Lake Keowee Expert Blog In By July!
It’s raining right now around Lake Keowee and it will continue to do so for the rest of the week. That’s a good thing for this time of year as we head into the heat of a typical South Carolina summer. The ground needs to build up some reserves. It’s been a fairly wet spring although we’ve enjoyed several tremendous days over the past few weeks with crystal clear blue skies and absolutely perfect temperatures. In fact, this coming Saturday should be just one of those days that will give folks a great opportunity to get out and about on Lakes Keowee and Jocassee. Hopefully we’ll all follow the current guidelines for our own protection that are in place. I’d recommend going to the SC DHEC Web site and making sure you are up to date with the current situation: https://www.scdhec.gov/infectious-diseases/viruses/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19 As for business, we had another good week with one lot going under contract and we’re making some good headway on finding some other folks a new home on Keowee. Our level of activity continues to be very good. It would help if we had more properties to market. Right now we have 9 of our listings under contract which is making the cupboard a little more bare than normal. We have a few properties we will be bringing on shortly, but would love to get some more to present, especially right now as the buyers are out in force wanting to get into a lot or home prior to the summer 2020 getting kicked off. Let us know if you’d like an idea of the value of your property, home or lot and if it’s the right time to put your Lake Keowee property on the market. We can meet safely and come up with a plan to market and show your property safely and efficiently.
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A Critical Guide to Home Loans:
Which loan is right for you?
A good rule of thumb is to start looking into refinancing when interest rates drop 1 to 1.5 points below what you’re currently paying. The reason is that some lenders offer loans that cost little or nothing at all. As soon as interest rates drop below your rate, start talking to your agent or loan broker.
Next, figure out what you’ll have to pay up front. Then calculate your monthly savings. With these two numbers, you can figure out how long it will take you to cover the cost of the new loan. For example, if refinancing costs you $5,000 up front and saves you $200 a month in mortgage payments, it will take 25 months to cover your costs. If you’re not planning to move for several years, refinancing makes a lot of sense. But if you’re going to look for a new home in two years, you wouldn’t really be around long enough to reap the benefits. In fact, you’d lose money in this situation.
If you refinance today and rates drop even further in the next few months, you’ll miss out on additional savings. If you renfinance to save $10 or $20 off your mortgage payment , then you’ll have to stay in your home forever to see it pay off.
Warning: The math is easy for fixed-rate loans, not so easy when you’re talking about ARMS. If you don’t feel comfortable running the numbers yourself, ask your Realtor for help.
More next week….
Check out the Lake Keowee Real Estate numbers for the year
Lake Keowee Area News Corner
Dr. Amie Jakubiak of Prisma Health inserts a nasopharyngeal swab in Journal reporter Norm Cannada’s nose during COVID-19 testing at Blue Ridge Elementary School on Saturday. He was one of 243 people who were tested in Seneca, one of four Prisma Health testing sites Friday and Saturday.