Questions To Ask Your Homebuilder When It Comes to the Foundation

 It is a great adventure to take when it comes to building a new home. There are many exciting decisions to make on building materials, floorplans, etc. The home’s foundation is not one of the components that most homeowners want to think about. The foundation is what your home is literally built on and is the most critical part of the home-building process. Since you only get one chance to do it right, the professionals in the industry suggest asking your building these five questions.

1. What type of foundation will I have for my home?

There are three foundation types to choose from, slab-on-grade, crawl space or basement. Some homes found around the country can have a combination of the types of foundations. The foundation of your home will be based on where you live, the climate, and the local soil and moisture conditions. If you live in a colder climate, then the frost line will be important to factor into your decision-making.

When determining the foundation type, your builder can use a geotechnical report to help with the decision on what foundation is best. A geotechnical report will provide the builder with soil data to ensure that the appropriate design is used. In all three options, moisture management is the key.

2. How will my home be protected from liquid water?

As mentioned before, moisture management is the key. The goal is to keep liquid water out of your home. Moisture seeping through into your home, can hurt the foundation, dampen your comfort level and cause a potential health problem. Water doesn’t just come from mother nature, in some climates bulk water pressure from a water table going up and down can cause problems as well as landscaping irrigation.

There are many ways your builder can design your foundation area and products they can use to help repel liquid moisture. There are different building codes in specific areas around the country. Your builder will be familiar with your areas’ minimum building code requirements. You will want to always make sure you have the proper grading around your home so that water never becomes a hindrance.

3. How will my home be protected from soil vapor?

Soil vapor can seep into any type of foundation in any location into a home’s envelope. The natural flow of water vapor is to move from greater concentration to lesser concentration called diffusion. Your foundation needs to be checked to make sure this is not happening. If it goes unchecked, it can lead to issues with floor coverings, coating failures, mold growth and overall poor indoor quality. It can also cause your HVAC system to not run properly.

Water vapor can be just as menacing as liquid water but protecting your home from water vapor is different from protecting your home from liquid water. Remember to ask your home builder what steps they will take to make sure there is no diffusion of water vapor under your home. Builders can use a water vapor barrier under a slab foundation or overexposed earth in a crawl space.

4. What about comfort and efficiency?

A home needs to be both comfortable to live in and energy efficient. Homeowners turn to solar panels, air conditioning and insulation to make a home more energy efficient. The comfort level in your home actually starts below the living space. If you live in a colder climate, then the home’s foundation will need to be insulated. Even if you live in a milder climate, having your foundation insulated can help maintain comfortable temperatures and keep utility bills down.

5. What products do you use?

Choosing the right products can make a huge impact. Choosing the correct foundation is a big deal because it is hard to replace a foundation once it is installed. If you do have to replace a foundation, it is very costly and can affect other systems throughout your home.

Builders know all the ends and outs of the foundation systems they use in their area. They can explain to you how they work and if they have a warranty or if your home buyer warranty package includes the foundation.

Remember the construction of the foundation of your home is very important. Talk with your builder and get familiar with the choices. Understanding what goes on with the foundation helps to give you peace of mind to know that everything is working as it should.

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Sucette Harbor Comes to Mandeville Lakefront

 The LSU Health Foundation wants to build an age-restricted community along the Mandeville Lakefront. Sucette Harbor would be located on land that was donated by Al Copeland’s family. Many residents are not thrilled about the proposed development because they feel it will create traffic problems.

Although the development is planned to be for tenants 55 and over, it has to be 80% filled with tenants that are 55 and older in order for the age restriction to be enforced. Many Mandeville leaders and residents are afraid they will not be able to draw in that many tenants that are 55 and older. If this happens, then the development will go back to a regular multi-family complex.

Woodward Interest, the developer that will be leasing the land from LSU Health Foundation, believes that traffic will not be an issue. If the development did lose its age restriction, and younger people were to live in the complex, Mandeville’s land use regulations will still hold for the traffic standards.

The chair of the planning commission, Brian Rhinehart, still feels this could be a problem because older tenants are expected to have fewer vehicles but they still might not draw enough older tenants. Rhinehart wants Woodward Interest to do a study showing traffic that would be generated by a non-age-restricted multi-family complex.

“There’s always a level of mistrust when the developer hires a consultant. Citizens need that to have confidence that this isn’t a big snow job,” says Kevin Vogeltanz.

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What Questions To Ask Before Purchasing a Home

 No matter if you are a first-time homebuyer or this is one of many home purchases, it can be an exciting time.  According to the National Association of Realtors, homeowners stay in their homes an average of 8 years before moving. Purchasing a home is a long-term investment, and you should take a moment to ask yourself these questions before making the purchase.

1. What can I comfortably afford?

When you are considering what is comfortable for you to spend each month, this doesn’t just include your mortgage payment, but other home expenses as well. These additional expenses include taxes, homeowner’s insurance, homeowner’s association dues, utility cost and maintenance. A good rule to follow is to make sure that all your expenses which include your total house payment, taxes and insurance should be below 28% of your gross monthly income.

2. Which loans do I qualify for?

In order to figure this out, you will need to already have a lender. Your lender can go through all of the options and help you weigh the pros and cons of each. For example, if you want to have a monthly payment that stays the same, you would want to go with a conventional fixed-rate mortgage.

3. How much will you need for your down payment?

A lender can help factor in what kind of loans you will qualify for which in turn will determine your down payment. A VA loan requires a low down payment and in some circumstances no down payment at all. Other loans such as a conventional loan like to have a 20% of the home’s purchase price as a downpayment. On some loans, a higher down payment can lower your monthly payments and your interest rate.

4. What’s PMI? Do I have to pay it?

PMI is also known as private mortgage insurance and is required on many loans if the down payment is less than 20% of the home’s sale price. For example, if you do obtain a conventional loan and put less than 20% down, you will also have to pay PMI. Once you pay your loan down, your PMI can come off.

5. What interest rate do I qualify for? How can I lower it?

Your mortgage interest rate is very important in the life of your loan as it has a direct impact on your monthly payment. When you are shopping around for a lender, compare their APR (annual percentage rate) and their lender fees. Once you have chosen a lender, they can help you with ways to lower your interest rate.

6. What will my monthly payment be?

A lender can estimate your monthly payment based on the purchase price of a home, your down payment and your interest rate. There are also tons of monthly mortgage payment calculators online that can help you with a ballpark figure of how much you will pay a month.

7. What are the closing costs?

Closing costs include origination fees, discount points, appraisal, document preparation, title insurance, and home inspection. Closing costs run anywhere from 2% to 5% of your loan amount. Before you close on your home, your lender will provide you with an itemized list of estimated closing costs.

8. How long will the closing process take?

You want to make sure to give yourself enough time to get your financing in order, so put a reasonable closing date on your offer. Obtaining financing and getting everything in order for your home to close can take between 30 to 60 days.

If you are in the market for a new home, now is a great time to ask a real estate agent for their expertise. They can not only help you with the home-buying process, but will also be able to direct to a good lender.

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A Boost in Fed Rates Could Cause a Drop in Mortgage Rates in the Near Future

The beginning of February saw a raise of a key short-term interest rate to help bring down the inflation. The one-quarter of a percentage point, from 4.5% to 4.75%, will hopefully lower the interest rates in the long term. Many professionals in the industry already considered the raise in the rates in January even though the rates fell this January from December’s 6.38% to January’s 6.29%.

The inflation rate can influence mortgage rates so when the inflation rate is falling so will the mortgage rate. The consumer price index that was reported in December showed that overall prices increased 6.5% over the previous 12 months. This shows that the Fed definitely has an upper hand on the mortgage rates.

The Fed’s monetary policy committee will meet eight times a year and the last time they met last year all eight meetings saw an increase. During the summer and fall of 2022 there were four increases from the central bank and each increase was 0.75 percentage points.

“The Federal Reserve will continue to increase short-term rates to fight inflation, and will ultimately be successful, but it will be early 2024 before inflation reaches their 2% target,” says Michael Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association.

If you are in the market for a HELOC, home equity lines of credit, these will go up. The quarter-point raise will cause the spike. It will be more expensive for a homeowner to borrow or repay the funds drawn. If you have a balance of $50,000, the monthly interest rate will rise by $10.42.

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