualify for and what down payment is required?
• Property size – Bite off only what you can chew. Will you be managing it yourself or do you intend to hire a property manager? 
• Location – Look for property in familiar areas. Knowing the neighborhood or city you buy in makes it easier to rent and maintain the property for maximum benefit.

The window of opportunity is open!  It’ll be too late to act after the public gets wise and drives prices up.

For a review on how to invest in income producing property today, please call me!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact James Y. Kuang at (626) 371-5662 or by email -james.kuang@coldwellbanker.com

www.EasyHomePricing.com

www.facebook.com/JamesYKuang

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