If you’re buying a home right now, things are looking good: Interest rates are low, and housing prices around Boston, while not total bargains, are overall considerably lower than they were at their peak in 2005.
I thought that with the sales season under way, that I would share some tips for home purchase and ownership:
1. Get your financing in order
Given tighter lending practices — and that it’s a competitive buyers’ market — would-be buyers need to have their ducks in a row so that they’re ready when they see the right home.
2. Understand your time horizon
As a shorter-term buyer, you might consider whether the place is a good investment, and if it’s the kind of property that’s going to be attractive for the next buyer. “What concerns you now is going to be a concern in a few years,” Hillman says. A house near train tracks, for instance, is probably not what most people are looking for.
3. Know the overall market conditions
Investigate what comparable properties have sold for over the past three to six months, Dwyer advises. If you’re working with a buyer’s agent, he or she should know what fair-market value is, not just the list price.
4. Search and buy within your means This bit of advice is always true, but if the housing crisis has taught us anything, it’s that buying with the expectation that prices will continuously go up — and that if you can eke out the payments each month, you’ll be in a good spot in the long run — isn’t such a good idea.
5. If you’re waiting for prices to go lower, think again
Real estate is a bit like the stock market, in that it’s unpredictable. Though some people might be waiting on the sidelines for housing prices to dip lower, she says, “looking at the numbers, I can’t see them continuing to go down.”
6. Don’t get too sucked in by appearances
Buyers should keep in mind that many sellers will try to present their homes in the best possible light. “If the house has been staged, what [potential buyers] forget is that all that stuff is going out when [the sellers] leave. Sometimes you’re better off buying something that needs a little decorating, because it’s going to take on your own look anyway.” 
7. Have questions prepared
Sellers and their agents should be prepared to answer questions including how old the roof, heating system, hot water heater, and windows are; if the basement has taken water in the time the seller has been there, and if there’s a sump pump; and what utilities and homeowner insurance generally cost.
8. If you’re thinking of buying a brand new house…
Consider that a home that’s been lived in has been tested. The seller will be able to tell you if the basement takes on water in a rainstorm, for instance.
9. If you’re buying a condo, know the rules
Condo lending rules have become more stringent, making it difficult for some would-be buyers to get financing. Lenders generally want buildings to be at least 50 percent owner-occupied, Dwyer says.
10. Think about a home’s intrinsic value
The downturn in the housing market and the uncertainty about where it’s headed may lead people to think less about picking up an incredible bargain in the hopes of making a huge profit and more about the home in its own right.
“[Buying a home] has always been a consumption decision and an investment decision,” says Nicolas Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard. In recent years, “we moved that dot along the continuum, and it became an investment decision.”
“Questions such as ‘Is this where I want to raise a family’ and ‘Is this close to the things that are important to me’ will factor more into the decision,” he says.
With this info in mind, browse some of our listings available and make an appointment today!
(This list compiled by Ami Albernaz, a Boston Globe Correspondant. Read the full article here. )
