Should You Wait Before Buying a Home ?

Things to Consider Before You Buy a Home"

      Lets assume that you've already determined that you can "afford" to buy a Sarasota Florida home of your own; that you know you want to enjoy the financial and emotional rewards of owning you own home; that you are understand that owning a home entails some effort on your part (there's no landlord to turn to when the washer breaks or the hot water isn't hot enough), and finally, that you sure don't want to miss out on the steady increase in value of a home of your own.

      Nonetheless, there are just a few reasons that might make you want to "step back" and look one more time at your situation.  Here are a few of them for you to review just before you make your final decision to go ahead and fulfill the "American Dream" of owning a piece of Sarasota Florida real estate of your own.

Can you "really" afford this home ?

      Ok, so you know you can handle the mortgage, interest and taxes your Sarasota lender was concerned about.  Can you also cover incidental new homeowner items like a lawn mower, shovel, rake and pruners for the yard, plus a washer, dryer, drapes, rugs, and accessories inside ?  Can you handle the annual expenses for lawn fertilizer, mulch, flower plantings etc ?  If you're as busy as couples are, can you afford to pay someone to do your landscaping for you.

      Many families make trade-offs to cover the cost of their new Sarasota home; perhaps going out to eat fewer times each month until they get the "start-up" costs of a new home behind them.  Sit down and talk about these things before you leap into home ownership.  An hour or two of honest discussion can save a lot of grief.

Is your family income about to change ?

      Probably the most common thing that happens to a couple shortly after buying their first home is that they "start a family."  If you're both employed now, have you discussed whether one of you will be a "stay-at-home parent" and if so, will your reduced family income still support your Sarasota home.  If you're both going to continue working, have you covered the cost of day-care.

How long might you own the home ?

      Probably the worst thing that can happen after buying a a peice of Sarasota real estate is to find that you need to sell it again within a year or two.   If you have to sell a home before its value has appreciated enough to cover selling costs and commissions, you can put your yourself and your family into a difficult financial situation. This is especially true if you buy a home with an FHA or VA mortgage program so your down payment was less than 10% of the purchase price.

      Your Sarasota real estate commission to sell the home may average about 6%. Other closing costs add another 1.5% to 2%.  So, unless the home appreciated in value by at least 8 - 10% while you owned it, you may have lost all or a portion of your down payment or worse, you may actually need to "write a check" to close the sale.   Don't let that happen to you.  To be safe, make sure your plans include staying in your new home close to five years before you'll need to sell it for whatever reason.

Be extra careful with a new construction home

      On a new construction home, you can get caught in a bind if you need to sell your home while your builder is still offering the same model home in your neighborhood.  Many families prefer to buy a brand new home from the builder and get their choice of carpet colors and countertops, etc.  The builder may even pay part of the closing costs on a new home.  To sell your home, you may need to price your "resale" home below the builder's current asking price even though you've still got to absorb all the selling costs.  You don't ever want to have to sell your home "in competition with your own builder."  Make sure your plans include staying in your new Sarasota Florida home close to five years before you'll need to sell it.

      Of course, there are offsetting possibilities, if you need to sell your home shortly after buying it because of a job transfer, your employer may pick up part or all of the selling costs.  Conversely, what if your job iseliminated.  Or, if your home is in an area where prices are rising very rapidly, your home's value might have appreciated by enough to cover the costs of an early need to sell.  Just think about these possible outcomes before you leap into home ownership right now.

How familiar are you with the area ?

      Another reason to consider delaying a home purchase is if you've just moved to an unfamiliar region.  It makes sense to rent for a number of months before deciding on exactly where you want to live.  If you buy a home immediately in an unfamiliar area, you may find that you'd rather live in a different part of town to make your commute to work easier, or because you like the shopping better or for a dozen other reasons.

How solid is your family unit ?

      Realtors® see some of the saddest things happen that cause premature home sales.  When a marriage or partnership starts to fall apart, too often a home needs to be sold to equitably divide up the shared resources.  As stated before, selling a home before it has had a chance to appreciate can create just one more financial burden in an already difficult situation.

       No one expects the worst and no one should.  Life would be no fun.   But buying a home, particularly your first home is a "really big deal" that deserves some planning for what might happen in the future. The point is this: "think about these things BEFORE you buy a piece of Sarasota Florida real estate so you'll have the joy that you deserve from owning a home of your own.