Tag Archives: mortgages

The Top 10 Things That Add Value to Your Home

home renovations

Just like purchasing your home, selling it is a journey all its own. Whether you’re aiming to sell your home in one year or five, you can make a number of small changes that offer a big return on your home’s value. Try these key improvements and see the effect on your next home assessment.

  1. An eye-catching entrance. As the gateway into your home, your front door will set the tone for what’s within. Update your door bell, paint the front door, and hang a spring wreath to tie it all together.
  2. Energy-efficient updates: Updating appliances, windows, and fixtures, to their more green counterparts can set your home apart with the attractive promise of future savings.
  3. Low-maintenance landscaping: While flowers are eye-catching, shrubs and drought-resistant greenery make great visual impact with the promise of less hassle.
  4. A thorough clean. A deep clean of carpets, curtains, and corners will make your home sparkle and create a positive first impression. Hiring a professional cleaning service may also help to remove hard-to-clean grime and overlooked areas.
  5. De-cluttered rooms. A tidy house doesn’t always feel open. Heavy curtains, overstuffed couches, and rooms devoid of sunlight can make buyers cautious of square footage. Rid the room of nothing but bare essentials and simplistic furniture to maximize the area of the space.
  6. Extra mirrors. To double the feel of any room, strategically place mirrors to create an illusion of extra space.
  7. Small updates to big places. Kitchens and bathrooms are focal points in the selling process. Without the time and cost of a major remodel, small updates like new lighting, fresh paint, or modern accessories can add value to your home on a budget.
  8. Revamped flooring: Thin or threadbare carpets can raise alarms for buyers as they visualize the daunting need to replace the tired flooring. As your budget allows, replace your home’s carpet beginning high-traffic areas and working outwards.
  9. Modern lighting. Updating light fixtures to a timeless and simple feel, help to elevate a home’s design and gives the potential buyer a blank canvas to imagine life in their new home.
  10. A professional opinion. In under an hour, a trained interior designer can provide suggestions for small tweaks, such as furniture arrangement or paint color adjustments, which can increase your home’s value with limited investment.

While improvements are not a guarantee of improved value, they can make all the difference when drawing in interested buyers. If some of your home-improvement projects require a bigger investment than your budget expected, our lending officers at Peoples Bank & Trust can work to help you secure the Home Equity Line of Credit you need.

 

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

NMLS# 407724

Equal Housing Lender

Member FDIC

 

Renting v. Buying a Home

mortgages

Jumping into the ring of homeownership is an exciting milestone! There are many ways owning a home can impact you and your family. How do you know when to rent and when to make the move to purchasing your home? Peoples Bank & Trust is here to help with our handy guide to the pros and cons to renting and owning a home.

Renting

Cons:

  1. No wealth creation. As your payments go directly to your landlord and not the specific property, you are unable to build equity and reap the return on investments from the home’s growing value.
  2. No tax benefits. While homeowners can deduct property taxes and mortgage interest payments from their federal income tax, renters can’t claim deductions for housing costs.
  3. Dependent on the landlord. For everything ranging from utilities, to paint, to the rent dollars themselves, your landlord makes the majority of the decisions when it comes to renting a home. Depending on your lease, your landlord can increase the rent each year, or month!

Pros:

  1. Accommodates flexible lifestyles. If you travel frequently for work, leisure, or medical care, you may not have the time or availability to take care of a home. Renting allows an affordable accommodation without any hassle of renovations or repairs.
  2. Freedom in allocating finances. For renters, expenses such as mortgage insurance, real estate taxes, and home maintenance costs, can instead be funneled into savings, stocks or discretionary funds after the monthly rent and utilities are paid.
  3. Reduced insurance costs. Apart from renters insurance that covers the interior of a home, costly homeowners insurance and unexpected repairs belongs to the landlord, not the tenant.

Buying

Cons:

  1. Unexpected costs. Leaky roofs, backed-up pipes, and cracking foundations create thousands of dollars worth of unplanned repairs that stretch your budget to the limit.
  2. You’re locked in. Once you sign on the dotted line the house is yours, and so are the payments.
  3. Fluctuating home value. Despite your best efforts, your home can become less marketable based on circumstances out of your control. A declining neighborhood, housing surplus, or unstable market can decrease the value of your home despite well done renovations.

Pros:

  1. Fixed monthly payments. Homeowners with fixed-rate mortgages can trust that their mortgage payment will stay consistent each month, enabling the creation of a stable monthly budget.
  2. Financial gains. From tax credits to equity building, home ownership offers buyers a number of monetary perks and freedoms they wouldn’t receive as tenants.
  3. Freedom in expression. A kitchen remodel, a four-season porch addition, and other decorative transformations are all up to a homeowner’s discretion with no strings attached to a lease agreement.

Still on the fence? Our experts at Peoples Bank & Trust can sit down with you to help make a guided decision that suits both your lifestyle and your financials. Call and set up an appointment with us today!

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

NMLS# 407724

Equal Housing Lender

Member FDIC

 

Home Buying in 5 Easy Steps

Mortgage

So you’ve decided to buy a home. Congratulations! You are about to embark on one of the most important purchases of your life. With so many options and financial decisions ahead of you, here are some key tips we want to share to help determine your ideal path to home ownership.

  1. Evaluate your Financial Readiness

There are many factors in determining your current financial capabilities when considering the purchase of a home. Add up your current monthly expenses, except for your current rent payment, and see if a mortgage payment can effectively be added without diminishing your overall monthly budget. If the answer is yes than it’s time to check your credit history! Every bank, and the individual loan types they offer, have various requirements. Take the time to research these programs and determine which suits your specific needs.

  1. Get a Mortgage Pre-Approval

Once you know your ideal lending option, it’s time to get pre-approved! By speaking with one of our experienced lenders you can determine if you qualify for various loan offerings, and at what amount and terms.

  1. Determine Your Overall Budget

Even if you qualify for more, it may be beneficial to cap your budget at a smaller amount. This will help you prepare for any unforeseen expenses, or higher than anticipated utility bills. Other factors to consider in setting your budget are savings goals, planned future expenses, additional costs to commute, and any unplanned repairs or renovations to the home.

  1. Find Your Perfect Home

Take your time while searching for your perfect home. Most home buyers stay in the same home for nine years before moving again, so you want to make sure this new house has everything your family needs. By working with a trusted local realtor you can ensure that you see all available properties within your budget, and act on new listings quickly!

  1. Close the Deal

Once you’ve made an offer on your dream home it’s time to make the purchase official! Work with your realtor to sign the purchase agreement, and close the transaction. Your mortgage lender at Peoples Bank & Trust will work to ensure the funds for your home mortgage arrive quickly and hassle-free. Once the t’s are crossed and the i’s are dotted, you are officially a home owner!

After becoming an official home owner it’s time to celebrate! You did it! At Peoples Bank & Trust we want to help guide you through your home buying adventure! Give us a call at (636) 528-7001 or apply online today to get started.

 

Peoples Bank & Trust Co.

NMLS# 407724

Equal Housing Lender

Member FDIC

Know Your Mortgage Options

Spring and warmer weather are on their way again soon, meaning the prime time for buying and selling homes is as well. Purchasing a new home is no small decision. It is something that requires a lot of time planning and ensuring your finances are in order. It also requires that you get the right mortgage in place. Having the right mortgage for your needs is essential, as the wrong mortgage type can lead to spending hundreds or thousands more over the life of the loan than you need to. With so many mortgage options available – adjustable rate, fixed rate, balloon and bridge to name a few – how do you know which is best for you? The mortgage guide below will help you learn more about each loan type, including drawbacks and benefits. Once you’ve read through it, be sure to get in touch with the mortgage lenders at Peoples Bank & Trust to start a conversation about your home loan needs. Mortgage Guide Adjustable-Rate Mortgages, also known as an ARMs. •Interest rate: varies based on market conditions. ARMs come with change caps and lifetime rate caps to prevent huge jumps in mortgage payments. • Ideal for: those who are only going to be in a home for a few years. • Benefits: allows you to take advantage of periods of low interest rates. • Drawbacks: mortgage and interest payment can change each month, making it hard to budget for. Fixed-Rate Mortgages • Interest rate: locked in for the life of the loans. • Ideal for: those who will be living in their homes for a long period of time. • Benefits: simple to understand, and the fixed monthly payments are easy to budget for. • Drawbacks: may be too expensive if you purchase your home in a time of high interest rates. Balloon Mortgages • Interest rate: fixed for the life of the loan • Ideal for: someone expecting a large injection of cash or capital soon or those who will be moving out of the home soon. • Benefits: short-term, allow you to get large amounts of financing for lower interest rates • Drawbacks: the full balance of the mortgage is due at the end of the term. Bridge Loans • Interest rate: fixed for the life of the loan. • Ideal for: anyone wanting to purchase a new home before they sell their current home. • Benefits: gives you the short-term financing you need to purchase a new home before selling you current home. • Drawbacks: payments may be larger as the full balance of the loan must be paid by the time permanent financing is secured. If you have any further questions about your mortgage options, be sure to contact a mortgage lender at Peoples Bank & Trust. They take the time to listen to your needs to offer the best mortgage solution possible. We hope to hear from you soon! Peoples Bank & Trust Co. Member FDIC Equal Housing Lender NMLS #407724

There are different types of mortgages to choose from, a choice that can cost or save you thousands of dollars.

Spring and warmer weather are on their way again soon, meaning the prime time for buying and selling homes is as well. Purchasing a new home is no small decision. It is something that requires a lot of time planning and ensuring your finances are in order. It also requires that you get the right mortgage in place.

Having the right mortgage for your needs is essential, as the wrong mortgage type can lead to spending hundreds or thousands more over the life of the loan than you need to. With so many mortgage options available – adjustable rate, fixed rate, balloon and bridge to name a few – how do you know which is best for you?

The mortgage guide below will help you learn more about each loan type, including drawbacks and benefits. Once you’ve read through it, be sure to get in touch with the mortgage lenders at Peoples Bank & Trust to start a conversation about your home loan needs.

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