6 Steps to Finding Your Dream Home

Some of us have had it and some of us haven’t. We’re talking about that moment when you walk into a house and know right away, “This is the one”; “This is the house that will become my home.” For those of you that haven’t located your dream home, we came up six important factors to consider while you are searching.

1. Think of your house as an investment
   Of course we aren’t saying sell your house as soon as you close, but it’s important to think about the future. Imagine living in your new home for 5 or 10 years. Now imagine all the blood, sweat, and tears you will put into your home during that time. Before purchasing, make sure the house has value, even if it means putting your handy-man hat on and making a few key changes to make it re-sellable. If you feel unsure about the house re-sale value, even with a few modifications, you might want to skip to the next house.

2. Determine your NEEDS first, then your WANTSDo you need a house, townhouse or condo? Are you looking for a large yard or no yard? Do you need to be close to work or school? First, make a list of needs and choose one that you are flexible on. Second, write a list of wants such as garage, old or new, established landscaping, style – traditional, craftsman, modern, contemporary, and so on. Then choose two wants that you are flexible on. If you are unsure about what style you prefer, you can check out this gallery for more ideas. It will be easier to find the right place if you have a direct vision of what you’re looking for.

3. Don’t Break the BankWe all do it. You browse houses for sale and dream about living in that million dollar home, and then say to yourself, “If only I won the Powerball last week.” You have to be realistic though. Go ahead and get pre-approved, set a true budget, and try to stay within $25K.

4. Is Green Important?From energy efficient appliances to local transportation programs, you should think about how important ‘being green’ is for you and your family. If you are a green advocate, then look for these key items: multi-pane windows, plenty of natural light, the EnergyStar logo on water or HVAC systems, solar lights/panels, or non-toxic building materials.

5. Location and CommunityLocation does matter, plain and simple. Think about what city you prefer and pick a few nearby cities or set a certain radius that you could live with. Not only does location fill personal needs, but it can help (or hurt) you when it comes time to sell. So opt out of the noisy intersection with high traffic. You are also buying into the community in which you live, so do some digging on which communities have the most appealing features.

6. Be Flexible and Have FunThe best way to find your dream home is to have an open mind and be a bit flexible. Choose a place that has an open floor plan so you have an option to remodel if you want, or make sure you have an extra room or two that serve many purposes. You might also want to make sure you have enough room to grow or build on at a later time should your family expand. With time, this house will become your home. It will have your décor and reflect who you are as a person, so take your time searching and enjoy the process.

Following these six tips on how to find your dream home are great ways to narrow the search, but it's just the beginning. For more information on homes in Georgia, contact me today so you can start your journey to locating your dream home!

5 Housing Trends That Will Dominate 2016

This year may have marked the best for housing since 2007, but the market will likely get even rosier in 2016, according to a recent real estate forecast by realtor.com®. One of the main drivers behind the brighter 2016 is the projection that employment will continue to grow, which will add to consumers’ wallets and allow them to purchase their first home or upgrade to a new one. Realtor.com® highlights the following housing predictions for 2016: 

1. ‘Normal’ is coming. Expect a healthy growth in home sales and prices – at a slower pace than in 2015. “This slowdown is not an indication of a problem—it’s just a return to normalcy,” writes Jonathan Smoke, realtor.com®’s chief economist. “We’ve lived through 15 years of truly abnormal trends, and after working off the devastating effects of the housing bust, we’re finally seeing signs of more normal conditions.” New construction and distressed sales are expected to return to more historical levels, and home prices are expected to follow at “more normal rates consistent with a more balanced market.”  

2. Generational buying trends shape up. Young adults’ presence on the housing market has been largely predicted for years, but 2016 may finally be the year they make a move in a larger way. Millennials represented nearly 2 billion sales in 2015 – one-third of home buyers. They are expected to continue to be a major buying pool in 2016 with the majority of buyers between ages 25 and 34 expected to be first-time home buyers next year. But two other generations will also have a big presence in 2016: financially recovering GenXers and older baby boomers who are entering retirement, realtor.com® notes. “Since most of these people are already homeowners, they’ll play a double role, boosting the market as both sellers and buyers,” Smoke notes. “Gen Xers are in their prime earning years and thus able to relocate to better neighborhoods for their families. Older boomers are approaching (or already in) retirement and seeking to downsize and lock in a lower cost of living.”  

3. New-home construction focuses more on affordability. Builders have been faced with higher land costs, limited labor, and concerns about the demand of the entry-level market. As such, they have shifted to constructing more higher-priced homes, which has caused new-home prices to rise significantly faster than existing-home prices. In 2016, they likely will shift to more affordable product to cater to the entry-level buyers. “We are already seeing a decline in new-home prices for new contracts signed this fall,” notes Smoke. “In addition, credit access is improving enough to make the first-time buyer segment more attractive to builders.”  

4. Higher mortgage rates. Mortgage rates will likely be volatile in 2016. But the recent move by the Federal Reserve to guide interest rates higher should push mortgage rates higher in the new year than the historical lows they have been at for years. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage will likely end 2016 about 60 basis points higher than today’s level. “That level of increase is manageable, as consumers will have multiple tactics to mitigate some of that increase,” Smoke says. “However, higher rates will drive monthly payments higher, and, along with that, debt-to-income ratios will also go higher.” The markets with the highest home prices will see the effects from the higher rates the most.  

5. Rents to go up even higher. Rental costs are skyrocketing, and the costs are likely to only go up in the new year. More than 85 percent of the nation’s markets have rents that exceed 30 percent of the income of renting households. “Rents are accelerating at a more rapid pace than home prices, which are moderating,” Smoke says. “Because of this, it is more affordable to buy in more than three-quarters of the U.S. However, for the majority of renting households, buying is not a near-term option due to poor household credit scores, limited savings, and lack of documentable stable income of the kind necessary to qualify for a mortgage today.”

ROI - Best and Worst Home Improvement Projects

I get asked all the time by clients "How much value will this add?" with regards to a home improvement or remodel. Generally speaking, I let them know that the only improvements that they will truly get all of their money back for when selling are new paint and new carpet.  These are relatively inexpensive items with a large impact - they immediately make a house seem fresh, bright, and new! 

Homeowners may have a long wish list of home renovations and projects, and sometimes it seems as if the work is never done. While return on investment (ROI) may not be the biggest consideration in a homeowner’s mind when deciding which projects make it to the top of the list, knowing which projects see the highest returns may be helpful in the decision-making process. If you have been thinking of making some changes to your home, you want to consider the following data when deciding where to put your money.

Happiness in the home can be a part of the ROI, but other cost vs. value factors vary by region and even by room. ROI, as defined in Remodeling’s 2015 Cost vs. Value report, can be broken down as the percentage of the estimated average cost of a renovation project that is projected to be recouped in resale value, as aggregated from real estate and appraisal estimates.