{"id":1913,"date":"2017-07-17T10:00:03","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T10:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thezakariagroup.com\/3-questions-to-ask-before-you-buy-your-dream-home\/"},"modified":"2017-07-17T10:00:03","modified_gmt":"2017-07-17T10:00:03","slug":"3-questions-to-ask-before-you-buy-your-dream-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thezakariagroup.com\/3-questions-to-ask-before-you-buy-your-dream-home\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Questions to Ask Before You Buy Your Dream Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"648\" height=\"354\" src=\"http:\/\/d39ah2zlibpm3g.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/07161006\/20170717-Share-STM.jpg\" class=\"webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image\" alt=\"3 Questions to Ask Before You Buy Your Dream Home | Simplifying The Market\" style=\"display: block; margin-bottom: 5px; clear:both;max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"http:\/\/d39ah2zlibpm3g.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/07161006\/20170717-Share-STM.jpg 750w, http:\/\/d39ah2zlibpm3g.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/07161006\/20170717-Share-STM-549x300.jpg 549w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 648px) 100vw, 648px\"><\/p>\n<p>If you are debating purchasing a home right now, you are probably getting a lot of advice. Though your friends and family will have your best interests at heart, they may not be fully aware of your needs and what is currently happening in the real estate market.<span id=\"more-35861\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Ask yourself the following 3 questions to help determine if now is a good time for you to buy in today\u2019s market.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>1. Why am I buying a home in the first place?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>This is truly the most important question to answer. Forget the finances for a minute. Why did you even begin to consider purchasing a home? For most, the reason has nothing to do with money.<\/p>\n<p>For example, a <a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.bankofamerica.com\/files\/press_kit\/additional\/2016_Bank_of_America_Homebuyer_Insights_Report_Infographic_-_Moving_with_Purpose.pdf\">survey<\/a> by\u00a0<em>Braun\u00a0<\/em>showed that over 75% of parents say,\u00a0<em>\u201ctheir child\u2019s education is an important part of the search for a new home.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This survey supports a study by the\u00a0<em>Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University<\/em>\u00a0which revealed that the top four reasons Americans buy a home have nothing to do with money. They are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A good place to raise children and for them to get a good education<\/li>\n<li>A place where you and your family feel safe<\/li>\n<li>More space for you and your family<\/li>\n<li>Control of that space<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What does owning a home mean to you? What non-financial benefits will you and your family gain from owning a home? The answer to that question should be the biggest reason you decide to purchase or not.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>2. Where are home values headed?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>According to the latest\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nar.realtor\/news-releases\/2017\/06\/existing-home-sales-rise-11-percent-in-may-median-sales-price-ascends-to-new-high\"><em>Existing Home Sales Report<\/em><\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0<em>National Association of Realtors<\/em> <em>(NAR),<\/em> the median price of homes sold in May (the latest data available) was $252,800, which is up 5.8% from last year. This increase also marks the 63rd consecutive month with year-over-year gains.<\/p>\n<p>If we look at home prices year over year,\u00a0<em>CoreLogic<\/em> is<em>\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.corelogic.com\/about-us\/researchtrends\/corelogic-home-price-insights.aspx\">forecasting<\/a> an increase of 5.3% over the next twelve months. In other words, a home that costs you $250,000 today will cost you an additional $13,250 if you wait until next year to buy it.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>What does that mean to you?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Simply put, with prices increasing each month, it might cost you more if you wait until\u00a0next year to buy. Your down payment will also need to be higher in order to account for the higher price of the home you wish to buy.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4><strong>3. Where are mortgage interest rates headed?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>A buyer must be concerned about more than just prices. The \u2018long-term cost\u2019 of a home can be dramatically impacted by even a small increase in mortgage rates.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<em>Mortgage Bankers Association<\/em>\u00a0<em>(MBA),<\/em> <em>NAR<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>Fannie Mae<\/em>\u00a0have all projected that mortgage interest rates will increase over the next twelve months, as you can see in the chart below:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/d39ah2zlibpm3g.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/07161020\/20170717-STM-ENG.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-35863\" src=\"http:\/\/d39ah2zlibpm3g.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/07161020\/20170717-STM-ENG.jpg\" alt=\"3 Questions to Ask Before You Buy Your Dream Home | Simplifying The Market\" width=\"650\" height=\"488\" srcset=\"http:\/\/d39ah2zlibpm3g.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/07161020\/20170717-STM-ENG.jpg 2000w, http:\/\/d39ah2zlibpm3g.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/07161020\/20170717-STM-ENG-400x300.jpg 400w, http:\/\/d39ah2zlibpm3g.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/07161020\/20170717-STM-ENG-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Bottom Line<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Only you and your family will know for certain if now is the right time to purchase a home. Answering these questions will help you make that decision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wpematico_credit\"><small>Powered by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wpematico.com\" target=\"_blank\">WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you are debating purchasing a home right now, you are probably getting a lot of advice. Though your friends and family will have your best interests at heart, they may not be fully aware of your needs and what is currently happening in the real estate market. Ask yourself the following 3 questions to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101010,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[98,99,104,101,108],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>3 Questions to Ask Before You Buy Your Dream Home - The Zakaria Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thezakariagroup.com\/3-questions-to-ask-before-you-buy-your-dream-home\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Questions to Ask Before You Buy Your Dream Home - The Zakaria Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you are debating purchasing a home right now, you are probably getting a lot of advice. 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