You can look just about anywhere to find information about why or why not purchasing a home is a good idea in the current Yakima Real Estate market. But what must also be considered is the actual cost of money…by that, of course, I mean the current interest rate. Mortgage interest rates are currently at a historic low, bouncing between 3.5% and 5.25% which makes an huge difference in  your mortgage payment.  Right now, you will be able to buy much more house for your money as opposed to waiting for interest rates to go up. This is bound to happen as real estate in Yakima and economic circumstances are always cyclical.

Let’s say you can afford to pay about $1,500 per month on your base mortgage payment, not including taxes, insurance and PMI if applicable. If the interest rate were 5.25%, the base mortgage payment on a $275,000 home in Yakima would be about $1,518.00 per month. If the interest rate were as low as 3.5% the same payment, $1,526 you could get a house in Yakima costing $340,000. That is $65,000 more house, and in our Yakima real estate market, there is a big difference in homes at those two price points.

So then, the idea is to keep an eye on interest rates. To do this, you should talk to a Yakima mortgage lender who can give you a pre-approval, determine the interest rate you will likely qualify for and get out there to look at Yakima homes for sale while the interest rates are still low.

It seems as though the general assumption of real estate analysts is that the real estate market will come back, it’s just a question of when. And when it does, you would rather have your equity building at its best possible scenario. For our previous example, the equity would gain fast and go farther in the $340,000 home than the $275,000 home, under most circumstances.  So get out there, find out what rate you can get and do some Yakima house shopping to see if indeed this is a great time to invest in real property as we who are in the market do!

Please give me a call at (509) 833-2696 to learn more about the Yakima real estate market, your options and our recommended Yakima mortgage professionals.

Regards,
Andrew Richardson, Yakima Realtor
5625 Summitview Avenue
Yakima, WA 98908
(509) 833-2696