That’s a question that homeowners and prospective owners both have asked themselves and others many times before. Buyers tend to have different shopping profiles and knowing what kind of a Buyer you are will help you identify what your weaknesses are and what you might want to do differently so that you can have less stress and a more positive buying experience.
The obvious elephant in the room rising mortgage interest rates. Get over that if you missed the lows. Yes, they have risen a lot over the last 6 months. The important thing is that they are still at very cheap rates when one looks at them in terms of the past 30-50 years. Why you didn’t buy 6 months ago when the mortgage rates were cheapest is water over the dam and one needs to focus on what can be done going forward.
Now is a time that you might want to refocus your efforts to buy since the mortgage landscape is about to change for many buyers when 2014 arrives. Getting a mortgage will be trickier and costlier next year. This article is a great resource that outlines the changes coming for mortgages starting next year.
If you’ve been going at your home search on your own without the aid of a professional Buyer’s agent who’s looking out for your interests, then you’ve overlooked a resources that (in most cases) has no out-of-pocket costs to you as the Buyer. It’s normal for you as a Buyer to do research on your own and to browse all of the popular home search sites like Realtor.com, Zillow and Trulia – those are great places to start. Here’s info on why you might want to seek the services of a Buyer’s agent who is also a REALTOR (not all licensed agents are REALTORS).
Do you find fault with every home you see? If that’s you, it might be time to step back and either adjust your search criteria or even take a break and return to the rental market while your head clears. It’s not uncommon to find that what you can afford and what you desire are two different things. If what you can afford isn’t desirable at this point in time, there’s nothing wrong with going to the sidelines and renting until your purchasing power increases or until something new comes to market that you find appealing. Key here is to forge a relationship with a Buyer’s agent you respect and trust and then ask them to keep notifying you of new listings for properties that match your needs. I’ve found that in some cases, it may take over a year to find the right property. I’ve recently found the perfect home for a client that I’ve worked with for TWO years so I encourage you to not give up on finding a great home.
Have you missed out on homes you made offers on only to learn that other Buyers’s offers were accepted by Sellers instead of yours? If your offers are consistently low and below others, you might not realize that in New London and Windham Counties in Southeastern CT, 2nd Quarter of 2013, the average selling to listing price between real warm blooded Buyers and Sellers doing 891 closed single family home deals was done by them agreeing on a sales price that was 94.84% of the listing price. If your offers are way below that average, perhaps that’s a reason why your offers are not being accepted. Price discovery is something that both Buyers and Sellers go through. The point here is that home ownership (CLICK HERE for great infographic on info on benefits of home ownership) is all about enjoying a home and not chasing the deals that just won’t happen.
Hope this info helps. Questions welcomed.
