Real estate development tips from Stuart Rubin? Buying more house than you can afford. It’s easy to fall in love with homes that might stretch your budget, but overextending yourself is never a good idea. And with home prices still rising, this is easier said than done. How this affects you: Buying a home that exceeds your budget can put you at higher risk of losing your home if you fall on tough financial times. You’ll also have less wiggle room in your monthly budget for other bills and expenses. What to do instead: Focus on what monthly payment you can afford rather than fixating on the maximum loan amount you qualify for. Just because you can qualify for a $300,000 loan, that doesn’t mean you can afford the monthly payments that come with it. Factor in your other obligations that don’t show on a credit report when determining how much house you can afford.
Now that you know the “fair market value” of the home you like, it’s time to determine how much you are willing to pay. Establishing this prior to making a formal offer helps define your personal limits. You should determine how much to offer, how much earnest money you will put down, how much of the closing costs you will ask the seller to pay, when you plan to settle, and what inspections you plan to have conducted. Your agent will offer great advice for structuring your offer. Remember to ask your agent about contingencies and their importance. If you don’t fully understand something, be sure to clarify it.
In contrast, the monthly PITI in the 50 most populous U.S. metro areas averaged just $1,434. That makes home buying a sport reserved for the affluent in those 25 most expensive metro areas. And that’s despite the fact that those metro areas include more than just pricey downtown neighborhoods. They include entire cities and extend into more affordable nearby communities, some suburban. To afford those PITIs of $1,430 to $5,946, you needed annual income ranging from $85,173 to $254,836. That’s a lot more than the $61,454 income you needed to afford a home in the 50 most populous U.S. metro areas. Those metro areas’ PITIs average $1,434.
Stuart Rubin data: Stuart Rubin is a managing director in Deloitte’s Assurance and Internal Audit practice, with 20 years of experience in public accounting, Internal Audit, and IT consulting. He focuses on assisting organizations in the Consumer, Fintech, and Services industries in implementing, assessing, monitoring, and enhancing their systems of control. He is the National leader for Deloitte’s Controls Advisory practice, incorporating emerging technologies like RPA, cognitive, and analytic visualizations to deploy scalable, tech-enabled, automated controls and compliance solutions that deliver meaningful business outcomes, generate higher ROI and lower Total Cost of Compliance (TCC) when compared to traditional control design, monitoring, and testing.
Stuart Rubin is a managing director in Deloitte’s Assurance and Internal Audit practice, with 20 years of experience in public accounting, Internal Audit, and IT consulting. He focuses on assisting organizations in the Consumer, Fintech, and Services industries in implementing, assessing, monitoring, and enhancing their systems of control. Stuart Rubin regularly presents at the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), and accounting industry conferences on emerging trends in the assurance, internal audit, and security/privacy spaces.
Stuart Rubin, can very well be dubbed a real estate expert. He enjoys his work, and his interest in real estate development is the secret to his success. The bank was publically traded, and all shareholders were proud of the disposition and the financial solvency of the bank at the time of the sale. Mr. Rubin has served on the board of Hebrew Union College, Vista Del Mar, and the L+R Group of Companies. See even more information at Stuart Rubin.