Ahhh 2019, new year, new goals…or same goals but really going to tackle them this year. I want to share with you 2 important things to look out for if you’re planning on buying a house this year.

Buying a house is most likely going to be the biggest purchase you’ll ever make in your life…I’ll let that sink in.

It’s crucial to understand what you need and what to look out for. I won’t go into detail on the things you need to buy a house, I’ve done that here and here.

Top 2 things to watch out for

1. Interest Rates- Ok you’ve heard me ramble on about interest rates on other blog posts, Instagram post, Facebook post…you get it. Interest rates have a HUGE impact on mortgage cost and purchasing power. Here’s a little graph to show you what I mean but basically the higher the interest rate, the less amount of money you’ll qualify for which could be a smaller, older home/condo/townhome. 
2. Inventory– This has been an ongoing issue for a while now and although it did increase a little, it’s still not enough. Typically, in Real Estate we want a 6-month supply of housing, so prices don’t skyrocket but as you’ve seen, prices have done that due to our low 3.9-month supply. But keep an eye out during Spring and Summer, more houses hit the market so make sure you’re ready to make an offer.

Now that you know what to look out for, you can be well prepared. Just get pre-approved when you’re ready to buy because the pre-approval letter is only good 30-45 days then it will expire. So, don’t get pre-approved NOW if you’re thinking about buying in the summer. Just wait for a little, work on paying down some debt using the snowball method.

Ok, I think that’s it for now, I’m going to make myself some coffee and start my day.

As always thank you for reading, I appreciate you and your time

xx

Your favorite stylish REALTOR®