Utah Real Estate Stories

Social Security was established, on August 14, 1935, to take care of the country's elderly in their retirement years.   Today, about 65 million or 1/6 of Americans collect benefits and the average monthly retirement amount received in January 2022 was $1,614 per month or about $19,370 per year. This annual Social Security benefits exceed the 2022 Federal poverty level of $13,590 for individuals and $18, 310 for a family of two but from a practical level, it is nowhere near enough to be comfortable in your "Golden Years." Every adult in the work force, can go to SSA.gov to find out what to expect to receive based on their planned retirement age.   Since it probably won't be the amount you need to retire comfortably, at least you'll know how short you'll be so that you can devise an investment plan. There's a quick formula to estimate the investable assets needed by retirement to generate a certain income.   The target annual income is divided

Managing an asset worth hundreds of thousands of dollars is a responsibility that requires attention to details such as timely payment of the mortgage, home repairs and maintenance, upkeep, and oversight on financial issues including taxes, insurance, and other things. Depending on how long you've been a homeowner, you may have faced some of the decisions common to homeownership.   Occasionally, there could be something new that you haven't had to deal with in the past.   This is where having a resource you can rely on becomes valuable. During the buying or selling process, it is natural to turn to your agent for information and advice but during those periods in between where do you go for counsel?   Sure, you can turn to the Internet but that may not be the best place to get advice for your situation. We encourage you to think of us as your "source of real estate information"; someone you're comfortable with asking a question and confident that yo

Waiting for the mortgage rates to come down before you buy a home may not be a good decision. If you are correct, and the rates do come down by two percent, the savings you benefit from a lower rate will most likely be devoured by the appreciated price increase. As of 10/27/22, the 30-year fixed-rate was at 7.08% which is the highest level since April 2002.   If the rate drops to 5% in three years but the price increases by 5% a year, a $400,000 home today, will cost $463,050 three years from now. An increasingly popular option that more buyers are considering is to purchase the home today with an adjustable-rate mortgage that could give them a 5.96% rate for five years.   Then, refinance to a fixed-rate when rates come down. Not only will the buyer have lower payments with the ARM, but the buyer will also own the home, and benefit from the appreciated prices which will build equity in the home and increase their net worth. Mortgage rates have increased over 3% in the f