Get Off the Fence About Buying a Home in Austin
This East Austin modern home was on the Modern Home Tour a few months ago. Sorry but it is not for sale - someone else beat you to it.
Here is why.
- Interest rates are still really really low.
- The number of days a house stays on the market has increased over last year so some sellers are more motivated.
- If you wait too long and interest rates go up, even just half a point, your purchasing power will drop a lot.
Summer is the prime real estate season. If you start looking too late, you’re going to miss some of the best properties that come on the Austin real estate market in 2011.
3 Things You Need To Know
Calm your nerves – get a grip on the basics of Austin real estate.
- The Austin real estate market has not suffered as badly as most of the rest of the country.
- Austin boasts a diverse economic base – there are many different types of businesses here. That helps keep the real estate market from see-sawing wildly.
- Some Austin markets are selling very well, and others have more inventory.
Austin Isn’t Florida or Phoenix
- Real Estate investors are not, in general, getting “deals” here. Some are able to pick up properties they can flip for a profit, but the competition is rough, and the margins are slim.
- “Timing” the market to snatch stuff up at the bottom, like in some hard-hit markets, isn’t a good strategy.
- According to the Austin Austin American Statesman, foreclosure postings fell to a 29-month low in April of 2011, with 974 properties posted for sale.
- You can still buy investment properties that will be profitable – if you know your numbers.
Don’t Lose Your Austin Home Buying Power by Being Indecisive
Let’s do a little math.
Ok, you don’t have to do the math because here is is for you.
- A $250,000 house bought with a $200,000 mortgage for 30 years at 4.75% will cost $1,043 per month for the mortgage payment (not including taxes and insurance).
- The same house, purchased at 5.25% will cost you about $61 more per month. At 5.75%, that monthly cost jumps up to $1167 per month – a whopping $123 per month more.
- $123 per month translates into a loss of almost $24,000 in purchasing power!
Do Your Own Buy-it-Now Math
Run your own numbers using our 19-in-1 mortgage calculator to see that now is a good time to buy real estate in Austin.
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