By Mike Bodeen · 29 June 2015
The Vanishing Act of Entry Level Affordability
The single family listing supply under the $200,000 price point has been consistently shrinking since 2010 and has dipped below the level of sales for the past two months with June potentially following suit. For first-time home buyers looking to find affordable housing, they will want to consider speeding up their search.
To add to the supply problem, most builders are not building entry level single family detached housing, but are instead betting on new townhomes and condos. This trend may well continue.
For those who are currently in the hunt in this quickly moving market and prospective buyers getting ready to jump into the search, here are some time tested and practical tips you can take to heart (and to the bank) to help find that dream home of yours sooner rather than later:
1. Get Pre-Approved or at a minimum Pre-Qualified. Finding out where you stand in terms of how much house you can afford is the first step. We work with several very good lenders and can refer you to a quality professional.
2. Once you have that pre-approval/pre-qualification, start looking right away! With a market moving upward, don’t be left behind.
3. Watch Daily! As professional Realtors we can immediately be e-mailing you dozens of homes that can fit your desired parameters in your approved price range. Unlike many real estate portals out there like Zillow, Trulia or Realtor.com, everything we send you is active. Our listing status’ are in real time and more accurate. When you see a home you might like, call us to go look at it.
4. Be sure of what you’re buying, but don’t be too fussy. Believe it or not, sometimes the very first house you look at is the best one available. If you like the home and it fulfills most of your “must haves,” and it’s in your financial wheelhouse, go for it. Unfortunately many a buyer has experienced buyer remorse by NOT moving more quickly.
5. Don’t be too cute in your offer and don’t let pride get in the way. Many a buyer has wanted to play the negotiation wizard to squeeze every thin dime out of the seller they can. What they may not realize is that if the seller gets any kind of a similar or better deal while the buyer is taking the time to do their negotiation magic, they will take someone else’s offer. Question I ask, is it more important to squeeze the last thousand (or $5,000, or $50,000) bucks and lose the home?
Often times, as mentioned above, you just lost the best house for you. Remember, Arizona allows a buyer 10 days to complete their Due Diligence inspections. If you get Buyer’s remorse, you can withdraw from the deal for any reason during that time.