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Huntington Beach Home Buying Pitfalls
Buying your Huntington Beach home whether you are a first time buyer or an ‘Old Pro’ involves legal, financial and emotional considerations. The more you know about the most common buyer mistakes in Huntington Beach, the more likely you are to avoid them.
Make sure that when you put in an offer on any Huntington Beach home that you have spent time narrowing down just what you are looking for. When the sellers accept your offer, you are involved in a binding contract that could cost you your deposit and other damages should you decide to back out. The opposite scenario, waiting for the 100 % perfect home can be an exercise in futility. With the thousands of variables available in housing, including location, style, size, amenities and condition, perfection is almost always an unreasonable goal.
Huntington Beach Real Estate Contract Options
The most common type of listing agreement used between sellers and the real estate broker is known as “The Exclusive Right to Sell” Agreement. In this agreement the agent agrees to include the home in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The details of a Huntington Beach real estate listed in the MLS are available to all agents and brokers and with the advent of the Internet, MLS listings are shown on the World Wide Web.
Guidelines for Buying Huntington Beach
Whether you are a seasoned veteran of real estate transactions or a first time buyer, my advice is the same: Know the Market, Know Yourself and Rely on Experts to give you the whole picture of what you are buying.
Know the Huntington Beach Market. Another way of stating this is Research, Research, Research. Of course the Internet is a great way to give an overview of Huntington Beach homes or homes in any given area but may not be enough, especially if you are looking to buy a home some distance from where you currently live. If you are looking to buy locally you can drive the neighborhoods that you are focusing on to get an idea if there are any problems you need to be aware of. Does part of the development back up to a busy highway? If so and if you want to avoid looking at homes in that area, know what streets are involved so you can recognize listings that may be involved.
Building Huntington Beach Home Equity
A popular question from prospective Huntington Beach homebuyers relates to building home equity. Buyers like to estimate how much a home may increase in value based upon past appreciation. One of the many advantages of home ownership is that appreciation is based on the home’s market value rather than on the actual dollar amount invested or the down payment so that a $100,000.00 home that appreciates 5% is now worth $105,000.00, especially in Huntington Beach.
With a typical 30-year loan, most of your monthly payment goes toward interest payments with only small amounts going to the principle in the early years. Only half the principle is repaid in the first 23 years of the loan. You can build Huntington Beach home equity faster by choosing a 15-year loan instead of a 30-year loan.
Building Huntington Beach Home Equity
As a Huntington Beach homeowner you have the right to pay more towards the principle loan amount each month. Let’s say your monthly payment is $700.00 a month and $100.00 a month is being applied to the principle. If you choose to pay $900.00 instead of $700.00, the $200.00 overage will be applied entirely to the principle. Thus, instead of gaining $1,200.00 a year in Huntington Beach home equity, you gain $3,600.00.
The only factor being considered here is Home Equity. In individual cases it may be wiser to invest than to pre-pay your home loan. It also may be wiser to pay off high-interest, non-deductible loans before considering your Huntington Beach home equity building options. Your financial advisor is the one to consult for these matters. If you would like up-to-the-minute information about Huntington Beach home appreciation values in your area, please call or E-mail me today.
Buying a Huntington Beach Fixer-Upper
Some Huntington Beach investors concentrate on buying fixer-uppers, making repairs and upgrades then selling for a profit. Going with a Huntington Beach fixer-upper can also be a smart way for those who are handy to buy a home in a neighborhood that they might otherwise be unaffordable. Fixer-uppers are a wonderful opportunity for those who simply love to create their space to their own specifications but for whatever reason do not want to start with a vacant lot.
Best to know the extent of the job and whether or not you are up to it before you buy. Some Huntington Beach fixer-uppers simply need cosmetic work such as paint, wallpaper, carpeting and maybe kitchen appliances are fairly easy to estimate the costs for fixing. Huntington Beach homes that need minor structural repairs such as roofing are also fairly easy to cost estimate.
