Top 5 Reasons It’s Smart to Buy a Home Now
The last two years offered buyers insanely low-interest rates but that certainly came at a price… Let’s take a look at what buyers had to give up in order to reap the benefits of lower rates & learn why NOW is a better time for you to buy! Here are our Top 5 Reasons Why It’s Smart to Buy a Home Now:
1: No Bidding Wars = Lower Purchase Price
For the last two years, buyers have had to compete heavily in order to get a home under contract. More often than not, sellers received multiple offers OVER LIST PRICE on their homes and usually, the highest bidder won. Some buyers were paying $50k+ more than list price… but you don’t have to. As the market starts to settle back into more normal behavior, we can NEGOTIATE on your behalf & usually get you in a home for LESS than list price.
2: Home Inspections
Price wasn’t the only determining factor in who won a bidding war… Many buyers waived inspections or offered AS-IS offers to the sellers – meaning they either had NO HOME INSPECTION AT ALL or they pre-agreed that no matter what they found there would be no negotiations and no repairs made on their behalf… YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THAT! Luckily, the return of normal/average interest rates has cooled the market enough that you don’t have to compete for most homes – so inspections with repair requests are back on the negotiation table.
3: The Appraisal
Many buyers were waiving the appraisal amount and agreeing to pay cash ABOVE appraisal value if the home didn’t appraise for their offer price. For example, Buyer John offered $250,000 on XYZ Lane. The appraisal came in at $225,000 & to keep from losing the house to the next buyer in line, Buyer John agreed to bring $25,000 cash to closing and pay the seller ON TOP of the $225,000 loan amount… Thank goodness the market is shifting back to normal! In most cases, if the home you put an offer on does not appraise – we can go back to the negotiation table with the seller to try and get a price reduction. Why? Because there aren’t other buyers in line to purchase the house so the seller is more likely to work with you.
4: Closing Costs
In a normal market, buyers can ask for ‘seller concessions’. This is where the offer is written to ask the seller to pay for X amount of dollars in buyer’s closing costs – this can save you THOUSANDS of dollars – but during the low-interest-rate-frenzy buyers didn’t dare ask for any seller concessions or they risked losing the bid. Now, we can try and negotiate closing costs on your behalf!
5: Post-Occupancy
The last two years were truly a seller’s market. Meaning sellers could ask for a lot & give very little because buyers were willing to agree. Oftentimes, buyers found themselves being asked by the seller if they could live in the home for a while AFTER closing – meaning the buyer owned the home (& made the mortgage payments, etc) but the seller still lived there until they were able to move. Do you really want to own a home you aren’t living in and enjoying? This is a non-existent problem for most homes on the market now!
Sure buyers won the interest rate lottery for the last two years – but at what cost? By outbidding numerous other buyers with heavy purchase prices… Waiving inspections and repairs… Paying tens of thousands of dollars more than the home was actually worth… Paying for all of their closing costs and allowing the seller to live in the home they now owned & were paying for?
Now you can shop for a home and relax while doing so. You don’t have to get lost in a feeding frenzy of buyers. You don’t have to end up in a home you never really loved just because you felt compelled to win… You don’t have to pay above appraisal value, you can negotiate again & you can move in directly after closing! THIS market is a benefit to you! TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!!!
The agents at McCabe Realty are here to help you. Please give us a call & let us get to work for you: 904.259.9500.