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Current Market Requires Attitude Adjustment for Buyers


Attitude: a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior.


With the current status of the Baltimore real estate market, both buyers and sellers are having to rethink their goals and adjust their expectations.


For sellers, this means that the pool of potential buyers has shrunk, and they need to lower their expectations for their home’s listing price. With lower proceeds from the sale, and again, higher interest rates; they will also need to adjust their expectations as to what they can afford.


Part of the lack of inventory may be that sellers have reevaluated selling a home that they currently have at a 2.5% mortgage in order to move to another home where financing may be as much as 7.19% for a 30-year loan and close to 7% for a 15 year fixed.


Over the spring and summer of 2022, buyers were competing for homes, often paying over the asking price and letting go of contingencies in order to have their contract be the one accepted. Current inventory is still scarce, interest rates have doubled and many buyers need to lower their expectations as to what they can afford.


As of Thursday, October 20, 2022, current rates in Maryland are 7.19% for a 30-year fixed and 6.43% for a 15-year fixed.

So what can you do?


Work with a mortgage lender to set a realistic budget for what you can afford.


Your down payment is the first part of your home's purchase price that you pay at closing. Your mortgage lender will pay the remaining balance.


Typically, mortgage lenders in Maryland want you to contribute 20% of the purchase price as a down payment. That would be $81,250 for a $406,250 home — the typical home value in Maryland.


However, you have options to lower your down payment amount. Government backed loans, like VA and FHA loans, allow you to contribute 0% and 3.5% of your home's purchase price respectively. Even conventional loans allow for down payments as low as 3-5% (though the minimum varies by lender).

Find a Realtor you can trust. One thing that has not changed in this market is Whit Harvey’s commitment to his clients. His goal is to find you the right house at the right price.

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