Ostrich Ranch!

Yes this is a real estate blog lol. Just wanted to tell you who this real estate agent is! I grew up on a corn and bean farm and an ostrich ranch! Learned hard work at a young age. As a freshman in high school, my Dad sold the farm machinery in the spring after planting, and bought 6 ostriches (6 month old birds). Then he sold the birds right before harvest and bought his machinery back. Then bought 6 more birds with the profit! Hence Sauder Ostrich Ranch was born. We grew to have an off site hatchery, babies on the farm, and birds all the way up to 2 year old breeder birds. We learned to be very quiet when they were fertilizing the egg so to speak lol. The breeders do such a pretty “dance” when mating. We actually taught other farmers how we did things and how us girls would collect the eggs. That was not easy let me tell you! One driving te golf cart, one grabbing the egg, and me in the back with the big hook (looks like a big shepherds hook). Haha! Now you know!

“Market shift??” What a local Realtor has to say….

Well I must admit it has been complicated, and the market seems to have changed daily, or hourly since May of 2022. Yes, we all know 2021 was like the runaway bride with sellers and buyers. And if you bought in 2021 and didn’t at least give your Realtor a thank you card, you need to. I think most of us are glad that is over (except maybe a seller who didn’t have to buy again).

This year has lots of “experts” saying we are going to have a crash, or a bubble. The media is not helping any, that’s for sure. They sure put a lot of fright into a buyer! Ok, let’s analyze one piece of this puzzle. The interest rate. Lot’s of buzz around those words for sure. Yes, 6% makes a higher payment than 2 or 3%. Obviously. But did you know you can buy down your points? You can even ask the seller for concessions to buy down your points.

Example: You could negotiate a 3% sellers concession. Some markets are “shifting” enough that buyers have negotiating power to do this. 2-1 buy downs and discount points are a great way to use seller concessions. Much easier than trying to get a large price reduction. The 2-3% interest rates were historically low, and we probably won’t see those rates ever again. Now, if you are planning on refinancing in a couple years you might want to reconsider buying a rate down. In some cases, points can take a few years to pay back. Check on this with your lender before making an offer! I know personally my husband and I took out a new home loan this year, and bought a half a point, and the half a point we bought is paid off in a year and a half if we go with minimum payments.

Other options on paying less interest and paying off your loan early are: pay an extra smaller payment each month to pay strictly on the principal. Or you can pay a big principal payment each year with your taxes if you get a tax refund. Or you can just pay biweekly. Here’s a helpful link to look at different numbers to see how you can pay off your loan early. https://www.calculator.net/mortgage-payoff-calculator.html

Until next time,

Candice Silverthorn, Realtor, RE/MAX Lake of the Ozarks, Osage Beach, MO 309-370-2634 Call or text, or visit my website at CandiceSellsLakeHomes.com