1. MARCH 2015REAL ESTATE UPDATES
MAGUIRE-YEATS TEAM
www.myfamilyhouses.com
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Rocky Mountain, Realtors
Thanks for referring your friends and relatives to the Maguire-Yeats
Team!
It has been a very busy Winter for the Maguire-Yeats Team. We have had numerous buyers looking for houses, but
unfortunately not a ton of inventory. If you or someone you know is thinking about selling, now is a great time to put your
house on the market. Without a doubt it is a seller’s market. Please give us a call and we would happy to give you an
appraisal of your house.
Megan and her family have been busy spending what time they can on the weekends up in Breckenridge this ski season.
Caleb has a love for skiing-and speed, whether on the mountain or sledding hill. She will have her hands full as he gets
older. Unlike Caleb, Megan recently discovered the calmer, slower, and lesser crowds that come with cross-country skiing.
The kids and Brian can brave the big hills and she will meet them when they are done!
Mike and Debbie are excited because Remington broke ground for their new house. They are hoping for an August move,
but guessing it will be finished closer to October.
We hope you have a wonderful Easter and look forward to talking to you soon. As always, if you are curious about the
value of your house or have any questions or know someone moving to Colorado, please don’t hesitate to call us.
THE 'STARBUCKS EFFECT': HIGHER HOME PRICES
March 4, 2015 by Katie Lobosco cnnmoney.com
Living near a Starbucks has its benefits for homeowners, whether you're a coffee drinker or not.
The value of homes within a quarter-mile of a Starbucks rise faster than those that aren't, according to real estate research
group Zillow .
With tens of thousands of Starbucks locations in the U.S., that's good news for a lot of homeowners.
Between 1997 and 2013, home closer to the coffee shop increased in value by 96%, compared to 65% for all U.S. homes.
The biggest "Starbucks effect" was in Boston, where nearby home values went up 171% in the same time period. That's 45
percentage points more than all homes in the city.
Starbucks is usually a harbinger of good times for a locality. A new Starbucks gives a sense to developers that the
neighborhood is on the rise, wrote Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff and chief economist Stan Humphries in their new book
"Zillow Talk."
But dig a little deeper and it's kind of a chicken and egg situation -- it's not like Starbucks (SBUX)can take credit for
changing a community. The coffee chain is very good at finding locations that are up-and-coming, the authors said.
Homes near Dunkin' Donuts (DNKN) also appreciate faster than the nation's housing as a whole, but not as fast as those
next to a Starbucks, according to Zillow's analysis.

2. Low down payments make a comeback
By Mark Fahey cnnmoney.com February 17, 2015
Borrowers who have steady income and good credit, but not much money in the bank, will find that it recently
became easier to buy a home. Down payment requirements, which rose after the subprime mortgage crisis, are
easing again as lenders and mortgage backers try to draw in new buyers.
"It's one of the things that's inhibiting first-time homebuyers," said Rob Chrane, president of Down Payment
Resource. "There are a lot more people who can qualify for a home that don't realize that they can."
The Federal Housing Administration has long backed loans for borrowers with lower credit scores and with down
payments as low as 3.5%, but until this year it also required hefty insurance payments. FHA annual insurance
premiums dropped dramatically at the beginning of 2015. The change, from 1.35% to only 0.85%, will make FHA
loans a better choice for some borrowers after years of prohibitively high premiums, said Anthony Hsieh, chief
executive officer of LoanDepot, one of the largest FHA lenders in the country.
"We're starting to get back to what's reasonable," said Hsieh. "The crisis has shaken the market so much that
there is no doubt there was an overreaction."
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee more than half the country's mortgages. At the end of 2014, the two
government-backed companies announced plans to slash minimum down payments from 5% to 3%. The new
program from Fannie Mae went into effect in December, and the one from Freddie Mac will begin in March. Both
are for first-time homebuyers or those refinancing their mortgage, and the Freddie Mac program is restricted to
low-income borrowers.
Loans backed by the two mortgage giants still require private mortgage insurance for down payments below
20%. And just because Fannie and Freddie are willing to buy loans with looser requirements doesn't mean the
lenders themselves will change their standards. It's a phenomenon of the post-recession where lenders learned
their lesson," said David Stevens, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association. "They learned that simply
because the investor will allow it, the lender may still not feel comfortable doing it."
Other types of low-down payment loans have also become far more popular since the recession.
Despite its name, loans from the Department of Agriculture are available to borrowers in many locations that are
hardly rural, and they include no-money-down financing. To be eligible for USDA loans, a borrower must have
dependable income and decent credit, and can't already own a home, exceed certain area median income
thresholds or live within certain urban areas.
Department of Veteran Affairs loans are also booming, coming close to outnumbering FHA loans. Although not
available to the average American homebuyer, VA mortgage backing allows veterans and surviving spouses to
purchase property with no money down, no outside insurance and limited closing costs. Average VA interest
rates are lower, and credit and income requirements are also more flexible than conventional loans.
The shift toward loans with lower down payments has drawn criticism from some politicians -- after all, easy
loans with little money down contributed to the crisis that led to the Great Recession.
Stevens said that new rules for qualified mortgage loans and more diligent underwriting by lenders will protect
the lending market. "Down payment has become the single largest barrier to home ownership," said Stevens.
"Quite frankly, it's going to be a lot safer and sounder this time than it was in the past."

3. FED SETS THE STAGE FOR RATE HIKES
DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2015
The Federal Reserve may be inching closer to raising interest rates, a move it hasn't taken in years.
The Fed's benchmark short-term rate has stayed near zero since December 2008, which has helped to keep interest
rates near historical lows.
But this week, the Federal Reserve removed the word "patient" on its policy statement in reference to rates, and
analysts say the removal is a strong hint that the Fed plans to raise rates in the second or third quarter of this year. The
Fed, however, continues to sound caution on a fragile economic recovery. If it does raise rates soon, it's unlikely to
push borrowing costs too high, analysts say.
Still, "just because we removed the word 'patient' from the statement doesn't mean we're going to be impatient," Fed
Chair Janet Yellen said at a press conference on Wednesday about looming rate hikes. Yellen has chosen to continue
to keep rates at near zero since taking over at the central bank in February 2014. The last time the Fed raised rates
was June 2006, during the housing boom.
The timing for an increase remains unclear. A rate increase is "unlikely" at the Fed's April meeting, but Yellen said an
increase in June cannot be ruled out.
Any increases will likely hinder on the state of the economy, and the Fed has been cautious on the economic recovery
lately, scaling back its inflation outlook this year and reducing its expected economic growth.
"The committee anticipates that it will be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate when it has
seen further improvement in the labor market and is reasonably confident that inflation will move back to its 2 percent
objective over the medium-term," the Fed said.
On Wednesday, the Fed downgraded its economic activity outlook, saying growth has "moderated somewhat." That
marks a contrast from its report in December, which said economic activity was expanding at a strong pace.
WHAT YOU NEED TO EARN TO AFFORD A HOME IN THESE 27 CITIES
Rank
City
Salary
Needed
Median Home
Price
Monthly
Payment
1 Pittsburgh $31,716 $135,000 $740
3 St. Louis $33,323 $138,400 $778
6 Atlanta $35,800 $157,700 $835
7 Tampa $37,732 $160,000 $880
8 Phoenix $40,658 $200,300 $949
11 Minneapolis $47,627 $210,000 $1,111
13 Houston $49,983 $199,300 $1,166
16 Chicago $54,347 $195,100 $1,268
18 Miami $58,431 $265,000 $1,363
19 Portland $60,604 $288,900 $1,414
20 Denver $61,642 $314,800 $1,438
21 Seattle $72,844 $352,000 $1,700
23 Boston $80,050 $383,200 $1,868
24 New York $87,536 $390,000 $2,043
25 Los Angeles $89,665 $450,900 $2,092
27 San Francisco $142,448 $742,900 $3,324
By Mark Fahey and Tal
Yellin
For the full list of cities,
visit:
http://money.cnn.com/info
graphic/real_estate/what-
you-need-to-earn-to-
afford-a-home/

4. Maguire-Yeats Real Estate Team
A daughter-father team
Our family working hard for your family.
Megan Maguire: 303.217.1400
Mike Yeats: 303.219.0789
myboulder@gmail.com
WHY RENTERS MAY BE IN TROUBLE
DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2015
The gap between rental costs and household income is widening to unsustainable levels across the country. As more
renters face steeper costs, it may put them even further away from home ownership, according to a new study
released by the National Association of REALTORS®. NAR evaluated income growth, housing costs, and changes in
share of renter and owner-occupied households over the past five years in metropolitan statistical areas across the
U.S.
Over the last five years, a typical rent rose 15 percent, while the income of renters grew by only 11 percent, according
to their research.
"The gap has worsened in many areas as rents continue to climb and the accelerated pace of hiring has yet to give
workers a meaningful bump in pay," says Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.
New York, Seattle, and San Jose, Calif., are among the cities where combined rent growth far exceeds wages,
according to the survey.
"Current renters seeking relief and looking to buy are facing the same dilemma: Home prices are rising much faster
than their incomes," says Yun. "With rents taking up a larger chunk of household incomes, it's difficult for first-time
buyers – especially in high-cost areas – to save for an adequate down payment."
Meanwhile, those who were able to buy a home in recent years have been insulated from the rising housing costs
since they were able to lock-in a low 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a set monthly payment, according to NAR's
study. As such, home owners were able to grow their net worth as home values increased and their mortgage
balances went down.
"The result has been an unequal distribution of wealth as renters continue to feel the pinch of increasing housing
costs every year," according to NAR’s study.
The markets that have seen rents rise by the highest amounts since 2009 are:
New York: 50.7%
Seattle: 32.38%
San Jose, Calif.: 25.6%
Denver: 24.14%
St. Louis: 22.26%
"Many of the metro areas that have experienced the highest rent increases are popular to millennials because of their
employment opportunities," says Yun.
The key to relieve housing costs: Builders need to ramp up the supply of new-home construction, according to Yun.
He estimates that housing starts need to rise to 1.5 million. Over the past seven years, housing starts have fallen far
short from that historical average – averaging about 766,000 per year.
"With a stronger economy and labor market, it's critical to increase housing starts for entry-level buyers or else many
will face affordability issues if their incomes aren’t compensating for the gains in home prices," Yun says.
From our family to yours,
have a great Spring!
the document or