For many young or first-time homebuyers, purchasing a home can feel intimidating. A recent survey<\/a>\u00a0shows some homebuyers ages 25 to 40 may be unsure about the homebuying process and what they can afford. It found:<\/p>\n Because they feel uncertain, many young homebuyers have given up on their search, or worse, they\u2019ve decided homebuying isn\u2019t for them and never started on their journey to begin with.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re interested in buying but aren\u2019t sure where to begin, here are three key concepts about homeownership you should understand before you get started.<\/p>\n Saving for a down payment is sometimes viewed as one of the biggest obstacles for homebuyers, but that doesn\u2019t have to be the case. As\u00a0Freddie Mac<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cThe most damaging down payment myth\u2014since it stops the homebuying process before it can start\u2014is the belief that 20% is necessary<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n According to the most recent\u00a0Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report<\/em><\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0National Association of Realtors<\/em>\u00a0(NAR), the median down payment for homes purchased between July 2019 and June 2020 was only 12%. That number is\u00a0even lower\u00a0<\/em>when we control for age \u2013\u00a0for buyers<\/strong>\u00a0in the 22 to 30 age range, the median down payment was only 6%.<\/strong><\/p>\n Working remotely, exercising, and generally spending more time than ever in our homes has changed what many people are looking for in their living space. However, some young homebuyers don\u2019t feel they can afford a home that suits their growing needs and have decided to continue renting instead. That means they\u2019ll miss out on some of the\u00a0long-term benefits<\/a>\u00a0of owning a home. As an article recently published by NAR\u00a0points out<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cMany young adults are underestimating how much they need for homeownership, the survey finds.\u00a0Millennials underestimated how much home they can afford right now, how much interest they would pay over a 30-year mortgage, and how much home values appreciate, on average, over 10 years…\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Knowing how much home you can afford when starting the buying process is critical and could be the game-changer that gets you from\u00a0renting to buying<\/a>.<\/p>\n Finally, with mortgage rates starting to rise along with home prices\u00a0appreciating<\/a>, putting off buying a home now could cost you much more later. Sam Khater, Chief Economist at\u00a0Freddie Mac,<\/em>\u00a0notes<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cAs the economy progresses and inflation remains elevated, we expect that rates will continually rise in the second half of the year<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Most experts\u00a0forecast<\/a>\u00a0interest rates will rise in the months ahead, and even the smallest increase can influence your\u00a0buying power<\/a>.\u00a0If you\u2019ve been on the fence about buying a home, there\u2019s no time like the present.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you feel overwhelmed by the prospect of starting your home search, you\u2019re not alone. Let\u2019s connect today so we can talk more about the process, what you\u2019ll need to start your search, and what to expect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For many young or first-time homebuyers, purchasing a home can feel intimidating. A recent survey\u00a0shows some homebuyers ages 25 to 40 may be unsure about the homebuying process and what they can afford. It found: \u201c1 in 4 underestimated their buying potential by $150k or more\u201d \u201c1 in 4 underestimated the increase in value by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mylocalrealtyservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mylocalrealtyservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mylocalrealtyservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mylocalrealtyservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mylocalrealtyservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31196"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mylocalrealtyservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31198,"href":"https:\/\/mylocalrealtyservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31196\/revisions\/31198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mylocalrealtyservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mylocalrealtyservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mylocalrealtyservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mylocalrealtyservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
1. What You Need To Know About Down Payments<\/strong><\/h4>\n
2. You May Be Able To Afford More Home Than You Think<\/strong><\/h4>\n
3. Homeownership Will Become Less Affordable the Longer You Wait<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Bottom Line<\/strong><\/h3>\n