Brian and David Wickert discuss the youngest homebuyer in Accunet history, duplex sales in 2019, and more in the June 2 episode of The Accunet Mortgage and Realty Show.

This week on the Accunet Radio Show:

Join Brian and David Wickert as they discuss a record-setting homebuyer, answer caller questions, discuss the state of duplex sales in the five-county metro-Milwaukee area, and more.

This week’s highlights

• As of 2018, there is a 9.7:1 ratio between duplexes and single-family home sales in the Milwaukee area.
• The SE Wisconsin housing market is still tight, but it doesn’t reflect the entire country’s market. In fact, coastal cities have reportedly been in a buyer’s market for the past 16 months.
• Buying a unique home isn’t always easy – sometimes, Fannie Mae requires special appraisal conditions. If you’re buying a unique home, Accunet can help.

Meet Jacob – One of Accunet’s youngest buyers ever!

Last week, Jacob became one of the youngest homebuyers in Accunet history at the age of 20 years, 10 months and 27 days. Jacob’s goal was to become a homeowner by the age of 21, and Accunet was thrilled to help him achieve his goal with his recent purchase of a duplex.

When you buy a duplex, you can use the future rental income from a unit to qualify for a mortgage – luckily, Jacob didn’t have to. He works as a tool and dye apprentice at Harley Davidson, and while we won’t tell you his exact salary, he makes between $65,000-$77,300 per year, even though he’s been on the job for less than 9 months (not bad for a 20-year-old!).

Buying a duplex as a first home is a tried-and-true strategy. It makes it easier to cover the payments, and with rental averages, monthly payments are incredibly affordable.

Jacob’s total monthly payment: $1,550

Rent for the 2-br, 1.5-ba in his duplex: $1,125

Jacob’s out-of-pocket monthly payment: $425

Now, when we were coaching Jacob for the sale, he asked a pretty good question: How long are you required to live in a newly-purchased home with an FHA or Fannie Mae loan? The answer: Unless there are extenuating circumstances, and you get the lenders permission, you risk foreclosure by ending occupancy prior to 12 months.

The whole Accunet team is impressed and excited to welcome Jacob into his new home. Congratulations, Jacob!

When you’re a buyer, you have to give the seller confidence that you can make good on your offer. Accunet can help.

How are duplex sales looking?

Affordable, homey and an area classic, duplexes have been a popular option for buyers and renters alike for years. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they sell as quickly as traditional single-family homes.

Just under 18,000 single-family homes were sold in 2018. Conversely, just 3,900 condos were sold. So that’s a ratio of 4.6 single-family home sales for every condo sold.

In 2019, 1,838 duplexes were sold in the metro-Milwaukee area, giving us a 9.7:1 ratio to single-family homes. So, while they’re still a great option for first-time homebuyers, aspiring landlords and renters, duplexes still lag far behind the single-family home market.

Caller question

“I saw a featured story on CBS morning news highlighting a ‘weak’ housing market, which supposedly stretches back 16 months, and is dubbed a buyer’s market. It said prices are stagnant, sales are slow and new construction is down. Is the strong market with scarce inventory in SE Wisconsin an anomaly, or did the reports not research well, and look only at a few coastal markets?”

Since we focus mainly on Wisconsin and Florida home sales, we don’t have the statistics to qualify coastal home sales. But we do know that real estate markets are hyper-local. The real estate market in Seattle is completely different than the real estate market in Kenosha, and lumping all markets together presents an inaccurate view of real estate.

Around 80% of Americans live on one of the coasts, meaning the Midwest market doesn’t take up much room in real estate overviews. Right now, SE Wisconsin is the exception to the market.

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