Have you been considering buying a home in 2020? It’s a great time to be looking at entering the housing market for the first time, or making a move from your present home!
Home price rises have already been slowing down, and a possible recession in 2020 will only contribute to a cooling-off in the residential market, making it an ideal time to look around for something that you can afford. In addition, with fewer potential purchasers a buyer’s market will be created that can help you get a competitive price!
Mortgage rates are very low right now, and may go even lower. Just make sure that you line up the mortgage before you start looking. Then you won’t find yourself in a situation where the house you want is more than you can afford.
Know what you want in a new home. Draw up a list of what you need: neighborhood amenities like parks or schools, your desired number of bedrooms/bathrooms, an attached garage or maybe a swimming pool. This can save you time when talking to a realtor or combing through listings.
Buying an Existing Home
There are many advantages to buying an existing home. You will be able to move in much faster than if you are getting a new home built: instead of waiting a year or more, most closing dates are within a couple of months.
An existing home already has many of the landscape essentials in place as well. Lawns, gardens and trees are already there, so there is often no need to plant anything new. If waiting years for a decent shade tree in your own backyard is too long, look for an older home!
You also get the advantage of moving into an established neighborhood, with all its amenities like parks and schools already in place.
On the other hand, that older house is almost guaranteed to need renovations and/or redecorating to make it into your dream home. That might be enough to make you want to build a new residence. When purchasing a resale home, you will also need to have it looked at by a home inspector.
Building a New Home
There are definite advantages to building a new home. Within the bounds of your budget, you can get just what you want in terms of layout and materials before you move in, instead of living through a potentially messy renovation process in an existing home. You also don’t have to worry about nasty surprises like bad insulation or sub-standard electrical wiring lurking behind the walls. In addition, new technologies such as solar roof panels or in-floor heating systems can be more easily incorporated into a new build compared to retro-fitting an older home.
One of the big advantages of buying new is that, increasingly, new homes are being built in affordable price ranges to encourage home ownership for younger buyers. This makes entering the housing market for the first time much more affordable.
The biggest downside of buying a new build is the longer lag between purchasing and being able to move in. And depending on the weather and other factors, the delay may be longer than you planned on. You may find it necessary to move your furniture into a storage unit before you can take possession of your brand-new home!
Whether you buy a new or resale home, all the signs point to 2020 as being a great year to be in the market for a new house!
