 What you can expect to pay in closing costs in a transaction depends on four factors: lender fees, title fees and title insurance, transfer tax and recording fees, and escrow and prepaid items.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report. Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale.If you’re a buyer, what kind of closing costs can you expect to pay in our current market? To give you a better idea, I’ll divide them into four segments: lender fees, title fees and title insurance, transfer tax and recording fees, and escrow and prepaid items. We’ll use a $175,000 purchase as an example of our hypothetical total. 1. Lender fees. The lender fee, in this case, will be in the range of $1,000 to $1,500, and that’s including an appraisal. This amount can fluctuate based on a few different factors, and when the time comes, you’ll likely end up talking with your lender about how to buy your rate down or increase your rate to reduce your closing costs.2. Title fees and title insurance. This portion is going to be based on your loan amount, which, in this example, is going to fall in the $1,500 range. You can add to that another $500 to $750 in title fees, which includes a settlement charge, a title search, a tax certification, and other things of that nature to make a total of $2,000 to $2,200. These costs can fluctuate depending on a lot of different variables. 3. Transfer tax and recording fees. The recording fee in Allegheny County is usually $324, and the transfer tax usually falls between 2% to 4%. Inside the city of Pittsburgh, the tax is usually 4%. Outside the city of Pittsburgh, depending on the borough, it’s usually 2% to 2.5%. These fees are split evenly among buyers and sellers. In this case, if you’re outside Pittsburgh, it’s going to be 1%, which would be $1,750. If you’re inside Pittsburgh, it’s going to be $3,500, which would be 2% of the purchase price. 4. Escrow and prepaid items. Taxes are paid up front, so when you combine what is owed on the taxes to finish out the year and what you’re going to reimburse the sellers, you’ll take about a 14-month escrow and include that as what you’re going to have to come up with at closing to pay your taxes and start your escrow account. In this example, taxes are $3,000, so you’ll need to produce roughly $3,500 to apply to your tax and escrow accounts. The same applies for your insurance. If your insurance is $600, you’ll have to produce between $700 and $750 because you’re going to pay for your year up front. After that, you’re going to need a few months to start your escrow account.All in all, in this particular example, your closing costs will range from $9,950 to $11,500, or 5.5% to 7% of the purchase price. Obviously, these things can fluctuate depending on a lot of different factors, so if you have any questions about closing costs, please feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email. I’m here to help!

Pittsburgh Real Estate Podcast with Matt Durbin

What Closing Costs Can You Expect to Pay?

 Can you successfully sell a home in the winter? There are six reasons why winter is actually a great time to sell your home.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report. Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale.There are six compelling reasons to list your home for sale now rather than waiting for the spring or summer that I wanted to share today:Less competition. A lot of people who couldn't sell during the summer take their home off the market in the winter and won't list again until spring when they think the most buyers are on the market. If you're the only one on the market doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing, you’ll have a competitive advantage.Job relocation. Lots of companies do their relocations at the end of the year and plan out where their employees will go for the following year. In this case, a lot of these employees enter the market and need to close a deal right away. If your home is one of the few on the market, you'll have a much better chance of working with a relocation buyer who needs to make a deal. Landscaping isn't as big of an issue. Once it snows, your landscaping has a clean slate. It can hide some of the blemishes or imperfections, and you don't have to worry about cutting grass or maintaining your flowers and mulch. Buyers are more serious. You will have fewer showings, but the buyers who you show your home to will be more qualified and more serious about buying.Statistics show that in the winter, you get a better sale price for your home.Your home will sell quicker than it will in the spring.Winter buyers are far more serious about getting a deal done. If you have any further questions about selling a home in the winter, I'd be happy to answer them. Just give me a call or send me an email today. I look forward to hearing from you!

6 Reasons Why Winter Is the Best Time to Sell Your Home

 A Republican-held House, Senate, and presidency shouldn’t have too large of a short-term impact on our real estate market.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report. Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale.As we all know by now, Donald Trump has been elected as the next president. We also know that we will have a Republican-held Senate and House. What does this mean for the real estate market?One of the things we do know is that Republicans were not in favor of the Dodd-Frank Act, which is a federal law stating that the government is in charge of regulating the financial industry. I think if you talk to most mortgage and real estate professionals, they would tell you that these regulations were needed to some extent, but also that they’ve since gone too far in restricting some of the financing options available to potential buyers.With a little loosening of these regulations, it may be easier for buyers to obtain a mortgage. It should also make closings a less stressful process, as we’ve seen them get more confusing in the last several years.  The real estate world will be business as usual. With a Republican-held House, Senate, and presidency, you probably won’t see as big of a push for affordable housing. However, I don’t know if that’s going to necessarily affect our market here because there are still many great loan programs out there. The thing to really look out for is how the economy will be impacted as a whole once some of Donald Trump’s economic strategies go into effect. Obviously, we could use some improvement in the oil and gas industry in Washington County and other surrounding areas outside of the city. Overall, I don’t foresee the results of the election having a large-scale impact on the real estate market as a whole in the short term. I think it will be business as usual. Mortgage rates are going to go up at some point in time, so that’s something we’ll have to keep an eye on in the meantime. If you have any questions about the real estate market, please feel free to reach out to me anytime. I’m here to help!

How Is Trump’s Election Going to Impact the Real Estate Market?

 What’s the difference between a mortgage lender and a bank when it comes time to take out a home loan? Here are five reasons to choose a lender over a big bank.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report. Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale.In today’s mortgage market, you may be wondering whether it benefits you more to use a mortgage lender or a big bank when applying for a home loan. Here are five reasons that you should choose a mortgage lender over a big bank:1. Mortgage loans are what they specialize in. This is all that mortgage lenders do: they provide mortgages to buyers and borrowers looking to purchase a home. Big banks, on the other hand, might have 100 different avenues of revenue. Mortgage loans are probably not their specialty, and the process usually ends up taking longer than it would with mortgage lenders.2. More personalized service. It can be very difficult to get ahold of a bank lender at times, and this can slow you down when you need to move quickly on a home purchase. Most mortgage lenders are available 24/7, which is especially helpful if you need to get a pre-approval on the weekend, for example.3. Getting a mortgage through the bank could cause delays. The changes to the Dodd-Frank guidelines have made it much more difficult to get a mortgage loan. Banks now have many more regulations, and that takes up much more time. It takes longer to get an appraisal done, longer to get your loan underwritten, and longer to get an approval, resulting in major delays. I personally have had three loans with banks this month that weren’t able to close on time due to these delays.4. Mortgage lenders have better rates and fees. I think that most mortgage lenders will meet or beat most banks’ interest rates and fees in today’s mortgage market. A lot of banks offer various fee discounts for certain customers, but a lot of times those fees start out higher anyway.5. Working with a mortgage lender is less stressful. Mortgage lenders are usually a lot more hands-on and are there to answer questions, help you with documentation, and ensure that you close on time without any issues.Mortgage lenders are available to you 24/7. If you have any other questions about the mortgage loan process or if you’d like a referral for a mortgage lender, feel free to give me a call or send me an email anytime. I’m always happy to help!

5 Reasons to Use a Mortgage Lender Over a Bank

 CNBC recently ranked Pittsburgh as the fourth best city to buy a home in. Here’s why.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report. Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale.I had a client send me an article recently from CNBC that said Pittsburgh was the number four best city for home buyers in the country. That’s pretty amazing. Here are a few reasons why I think we are ranked so high. Home affordability is probably number one. On a per-square-foot basis, you pay less in Pittsburgh than you do in a lot of other different places. If you’re currently renting or considering buying, now is the time to make a move in our area. This is a great city to buy in. Interest rates continue to be extremely low, and there are a lot of flexible down payment options. In fact, I recently had a client purchase a $140,000 home and they only had to bring $1,000 to closing. Buying a home in today’s market will leave you paying pretty much the same amount you would in rent. When you own a home, however, you are investing in your future by owning the property. There are a lot of different options available right now for first-time buyers and now is the time to take advantage of them.If you have any questions for me, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

Pittsburgh Is a Great Choice for Home Buyers

 The recent downturn in the oil and gas industry is compelling buyers to act now and sellers to wait until next year.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report. Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale.As we’re all aware, Marcellus Shale came in and created quite a boom here in Washington County. There was new construction, new development, more buyers moving into the market, and new employees pouring in from oil and gas companies around the globe.Recently, though, there’s been a downturn in the oil and gas industry, and gas prices have dropped pretty dramatically. This has caused a lot of those same companies to pull their employees back out of this area. How has this affected the housing market?The Pittsburgh Business Times recently published an article that stated that the overall sales numbers through the first half of 2016 were equivalent to the numbers over the same period in 2015. The average sale price and median sale price have both dropped in the Washington County market. However, both the median sale price and the average sale price have dropped in Washington County. The average sale price has dropped roughly 5% from $202,000 to $192,000, while the median sale price has dropped 7% from $170,000 to $157,000.If you’re a buyer, now might be the time to make a purchase. With all these people looking to relocate, you might get a property at a bit of a discount. If you’re a seller, you might need to hold off until next year, or if you absolutely must sell now, prepare to take a haircut on the sale price. All signs point toward an uptick in those same employers and employees re-entering the market in 2017 due to natural gas prices being predicted to rise toward the first or second quarter of 2017.If you have any questions regarding what’s going on in the market and what the best game plan is for you, just give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you in any way I can.

Gauging the Washington County Market

 Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report. Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale.What are the three main reasons homes fail to sell in our market?The first is the condition of the home. It’s important to speak with a real estate professional and have them do a quick walkthrough before you get your home ready to list. The last thing home buyers want to do in our Pittsburgh market is spend more time and money on repairs and updates. It’s a big turnoff, and they’ll just as easily walk away and find something else. The second reason is marketing strategies. The homebuyer paradigm has changed - everything is done via the internet. Long gone are the times when you could take a few photos of a property, put it on the MLS, and hold an open house for everyone to come and see. Today, everyone wants to see the home instantly. It's important to be available for showings, but it’s far more important to have the home marketed correctly so it can reach the online masses. This means utilizing professional photography, video, social media ads, and pay-per-click ad campaigns. “It’s important your home has a marketing strategy to reach the online masses. ”Finally, there is the matter of pricing the home accurately. This can obviously fluctuate based on the first two reasons. Suffice to say, the better the condition and/or marketing strategy, the better the price you can list at. It’s also important to set your price based on the amount of time you have to sell, or your overall time frame. If you have any additional questions, send me an email or give me a call anytime. I’m here to help.

Why Isn’t Your Pittsburgh Home Selling?

 Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report. Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale.Today, we’re going to discuss interest rates, where they are now and where they are headed. Interest rates have really taken a turn for the better in the last month or so. In March, rates have been fantastic and same into April. Recently, rates have dropped from 4.25% and I’ve seen two closings with interest rates at 3.625%. We have not gotten the huge bump that was expected at the end of the last year. Why not? There are a few factors, such as the global economy, oil prices, and fears of a stock correction. Also, this upcoming election has people worried. The Fed continues to keep mortgage rates low, and, as a result, it’s helping the mortgage market out. What does that mean for you? 2016 is going to be a great years for rates, and many people expect that we will hit new historic lows. It hasn’t been this good since 2012, so for a buyer, that can have a lasting effect on your purchasing power. Let’s say you purchase a house at $300,000 with a 3.5% interest rates. If rates go up by a full percent, you’ll only be able to afford a $270,000 house. Usually a 1% increase leads to a 10% decrease in purchasing power. For sellers, that same buyer that can afford your $300,000 home today might not be able to afford that home a year from now. If you’ve been on the fence, get off the fence. This is a great year to buy, and if you’re a seller, there are going to be a lot of buyers out there with more purchasing power, which makes it a great year to sell.  

Great News About Interest Rates for Pittsburgh Buyers and Sellers

 Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report. Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale.If you plan on making a move-up purchase you have a few different options. Today, I briefly discuss them so you can make an informed decision when the time comes for you to make your move. One option is to sell your current home first. This can be a scary proposition because you run the risk of having your home sell and not being able to find something. When doing this option, you should take a look at some homes first. Get an idea of where you want to move and how much you can afford to spend. Make sure it’s realistic: see if there are any homes available that meet your specific criteria. Bottom line: Do some research on the market before selling your home. The time just may not be right. Another option is to ask for a longer term once you sell your home or do a leaseback. You could ask for a 90-day closing period, instead of a 40-60 day period, in order to give yourself more time to find a home. If that doesn’t work, you could ask the seller to do a leaseback, where you pay the buyer to live in the home while you search for another one. Keep in mind that not all buyers will be willing to make these arrangements.One of the safest, and most commonly used, options you have is a home sale contingency. While it does give you a bit less negotiating power, it is a much less risky proposition. In this situation, you would find a home, make an offer on it, and go under contract with that new home with the contingency that you can’t close until you sell your current home. The problem with this is that most sellers don’t want to see a home sale contingency and it may limit your buying power. If you can make this option happen, it would be the most convenient route, as it allows you to buy a new home and sell your current home without having to move more than once. You have other options available to you, but they're essentially just variations on the ones mentioned above. If you would like to discuss which option is best for you and your particular situation, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you! 

What’s the Secret to a Smooth Move-Up Purchase in Pittsburgh?

 Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report. Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale.If you plan on selling your Pittsburgh home this spring, there are a few things you need to do in order to get the best results. Here are four tips to help you accomplish your selling goals this spring:Get a pre-inspection. This will save you the trouble of dealing with minor repairs once you already have a buyer on the line. A pre-inspection will tell you everything you need to know about your home so you aren’t taken by surprise later in the process. Also, it’s cheaper to do repairs up front than to wait until later!Meet with your agent upfront. Do a quick walkthrough with a real estate professional. They will give you tips for how to make your home more appealing to buyers. They’ll tell you whether you need to replace carpet, repaint some walls, or make other minor changes.Declutter and depersonalize. This is probably the #1 thing you need to do when getting your home ready to sell. Get some boxes and pack up anything you don’t need or won’t use in the coming months. You also want to make sure your countertops are clear and free of debris. Curb appeal. The exterior of your home is the first impression a potential buyer gets of your house. Freshen up your landscaping, mow the yard, and trim your plants and bushes in order to make your home look pristine. If you have patches of grass that are missing, you need to replace them now so the new grass has a chance to grow in. These four tips should help you to get the best results when selling this spring. If you would like additional tips, or if you have real estate questions of any kind, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you! 

How Can You Avoid a Stressful Home Sale in Pittsburgh?

 Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report. Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale.Today, we want to introduce PPM Realty's newest offer: the Home Sales Services Program designed for sellers.One of the biggest issues we run into with our home sellers is their inability to make the preparations, repairs, and updates needed to get a home listed for sale. It’s one the biggest hurdles we come across, and usually one of the biggest hassles for the sellers themselves. The kind of things that might need to be done include painting, making updates, roof repairs, and electrical updates.Getting the home ready is a huge hassle for people for two reasons. First, it’s either a DIY job the seller takes on in their free time and on the weekends. If the seller opts to hire someone else to do it, they end up taking on extra costs and the stress of juggling multiple contractors. At PPM, we have a lot of resources that we use and recommend to our selling clients to make their lives easier. As part of our Home Sales Services Program, we put together a point person and a program to help all of our sellers take care of all these tasks that need to be done prior to listing their homes. The program is designed to help you fix any repairs and give you a point person who will prioritize the items necessary to get your home prepared to sell, deal with contractors, and take care of the work so you can get your home on the market quicker and sell your home for more money!If you’re thinking about selling, give us a call to learn a bit more about how this program will benefit you. We would love to hear from you!  

How Are We Taking the Stress out of the Moving Process in Pittsburgh?

 Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report. Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale.Today, I want to share some of the 2015 numbers for the residential home market here in Pittsburgh. Spoiler alert: it was one of the best years ever! Last year, we had a record number of home sales and big increases in home sales throughout the region. As a whole, home values rose 6%, which is one of the biggest gains the Pittsburgh market has seen in a long time.A few factors attribute to this surge in market values. First-time home buyers were very active in our market, as we saw the highest amount of activity from that group since 2010. In addition, historically low interest rates brought a lot of people into the market who might have otherwise been on the fence. Here in 2016, we’re currently in a seller’s market, but we’re unsure how much longer this will last. The market may slow down a bit as rising interest rates put more pressure on buyers and sellers alike. We’ll have to just wait and see how the market reacts.As it stands, we still have some very hot markets in Pittsburgh. Lawrenceville has a lot of rehabs and new construction, and it’s currently the hottest neighborhood in the area. Right behind that is the Highland Park and East Liberty areas, where home values are rising quickly. As far as suburban markets are concerned, Mount Lebanon had one their best years ever, with 515 homes sold and $136 million in sales volume in 2015! Inventory levels are very low in that market, and those conditions are likely to continue. If you are looking to take advantage of these great market conditions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you! 

Is Your Pittsburgh Home Value on the Rise?

If you are looking to buy or sell a home, get all the information and the latest updates, tips, and tricks from Matt Durbin- your professional Pittsburgh Real Estate Agent.

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Pittsburgh Real Estate Podcast with Matt Durbin

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