What Are The Most Important Factors (To You) When Buying A Home?

May 2, 2017 By Deborah Ward

There are a lot of things to think about when buying a home, but before you even start looking the most important question is what are the most important factors to you when you are looking for a home to buy? It will help make your home search more specific to you and your wants and needs.

So how do you start?

Look at your current living space and start a list. Write down what you like about it and what you don’t. Is the space too small? Find out the square footage of living space and then you know you your starting point for bigger. Are there enough bedrooms? If not, how many more or less do you need?

If your current home or apartment has a great functioning kitchen, write down what you use the most. If not, go to a home center and look at kitchen options to see what would work for you and what won’t. Just because it’s the “in” thing doesn’t mean it will be something you like or would use.

Think about what is surrounding your current home

Is there a big lot or no lot at all? What about how close you are to the water? Is waterfront property important or do you mind a short walk, bike ride or car ride? Is there shopping close by? What about fitness centers? Schools?

All of these things are key factors for someone, but are they for you? Your answers to these will determine neighborhoods to visit and find a home or neighborhoods to avoid.

HOA’s

Also keep things in mind like home owner’s associations! If they are important to you to keep the integrity and value of your home, look for homes in one. If they are too much of a restriction for your lifestyle, or too much more of a fee to add to your budget, look for homes that don’t have a home owner’s association.

Know what you want so you can set expectations and narrow your home search.

Buying A Home? 4 Things That Could Affect Your Resale Value

October 18, 2016 By Deborah Ward

If you’re buying a home there are four things that affect the resale value of the home. If you’re selling those four things can greatly affect what that buyer uses to decide to offer or even if they offer at all. So what are they?

Location

First, it’s the old adage “location, location, location” at work. Yes, location matters… a lot. The neighborhood matters. Whether the Realtor showing the home or
representing the buyer can say so, people know a “good” neighborhood or a “bad” neighborhood.

Crime stats are easily available, as are neighborhood demographics. As a buyer, you want to know that the home you are buying is in a safe place. As a seller, you want that as well since price depends on it. There isn’t a lot you can do about location, but giving your home an added level of security, if necessary, can help.

Schools

Next up, school districts. If you have a home that would be attractive to a family, good schools are very important. If you don’t, they don’t matter. It’s pretty simple. So if your home is in a great school district and your home is a good starter or move up family home, play up the schools! If the public schools aren’t so wonderful, be sure to mention proximity to parochial or private schools with great reputations.

HOA’s etc.

House in a subdivision? Homeowner’s association rules, whether strict or lax, can make or break a sale. If your neighborhood has strict rules that could be good because it keeps the integrity of the neighborhood intact. That means that everything from landscaping to home colors to what you can or can’t park in your driveway are regulated. If the buyer thinks that maintaining home values is worth following restrictive covenants, they will pay the price for it.

Pools

Lastly, pool or not? In Florida, a pool is an asset, but it can be a detracting factor for a family with small children. If you have a pool and want to keep that family as an interested buyer, be sure you have all of the pool safety features they would be looking for. Gates, alarms, automatic covers should be in place.

Buying A Home? Make Sure You Stop Watching HGTV

September 20, 2016 By Deborah Ward

Buying a home? Great but should you get your ideas for what you want in a home from those home improvement TV shows? Shows on HGTV and DIY Network like Property Brothers, Flip or Flop or Fixer Upper are great entertainment and seem like a great way to get ideas about what you want and don’t want, find a style and so on. Yes, but no.

Are these TV shows reasonable?

You want to buy a home but you’re not sure what you want. You decide to flip on the TV and see what the Property Brothers are up to. As usual, they are showing homes that need a tweak to make them ready for a buyer. By a tweak, they mean practically tearing down the house and making it the best on the block.

They use the best materials, the latest style and top of the line appliances. Next, you check out Flip or Flop and what over the top, over their head flip they are doing. Chip and Joanna Gaines are a bit more reasonable, but again, tearing it all out and starting over.

Unrealistic expectations

Those shows are great but they tend to give you unrealistic expectations about a lot of things. First, the homes they fix up are in different markets. These markets may be very high ones, like you see on Flip or Flop (Southern California) or Property Brothers.

Fixer Upper is in a lower price market, Texas, which may or may not be in sync with your own. Prices for the same size and kind of home can vary greatly from market to market. What you see on television may not be what you can expect in the area you are looking.

What you need vs what you want

They are also not so great because they go above and beyond what most people really need to live. For instance, a gourmet kitchen is a great luxury, but you really only need a stove, refrigerator and sink to live. Granite and marble counters are fantastic, but laminate is just fine.

These shows can show you great things, but not necessarily what is absolutely necessary, especially if you are a first time buyer. A newlywed couple may want 4 or 5 bedrooms, but 1 or 2 are fine for a first home.

Call a Realtor

So turn off the television and call a Realtor. Let them help you with what is available for your budget in your market and what you really need in that home. If it looks like something from HGTV, great, but don’t set your expectations so high. Be realistic, and call a Realtor.

The Top Two Reasons People Gave For Not Buying A Home Right Now

July 6, 2016 By Deborah Ward

Now would seem like the time to buy a home, but there are some people that aren’t. They are giving two reasons for not buying a home at the moment, most of them younger or first time buyers. The biggest reason was student debt. The second biggest was inability to sell their current home. Both are big hurdles and for some a complete wall around home ownership.

Survey

The Top Two Reasons People Gave For Not Buying A Home Right Now A survey done by the National Association of Realtors and American Student Assistance, SALTTM found that millennials fell into this category. They polled student debt holders who were current in their payments and had varying amounts of debt from college, either public or private. The survey found some interesting things.

Student debt

First, 71% of those polled that were non-homeowners, in other words prospective first time home buyers, felt that their student debt was a key factor in them not buying a home. 31% of those polled who were homeowners currently said that their home buying hurdle is their inability to sell their current home.

Delay home ownership

Of those polled who either haven’t purchased a home yet, or currently owned a home, 52% said that either reason; student debt or inability to sell; would put their plans to buy a home, or sell and buy another home, off for at least 5 years, if not more. 1 in 5 expected those reasons to delay their new purchase at least 3-5 years.

You know who that also impacts?

Their parents. Almost half of the respondents, 46%, lived with mom and/or dad. Some paid rent to their parents, some didn’t. 42% said that their student debt was the reason they moved back in after college and delayed getting their own place since then.

There are ways to work around those two reasons

For those currently in a home they own, trying a different pricing or updating could be the answer. For those first time buyers, there are programs out there that can help with procuring a home loan, despite student debt. There are also programs to help restructure student debt and lower payments.

Talk to your Realtor today about how to get yourself in a home.

Great Reasons Buying A Home Is Better Than Renting

March 22, 2016 By Deborah Ward

The common wisdom is that buying a home is better than renting. Common wisdom exists for a reason, buying is better than renting and here’s why.

The first reason is cost

If you rent a home it costs you more in 5 years than buying one does. Here’s how. If you rent a home for $1,500.00 per month for 5 years will cost you $90,000.00. Buying a home with a mortgage payment (principal and interest only) of $1,500.00 is $90,000.00… BUT a homeowner gets a tax deduction for the interest paid on their mortgage. Let’s say that deduction is a total of $3,000.00 or $250.00 a month. Over 5 years that’s $15,000.00. Deduct that from your 5 year amount paid out and you actually only paid $75,000.00! That doesn’t even take into account a First Time Home Buyer tax credit that you may qualify for if you’re a first time owner.

Finite vs infinite

Those monthly payments are finite with a purchased home, but infinite when you rent. Your mortgage has a beginning payment and end payment and once you pay that last payment, you get to live in your home with no monthly payment to stay there (beyond your real estate taxes). When you rent, you pay a monthly payment to live in the home with no end unless you leave. If you rent a home and walk away from it when the lease is over you leave with nothing but the possessions you came with. When you sell a home, you get back the equity, or value, that you put into the home. As you pay your mortgage, you gain equity from the amount of principal paid. You also gain equity when the value of your home rises. For instance, if you purchased your home for $150,000.00 and sell it ten years later for $250,000.00, you gained $100,000.00 in equity.

Repairs and updates

That rise in equity can come from changes in the market, but also in the value of repairs and updates you make to the home. Those repairs and updates can be made when you want and no one else gets a say. If you rent and want to update even the paint in a room, you need the permission of the landlord and if they say no, you’re stuck.

So yes, it pays to buy!

If you are thinking of buying a home in the Tampa Bay area, give Deborah Ward and Associates a call! 27-216-9247

Buying in a Hot Real Estate Market- 5 Ways to Make Sure Your Offer is Accepted

September 30, 2015 By Deborah Ward

Buying a home in any market can be stressful, but in a hot seller’s market the stress level can be even worse. Worrying about whether your offer will be accepted, whether you are handling it correctly can make anyone nuts. Did you know that there are things that you can do to make sure your offer is accepted?

Lowball bids

Whether there are a few buyers vying for the same property or just you and it’s the dream home you’ve wanted forever, losing it due to a subpar offer can be averted. One of the bigger reasons sellers reject offers is lowball bids. Even in a buyer’s’ market when sellers can’t be quite as choosy, lowballing them is, well, insulting. In a sellers’ market they don’t have to even consider lowball offers.

Even if their home is overpriced, you still don’t want to insult them with a really low offer. If there are other offers on the table that is NOT the time to go low either. To be taken seriously, offer as close to list as possible, or over if you can.

Contingencies and Demands

Another biggie is contingencies and demands on the seller. It’s not out of line to ask for typical ones, like a home and pest inspection. Another typical one is the purchase being contingent on the sale of your existing home. This can be a sticky one for sellers. It’s not their problem that you have to sell your home and why should they wait? Demands for fixing superfluous things is also a no no if you want your offer accepted. Major repairs can be negotiated, but demanding they touch up paint or other minor fixes is a deal breaker.

Things to do to make your offer better

Three other things you can do to make your offer shine are to:

be prequalified for your mortgage
put a higher down payment on the home
make a cash offer

Any of these key items will make your offer look exceptional! The key to making a winning offer is to be the most advantageous to the seller. That could mean being the highest priced, the most prepared or the one most willing to meet their requirements.

Not sure what to do to make sure your offer is accepted? Rely on your AMAZING Clearwater Realtor to help figure it out! Call Deborah Ward Today! 727-216-9247