ExpertRealEstateTips

Hi folks. I thought I'd give you an update on real estate and personal finance news popping into my inbox from time to time. If you like this sort of update, I'll do it more frequently. You can also subscribe to my newsletter at glink.substack.com.

Freddie Mac: Mortgage rates inched down overnight. If you've been waiting to apply for a mortgage, now might be a good time. @freddiemac

Mortgage Bankers Association: MBA Forecast says commercial/multi-family lending will fall 20% in 2023. The big issue here is how many commercial office properties have loans coming due this year. Short answer: Plenty. And, most of those are with local/regional banks. Worrisome for the regional banking sector. Think: Silicon Valley Bank

WalletHub: Released the results of their International Credit Card Survey gauging people's opinions on various aspects of spending money abroad. Here's what they found:
- 57% of Americans wouldn't feel safe traveling abroad without a credit card
- 2 in 3 people don't realize that foreign fees can apply without foreign travel
- 56% of Americans say they'd never get a credit card with a foreign transaction fee
- more than 75% don't know that using a credit card gets them the best exchange rate when traveling abroad
Read more ‪@Wallethub‬ or at wallethub.com

Realtor.com: Apparently, typical down payments are up $10,000 over pre-pandemic levels. As pandemic-era savings have dwindled and the housing market has become less competitive, people are putting down a lower percentage of the home's price, but still a much higher dollar amount than pre-pandemic. The typical downpayment in Q1 2023 was 13% of the purchase price, or about $24,100. ‪@realtordotcom‬

And on that note, here's today's poll: How much money do you have on hand for a cash down payment

2 years ago | [YT] | 2