The 3 Most Asked Questions I Get From Buyers

Since posting about my career change, I’ve been getting a lot of messages wishing me luck and stating your excitement to read what comes next but mainly I have been getting a lot of questions from readers who have been considering purchasing a home this year.

When I started my previous blog in 2009, the interaction with my readers was amazing. I loved being able to answer so many questions with answers that I knew like the back of my hand. Amazingly, nothing here has changed but the topic. A lot of you have asked questions that many of my buyers have also asked so despite answering most of you individually, I figured it would beneficial to others to share those questions and my responses here. Here are the top 3 questions, potential buyers have asked.

Is now a good time to buy?

A good time is when you are ready but at this very moment it is very much an enthusiastic YES! Interest rates are at unprecedented lows with some of my most recent buyers getting interest rates of under 3%. Of course, there are variables to this and it is something we’d have to discuss with a lender to see what you’d qualify for.

I can afford a monthly payment but I just don’t have enough for a down payment. Can I still buy?

Short answer. Yes. Some loans allow you to put down as low as 3% versus the standard 20% down payment. There are also programs, at least here in Illinois, that give you up to $10k in downpayment assistance and you’d only have to put down 1%. Again, these are all dependent on income verification, your credit score, debt to income ratio amongst other things but at the end of the day, all things one of my lending partners can figure out for you and I am happy to make an intro.

Homes are listed as new one day and under contract the next. Will I even find a home?

Homes are going very fast with homes selling over asking due to limited inventory. There are a lot of buyers who are taking advantage of low interest rates so it is very competitive for buyers right now. So the question of you finding a home really is dependent of how serious you are and how ready you are to put in an offer. Last week, I submitted two offers within the hour of viewing two homes that were listed just hours prior, one at full asking and another over asking. Both offers were accepted.

These are just three of the many questions I get asked that I thought I’d share. I can go into so much more detail but every buyer’s situation is different and like everyone I have had some amazing successes and some near misses so that would have to be a more one on one convo.

Feel free to contact me at yaniragarcia@kw.com if you’d like to discuss more or ask away in the comments. Hopefully this tid bit helps.