|
|
|
|
|
The art of buying a home in the
greater Puget Sound Area
By J. Lennox Scott, President
John L. Scott Real Estate |
— Part one of a series on buying a home
In this series on buying a home, I will be walking you through steps to successfully finding a house that will be both a good investment as well as a place to call home. Some of this information may seem self explanatory, but as an experienced Real Estate broker, I know that in the excitement of buying a home, steps can be overlooked, not explained well or plain forgotten. I want your buying experience to be as stress free as possible. I also want to point out some ways to save time and money using the web as a home-search tool.
I don’t need to tell you that the market in Kitsap County, as well as all of the Puget Sound region is hot, but don’t let that scare you. The best way to beat the market is to do your homework before you step into the process. While a buyers market in real estate sounds good, it often happens in times of recession and can be a risky proposition because the economy is uncertain.
Even dropping out of the market and waiting for a cooling off time may end up pricing you out of the market completely. Home prices in this area are only going to rise. Puget Sound is one of the nation’s quickest growing regions, and home prices are just a reflection of that.
Anyone who owns a home was once also a first-time homebuyer, and we have all experienced the fear, uncertainty and elation that a home purchase can bring. Buying a home is stressful and yet rewarding experiences. As long as you are prepared, you can mitigate most of the stress. One of the best preparations for buying a home is an open discussion of lifestyle and priorities for everyone involved. During these discussions, you will become aware of how much of your income you are willing to commit to housing, and what value you place on various types of activities.
But before you march out and start shopping, take your lifestyle and your spending habits into account. You should calculate your housing expense to be about 25 to 30 percent of your monthly take-home pay. Housing and long-term debts should be no more than 40 percent of your monthly pay. You can stretch this if you have significant savings or cash reserve. If you spend too much of your income on a mortgage, you won’t have any cushion to enjoy the house or take care of emergencies. Balance your need for housing with other long-term goals, and make sure that you communicate the amount you want to spend for a house with your agent and lender.
There are several ways that you can harness the power of the Internet to make the process of buying a home less stressful and quicker. Searching for a home through a real estate website is probably the smartest things you can do to familiarize yourself with the market. Driving around the neighborhoods you like gives you an idea of the area, but you often miss houses that don’t have signs or are located on adjacent streets. A quick tour on a website in the neighborhood can give you a basic sense of size of homes and relative cost. Taking a quick look on a real estate website is a great first step. Asking the agent at an open house about other houses on the marketing and the neighborhood highlights, including shopping and schools. Agents know their neighborhoods where they sell and have good insight into what it is like to live there.
Next issue, I will go into further detail on ways to search for a home on the web, and how to find the right agent.
(Editor’s Note: J. Lennox Scott, is president of John L. Scott Real Estate. He may be reached at realnews@johnlscott.com or 3380 146th Place SE, Suite 450, Bellevue, WA 98007.)
|
|
| |
|
| |
.jpg)