Home Buying Question: How to Buy a Home Smart in Today’s Market?

A Charlotte First Home Buyer Asked “How do you Buy a Home Smart in Today’s Market?”

Or, said another way,

“The $8,000 Tax Credit Looks Good, But how do I make a good decision when buying a home in today’s market?”

It made me stop and think… Are their New Rules For Buying Real Estate? If so, what are they?

If you are thinking that is much more than “Buying Low” you are right. The good  old days are gone for good, to make money in real estate will take much more skill in the future… here are my 5 New Rules (some rules aren’t “new” but what we used to call advanced home buying techniques. )

Terry’s 5 New Rules for Home Buying Success

1. Buy for the long term… Recognize real estate is a long term investment, and the idea that if you change your mind you can just re-sell next year, probably for a profit, those days are gone.  Real Estate, stands for “Real” Property, and it’s not the same as personal property, like a pair of shoes you don’t like anymore.  Plan to stay a minimum of 3 years, preferably 5-7 years. Here is the key: The longer you stay, the lower the risk in your investment.

2. Anchor -values are now vital. Buy a home/condo or land  in a Charlotte community with a “Value- Anchor.” What is a Value-Anchor? Anything that sets a particular set of homes apart to a large number of potential purchasers. Some examples include: The area it self, in Charlotte these might be, Myers Park, Southpark, these names have cache… not coincidentally they are closer to uptown. Waterfront, waterview, golf course, these are all homes that have attracted, and will attract a particular set of buyers.

There are both “in”places and “in” styles- I prefer the “in” places because they change only slowly over time, in styles cheng more quickly. One “in”style tht is coming back is the one floor ranch for all those retiring boomers.

3. Buy Quality over quantity-Smaller, well cared for home with custom features are more and more preferred to a big plain box, and the dramatic shift in the last year is towards smaller homes. At any price point, look for the home with the most features, with attention to the features that last.

4. Don’t over buy, and finance with incredibly low 30 year Fixed which won’t last forever. Current rates are around  5.25%, and what a difference that makes.   Suppose you make 60,000 per year and you put 5% down- at 5.25 you can afford about 175K, at 7.25%, maybe only $130K… that is a huge difference in home value- especially today because you get better deals on higher value homes, so the $175 bought today, might have been a $230K 2 years ago, and 2 years from now.

5. Shop for the right community, the right deal, and then the house- in that order, to insure you are most likely to be happy with your purchase and stay. you can make changes to the house to make it more to your liking, but if it isn’t a great community you want tolive in, and you got it at a great price, that is something you can build on.

So my “New Rules” aren’t so new, no not really, just more important than ever. And that is the case. You could have applied these rules 5 years ago, and you would have been a success. What has changes is the margin of error. Buying a home today- dumb luck won’t suffice to get 5% annual appreciation any more.

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Helping you sort through the choices objectively,in detail, is what my team does every day. We work for our Buyer Clients as Exclusive Buyer Agents- we won’t show a house with our name on it, so we’ve got your back covered every step of the way. We’ll work at your pace, help you to understand the as much as you want and need to understand to make an informed choice, we’ll keep the other players on track, and help get you into your first home.

A smart home buyer and a good Buyer Agent Make GREAT deals happen!

Call us today, there is no time to lose if you are a first time home buyer, 704-351-1519

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