Realtor, Broker Share the Facts About Georgia’s Strong Market in 2023
Georgia’s housing market continues to be strong in 2023, due to a combination of high demand, limited supply and increasing home prices for sellers. That’s the good news Realtor Stephanie Kull wants to share with homebuyers and sellers.
With mortgage rates and home prices expected to moderate, Stephanie and Jay White have kept busy staying on top of the market. She’s a Realtor and a native of Acworth. Jay, a mortgage broker, moved here 15 years ago.
The couple bring their teamwork mentality and love for community to their businesses. They enjoy working together, often discussing their workdays, exchanging ideas and creating new ways to help clients and support their community.
Count that as an advantage for this home team, one they are eager to pass on to their clients.
“Stephanie and I have a passion to help people achieve their goals, as it pertains to real estate,” Jay said. “Combined with Steph’s in-depth local market knowledge, my in-depth knowledge of mortgage financing, what else could a potential homebuyer need in a team?”
The pair work together to help build wealth — and a brighter future — through homeownership.
“Building wealth through homeownership is a tangible goal for everyone, as there are long-term financial benefits to a mortgage payment,” Stephanie said. “Let’s look at it as a forced savings account, where the value of a home increases over time, and the homeowners build wealth from the price appreciation each year. It’s a good way to build generational wealth.”
Separating Facts From Fiction
Jay and Stephanie clear up common misconceptions about the current real estate market.
✖ False: Mortgage rates move up and down when the Federal Reserve announces rate increases or decreases.
✔ Fact: Mortgage rates move based on the 10-year treasury yield. Fed rates do not have a direct impact on mortgage rates. There are many times when the Fed raises its rate and mortgage rates decrease.
✖ False: This is not a good time to buy a house.
✔ Fact: Now is a great time to buy a home. While there still is a lot of demand in the market, sellers are lowering prices, paying closing costs and making repairs. It’s true that mortgage rates are not where they were one to two years ago, but you are not having to overpay grossly for a home. This is an excellent time to buy. If you are thinking about buying your first home, there are many options for you, from 1% down options to sellers offering to pay for temporary buydowns. If you are an investor, the right team can help you build an amazing portfolio.
✖ False: It’s better to rent and wait to buy later.
✔ Fact: Rents continue to increase in 2023. It’s more expensive than ever to rent in today’s market. Landlords are increasing rent to make up for freezes during the pandemic. During that time, remote workers moved to suburban areas, where rent costs were lower. Now those rental prices have increased tremendously as well.
Buying gives you the ability to put the home to work for you as it grows in equity. As a homeowner, you can choose to rent the home and start building your real estate portfolio. Waiting will cost you more. As the housing demand grows, you might wind up in a bidding war and lose out.
✖ False: The market will crash.
✔ Fact: While we never know what tomorrow holds, you don’t have to look
any further than the data. Georgia’s housing market continues to be strong in 2023 due to a combination of high demand, limited supply and increasing home prices for sellers.
✖ False: Banks, retail mortgage companies and brokers are the same.
✔ Fact: Banks and retail mortgage lenders are not on the same level as brokers. As brokers, we can save clients, on average, $9,400 more per transaction and approve clients, on average, for more than $45,000 more per transaction.
✖ False: Having my credit pulled will hurt my credit score.
✔ Fact: Mortgage credit is a different score than consumer credit. FICO has multiple algorithms for scoring credit. What you see online with credit card companies is a consumer scoring model. It’s assumed they follow FICO, but most don’t.
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