Three things a home buyer should think about
Saturday, August 20, 2011 at 08:24AM 
Yesterday I received a call from a potential homebuyer from Phoenix who was doing his homework before making a move to Savannah. As he reminded me, there are a lot of stressful concerns moving so far away to a place that might be culturally different and a place you know nothing about.
As a buyer's agent, this is what I do on a regular basis, give information. One of the first important actions to take when moving to a strange place is find out about the place and try to find an agent who will give you good information. This potential buyer asked what are three things a buyer should think about in this market. I told him that first a buyer should be ready to live in a home for five or more years, then make sure that he not buying more than he can afford, then to take his time to make a truly informed decision.
During the housing boom, there was a general notion that you could buy a home and sell it for a profit within a year or so, but this is no longer the case. There's no guarantee that prices won't fall a little lower in the next couple of years, but, from all indications, within five years the market should be stable again. With the economy still shaky, even though buying a home still makes sense, overloading yourself financially is not a good idea, so buying a little under what you can afford is probably a good idea -- one good thing about this market right now is that interest rates are very low, so you can buy more home and keep your payments reasonable. But the third thing is probably the most important -- taking your time and gathering information so that you make an informed decision. When the housing market was hot, people felt pressure to buy before someone else bought the home, but now you can take your time and find the right home at the right price with the best terms and conditions.
This is definitely a buyer's market, and as a buyer's agent I feel good about working with clients knowing that they are getting all the information they need to make good decisions.
Reader Comments (2)
The best buyers today are those with a stable retirement income. for those buyers, Savannah is an outstanding value and a great place to put down roots. Those buyers who are still earning an income must be extra cautious about their ability to pay. Be very careful about over extending yourself financially and remember, remodeling a distressed house to your standards can give you instant equity.
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