Spring arrives with the last of winter. People are ready to get out and accomplish new things and sometimes that includes buying a home. While there is always homes on market, each season offers certain advantages and disadvantages to home buyers. Unfortunately, many people don’t approach their home buying with any kind of strategy, especially when it comes to the buying season. So when is the best time to buy a home?
The best answer to that depends on a host of variables, including the buyer’s unique personal situation. But here are 3 Wise Reasons to Buy a Home in the Spring in Floresville
3 Wise Reasons to Buy a Home in the Spring in Floresville
1. Rents Still Going Up
This spring is a great time to buy a home in Floresville, because the cost of renting continues to increase. There just aren’t enough affordable rental units to meet the demand, so prices keep going up. All landlords understand the best time of the year to raise rents is spring going into summer. One of the factors that drives the spring buying rush is people moving and getting ready for the new school year in September. Most people want their children to be able to settle in over the summer months so they try to have their move done by latter spring or early summer.
For example, renters can expect to spend a little over 30% of their income on housing costs, whereas homeowners spend about half that – around 15.3% of monthly income goes to mortgage payments. (These figures are from 2015, and the situation has only grown worse since then.) That’s exactly why there has been a 25% increase in recent years in the number of renters wanting to buy a home.
2. Increasing Home Prices and Mortgage Rates
Of all the reasons to buy a home in the spring in Floresville, saving money has to be right up there near the top. But if you wait and don’t buy this spring, you’ll be facing both higher home prices and higher mortgage rates.
In just the past few months, home prices have appreciated more than 6%. And all the industry watchers expect home prices to increase at almost that same rate for at least the next year. The bottom in home prices is now long past, so home values will continue to appreciate and sale prices will keep going up. It makes perfect sense, then, to buy a home this spring – and not wait till prices are even higher. While this prediction does not always hold true here in the San Antonio market area we are not seeing any type of slowdown over the past several years. It actually has steadily increased both in volume of sales and sales prices.
Although lenders have been opening their doors wider and making it easier to get conventional financing for home purchases, interest rates are increasing at the same time. Interest rates for a 30-year mortgage had been hovering around 4%, but experts expect an increase of at least ¾% over the next year or so. If you wait and don’t buy in the spring, you’ll face the prospect of higher mortgage payments owing to the higher interest rates.
3. Summer Moving
Another factor is that sellers have always been told the time to sell is in the spring basically because of summer moving. As an agent it is evident that more houses come on market and are sold during the spring months. July shows a cyclical drop of sales every year with August and September following that trend. So as a buyer you would have a better selection of homes for sale in the spring and as a seller you will have more competition but a bigger buyer pool.
If a buyer begin the buying process in the spring, chances are good that they’ll be moving during the summer. It takes a month or more for the long process of negotiations, loan approval, and closing to reach its final end. This can be a good thing because buying in the spring and moving during summer means better weather and no school. Typically unless one is paying cash, you will not close on a home purchase in less than 30 days; sometimes 45 days. So if you have a time you have to vacate your lease prepare in advance.
Spring can be a rainy season and a terrible time to move. But if you move during the summer, you most likely won’t have to expose your furniture and art and electronics to the heavy rains of spring. It may be a little warmer, but the clear skies more than make-up for that.
In addition, a spring purchase with a summer move will mean moving when school is out. So you won’t have to uproot your kids during the school year, suddenly separating them from favorite teachers and friends. Summer is a slower time of year and so a better time for such a big life change – for both you and your kids.
Now that you’ve considered these reasons to buy a home in Floresville in the spring, are you ready to get started? If you are, we have the experience and expertise help you attain your home-buying goals.