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Trying To Buy a Home?
We’re still in a sellers’ market. And if you’re trying to buy a home, that means you’re likely facing some unique challenges, like difficulty finding a home and volatile mortgage rates. But keep in mind, there are some benefits to being a buyer in today’s market that give you good reason to stick with your search. Here are a few of them.
Trying To Buy A Home?
Long-Term Benefits Outweigh Short-Term Challenges
Owning a home grows your net worth – and since building that wealth takes time, it makes sense to start as soon as you can. If you wait to buy and keep renting, you’ll miss out on those monthly housing payments going toward your home equity. Freddie Mac puts it this way:
“Homeownership not only builds a sense of pride and accomplishment, but it’s also an important step toward achieving long-term financial stability.”
The key there is long-term because the financial benefits homeownership provides, like home value appreciation and equity, grow over time. Those benefits are worth the short-term challenges today’s sellers’ market presents.
Mortgage Rates Are Constantly Changing
Mortgage rates have been hovering around 6.5% over the last several months. However, as Sam Khater, Chief Economist at Freddie Mac, notes, they’ve been coming down some recently:
“Economic uncertainty continues to bring mortgage rates down. Over the last several weeks, declining rates have brought borrowers back to the market . . .”
Lower mortgage rates improve your purchasing power when you buy, and that can help make homeownership more affordable. Hannah Jones, Economic Data Analyst at realtor.com, explains:
“As we move into the spring buying season, mortgage rates have ticked lower, a welcomed sign of progress towards affordability.”
The recent drop in mortgage rates is good news if you couldn’t afford to buy a home when they peaked.
Home Prices Will Increase
According to the Home Price Expectation Survey, which polls over 100 real estate experts, home values will go up steadily over the next few years after a slight decline this year (see graph below):
Rising home prices in the coming years mean two things for you as a buyer:
- Waiting to buy a home could mean it’ll become more expensive to do so.
- Buying now means the value of your home, and your net worth will likely grow over time.
Bottom Line
If you’ve been trying to buy a home, hang in there. Mortgage rates have ticked down some recently, home prices are forecast to increase in the coming years, and the long-term benefits of homeownership outweigh many of the short-term challenges.
Resources
More resources for your homeownership journey:
The Best Time To List Your Home
If you’re thinking about selling this spring, it’s time to get moving – the best time to list your home is almost here.
The Best Time To List Your Home
Experts at realtor.com looked at seasonal trends from recent years (excluding 2020 as an uncharacteristic year due to the onset of the pandemic) and determined the ideal week to list a house this year:
“Home sellers on the fence waiting for that perfect moment to sell should start preparations, because the best time to list a home in 2023 is approaching quickly. The week of April 16-22 is expected to have the ideal balance of housing market conditions that favor home sellers, more so than any other week in the year.”
If you have been waiting for the right time to sell, now is it. But remember there may be a few things to do to get your house ready before you put it on the market. If you haven’t started yet, you’ll need to move fast. Here are some things to remember.
Work with an Agent To Determine Which Updates To Make
Start by making a list of the most important updates. In February, realtor.com asked more than 1,200 recent or potential home sellers what changes they made to their house before selling it (see graph below):
As you can see, the most common answers included landscaping and painting. Work with a trusted real estate agent to determine what projects make the most sense for your goals and local market.
Plan To Have Your House Staged
Once you’ve fixed up and updated your house as needed, you might want to think about having it staged. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) says that 82% of buyer’s agents said that staging a home made it easier for a buyer to imagine living there. Also, almost half of the buyers’ agents said that home staging changed how most buyers thought about the house in general. Staged homes usually sell faster and for a higher price because they make it easier for potential buyers to picture themselves living there.
Bottom Line
Do you want to sell this spring? Let’s connect to plan your next steps. You can start by making a list of what you think your house needs to get ready. Then we can work together to figure out what’s most important on your list and move forward.
Are you ready to sell your home? Perfectly pretty home listing photos will attract more buyers. Click here for tips on getting great listing photos.
