You’ve been saving for years to buy your dream home—but once you start your home search, all the prices seem sky-high! Finding affordable property can be a huge challenge for new homebuyers.
Although it might seem impossible, that’s not the case! If you’re eager to buy a home, it can definitely be done—you just need to learn a few secrets that can help you find homes within your budget.
To learn more, keep reading to find eight tips for finding affordable property in your local area, even if you’re on a tight budget. Before you know it, you’ll be holding the keys to your beautiful new home!
1. Expand Your Radius
When trying to buy a house, it’s easy to focus on just one particular neighborhood. However, you might be surprised to learn how much more affordable property can be if you look elsewhere!
Even the difference of a mile or two can sometimes make a big difference when it comes to affordable housing. If you’re having trouble finding a home within your budget, it pays to expand your search radius a bit further.
Just keep in mind your commute time and access to local amenities like school, shops, and healthcare
2. Get Pre-Approved Before You Start Searching
It can be hard to work out what’s within your budget if you don’t know how much you can afford to borrow. Before making any offers on a home, first meet with your bank or mortgage broker to get pre-approval for your mortgage.
This will help you understand how much you can afford to spend, based on your deposit and estimated monthly mortgage payments. Once you have this information, it will make it much easier to narrow down what’s within budget and what isn’t.
Then, you can start searching on real estate sites here to look for your dream property.
3. Think About Bringing in a Roommate
One way to make your new home more affordable is to bring a roommate along. For example, if you buy a three-bedroom home, could you rent one of the spare rooms to a person looking for a room to rent?
This will lower the cost of your monthly repayments, effectively giving you more home for less money. Plus, it might even be a fun way to meet new people if you’ve just moved to the area.
4. Don’t Forget About Smaller Homes
When looking for affordable housing, don’t limit yourself when it comes to size. Smaller homes have plenty to offer and are often much more affordable than larger homes.
If you’re willing to compromise on one less bedroom, a smaller yard, or even a condo instead of a house, you can save huge amounts of money. Remember that you can always upgrade in the future if you start earning more money or if your family grows in size.
5. Consider a Renovation Project
Many homeowners are scared of fixers-uppers, but buying a home in need of some renovations can be much more affordable than a brand-new house.
The trick is to look for renovations that don’t need to be done right away, so you can spread your expenses out over several years. If you don’t mind living with an outdated bathroom for a few years, you might be able to snag a bargain on a home.
Just research some of the average home renovation costs first, so that you know what to expect before you buy. Also, keep in mind that some urgent repairs might need to be done right away so that the home is safe to occupy—a home inspection can help with this before you purchase.
6. Network
Sometimes, you can find a home the old-fashioned way—asking around! Talk to colleagues, friends, and neighbors, letting them know that you want to buy in the area.
See if they can recommend any homes that might be coming onto the market soon.
Or, if you find a home you really love, you can ask the owners if they are considering listing it for sale in the future—they might just say yes!
7. Consider Foreclosures
Homes are occasionally sold as foreclosures. This means the previous owner was no longer to keep up with mortgage payments and the bank took possession of the home.
These homes often sell for cheap as the bank wants to get rid of them quickly. Just try to inspect the home first and make sure it’s in decent condition before making an offer, as all sales are generally final.
8. Check How Long a Home Has Been on the Market
One top tip is to check how long a home has been for sale. If a home has been on the market for months, for example, the owners are probably getting desperate to sell.
This means they’d be more likely to accept an offer lower than their asking price. In comparison, a home that was just listed isn’t likely to need a quick sale, so the owners might hold out for a higher price.
Your realtor can help you work out how long a home has been for sale.
Find Affordable Property With These Tips
Buying a house can be daunting, especially as a first-time homebuyer. However, the tips above can help you find affordable property in your local area.
To get started, work out how much you can afford to borrow and then start working with local real estate agents, getting a feel for what homes in your area are like. It may take a few months, but eventually, you’ll be the proud owner of a new home!
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