Politics and real estate seem to mirror each other, both having gone from being local to national with the advent of the internet and social media. What happens across the country in a different town, state, or even another part of the world has an effect at the local level, as there is now a global audience. Covid, unemployment, and negative events in the real estate, stock, and bond markets have all caused uncertainty in the economy, bringing higher costs to the consumer in just about every area of life. In turn, this means home buyers have less cash to spend, and the dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to. Have real estate prices shrunk as well?

Lenders will be charging more to protect themselves from the risk brought on by economic uncertainty, passing on higher fees and leaving less of the loan available to go toward the actual price of the house. The winter season usually means housing purchases tend to cool off and rates remain low. But the various stimulus programs put in place by the government to keep rates artificially low are expected to be phased out by the end of the year, meaning interest rates will be rising. Consumers need to do their homework to make a well-informed decision in preparation for the imminent high costs certain to be involved in their chosen loan product. Jeff’s guests this week include:

– Richard Greene of the New Mexico Mortgage Company compares the differences in mortgage lengths.

– Wendy Van Wessel from Kind Lending discusses ways to avoid mortgage interest and how to remove it from your current loan.

– Sarah Liang of Malibu Funding checks in from Colorado to talk about the lending market there.