As a homebuyer, you probably started out with a dream of the perfect home you wanted to buy. However as you searched the available Newport Beach real estate-homes for sale, reality set in, and you had to lower your expectations on the square footage, location or some other feature. Instead of a five bedroom home, you had to settle for a three bedroom with some of the kids sharing a room. Or maybe you had to sacrifice the large family room for a smaller one.
Now just because you have to reduce your expectations doesn’t mean you can’t find opportunities to buy a great starter home. One great strategy is to locate Newport Beach real estate-homes for sale in an up and coming neighborhood. These opportunities are easy to spot by driving through a neighborhood and seeing if any remodeling activity is going on. Checking out the habitats of local artists can also lead you to an up and coming community.
While a starter home may not have all the ideal features you want in your dream home, it can get you in the door of the real estate market so you can start building equity. Hopefully with the right market conditions in the future, you can save enough to buy a bigger and better place. This strategy works great if you expect your income to increase in the future. Even without a better paying job, you can still move up into a better home using the equity from your starter home. In spite of the benefits of purchasing a starter home, there a three facts you need to be aware of:
1) Puts A Strain On Your Budget – Buying a home can put a dent in your savings. Besides the initial down payment, you’ll incur additional costs such as: closing costs, appraisals, property inspections, agent commissions, and moving expenses.
If you think buying Newport Beach real estate-homes for sale with smaller square footage home will solve your problems, think again. Just because a home is tiny doesn’t mean it’s going to be cheaper. Land costs can be expensive depending on which part of town you plan to buy into. This especially applies to nicer neighborhoods.
2) Apply For A Home Loan With Favorable Terms – As you compare home loans, try to apply for one without a prepayment penalty. This allows you the option to prepay your mortgage faster or sell your house when you want to. When shopping for a mortgage, you can save money by applying for one with minimal or zero points.
3) Keep Your Options Open In A Down Market – In a tough economy and a sluggish real estate market, your home won’t appreciate much. If this happens, be aware of the potential consequences if you need to sell your home during this time. You could end up losing money on your home and have a difficult time upgrading to a bigger house.
Although there are downsides to buying a starter home, many homebuyers continue to use this technique to enter the real estate market. Owning a home can be a rewarding experience and buying a starter home is a good first step.
If you’re comparing Newport Beach Realtors-real estate agents to help you search Newport Beach real estate-homes for sale, give me a call today!
{ 1 comment }
Hi, this is a comment.
To delete a comment, just log in and view the post's comments. There you will have the option to edit or delete them.
Comments on this entry are closed.