Dreaming of the dream house
The National Association of Realtors reported existing-home
sales rose 3.9% in February to 6.69 million units, the biggest
increase since December 2003. That followed a rise in January to
6.5 million.
Dreaming of the dream house
The National Association of Realtors reported existing-home sales rose 3.9% in February to 6.69 million units, the biggest increase since December 2003. That followed a rise in January to 6.5 million.
Economists had predicted a drop in the annual rate to 6.3 million homes last month. So much for the economists, eh?
As noted in this column last week, the activity levels in offices in our area definitely feel more energized. If you are a seller, hang tough! There are buyers out there, and more are going through the paces, getting pre-approved for loans.
If you’re a buyer, there are great homes out there! I spent one day this weekend with some wonderful clients. We looked at 5 homes, each one a unique and lovely property in its own right. This is a far cry from a few years ago when you bought whatever came on the market, even if you didn’t truly like it! Sellers are spending more time readying their homes for sale and the resulting inventory is staggering in its quantity and quality.
There are many potential buyers saying, “What about a foreclosure? Can I get a great deal on a foreclosure?” Let’s spend a few minutes looking at that. There is an upswing in the number of homes facing foreclosure or a short sale. A short sale is when the home is worth less than the mortgages held on it, and the banks will have to cooperate and take less money than is owed to them. Are these a good investment of your dollars?
Many times, what appears on the face of it to be a great deal doesn’t pan out in the long run. If you have someone who purchased a home they cannot truly afford chances are they haven’t spent much money on maintenance during their ownership. Oftentimes there is anger over the loss of a home to foreclosure or an inevitable short sale, and owner-inflicted vandalism is common. Doesn’t it make more sense to buy a home, especially in today’s market climate of negotiation and concessions, well-loved and cared for over time?
I think so. But, anyway, you’re in the market for a home. How do you go about choosing the right one? Obviously, the first questions to ask yourself are the big ones: Am I a city kind of person or a country kind of person; do I want a condo or a single family dwelling; how much can I afford and still have money left over for repair and maintenance, savings, and those little necessities like food and clothing.
After that, it gets a bit trickier. Chances are the homes you look at won’t be “perfect.” What is the perfect home? It’s different for each person. For me, the perfect home would clean itself, have a big fireplace in the master bedroom and bath area, have floor to ceiling built-in wood bookshelves in a private retreat area with a view, and have lots of room for a harp, a weaving loom and a spinning wheel, have a dance and yoga studio, and a large kitchen with quartz counters. I know, all of you who have seen my home are bent double with guffaws of laughter, but we can all dream, can’t we?
Of course we have to add in the “other people” who somehow have the audacity to assume their wants are just as valid as our own. In my case, that would be Tim and Ila. Tim’s perfect home has a huge kitchen which picks up after itself, a media room with a TV the size of the main wall, and the same bookcases in my house, and horses in the bedrooms. Ila’s has the bookcases, a closet the size of Texas, and a nice bathroom that wasn’t built in the 1970s.
You’ll have your own hodgepodge of spaces you want. And here we go looking at houses. Ah, this one is perfect except the kitchen is tiny. No, no, this one is the one! Oh, there’s no fireplace and the closets are tiny. I love this one…except it overlooks the landfill. How about this one? Nope. A two-car garage. Horses won’t fit in there.
And so it goes. Soon it becomes clear that rather than the “perfect” house we’ll have to settle for the “optimum” house. The best way I’ve found for my clients to choose among two or more houses is with a weighted selection process. Have each person list their wish list in order of importance. See if some of the missing “needs” could be creatively met in other ways. (The guest bedroom could double as a dance studio. It just might be difficult for most of our friends to stay in a bedroom with mirrors on three walls.) By actually writing it all down on paper, a favorite generally emerges.
Final word of advice: Do not fall in love with a house until after it closes.
You can get help with all this from your Realtor. Lean on him or her for advice and counsel. Whoa, doggies! They’ve done it before!
And be kind to your Realtor.
