Selecting professional help to sell your home

Selecting a capable Realtor to assist you in purchasing or selling a home is the key to a successful transaction. And the best indication of a Realtor's capability is his or her proven record of success in the business.

Many Realtors are new in the brokerage field and lack a record of proven productivity. The National Association of Realtors recently carried a report on the lowering age and lack of seasoned experience of many of its new members.

"Increasing the number of young people in real estate has been a longstanding goal of the industry, so it's good news that the median age of Realtors dropped this year. It's now at 53, down from 57 last year," the report revealed.

"What's driving the decrease in average age is two trends: an increase in Realtors under 30, and a drop in Realtors over 65."

The report also pointed out the negative side of that situation.

"The flip-side to having younger people in real estate is a decline in experience. Twenty percent of Realtors haven't been in the business for a single year, and a third have been in it less than three years.

"As a result, median income is down, even though sales are up. That's because newer Realtors tend to make less money. But that money isn't disappearing; older, more experienced Realtors are seeing their income go up."

Bottom line: When consumers are seeking professional help in acquiring or selling a home, their chances of enjoying a successful transaction will be greatly enhanced by selecting a Realtor with a proven record of successes. Ask questions. Check references.

Q. Can families save much money by using a down payment assistance program?

A. Here's a special report on those programs.

RealtyTrac, a source for housing data, released a joint report with Down Payment Resource analyzing the impact of down payment assistance on the cost of buying a home -- including the down payment and monthly house payments for a median-priced home in 513 counties nationwide.

The report was released at the National Association of Real Estate Editors 50th Annual Journalism Conference in New Orleans.

"The report found that across all 513 counties analyzed, buyers using available down payment assistance programs can save an average of $17,766 representing 41 percent of a year's wages compared to buyers who do not use down payment assistance.

"The total savings breaks down to an average savings of $5,965 on the down payment for a median-priced home, and an average savings of $11,801 on monthly house payments over the life of the loan for a median-priced home."

Q. Why are mortgage rates continuing to fall?

A. Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey showing average fixed mortgage rates following 10-year Treasury yields lower after the May employment report came in well below expectations.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.60 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending June 9, 2016, down from last week when it averaged 3.66 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.04 percent.

The following statement was made by Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac.

"Growing optimism about the state of the economy was quickly erased with May's employment report. The disappointing release caused an immediate flight to quality resulting in the 10-year Treasury yield dropping 10 basis points on Friday.

"The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage responded by falling 6 basis points to 3.60 percent. This week marks the 10th consecutive week the 30-year rate has averaged under 3.7 percent, allowing an extended window for homebuyers to take advantage of these historically-low borrowing costs."

Q. Are mortgage applications still dropping?

A. No, they are now rising a bit, according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Here's a portion of their news release.

"Mortgage applications increased 9.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

"The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 53.8 percent of total applications from 54.3 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 5.0 percent of total applications."

• Email Jim Woodard at storyjim@aol.com.

© 2016, Creators Syndicate