According to the FBI, nearly 2 million burglaries occur each year. If you're heading off on vacation this summer, burglar proof your Columbia SC home while you enjoy your time away by not telling the world you're gone, and by having your neighbor help out.
According to the FBI, burglaries cost victims about $4.5 billion in property losses in 2013. The average dollar loss per burglary offense was $2,322.
Ways to Burglar Proof Your Columbia SC Home
Deterrence starts with good locks, secured windows — even on the second floor – and hiding valuables so thieves won't even want to bother. You'll also want to make your home look like it's occupied.
Here are some other things you should consider taking care of before you leave your home prey to thieves looking for their next target.
The Columbia SC home ownership rate has dropped to 65 percent according to the US Census Bureau. This is after holding above 66 percent for the past three quarters. The last time the rate was this low, former President Bill Clinton was in office serving his second term.
With the nationwide home ownership rate also at 65% and home values increasing, the housing industry and consumer groups are pressuring lawmakers to make the American Dream more accessible to the masses. Advocates are pushing for new mortgage standards crafted to prevent another crash.
The question is, will Columbia SC home ownership fall even further before the rate begins to turn upward?
Real estate analyst Jason Meister, former Fannie Mae executive Tim Rood and Fox Business News’ Neil Cavuto talk about the state of the housing market in this short video report.
Columbia SC rental property rates were 4% higher in April than a year before, according to a report from Zillow. That's the fastest increase in two years, outpacing Columbia SC home prices, according to the report.
Columbia SC rental property affordability is getting worse, and it doesn't look like it will be getting better anytime soon. Svenja Gudell, senior director of economic research at Zillow, said "This is here to stay. We will continue to see rental increases, and affordability will worsen before it gets better."
Income Not Keeping Up With Columbia SC Rental Property Increases
Columbia SC rental property rates have been steadily increasing since 2000 and unlike home prices, which took a hit when the bubble burst, there's been no disruption to slow rent prices, explained Gudell. Income hasn't kept up with all these Columbia SC rental property increases. Renters are having to spend much more of their monthly income on rent and it's a concern everywhere.
Low mortgage rates make home buying an attractive option, but large rent checks can make saving for a down payment tough. On a national level, homeowners can pay an average of 15.3% of their income on mortgage payments each month, while renters will dish out roughly 30% on rent. Gudell said tenants in high-income areas can expect to pay closer to 50% of their income on rents.
A new survey by Freddie Mac finds that soaring rents are not turning renters into homeowners, but actually delaying homeownership for many. Of those who experienced a rent increase in the past two years, 70 percent would like to buy a home but cannot afford to at this point. Half (51 percent) said they now have to put off their plans to purchase a home. Some 44 percent indicated they'd like to buy a home and have started looking.
There are bunch of things keeping renters from becoming homeowners and that usually means the folks that would be normally making the switch to become homeowners are still leasing all the rental units.
Get more information as it pertains to Columbia SC rental property and Columbia SC real estate in our section on Columbia SC Real Estate to your right under Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.
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According to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, larger Columbia SC homes are making a comeback, and bigger than ever. After a few years of shrinkage in the aftermath of the Great Recession, the median square footage of newly built Columbia SC homes last year tipped the scales at over 2,400 square feet. That's nearly 1,000 square feet larger than the median home built in 1992. The death of the McMansion has been greatly exaggerated.
Buyers Screaming for Larger Columbia SC Homes
Back in 2011, many observers were predicting the end of the McMansion era. But five years into the recovery that hardly even feels like one, homebuilders have returned to the old ways of building larger Columbia SC homes. The recession was supposed to usher in a return to the dense, urban and walkable. Instead, the opposite has happened.
Young first-time buyers, who are less inclined to buy big suburban houses, are largely staying away from the market altogether. Credit requirements are still much tighter than they were before the housing collapse, so much of the activity in the housing market is from wealthier families looking to trade up – and they're looking for bigger and better Columbia SC homes.
On one level, builders building Columbia SC homes may be inclined to build communities that reflect their own values. This isn't a problem if potential buyers share those values too – but what if they don't?
One potential sign of trouble might be the homeownership rate, which at the end of 2014 reached its lowest level in 25 years. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Data shows the economy added millions of new households in 2014 as more people lived in shared arrangements – including some of those young adults staying with mom and dad – struck out on their own. Most of them decided to rent. That could carry over to an uptick in the homeownership rate in the coming year as more renters decide to buy.
Sizes of Columbia SC homes are rising even as sales have slowed because builders have competed for affluent buyers who aren't likely to run into trouble qualifying for a mortgage and saving for a down payment.
Get more information as it pertains to buying Columbia SC homes in our section on Columbia SC Real Estate to your right under Columbia SC Real Estate Categories. We also post tips daily on Twitter and Facebook, sometimes pertaining directly to Columbia SC homes and the current trend of the Columbia SC housing market. Find us there as well.
There are several myths that have long circulated when it comes to buying and selling Columbia SC houses. We decided to try and bust those myths in this article.
What Everyone Misses When Buying and Selling Columbia SC Houses
The most important rule in real estate is location, location, location. Not true! The most important rule in real estate should be future location, future location, future location. Home buyers eager to maximize their returns need to look 10 or 20 years down the road to assess what will happen to the neighborhood, not what it is today.
Buy the worst house in the best neighborhood. Wrong! The house will always be the worst house in the neighborhood, and buyers in a great neighborhood are likely to look past your ugly duckling when you go to sell. Price gains on these "worst houses" actually under-perform their surrounding neighborhood rather than being carried along with them. Instead, a shopper should buy the worst house in the hottest neighborhood — and to do so within the first five years of the neighborhood getting hot.
When it comes to buying and selling Columbia SC houses, remodeling the kitchen, with a lot of fancy upgrades, is one of the smartest moves you can make to boost your home's value. WRONG! Kitchen renovations, at any level, offer among the lowest return on investment of the home improvements you can make. Instead, a modest bathroom makeover might have the biggest impact on your home's value.
When selling Columbia SC houses, list early in the year to catch the spring home-buying rush. Wrong again. With more home buyers starting their search online, it's better to list in late March, generally speaking, so your listing is near the top of search results. The "New rule of Thumb" for maximum results: Don't list your house for sale before March Madness or after the Masters.
The mortgage interest deduction is essential to the health of the nation's real estate market. Not so fast. Some are calling the mortgage interest deduction ill-conceived public policy. The federal government is essentially spending $100 billion in the form of lost tax revenue annually to help Americans living in homes that cost about $865,000. It's especially ironic that the (mortgage interest deduction) is consistently sold to the American people as a populist policy to help the little guy. In reality, it's the exact opposite.
Home ownership is the foundation of the American Dream. Not any more, or so it seems. An analysis of data indicates public policy designed to boost homeownership among low-income buyers has the opposite effect of lifting people out of poverty. That's in large part because of less affluent neighborhoods, where many of these new home owners can afford to buy, experience lower appreciation and higher price volatility than more affluent neighborhoods.
Find more articles pertaining to buying and selling Columbia SC houses under our Columbia SC Home Buying Tips and Columbia SC Home Selling Tips to your right under Columbia SC Real Estate Categories. We also post tips on Facebook and Twitter. Follow us there for more tips on buying and selling Columbia SC houses as well.