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        <title>Huntsville, Al Real Estate Blog</title>
        <link>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/2022-07/</link>
        <description></description>
<item>
    <guid>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/buying-a-home-in-huntsville-alabama-property-taxes-and-homesteading-explained.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/buying-a-home-in-huntsville-alabama-property-taxes-and-homesteading-explained.html</link>
        <author>leadrouter@mattcurtisrealestate.com (Matt Curtis)</author>
        <title>Property Taxes in Alabama and What Homestead Means | Buying a Home in Huntsville, AL</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 



You may be wondering about property taxes in Alabama along with what homestead means in the real estate industry. Here we discuss the basics of Alabama property tax and how it effects the process of buying a home in Huntsville, AL. We also discuss what homestead means, the advantages of homesteading real estate, and how much you can save with homestead exemption. 


Alabama Property Taxes Explained


Know The Basics About Property Taxes.


If you own a house in Alabama, you will likely pay property tax every year. This means that you will receive a bill at the end of each year. It also means that you will have to pay property taxes even if you rent out your home. Property taxes are prorated at closing; not paying attention to the homestead laws can cost you thousands of dollars a year in property taxes. 


The tax year runs October 1st through September 30th instead of being based on the calendar year. After the taxes accumulate, the government charges the taxes and collects those taxes which is called ‘paying in arrears'. For example, if you close on June 15th the seller will actually owe taxes from the previous October 1st through June 15th. The attorney will collect the seller's prorated portion of the taxes and give that to the buyer at closing so that the buyer can pay the full year taxes at the end of the tax year. 


If you're financing a home, those taxes will go into your escrow account and the bank will pay those taxes at the end of the year. If you're paying cash or you're using a commercial loan, then those taxes will be prorated in your pocket; you'll need to save those and have them ready for the end of the tax year.


Find Out Whether You Can Afford A Home Or Not.


There are two ways to determine whether you can afford a home. One way is to use a mortgage calculator. Another way is to calculate how much money you would need to make after paying off your current debts.


Understand The Process For Buying A Home.


If you decide to buy a house, there are several steps involved. First, you will need to find a lender who will finance the purchase. Then, you will need to apply for a loan. Once approved, you will need to choose a real estate agent to help you find a suitable home. Finally, you will need to close on the sale.


Homestead Explained


What Is Homestead?


If you live in an area where there is no state income tax, then you might qualify for a homestead exemption. This means that you will not pay property taxes on your home. However, if you do not meet the requirements for a homestead exemption, you will still need to pay property taxes.


How Much Can You Save By Taking Advantage Of This Benefit?


A homestead exemption can save you money each year. It is based on the value of your home, so the higher your home is worth, the bigger the savings. There are also other benefits to having a homestead exemption. For instance, you won’t have to pay property taxes on any improvements you make to your house. Also, if you sell your home, you will receive a portion of the sale price as a refund.


When you close on your home, you're going to close with an attorney's office. That attorney is going to take the deed and record it with the courthouse. Once that deed comes back from the courthouse, the attorney is going to mail you that deed which is typically several weeks after closing. You don't want to forget to take that physical deed along with your driver's license down to the local courthouse or a satellite office to claim your homestead exemption. If you don't, when the next tax year rolls around your taxes will be double for that tax year.


Read More:





 Learn more about how homestead exemption works in Madison
 ]]> </description>
    <pubDate>Thu, 28 Jul 2022 13:54:00 -0500</pubDate>
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<item>
    <guid>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/buy-a-home-now-or-later-huntsville-alabama-real-estate.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/buy-a-home-now-or-later-huntsville-alabama-real-estate.html</link>
        <author>leadrouter@mattcurtisrealestate.com (Matt Curtis)</author>
        <title>Should I Buy a Home Now or Wait? | Huntsville, AL Real Estate</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
Should I Buy a Home Now or Wait? | Huntsville, AL Real Estate





Should I buy a home now or later? Whether you're renting a home, whether you're expanding your family, whether you're looking to invest or buy that dream home; there's a lot of mixed information out in the marketplace right now that’s causing confusion on home purchasing decisions.


Why You Should Wait


 Home affordability continues to drop. It's dropped 45 points in the last two years from 155 down to 110. Buyers have been faced with this double whammy of rising interest rates, along with rising prices as well. The other thing is there's a lot of fear of a recession in the market and with that potential job losses that might come. Those are all valid reasons for why to consider waiting.


Why You Should Buy Now


1. We have only had one major real estate correction in the last 100 years. That was back in 2008 and that wasn't even a real estate crash, it was a financial crash. The challenge we’re experiencing is that since 2008, builders have slowed down the rate of building new homes which has created a 5.5 million home deficit. 


2. Housing prices are not going to crash since we have a record amount of homeowner equity in this market right now at $9.9 trillion. Borrowers that are buying homes right now are more qualified. Back in 2008, the average loan to value ratio was 85 which means they had very little equity if there was a dip in the market. Now the average buyer actually has a 55 loan to value ratio which gives them tons of equity going into the purchase of their new home.


3. We're experiencing record inflation since 40 of the US dollars have been printed in the last 24 months. One of the best hedges against inflation is buying hard assets such as real estate. 


Take a look at this graph, it charts monetary supply versus home values in America. You'll see back in 2008 there was a huge gap between the monetary supply and the home prices, which is why home prices went down in 2008. Now, those two numbers line up perfectly and the reason for that is we're not really having housing appreciation. It's more of just dollar devaluation in the market right now.


 


Buy a Home Now or Wait?


This is an opportunity to buy a home in a less competitive market. As inflation continues to go up and interest rates are rising, there's less demand in the marketplace. You want to go ahead and do that because we have a 5.5 million home deficit in this country that’s not going away. Buy a home now when there's less competition, lock in your price, and then refinance as rates likely go lower in the next 12 to 24 months. 


The challenge with waiting to buy a house is we're seeing record rent appreciation right now and your rent is likely going to continue to increase over the next couple of years.  As interest rates dip potentially over the next 12 to 24 months, new buyers are going to enter the marketplace which will increase the demand and in my opinion, produce bidding wars again, because we have that five and a half million home deficit across this country.


Buy or wait? Personally, that's going to be a decision up to you. However, I am personally buying in this market.


 



 ]]> </description>
    <pubDate>Tue, 26 Jul 2022 13:52:00 -0500</pubDate>
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<item>
    <guid>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/parents-of-millennials.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/parents-of-millennials.html</link>
        <author>leadrouter@mattcurtisrealestate.com (Matt Curtis)</author>
        <title>Millennial Parents, This Real Estate Advice Is For You</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
Parents of Millennials - This real estate advice is For You





I want to talk to parents of millennials, and even grandparents of millennials, and offer the best real estate advice for our current housing market.  The United States real estate is at an inflection point with high prices and high-interest rates. The bad news is the recent challenges we see with millennials and the housing market will not go away soon. The good news is that the Fed is starting to slow down demand. However, due to 5.5 million home deficit in this country, the Fed will unlikely slow down demand at a reasonable rate required for equilibrium to occur in the housing market.


Being a parent has me thinking about how I can help my kids and future grandkids set up for success. Why is this on my mind? Because the average net worth of a renter in this country is only $6,300 versus $255,000 for a homeowner. That was a 2019 status, and the difference is bigger today.


A millennial parent or grandparent needs to ask “Do I want my kids and grandkids growing up in an apartment with an average net worth of $6,00, or do I want them growing up in a home with an average net worth of over $255,000?&quot; Consider helping your millennial kids and grandkids by tapping into equity for a head start that will help in their lifetime.


One example that I was thinking of is opening a home equity line of credit. Say you have a home with a value of $400,000 and owe only $200,000 on that; you could get a home equity line of credit for $40,000 and gift that toward your kids to give them a down payment on their first home.
 ]]> </description>
    <pubDate>Tue, 19 Jul 2022 12:22:00 -0500</pubDate>
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    <guid>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/huntsville-al-real-estate-1-real-estaste-team-in-alabama.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/huntsville-al-real-estate-1-real-estaste-team-in-alabama.html</link>
        <author>leadrouter@mattcurtisrealestate.com (Matt Curtis)</author>
        <title>1 Real Estate Team in Alabama | Huntsville, AL Real Estate News</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
1 Real Estate Team in Alabama








Thank you, Huntsville Matt Curtis Real Estate has been named one of the top 50 real estate teams nationwide and the number one real estate team in the entire state of Alabama for the third consecutive year. Our real estate agency is also on INC 5000 fastest growing companies in the US list for the 6th year.


We also want to thank the Madison and the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce, where they've both awarded us the service Business of the Year award. In addition to being named the best overall business in Madison, we earned a leadership award just a few years ago. We give many thanks and high-fives to our 5-star real estate team for helping Matt Curtis get awarded the 1 real estate team in Alabama and one of the best places to work in Huntsville for two years.


Our community in Huntsville, AL deserves a big thank you for trusting our agency with all those five-star reviews on Google. We now have more five-star reviews on other social platforms than any other real estate company in Alabama. Most importantly, thank you for coming up alongside us and helping us fulfill that vision of building a thousand homes for families in Nicaragua. Through supporting our team, Matt Curtis Real Estate built 141 homes for families in Nicaragua.



 ]]> </description>
    <pubDate>Tue, 19 Jul 2022 08:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
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    <guid>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/huntsville-al-housing-market-news-new-home-housing-supply.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/huntsville-al-housing-market-news-new-home-housing-supply.html</link>
        <author>leadrouter@mattcurtisrealestate.com (Matt Curtis)</author>
        <title>New Housing Supply | Huntsville, AL Housing Market News</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
New Housing Supply





The United States and the real estate market is experiencing a massive imbalance of supply and demand for new home housing. A question we need answers to is how long will it take new home builders to catch up with inventory? The U.S. has a current home definite of 4 to 5.5 million, an alarming statistic to note when only 6 to 7 million homes are sold annually. The supply of new construction homes needs to rise to even out the 5.5 million home deficit. The challenge comes from the recent increase in interest rates. New construction permits are actually down 3.2 from March to April. So, let's evaluate the new home housing supply and answer the rising question of how long until new home builders catch up with inventory? Building new construction homes need to continue at a normal to a high rate. If new construction continues to slow down, there is no end to our nation's home housing supply deficit.


 



 ]]> </description>
    <pubDate>Tue, 12 Jul 2022 10:53:00 -0500</pubDate>
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    <guid>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/huntsville-al-housing-market-news-when-will-the-real-estate-market-crash.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/huntsville-al-housing-market-news-when-will-the-real-estate-market-crash.html</link>
        <author>leadrouter@mattcurtisrealestate.com (Matt Curtis)</author>
        <title>When Will The Housing Market Crash? | Huntsville, AL Housing Market News</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
When Will The Housing Market Crash?





It's all over the news, “When will the real estate market crash?” As the owner of Matt Curtis Real Estate, the largest real estate team in Alabama, and a real estate investor, the status of the U.S.'s real estate market, it's a topic that I think about often. 


I started Matt Curtis Real Estate during the once-in-a-lifetime 2008 market crash. Parts of me actually want to see prices come back down; as both an investor and also to help millennials out in getting their first home. We're going to have big challenges ahead as a nation if we become a nation of renters. 


On a positive note, I believe that home values will start to slow down their appreciation rates despite values continuing to rise. The reason why is that we have a 5+ million home deficit in this country. New construction is starting to slow down nationally, and we won't be able to cut into this deficit any time soon. It's not feasible for real estate prices to lower when there's a housing shortage.


Home prices have only crashed one time in the last 120 years, which was in 2008. And 2008 was not even a housing or real state market crisis, it was a financial crisis. Bad loans were offered to, and used by, unqualified borrowers. We do not see this particular financial crisis happening today. Borrowers have a 55 loan to value ratio versus 85 back in 2008. Crashes happen when there's no built equity and people are being forced to sell. At this present time, homeowners have both equity and low-interest rates. Homeowners are not forced to sell their homes with low interest rates and equity.


Finally, with our fiat money system, we've had 40 of the US dollars printed in the last 24 months. In reality, we have not seen real estate price appreciation. What we have seen is dollar devaluation. 


I know it's common to hear about a real estate crash is coming. A lot of our nation's population would like to see a real estate market crash; therefore, are not learning the facts regarding the current state of our real estate market. However, I don't see prices coming down and I'm actually putting my money where my mouth is by continuing to buy real estate during this time.



 ]]> </description>
    <pubDate>Tue, 12 Jul 2022 10:52:00 -0500</pubDate>
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<item>
    <guid>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/zillow-updates-2022-market-prediction.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/zillow-updates-2022-market-prediction.html</link>
        <author>leadrouter@mattcurtisrealestate.com (Matt Curtis)</author>
        <title>Zillow Updates 2022 Market Prediction | Huntsville, AL Real Estate News</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
Zillow Updates 2022 Market Prediction





Zillow updated the market prediction for 2022, and there are housing market statistics to discuss. The United States has now reached the most unaffordable market it has seen in the last 15 years This is measured by reviewing the affordability index. The affordable index looks at the percentage of income that goes towards housing. This percentage is now at 28, the highest level since 2007. To put that into perspective, 30 is considered the upper threshold that should be avoided. As a nation on average, we are getting close to that number.


The average monthly mortgage payment now stands at $2,127 per month, which is a 36 increase year to date. We're only halfway through the year but the nation's housing market has already seen a 36 increase. This increase is happening due to the rise in prices and even more importantly; a surge in mortgage interest rates. Home values have also increased 20.7 in May, which was a slight drop from April’s 20.9.


Zillow additionally decreased its forecast from 10.4 down to 8.8. In a normal, or regular, housing market, a 3 to 5 appreciation is seen. However, Zillow is still predicting above-average appreciation despite the current rise in interest rates.


Zillow's updated housing market predictions note that inventory is starting to increase since February. I believe the increased inventory is occurring for a couple of reasons. First, the demand for higher price points is dropping since there are increased interest rates and a lack of affordability. Second, the nation is still coming out of the pandemic, and there are more sellers comfortable seeing a slight slowdown in selling. To these sellers, this is an opportunity to tap out and really cash in on equity they have in their homes.





To compare the housing market shifts, take a look at this YouTube video of Zillow updating the housing market predictions back in January of this year. 
 ]]> </description>
    <pubDate>Fri, 08 Jul 2022 09:54:00 -0500</pubDate>
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    <guid>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/huntsville-al-real-estate-news-housing-market-shift.html</guid>
    <link>https://www.mattcurtisrealestate.com/HuntsvilleAlRealEstateBlog/huntsville-al-real-estate-news-housing-market-shift.html</link>
        <author>leadrouter@mattcurtisrealestate.com (Matt Curtis)</author>
        <title>Housing Market Shift | Huntsville, AL Real Estate News</title>
    <description> <![CDATA[ 
Housing Market Shift








Everyone wants to know how the start of the housing market shift will affect current home values. Inman News recently reported on the current real estate market shift. They also remind us that a housing market shift is not the same as a housing market collapse. Why is this housing market shift finally occurring?


First, the Fed has changed its interest rate policy on federal funds rates and quantitative easing. Record low-interest rates have increased by 2 this year. 


Second, Fannie Mae is projecting an 11 drop in home sales this month. The monthly home sales decrease happens because of a lack of affordability and supply. 


Thirdly, both homebuilding and home sales nationally are beginning to slow down. 


Matt’s Housing Market Shift Prediction


I believe we will see home value appreciation cool to a more normal real estate market at 3 to 5 annual appreciation over the next 12 months nationally. Some housing markets will lose value, while others will rise above the national average. I believe Huntsville will see appreciation house rates above the national average.


Long term, I see another crazy cycle of double-digit appreciation in the next couple of years. Why? Because, as mentioned in point three, home builders are slowing down the rate of building. We still have this 5.5 million home deficit in this country, which is not going away. Plus, once inflation is under control and rates begin to decrease again, you will find that buyers who excite the market will also create another feeding frenzy.


My advice to buyers is this: Don't. Wait. Lock in your prices now and then refinance if and likely when rates become more favorable.
 ]]> </description>
    <pubDate>Tue, 05 Jul 2022 10:15:00 -0500</pubDate>
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