Buying a house is more affordable than many people think. It is far more important to ensure you can pay the monthly payment and have enough savings in case you need to repair it. As far as down payments and upfront costs, you can put as little as 3% down with a conventional loan and there are many grant programs from the state or other sources. In Illinois, there are $6,000 grants that do not need to be repaid and in the Rockford area, there are additional grants for teachers, firefighters, police officers, and emergency responders. If for any reason you feel discouraged in your ability to buy a home, talk with a local lender and/or your financial advisor to see what options are available for you.
Getting pre-approved for a mortgage is the first step to purchasing a home. Sellers won’t take an offer seriously if it is not accompanied by a letter from your lender saying you can purchase the home. Don’t worry though, applying for a mortgage doesn’t have a tremendous impact on your credit (often 5 points or less) and you can shop around with multiple lenders during the same timeframe without any additional impact on your score. Don’t forget, the reason you have a credit score is so you can qualify for things like mortgages.
As realtors, we wish we set the price of your home! The market is what sets the price for your home. Buyers will only pay what they believe the house is worth based on supply and demand. If an agent promises a high price but doesn’t back it up with comparable sales in your neighborhood, you should be leery. Your house could end up sitting on the market for a greater amount of time and eventually selling for less.
The real estate market is an art, not a science. As agents, we spend a lot of time studying the market and can have a pretty good idea of what might happen to the market in the future, but there is no crystal ball. Prices go up, but they don’t always come back down. Mortgage rates go up (and will go up again), but unless something horrible happens to our economy, they likely won’t go back down to pandemic levels during our lifetime. And don’t forget, unless you are a first-time buyer or a retiring seller, you will have to buy in the same market you sell in. The best advice is to buy when you are ready. You can always refinance and you can’t control rent hikes if you wait. Sell when you are ready as well. If you keep the house 5 years longer than you wanted to, there is no guarantee the market will be different and you had to spend the last 5 years in a home that wasn’t right for you.
Our job would be a lot easier if every transaction were the same. Even for a team as experienced as ours, we often have things come up in transactions that we haven’t experienced before. What makes a great agent is knowing how to respond to new situations and how to use creative solutions and prior knowledge to make the unexpected go smoothly!
We sell more houses each year than there are days on the calendar. Utilize our extensive experience even if you only sell one house per decade!
We’ve referred over 200 families across the country. Let’s help guide you in the right direction!