Closing Costs Unpacked: State-by-State Breakdowns for Today’s Buyers

Written by Jupiter Beach Mortgage Syndicated User on September 30, 2025. Posted in First-Time Buyers, For Buyers, Jupiter Beach Florida Mortgage Rates, Jupiter Beach Mortgage.

If you’re planning to buy a home this year, there’s one expense you can’t afford to overlook: closing costs.Almost every buyer knows they exist, but not that many know exactly what they cover, or how different they can be based on where you’re buying. So, let’s break them down.What Are Closing Costs?Your closing costs are the additional fees and payments you make when finalizing your home purchase. Every buyer has them. According to Freddie Mac, they typically include things like homeowner insurance and title insurance, as well as various fees for your:Loan applicationCredit...

Downsizing Without Debt: How More Homeowners Are Buying Their Next House in Cash

Written by Jupiter Beach Mortgage Syndicated User on September 26, 2025. Posted in Downsize, Equity, For Sellers, Jupiter Beach Florida Mortgage Rates, Jupiter Beach Mortgage, Selling Tips.

If you’ve been thinking about downsizing to lower your expenses, be closer to family, or just make life easier, here’s a trend worth paying attention to:More homeowners are buying their next house outright, without taking on a new mortgage. And, if you’ve owned your home for a while, you may be able to do the same. No mortgage. No monthly housing payments.A Record Share of Homeowners Are Mortgage-FreeAccording to analysis from ResiClub of Census data, more than 40% of U.S. owner-occupied homes are mortgage-free – an all-time high for this data series. That means 4 in 10 homeowners own...

Why Buyers and Sellers Face Very Different Conditions Today

Written by Jupiter Beach Mortgage Syndicated User on September 25, 2025. Posted in For Buyers, For Sellers, Home Prices, Inventory, Jupiter Beach Florida Mortgage Rates, Jupiter Beach Mortgage.

There’s a new divide in housing right now. In some states, buyers are gaining ground. In others, sellers still have the upper hand. It all depends on where you live. Curious what’s happening in your state?These 3 maps show how the split is playing out across the country. In each one:Darker Shades of Blue = Buyer friendlyLighter Shades of Blue = Seller strongInventory Sets the StageWhile the number of homes for sale has improved pretty much across the board, how much growth we’ve seen can look dramatically different based on where you live. And that impacts who has the leverage...

3 Reasons Affordability Is Showing Signs of Improvement This Fall

Written by Jupiter Beach Mortgage Syndicated User on September 23, 2025. Posted in Affordability, Buying Tips, For Buyers, Jupiter Beach Florida Mortgage Rates, Jupiter Beach Mortgage.

For the past couple of years, it’s been tough for a lot of homebuyers to make the numbers work. Home prices shot up. Mortgage rates too. And a number of people hit pause because it just didn’t feel possible. Maybe you were one of them.But there’s some encouraging news. If you’ve been waiting for a better time to jump back in, affordability may finally be showing signs of improvement this fall.The latest data from Redfin shows the typical monthly mortgage payment has been coming down, and is now about $290 lower than it was just a few months ago (see graph below):And here’s why this is...

Do You Know How Much Your House Is Really Worth?

Written by Jupiter Beach Mortgage Syndicated User on September 19, 2025. Posted in Equity, For Sellers, Jupiter Beach Florida Mortgage Rates, Jupiter Beach Mortgage, Selling Tips.

Want to know something important you probably don’t have a professional check for you nearly as often as you should? Spoiler alert: it’s the value of your home.Because here’s the reality. Your house is likely the biggest financial asset you have. And if you’ve lived in it for a few years or more, chances are it’s been quietly building wealth for you in the background – even if you haven’t been keeping tabs on it.You might be surprised by just how much it’s grown, even as the market has shifted over the past few months.What Is Home Equity?That hidden wealth in your home is called equity....

Why Now May Be a Key 2025 Moment To Sell Your House

Written by Jupiter Beach Mortgage Syndicated User on September 18, 2025. Posted in For Sellers, Jupiter Beach Florida Mortgage Rates, Jupiter Beach Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, Selling Tips.

Mortgage rates are finally heading in the right direction – and buyers are starting to jump back in.According to the data, buyer demand picked up considerably once mortgage rates hit a new low for 2025. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports that applications for home loans were up 23% compared to the first week of September last year.If you’ve been waiting to sell, or your listing recently expired because the market was slower than you hoped it would be, now’s the time to reconsider your move. Buyer demand is the highest it’s been since July – and you don’t want to miss this...

What a Fed Rate Cut Could Mean for Mortgage Rates

Written by Jupiter Beach Mortgage Syndicated User on September 16, 2025. Posted in Affordability, Economy, For Buyers, Jupiter Beach Florida Mortgage Rates, Jupiter Beach Mortgage, Mortgage Rates.

The Federal Reserve (the Fed) meets this week, and expectations are high that they’ll cut the Federal Funds Rate. But does that mean mortgage rates will drop? Let’s clear up the confusion.The Fed Doesn’t Directly Set Mortgage RatesRight now, all eyes are on the Fed. Most economists expect they’ll cut the Federal Funds Rate at their mid-September meeting to try to head off a potential recession.According to the CME FedWatch Tool, markets are already betting on it. There’s virtually a 100% chance of a September cut. And based on what we know now, there’s about a 92% chance it’ll be a...

Patience Won’t Sell Your House. Pricing Will.

Written by Jupiter Beach Mortgage Syndicated User on September 12, 2025. Posted in For Sellers, Home Prices, Jupiter Beach Florida Mortgage Rates, Jupiter Beach Mortgage, Selling Tips.

Waiting for the perfect buyer to fall in love with your house? In today’s market, that’s usually not what’s holding things up. And here’s why.Let’s be real. Homes are taking a week longer to sell than they did a year ago. According to Realtor.com:“Homes are also taking longer to sell. The typical home spent 60 days on the market in August, seven days longer than last year and now above pre-pandemic norms for the second consecutive month. This was the 17th straight month of year-over-year increases in time on market.”Part of that is because there are more homes on the market. So, with more...

Mortgage Rates Just Saw Their Biggest Drop in a Year

Written by Jupiter Beach Mortgage Syndicated User on September 11, 2025. Posted in Affordability, Economy, First-Time Buyers, For Buyers, Jupiter Beach Florida Mortgage Rates, Jupiter Beach Mortgage, Mortgage Rates.

You’ve been waiting for what feels like forever for mortgage rates to finally budge. And last week, they did – in a big way.On Friday, September 5th, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to the lowest level since October 2024. It was the biggest one-day decline in over a year.What Sparked the Drop?According to Mortgage News Daily, this was a reaction to the August jobs report, which came out weaker-than-expected for a second month in a row. That sent signals across the financial markets, and then mortgage rates came down as a result.Basically, we’re seeing signs the economy...

Why 50% of Homes Are Selling for Under Asking and How To Avoid It

Written by Jupiter Beach Mortgage Syndicated User on September 9, 2025. Posted in For Sellers, Home Prices, Jupiter Beach Florida Mortgage Rates, Jupiter Beach Mortgage, Selling Tips.

If your selling strategy still assumes you’ll get multiple offers over asking, it’s officially time for a reset. That frenzied seller’s market is behind us. And here are the numbers to prove it. From Frenzy to “Normal”Right now, about 50% of homes on the market are selling for less than their asking price, according to the latest data from Cotality.But that isn’t necessarily bad news, even if it feels like it. Here’s why. The wild run-up over the last few years was never going to be sustainable. The housing market needed a reset, and data shows that’s exactly what’s happening right now.The...

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