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Insights on money, career and trading

Tips for Searching for your First Home in the 2021 Market

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Daniel at 12:30 pm

It could be that spending months inside your house during the Covid-19 pandemic has inspired you to make your home buying dreams a reality. You are probably wondering how you can get started on this all important major purchase. Before you enlist the help of a real estate agent, we have some tips from top agents, to give you a sense of what the market is like across the United States, and some insights that can help you in the search for your first home with a better awareness of the 2021 market.

Focus on your dreams and expectations

The first step to land your dream home is to know what you’d like that home to look like. With a clear picture of the features that you are seeking you can have a better understanding of your budget. This will help you focus in on homes that will be the best fit, without getting distracted by homes that may be a waste of time. Some considerations are the number of bedrooms and bathrooms that you need, any specific kitchen amenities like a double oven, and whether you want a backyard to take full advantage of your home’s outdoor space. In 2021, a functional outdoor space tops the list of what homebuyers are looking for, and you may find yourself in competition with other buyers for homes with this amenity. You can also have two lists with ‘must haves’ and ‘nice to haves,’ to give you a wider range of options, especially if you are on a tight deadline and budget.

Expect competition

Across the United States, real estate agents are talking about a 2021 market trend that is making home buying a little trickier than in years past: a sellers’ market. With more home buyers as people are leaving cities for suburbs, and a lack of supply, a sellers’ market is in full force, where there are not enough homes to keep up with the demand. Since there appears to be a high demand for properties, the overall costs, like down payment, sellers’ pay, agents’ commission, and more can also slightly vary. When it comes to closing costs, in the end, you wouldn’t want to be surprised. Therefore, one thing a home buyer or seller might want to do would be a comparison of the closing rates of their respective state from websites similar to https://sanfranciscopremierhomes.com.

One of the situations that this can create is a bidding war, where you might find your dream home, but then need to compete with other buyers, perhaps even offering over the list price, to close the deal. This means you’ll want to study the market closely and take into consideration what percentage over the list price you might need to pay. A home value estimator can come in handy to see what comparable homes like the one you are interested in might be selling for.

Hire an expert

The number one tip for searching for your first home in the 2021 market, or anytime, is to remember that you don’t have to do it alone. Hiring a real estate agent from reputable firms like Reali (https://reali.com/real-estate-agents/) or similar ones to serve as your advocate and to help you understand the market can be one of the most important steps to ensure success. Ideally, you want to hire an agent who has experience in your targeted neighborhood and in selling and buying homes comparable to the ones that you have in mind. Of course, you should also think about hiring a realtor who has the vision of being able to grow their business further by visiting sites like boldleads and focusing on real estate lead generation as this could prove to be pivotal in how successful they are in finding your dream home. Asking friends or other trusted sources for a referral can also save you the time and hassle of trying to find someone from an internet search alone.

Be patient

Buying your first home isn’t going to happen overnight, but with some basic knowledge of the market and a strategy, you can be on your way to moving into your dream home in no time.

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Insights on money, career and trading