Here are a couple of reasons why you may not want to buy a house in 2023 or 2024.
The market that we’re in is a little weird. And with rates a little higher property values a little higher, and things a little bit tighter in regard to inventory. It is definitely a little harder to get into homeownership now, if you are not already in the game, so to speak.
So, the first reason that you may not want to buy a home in 2023, with the higher values and the higher interest rates is, if you are thinking you are not going to be in the home for at least two to five years. You probably want to wait and hold off on buying for a little while, given the interest rate and the cost of homes right now. And all of the fees and costs associated with buying a home your closing costs, etc. You may well not recoup the money that you put in, in that two year period, enough to make any sort of gain when you go to sell, if it is in two years or less.
I am almost always going to say that time in the market is better than timing the market. So I talked to a lot of potential buyers, a lot of first-time buyers who are waiting for interest rates to drop. They’re hoping that interest rates are going to drop and prices are going to drop. Those things very seldom happen at the same time. My advice to them is if you buy now, at a higher interest rate, you can always refinance later, but odds are if you wait to buy, those prices are going to be higher. So while rates may come down, prices will still continue to go up, because we’re still in an inventory shortage. So buying now is going to give you more time in the market for that property to appreciate and your interest rate can always go down.
I say that with the caveat that you don’t want to buy a house on the market right now if you cannot afford the payment. Please, please, please do not spend every dime of your savings on the down payment for a house and put yourself in a position where you’re not able to go out to eat, take a vacation, buy furniture, come up with the money for unexpected expenses like your car breaks down or somebody needs a medical procedure. Things like that are not worth getting in the market if you’re not quite ready.
So even if you’re ready, even if you’re thinking about buying a home, talk to an agent that you trust and talk to a mortgage lender to get a good idea of what your payments are going to be what your costs are going to be. And it’s okay to wait if you’re not ready. Just don’t wait too long, or wait too long thinking that that dream home that you can’t afford now is going to be affordable in two years unless you know that you’re going to get a significant bump in pay.
But if you have any questions about buying, I’d love to talk to you. I’d love to help you decide if now is the right time and what might be a reasonable way to get your foot in the door right now. So that dream home may be two years away but you’ve started the process now give me a call or send me a message I’d love to talk to you.