These tips may have worked in the past, but things in our market have changed. Here’s the outdated advice you should avoid.
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If you’re in the market to buy a home, you’ve probably heard all sorts of advice from friends and relatives about what you should be doing. However, some of the tips you’re being given don’t exactly work anymore in our market, so today we’ll be going over the outdated home buying advice you’ll want to ignore.
“You should wait until prices decrease.” We’ve been in a seller’s market, meaning there are too many buyers and too few homes. As a result, prices have gone up as people compete for listings. So while the advice makes sense, my argument is this: Rent is also high. In almost all cases, you’ll find that renting is more expensive than paying a mortgage, and paying rent means you’re not building any equity. On top of this, interest rates are still historically low. If you miss out on these rates by waiting, you’ll likely be paying more later on.
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Renting is more expensive than paying a mortgage, and paying rent means you’re not building any equity.
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“You should make an offer with room to negotiate.” For most transactions, this doesn’t work well anymore. Homes are selling close to or even above list price, and with multiple-offer situations occurring on many properties, you’re unlikely to hear a response if you don’t make a great or decent offer initially. Look at sold comparable properties with your agent and see what the market value is. If you keep hearing nothing back after submitting your offers, you may run into buyer fatigue and resign yourself to renting for the foreseeable future.
“You should wait for spring.” The time before the spring market is the best time to be out there. By waiting until spring, you’ll be competing with more people than you would be now. So if you can find the right property now, take the opportunity and avoid springtime competition.
“You should make an offer right away.” Yes, it’s important to get an offer in quickly, but you still need to have a comparable market analysis to ensure that what you’re doing is a good idea. It protects you in case it doesn’t appraise or big problems turn up during an inspection.
If you have any questions or would like to learn more, feel free to reach out to us for some answers. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
