Sunday, March 7, 2021

House Hunting Tips during a Pandemic

A home provides us with a centering. It is a place we leave when the sun is up and to where we go back to at the end of the day. A home provides security, control, belonging, identity, and privacy to our family and also the place where the most important values in life are taught to every child - values that help increase harmony and peace among all members of the family.

This is how important a home is for a family, which is why we would always want to have our own space. But when this current outbreak hit the world, our plans to start house hunting were interrupted and we started questioning our timing for buying a house of our own. 

Amidst this pandemic, there are still ways you can work toward buying your dream home. Don’t think that all is lost because you can still achieve your goal by taking a look at the benefits and advantages of buying a new house amidst uncertainty that will help you make informed financial decisions.

Do market research at home.

While you are spending more time inside the house and you are just starting to look for a house to buy, do a research of the areas where you want to invest, including the area’s home values, the average selling prices and ongoing mortgage interest rates. You may also want to browse listings to search for better deals and check online reviews so it would be easy for you to make a short list of real estate agent candidates to interview once the situation gets better.

While researching online, you might be needing a tool to compare mortgages. This free online mortgage calculator comes in handy with your market research. It quickly shows details of your possible mortgage loan and payments including interest rates for the home loan you are planning to avail. 

Consider the benefits of less competition.

A lot of areas or region went on lockdown and while most industries are on a shut down, competition for the houses in that area is more likely to be less, which means a huge possibility that sellers will be more flexible on price.

While staying at home, start hunting virtually or shop online to find a home you love within your price range. Once the crisis passes, prices will escalate due to a more competitive market that will benefit sellers rather than buyers. 

Get mortgage preapproval.

Preapproved mortgage determines how much money you can borrow to buy a home. Your income, assets and credit score are factors that the lenders look into to determine what loans you could be approved for, how much you can borrow and what your interest rate might be.

Prove to the lender that you are a serious buyer by getting a mortgage preapproval. In this current situation, getting preapproved online is possible, so look into that option.

Take advantage of virtual home viewing.

Businesses are going online or virtual for you to feel or experience their products and services. The real estate sector is no different as they start to shift to the new normal in home viewing. Nowadays, real estate introduces virtual tours of properties for sale on their websites, on social media, via Zoom and  the likes, where you can attend a virtual open house to get a realistic view of the property.

This move of the real estate sector to shift to virtual gives buyers a better experience and a more convenient home viewing.

There are still a lot of ways to enjoy house hunting amidst this pandemic. Whatever way you choose to do, just make sure that it is the safest for you and the people you want to stay with you in your dream home. 

8 comments:

  1. Great tips, you have to be very careful these days!

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  2. Buying a house is not something you do without coming in contact with a lot of people by house visiting so I can understand why Corona would make it more difficult :)

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  3. For me, it's fun to house hunt especially when doing virtual home viewing. I also agree about having less competition, so it's important to take advantage of this time.

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  4. These are really great tips, I just bought and house and it forever to find something that worked for us. we really wanted a fixer up but one that was livable.

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  5. I've noticed so many people buying right now. I'm not looking but will pass along these useful tips!

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  6. Great tips. Didn't consider some of them before. Now I know what to do next time

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  7. Thats really good tips. I was planning to buy house now also worried because of the pandemic.

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  8. I would like less competition on the home market, but in England the market is very hot right now and homes are selling faster and than ever. Not to mention they are even more expensive due to increased demand :(

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Hi! Let's all try to add more positivity in this world and adhere to the saying, "if you don't have anything nice to say, keep silent."

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