Sunrise Homes & Renovations, Inc.

The Process Of Buying A New Construction Home

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The Process Of Buying A New Construction HomeBecause the housing market is so competitive right now, many buyers are looking at alternative options. Instead of looking for a resale home, some buyers are considering a new home. What is the process of taking out a loan on a new construction home? There are several factors buyers should consider.

Pricing On A New Construction Home

Many buyers are used to negotiating with sellers to get the best deal possible. On a new construction home, it is still possible to negotiate for a better price. Most homeowners are going to be negotiating for better items in the home than the purchase price. For example, it might be possible for buyers to negotiate for better counters, cabinets, floors, or appliances instead of asking for a discount on the price. It is also possible for buyers to negotiate for better options if they are the first or second people to move into the new community. Homes usually go up in price after the first homes in the community sell.

A New Home Is Often A Better Investment

Buying a new home is often a better investment than purchasing an older home. Newer homes tend to appreciate faster immediately after they are built. Many people like to buy a home that has had only one owner because items in the home are less likely to break. Therefore, homes with only one owner are often in higher demand, which can lead to higher property values on new homes.

Understand The Financing Process

Typically, prospecting homeowners need to put down a building deposit for the project to start. This is usually three percent of the projected sale price of the home; however, it can be higher or lower depending on the price of the home and the builders. In addition, homeowners need to be aware that they will need to secure financing when the building project nears its completion date. The lender might require a certain percentage down in order to finance the home.

Do Not Hesitate To Ask For Help

Buying a new home does have a few differences when compared to buying an existing home. Homeowners should reach out to professionals for help with this process to make sure they get the best deal possible.

What to Do With Spot When Buying a Home

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What to Do With Spot When Buying a HomeBuying a home in another location far away can be challenging in terms of logistics as well as moving, but it becomes additionally harder for pet owners who may not be able to take their bigger animals with them right away.

Oftentimes folks may have to prepare a newly-bought home for a pet, make multiple moving trips or might not be able to take the new pet to the location at all for a while. All of these situations can be frustrating and difficult for both the pet and owner. Some available solutions can make some sense depending on the situation.

Family or Friends

Ideally, if a person has a family member or friend whom the pet can stay with for a temporary duration, that can be an advantage. If doing so, make sure your pet is already good around other people as it will have anxiety being left in a new place with unknown people for a long time and missing you. Also, make sure whom you leave the pet with has had experience with animals. Folks who have never had a big dog for a pet, for example, may hit you with a surprise when they suddenly can’t care for your pet being overwhelmed a day or week into the favor.

Short-term and Long-term Kennel Services

Alternatively, kennel and animal boarding services can help. Keep in mind you get what you pay for. Low cost kennels will likely keep your animal in a basic unit, often cement, with few amenities aside from water and food and an hour of exercise time. It’s a bit like prison for an animal. Better services focus on care for animals lodged, give them exercise and socialization time, keep their cages or containers clean, and interact with the animals when feeding. These facilities cost more, but they tend to keep the pet mentally healthier during the stay.

Permanent Separation

In some cases, a home buying move may require one to give up their pet completely. The first step should always be to try to give the pet to family or a friend who will take care of the pet right and wants to take on the pet willingly. These are the best situations, and the pet likely may know the person already. It will still be depressed for a while, but the pet will transition better.

If you don’t know anyone willing and a separation is a must, don’t immediately resort to the local pound or animal control as they unfortunately end up having to euthanize animals they can’t adopt out. There are multiple rescue groups based on specific breeds who will take the pet and try to adopt it out to a willing and vetted family and new home that can handle the breed. These groups work nationwide through networks and move former pets to new homes regularly.

Separating from a pet is no fun and often painful, but there are options to provide care temporarily or long-term versus just leaving a pet with local animal control. Planning and some research will typically produce multiple choices locally, and they could very well make your move and new home transition easier.

Buying in a Sellers Market

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Buying in a Sellers MarketHome buying is often made possible or unreachable due to the local and national economy. Fortunately, what goes up, must come down. So, for buyers who can wait, economic changes in supply and demand can create opportunities. These shifts in real estate are known as buyer’s markets and seller’s markets. 

The seller’s market specifically tends to be the harder one for homebuyers. In short, sellers see a lot of demand, so they can command higher prices for a sale. Things are competitive, sell fast, and inventory is low. 

For buyers, it’s a headache, but there are ways of handling the challenge.

Understand Your Local Market Better

Many people might throw out the statement locally, “Oh good luck, it’s a seller’s market,” but that’s not necessarily the case until you can confirm it objectively. It may be that certain neighborhoods have high demand, but overall regional inventory is available. 

Understanding your local market as a whole and by neighborhood gives a buyer a far better idea of what’s really going on and how to compare homes in different locations.

When Making an Offer, Go With Your Best Offer First

The worst that can happen is someone responds “no.” You didn’t really lose anything with a rejected offer. However, if they accept your offer as-is, then you may have scored a better deal than trying to hedge and bargain down after the fact. Negotiation can be more difficult in a seller’s market, and sellers can be quite motivated to drop a negotiation the instant a second buyer becomes available.

Be Prepared to Move Quick and Bid Fast

Sellers’ markets go fast. Bids are taken in a day and a sale happens the next day or by that evening. If going out to buy, you need to be ready to make an offer on-site. That means also having your pre-approval for financing squared away and having enough liquid assets to cover the down payment along with enough cash to cover closing fees as well. If you’re not wired up already, you will lose sales waiting for your financing prep to get taken care of.

Have Cash, Will Talk

Buyers who are able to show they have the cash to purchase make the process go much more smoothly. Sellers are far more interested in parties who can show they are a firm sale versus those with financing approval still pending. 

Known as earnest money, a deposit placed on a home with larger than the minimum amount will get attention and commitment faster than someone with a nice bid but waiting for financing approval, thereby delaying the seller.

Anticipate Non-Cash Sweeteners

Sellers often have interests or desires to meet when letting go of a home. A buyer who can fathom what these are can improve a buying position considerably.

In some cases, it might be as simple as agreeing to additional time for a seller to move out. 

In other cases, the seller might have an attachment to the home that they want to keep protected versus seeing it destroyed by a new seller. 

Finding these things out can help a buyer make commitments in a sale that make it better for the seller and for the buyer versus other bids.

Sellers’ markets are hard, but there are ways around the challenge and getting into a home you want. By being flexible, creative, and ready you stand a better chance than bidders with half a heart in but one foot still hanging out.

Moving On Up: Should You Buy Or Sell First?

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Moving On Up: Should You Buy Or Sell First?It’s exciting to be able to move into a new home. But there are some tricky details to navigate when you already own a home and you’re ready to buy a new one. Should you buy or sell first? Don’t worry. There are viable solutions.

Should You Sell First?

Think about how selling your home first will impact your family. On the one hand, you’ll be in a better financial position. You’ll have cash in the bank. You may be able to negotiate better terms on your new house by putting more down. However, selling first may mean moving into temporary housing while you find a new house to buy. You might need to store your furnishings. In other words, you may need to move twice.

Should You Buy First?

Buying first gives you more stability. You can stay in your own home until you’re able to move into the new house. When you do move, there won’t be a big rush. You could move over the course of a week or even more. The downside to buying first is that you might be responsible for paying two mortgages for a month or more. There’s no guarantee that your home will sell in a predetermined length of time. And, there’s no guarantee you’ll get the amount of money for your old home that you need to be financially secure.

Viable Solutions No Matter What You Do

Thankfully, there are solutions no matter how you decide. If you sell your home first, you could ask your buyers for a later closing date so that you have time to find a new home. You could even ask them if you can lease your old home on a month-to-month basis so that you have time to buy a new home.

If you buy a new home first, you could get a bridge loan, that helps you pay the second mortgage until you sell your old home. You could also rent out your old home to help offset your mortgage payment.

As you can see, there are ways of making both scenarios work. Whether you decide to buy first or sell first, your real estate agent can help you make it happen.

Home Expenses Include Far More Than Just the Down payment

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Home Expenses Include Far More Than Just the Down paymentIf you are thinking about purchasing your first home in the near future, then you need to be aware of the costs that you are going to take on. When you are looking at the cost of a home, it is very tempting to focus on the sticker price of the home. Even though the down payment is going to be the largest check you are going to write, this is not the only cost that you are going to pay.

There are numerous other costs for which you need to budget as well. By thinking about all of these costs ahead of time, you can make a smart financial decision for you and your family.

Think About The Real Estate Taxes

Depending on the part of the country in which you live, real estate taxes can be significant. For example, it is not unusual for even a modest home to cost thousands of dollars in real estate taxes per year. Therefore, even though you have budgeted for your monthly mortgage payment, make sure that you have budgeted for real estate taxes as well. Usually, your mortgage lender is going to hold your real estate taxes in escrow for you so you don’t end up having to write a large check at the end of the year.

Homeowners’ Insurance And Utility Costs

In addition, you also need to think about homeowners’ insurance and utility costs. Some of the utilities that you have to pay for include internet, phone, cable, gas, electricity, and water. When this is added to your homeowners’ insurance expenses, this can also add up to several hundred dollars per month. Therefore, make sure that you can afford not only the mortgage payment but these recurring monthly expenses as well.

Budget For Your First Home Accordingly

Some of the other expenses that you might have to incur when it comes to your first home include maintenance and repair bills. Therefore, you should make sure that you sit down with an experienced planner and ensure that you can afford the combined expenses. Otherwise, you might end up being priced out of your first home before you realize it.

 

Important Advice For Locating The Right Neighborhood

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Important Advice For Locating The Right NeighborhoodWhen people are thinking about moving, they want to make sure they find the right neighborhood. At the same time, it is not always easy for how many hours to decide where they are going to live. Particularly if they are not familiar with the local community, there are a few important points that everyone should keep in mind. By thinking about these factors ahead of time, potential homeowners are going to place themselves in a position to be successful when they purchase their next home. 

Consider The Importance Of The Schools

Many people who are moving are looking for a bigger house because their family is getting larger. Therefore, one of the most important factors that families need to think about involve the quality of the schools. Schools are going to play a major role in the pricing of the neighborhood. Think about whether the kids are going to go to public school or private school. For families that are going to send their kids to public school, they need to think about the quality of the public schools and what school system the neighborhood is zoned for. 

Think About The Commute To Work

Another important factor that the family should consider is the commute to work. There are many people who are moving in an effort to shorten their commute or because they are getting a new job. Therefore, it is a smart idea to think about the traffic, the time it will take to work, and how challenging the driving route is going to be. This is going to play a major role and where the family is going to end up settling. 

The Access To Amenities

Finally, it is also important to think about access to amenities. This could include parks, shopping, hiking trails, and even access to the airport. Families need to think about what is important to them and prioritize this during the housing search. It is also a great idea to think about any development that might be taking place in the local area that could influence housing prices in the future. All of these factors should be considered when families are considering which neighborhood they would like to move to.