hand holding the word loans

Things They Don’t Teach in School: Home Loans 101

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Before you start looking at what’s on the market and dreaming of paint colors, it’s important to figure out how you’re going to afford a new home. When it comes to getting financing, there are a ton of case-by-case scenarios so it’s important to talk to a professional about how much you can afford, what payments and terms are like, and more, but it helps to have a little background information.

When you begin to dig into your options, it’s important to ask about things like interest rates, whether they’re fixed or variable, if there’s a penalty for paying it off early, and many other details. However, to get started, it’s good to have some background knowledge on your options.
 
Conventional Loan
AKA: Conforming loans, non-conforming loans, portfolio loans, sub-prime loans
Property Type: Single-Family Primary Residence, Second home, rental property
How it works: A lender such as a bank or credit union issues the loan without any government backing
Benefit of Using: Can have lower down payment, lower monthly payments, and higher loan amounts for people with good credit
Down payment: As low as 3%
Credit: Generally best for people with a credit score of 680 or higher
Income Requirements: Varies by lender
Prepayment Penalty: Varies by lender
Mortgage Insurance: Not generally required with down payment of 20% or more, lower than FHA mortgage insurance costs, and is usually able to be cancelled with equity reaches 20%
Tips:

  • Standard loan limits exist, but are higher than with FHA loan ie. $453,100 for 1-unit home and can vary based on area

 
U.S. Federal Housing Administration Loan
AKA: FHA loan
Property Type: Single-Family, Condos, Multi-Family, and Manufactured
How it works: Private lenders issue the loans, FHA provides backing. If homeowner doesn’t repay loan, FHA will pay lender instead.
Benefit of Using: Lenders are willing to make substantial mortgage loans in cases they normally wouldn’t because of FHA backing.
Down payment: As low as 3.5% — can come from gift money or seller help
Credit: Can have thin credit or history of credit problems. Two or three years after a financial hardship is typically enough time to qualify.
Income Requirements: No minimum is required, but you need enough to demonstrate the ability to repay the loan. High incomes aren’t disqualified as with some other first-time buyer programs.
Prepayment Penalty: None
Mortgage Insurance: Required
Tips:

  • Check with several lenders. Lenders can set standards that are more strict than minimum FHA requirements, so if you’re having troubles with one, check with another.
    Credit scores below 580 typically require more than the 3.5% down payment
  • There are maximum loan amounts set that vary by area. Find out what your local limit is at the HUD website
  • For people with low or no credit, FHA can be a great choice, but those with high credit scores may find better rates through a different program.

 
USDA Rural Development Guaranteed Housing Loan Program
AKA: U.S. Department of Agriculture Mortgage Program
Property Type: Owner-occupied primary residences
How it works: USDA backs a mortgage issued by a participating local lender, similar to VA or FHA loans
Benefit of Using: Help low and very low income applicants. Income thresholds vary by region, but with subsidies, rates can be as low as 1%
Down payment: 0%
Credit: Applicants with scores about 640 receive streamlined processing, but those with lower scores or limited credit history can still qualify.
Income Requirements: Varies by region, but generally only for low income applicants.
Prepayment Penalty: None
Mortgage Insurance: Requires upfront fee of 1% of total loan amount and mortgage insurance fee equal to 0.35% of the loan balance per year.
Tips:

  • USDA mortgages are designed to help those with the greatest need. This means individuals or families that are 1) without “decent, safe and sanitary housing” 2) unable to secure a home loan from traditional sources and 3) has an adjusted income at or below the low-income limit for the area where they live
  • Typically issues direct loans for homes with 2,000 square feet or less
  • Metro areas are generally excluded, but some opportunities may exist in suburbs. Rural locations are always eligible

 
VA Loan
AKA: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Home Loan program
Property Type: Owner-occupied single family, Condos, manufactured home, and in some cases new construction can qualify
How it works: VA loans are issued by private lenders and backed by the U.S. government
Benefit of Using: Only available to active duty military member and veterans, this program helps service members purchase a home without a downpayment or excellent credit.
Down payment: 0%
Credit: No official minimum, but borrowers typically look for a score of 620
Income Requirements: No maximum, but does have a unique “residual income” qualifier
Prepayment Penalty: No
Mortgage Insurance: Not required
Tips:

  • In most parts of the country, VA loans can be used to purchase a home worth up to $453,100 without a down payment. In high priced markets, this can be increased. See your area here.
  • Like other government-backed loans, lenders may have more stringent requirements than the VA requirements. Shop around to find the best option for you.
market lake

#WinWithRealtyHive: Selling in Stiles

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Everyone in real estate is talking about how hot the market is. In many areas, single-family homes can barely hit the MLS before an accepted offer is reached, but that isn’t always the case. In areas with more sellers than buyers, selling a home can take weeks or months if not years.

That’s what happened to one couple in Northern Wisconsin. They custom built their home in 2003 on a nice parcel of waterfront land. In Wisconsin, waterfront property is easier to find than in other states, however, it does still demand a premium price. Knowing this, the couple held on to their investment until January 2015 when they felt it was time to sell.

They enlisted the help of a local real estate agent in January 2015, but after 163 days the listing expired and was promptly renewed by another agent from a different firm. The next agent had the home on the market for 123 days and the sellers decided to hold off renewing the property listing for the holidays. In this area, at this time the average property only took 116 days to sell so the sellers were beginning to get anxious.

In February 2016, they chose a local “celebrity” agent to represent their home. This agent was well-known thanks to an impressive marketing presence, but still, after 156 days on the market, the home did not sell.

Throughout this process, the sellers and their agents had been lowering the sale price. While any real estate agent worth their commission will pull information on comparable homes and help properly price a home, sometimes it can be hard. There are differences in layout, views, upgrades and more that can make a substantial difference in what a buyer is willing to pay. Still, having an improperly priced home can not only make for a difficult sale outright, it can further harm the ability to sell even with price reductions because of the unattractively high number of days on the market.

After more than one year off the market, the sellers decided to try once more to sell their home. They enlisted the help of Alex Ryczek, a Realtor® with Micoley.com to help. In addition to making sure the home was properly positioned to sell with staging and professional photos, Alex encouraged the seller to try something new: using the RealtyHive platform to market and sell their property.

The RealtyHive event marketing platform allowed Alex and the sellers to expose the property to a global audience in addition to having range pricing displayed. Buyers who may have been deterred from making an offer too far from the original list price were encouraged to submit offers by seeing this range pricing and it helped the sellers realize the true market value of their home.

In total the home was listed for 442 days before it was added to the RealtyHive platform. After that, it only took 99 days to receive an accepted offer that met the sellers’ needs.

Do you have a property that could benefit from the RealtyHive platform? Learn more by click here!

unknown island remote beach

Island Escape 101: Unknown Islands

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Many travelers get a special thrill when they tell someone about their latest adventures and get blanks stares and questions of “Where’s that?” While many people travel to Jamaica (more than 4 million a year) or the Dominican Republic (more than 5 million annually), it’s not as often that you hear of travels to Montserrat or Guadeloupe. Here are some of the best Caribbean Islands you’ve never heard of!

marie-galante

Marie-Galante
Country: Guadeloupe
Location: Northeast of Venezuela
Language: French
Getting There: There are no scheduled flights from Guadeloupe, although charter flights are available in addition to several available ferries which take about 45-60 minutes from Pointe-à-Pitre or St. François in Guadeloupe.
Best reason to Visit: The beaches of this tiny island are nothing short of spectacular, but the three rum distilleries found here are not to be missed!

Providencia
Country: Colombia
Location: East of Nicaragua
Language: English Creole
Getting There: Getting to Providencia is a challenge. Personal boat travel or chartered flights are the best options. Flights (15 minute ride) and ferries (2.5 hour ride) are available from nearby San Andres island, which can be accessed by direct flights from various Colombian cities.
Best Reason to Visit: The remoteness of this island makes it a truly unspoiled Caribbean gem. From golden sand beaches to idyllic turquoise waters to friendly locals, this is is the Caribbean paradise that movies and stories are made of.

st johns saba island

Saba
Country: Netherlands
Location: East of US Virgin Island, South of Antigua
Language: English, although Dutch is common
Getting There: Easily accessed by boat and has 4 flights per day from Saint Maarten. Take off and landing are sure to be memorable experiences as the runaway at Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport is only 400m in length–reported to be the shortest commercial runway in the world!
Best Reason to Visit: The diving is world renowned and the dense vegetation and dramatic landscape made this the perfect setting for the original 1933 King Kong movie.

Montserrat
Country: Montserrat
Location: South of St. Kitts & Nevis, West of Antigua and Barbuda
Language Spoken: English
Getting There: 20 minute flight or 90 minute ferry ride from Antigua
Best Reason to Visit: Check out the buried city of Plymouth. For more than 300 years this was the capital of Montserrat until 1995 when it was laid to waste by a volcanic eruption. You’ll need a certified guide to take you as this is area is now in a mandated exclusion zone.

Esperanza Vieques

Vieques
Country: Puerto Rico
Location: Southeast of Puerto Rico
Language: Spanish
Getting There: Ferries run from the Puerto Rican mainland, but the best way is to take a commuter flight from one of four airports in Puerto Rico. No passport is needed for US citizens as Puerto Rico is a Free Commonwealth of the US.
Best Reason to Visit: A peaceful island full of beautiful beaches and with wild horses strolling through grassy meadows, this beautiful island caters to any travel taste from beach huts to fancy hotels. The real gem of this island, though, is Vieques’ dramatic Bioluminescent Bay, a lagoon full of microorganisms that glow purple-blue when disturbed after dark.

Wanting to make a more permanent island getaway? Check out the latest Caribbean properties on RealtyHive here.

bank building in a city

Streamlining the OREO Sales Process: 2018 Market Update

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According to information made available by BankRegData.com, the value of OREO property held by U.S. banks has been falling from $17.51 billion in Q2 2015 to $8.45 billion by the end of Q4 2017– a change of more than 50%!

While the overall market climate is changing, it is worth noting that the pace is not the same everywhere in the country. According to data provided by RealtyTrac and their parent company, ATTOM Data Solutions, foreclosure rates for the entire United States stand at 1 in every 1,776 homes, while New Jersey clocks in at the highest with 1 in 605 homes and South Dakota boasts the lowest foreclosure rate at 1 in 11,082 homes as of March 2018. This tool shows the rate for each state in the nation.

With the waning of the foreclosure tides, it’s important to make the most of these assets and simplify the process of liquidating them. In the previous months and years, it may have made sense to have a variety of people and companies handling the onslaught of properties that were consistently streaming into the pre-foreclosure phase. This is no longer true. To simplify processes and consolidate services is to see increased efficiency and reduced costs and to do this, banks need an all-in-one solution.

One of the easiest ways to consolidate is to find a real estate company with experience in OREO distribution. It’s important to partner with a company that is able to work in most or all of the states where the asset properties are located. Real estate licensing requirements vary on a state-by-state basis so partnering with a single firm that can handle all needs will eliminate the backend processing and cost associated with having multiple vendors. If a bank is looking to offer these foreclosure properties in an auction setting, choosing a real estate firm that is also licensed as an auction house can further streamline this process.

RealtyHive offers these solutions to financial institutions throughout the country. From Maine to New Mexico, the Realty Hive team has more than 30 years of experience and has helped sell everything from multi-million dollar commercial buildings to small parcels of vacant land for government financial entities to local credit unions. See more here!

wooded forest land

How to Write Quality Listing Descriptions for Forest Land

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Writing a description for a plot of vacant land can be trickier than writing descriptions for other types of real estate. With a home there are a lot of features to mention, basics like number of rooms and floors, amenities and upgrades like security systems and pools, and when all else fails you can fall back on good photos to really help your property stand out. When you have vacant land, it’s a whole new ballgame. Unless the land features some amazing views, you will be heavily relying on a stellar description–lest your whole listing be based on photos of empty fields or dense trees. Here’s how to make your forest land listings shine!

As with any listing you’re needing to write a description you’ll want to start by listing the features of the property.

  • Great hunting land
  • Next to Shawano Lake
  • Paved road access
  • Power at the road
  • Access at two spots (can access hunting stands based on wind directions)
  • Walking trails
  • Close snowmobile trails, other lakes and rivers
  • Managed Forest Law
  • Mix of old growth trees, oak and conifer swamp land
  • Old foundation near road

 
Make sure to consider possible uses. Is this land buildable? Zoned for commercial, residential, or recreational? While there’s nothing there now, you’ll want to advertise the property in a way that will speak to the most likely buyer.

With the features listed above, you can begin to form a picture of what this property is like. Use this to start to string together a story. With home or building listings you want to be concise and keyword heavy, but with land you get to be a little more poetic.

Country living and hunter’s paradise within a stone’s throw of the popular Shawano Lake. This property is the perfect location for the active outdoorsman or nature enthusiast. Land has old growth hardwood and cedar swamp areas–just the type of place you envision those trophy Whitetails hiding out. With paved road access to the land from two separate entry points and walking trails throughout, you’ll be able to avoid detection while you slip into your hunting stand or blind.
 
This property is conveniently located from Shawano, Green Bay, and Appleton, Wisconsin– perfect for day trips, but a small residence is able to be constructed on a pre-existing foundation near the road to suit your lodging needs. When you’re not hunting, you’ll find excellent fishing, ATV and Snowmobile trails in the area making this a haven for year-round recreation.

You’ll also want to know about any potential incentives with this property. In some states or regions, the Department of Natural Resources has programs that incentivize landowners to selectively manage their forest and wildlife populations, and these programs can mean tax incentives for owners and purchasers. If the property is part of a managed forest land program currently, there may be a reapplication or transfer forms that will need to be filled out by the buyer.

Bonus Tip

Selling land can be very exciting, but also a test of your marketing skills. Having a great description, quality photos or videos, and knowing the right platforms to share your information on will help you achieve selling success.

How big of a home do you really need?

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According the the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2016 Characteristics of New Housing, of the 738,000 new single-family homes completed in 2016 the median home was 2,422 square feet, nearly 1,000 more square feet than a home built 50 years prior! Homes in the United States have been getting larger and more spacious, but all that space comes with some downsides as well. As the population continues to age and prices on everything from building materials to cleaning supplies continues to rise, if you’re in the market for a new home, it may be a good idea to consider how much home you really need.
 



 
Requirement: Private Space Needs
Having a family of five move into a two bedroom home may be a challenge that leaves everyone a bit too close for comfort, but having too much space can be a problem as well. While it’s a nice idea to have a little extra room for guests, it’s important to balance that desire for space with the practicalities of maintaining a large home.

Consider: Try looking at different home layouts. If you like the idea of extra bedrooms because it creates a privacy buffer, try looking at a split home design where the bedrooms are on opposite sides of the home. Likewise a split level may offer you the same privacy without adding a lot of costly extra square footage.

 


 
Requirement: Shared Space
Homes with both a family room and living room or parlour/den/reception room have come and gone many times in home design. Some homeowners value the space this adds, as it allows entertaining for multiple groups at the same time, while others seldom use it.

Consider: If you’re the type of person who enjoys alfresco dining or reading on the porch, look at homes that make the most of outdoor spaces. You may be able to shave off some space (and the money involved with it) by finding a home that has the shared space you desire in an outdoor or semi-outdoor setting.

 


 
Requirement: Easy Maintenance
Whether you’re looking for a seasonal home or just wanting to ease your choreload, downsizing might be the way to go. Large homes, while beautiful, have more area which means more space to dust, vacuum, and repair. It also means more wear and tear on systems such as furnaces or air conditioners that have to work harder to heat and cool larger spaces.

Consider: Maintenance is a fact of homeownership. Looking for homes that are well-built and have newer fixtures can help to lower this cost (as will buying a home warranty at time of purchase), but there’s no guarantee you’ll be in the clear.

 


 
Requirement: Low Monthly Cost
In many places, the cost of owning a home is less than renting, even when taking mortgages and maintenance into account. While the price of a home is based on a variety of factors, higher square footage does tend to drive the monthly (and overall) price up. A larger home will also require more cleaning supplies, more furnishings, and more upkeep which can add to the overall cost.

Consider: In real estate, there’s typically a pick two scenario between home size, location, and price. If you’re wanting a large size in a great location, you’ll have to pay a premium price. If you’re wanting a great size and price, you’ll have to be flexible on the location, and so on. If price is a key decider for you and the location isn’t negotiable, you’ll probably have to consider a smaller home.

Beautiful and functional homes come in all shapes and sizes. By choosing a smaller home you may be able to save yourself the costs and hassles typically associated with large homes.

Curious to see the size of a new construction home the year you were born? Find out with this cool tool!

hands with laptops and papers

#WinWithRealtyHive: Avoiding the Price Reduction Talk

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The Endowment Effect, sometimes called the Ownership Effect, is a psychological and behavioral economics principle that says people attribute a higher value to things they own simply because they own them. An excellent example of this effect in action is at rummage or yard sales. Instead of pricing something according to the actual market value an item may have, the item is instead priced higher simply because of the attachment the owner has to it.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Richard Thaler teamed up with two co-authors in a now-famous experiment detailing this exact phenomenon. In the experiment, the researchers gave half of a group of students a coffee mug, while the others were given pens, and then opened a market in mugs. Students who were randomly given the mugs regarded them as twice as valuable as those who did not get a mug.

As a real estate agent, it’s an agent’s job to help clients get the best price for their home. Understanding the psychology behind why people act and believe as they do can help to explain why a homeowner believes that their outdated home is worth more than it really is, but it doesn’t make the conversation about price reductions any easier.

In cases where the property has been on the market for a long period of time or is just slightly in a higher price bracket for search results, it might be easy to suggest a price reduction to an owner, but when that’s not the case, what’s a person to do?

One of the ways to avoid this difficult discussion is to introduce the seller to the concept of range pricing in an auction setting. This range pricing can help introduce a lower price point for the listing without making the owner feel as though they are losing out. With a suggested opening bid at or slightly below the actual fair market value, the listing will be more attractive to more potential buyers, the actual market value will be established during the auction, and in a reserve auction, the seller still retains control of whether they choose to complete the transaction. If they choose to sell to the highest bidder, it’s a win for everyone, but if they don’t this can lead to an easier discussion about proper pricing and current market values.

Want to learn more about how you can use the RealtyHive platform to avoid price reductions for your clients? Learn more here!

men fighting in a field

The Battle of Toledo: How a Real Estate Deal Prevented a War

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If you take a look at a map of the Midwest United States, you may notice something strange with Michigan. More specifically, you may notice that Michigan is effectively two land masses that aren’t connected (save for the Mackinac Bridge) and that the northern part, known as Upper Michigan, is actually completely attached to Wisconsin except where divided by the Montreal River. This connection isn’t a thin strip of land; the two states share a straight-line border that’s approximately 100 miles long. So how did Michigan come to lay claim to this area that makes up nearly 30% of the state’s landmass? The answer lies in the real estate deal that prevented a war.

Let’s take it back to 1784. It’s 8 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and just one year after the end of the Revolutionary War. The 13 colonies are well defined, but there’s a lot more land to the west that had been included in the Treaty of 1783 that is yet to be explored. The founding fathers saw the need to create a system for expanding into the territory (and raise some money since direct taxation wasn’t allowed yet), so selling it to adventuresome pioneers seemed like the best idea. This idea was put in motion by The Land Ordinance of 1785. Among other things, this ordinance called for a survey to be done of the land to divide it up for sale. In 1786, Thomas Hutchins set off from a stake placed by a Pennsylvania/Virginia survey team in 1785 on the north bank of the Ohio River. Still, this survey was done to help sell off plots of land to settlers, not create new states.

At the Second Continental Congress, which happened the following year in July 1787, the United States adopted The Northwest Ordinance which chartered a government for this territory and provided a path for admitting new states to the Union. There were three main parts of this ordinance, with the first one being: The Northwest Territory needed to be divided into “not less than three nor more than five States”. The first order of business was to use the survey maps to divide the whole of the Northwest Territory into smaller territories that could then apply for statehood as their populations reached sufficient numbers.

Fast forward a couple decades and we’re now at 1805. Ohio has been an official state for two years and Michigan is looking to get official “territory” status. When Congress drew the border for this Michigan territory, the southern portion overlapped into the northern border of Ohio, creating a point of ambiguity. This strip which measured only eight miles wide at the east end and five miles wide at the west end covered an area of approximately 468- square miles and was called the Toledo Strip.

Here’s where things get tricky. Ohio believed it was theirs. Michigan believed the same. And neither one was ready to budge. As it turned out, the survey done in 1786 didn’t accurately place the line, leading to this tension. For the most part, the two areas just agreed to disagree and didn’t pursue the issue until Michigan officially applied to join the Union as a state in 1833.

Ohio, who remembered the Toledo Strip and was not about to give up that precious chunk of real estate, blocked Michigan’s application when Michigan refused to relinquish control of the area. It was after this that armed men from Michigan and Ohio took to the field in what became known as The Toledo War. Despite a series of border skirmishes, the only reported casualty in The Toledo War (as recorded by the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs) was a Michigan sheriff who was stabbed by an Ohioan during a tavern fight.

A compromise was drafted in 1836. Ohio would get the Toledo Strip and Michigan’s territory was expanded by more than 16,000 square miles of land to include all the Upper Penninsula. This was not immediately agreed upon by Michigan, as it was widely assumed that the land in the U.P. was useless, but the state did concede and officially joined the Union in January 1837. It was Michigan who had the last laugh over this battle when vast resources of iron ore were found in the U.P. in 1844.
 
 

pen about to sign an agreement contract

New Hope for Home Ownership Through Land Contracts

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In some places in the U.S., land contracts are common. Land contracts, a form of seller financing, are written legal agreements used to purchase real estate. These agreements work similar to a standard mortgage, but rather than borrowing money from a bank or lender to buy the property, the buyer makes payments to the current owner (seller) until the full purchase price is paid.

With a land contract, both the buyer and seller sign the agreement which covers the terms and conditions of the sale. Upon the satisfaction of all contractual terms, the legal title of the property transfers from seller buyer. This arrangement also protect both the buyer and seller during the process by creating what is know as an “equitable title” meaning that the seller can’t sell the property to someone else or have any liens placed on the property, but the buyer will not have the full “legal title” until all contractual obligations are met. These agreements can be advantageous for both the buyer and the seller in ways that traditional financing is not.

One of the biggest advantages of using a land contract is that it allows the eventual purchase for buyers who may not be able to obtain standard financing due to credit history or other reasons. Instead of paying a mortgage company each month, the buyer pays the seller directly. For sellers, this can be advantageous as they can typically raise the overall purchase price on the property due to the land contract arrangement. Also, in the event that a buyer doesn’t make payments (defaults) on the land contract, the seller is entitled to keep any payments made by the buyer, the property itself, and they’re free to sell the property to someone else. In tight real estate markets where there aren’t a lot of buyers, sellers can offer these land contract arrangements as a bargaining tool to entice more buyers to their property.

Land contract arrangements don’t come without disadvantages. Buyers can find themselves paying a higher overall purchase price than the value of the property, sometimes higher than would be with the interest from a traditional lending source, and can be left with a worthless “equitable title” in the event the seller defaults on the mortgage of the property and is foreclosed on. Sellers can be put off by these arrangements as they do not receive a lump sum payment as would happen with a cash or traditionally financed sale which can restrict their ability to re-invest the money from the property sale.

The rules and legalities involved in land contracts vary from state to state and as with most things in the real estate world, nearly everything is negotiable. These arrangements can be mutually beneficial, but it is important to have any agreements reviewed by a trusted legal professional before they are signed.

pregnant wife moving boxes

Big Changes Ahead: Why to Consider Moving before Baby

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When you’re living in a house without children, you take certain things for granted. No food in the fridge? Chinese takeout or pizza it is! Have a sharp corner on a table or counter? Just avoid it (or swear at yourself when you stub a toe, your choice)! When you find out you’re going to have a baby, everything changes. You have to start planning for things like nutritious meals and safety precautions. Your perspective starts changing as well. Instead of loving your downtown apartment where you could walk to all the great bars and clubs, you might be thinking that a home in the suburbs is more your style. Maybe you want a backyard for your kids to grow up in or sidewalks where they can ride their bikes.

It might seem strange, if not completely insane, to make the choice to buy a home when you have a baby on the way, but it can actually be the perfect time. While you should not buy a home before you are ready (if you’re not sure, check out this article ) if you are ready financially, pregnancy could be the perfect time to buy a house!

 
man looking at pregnancy test
 
The Push You Need
It can be hard to find a house that is right for you. It can be very easy to decide to wait until the holidays are over, then wait until winter is over, then wait until you’re done with this-or-that, then wait until…whatever comes next. Knowing that you have big life changes (and new real estate needs!) could be exactly the push you’ve needed to spring into action.

 
crying baby
 
No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk (or lost houses)
Assuming you’re looking to buy a home from someone you don’t know, you’ve got to be ready to act in this hot market. Inventory of available homes is low and homes within certain price ranges are flying off the market at incredible speeds. If you’ve got a high budget for your area, you’ll probably have a bit more time to scoop up a property you like, but if you’re in a hyper-competitive market you may need to be ready to see a property on a whim. This can be difficult to impossible when dealing with the napping, feeding, and changing schedule of a baby so being able to do this before baby comes could be your best option.

 
baby decorations
 
Use Nesting to Your Advantage
Imagine having to clean your home to a spotless finish, deep clean a new home to make it “yours” and decorate a room for baby. Now imagine doing this with an almost-superhuman sense of smell and attention to detail. Welcome to nesting. Nesting can show itself in a variety of forms, from decorating a nursery to cleaning the kitchen with a toothbrush, and if you choose to move during this time it can be a godsend. Where you normally wouldn’t think twice about what’s behind the oven, how much dust is on the inside of the light fixtures or if a color “soothes” you, the nesting urge will help boost your desire to clean and decorate.

 
dad sleeping with baby
 
[Physical and Emotional] Labor of Love
While it might seem like it makes more sense to wait until you’re physically recovered from childbirth to move so you’re able to help in ways you can’t while pregnant, that might take longer than you think. Having a baby takes a huge physical toll on a female body and a huge mental toll on both partners. It could take weeks, if not longer to heal from the physical act of giving birth and then you’ll be working with the challenges of new sleep schedules and routines as well as all the needs of a newborn. This could push back your plans even more, so it might be a good choice to home shop while it’s still just the two of you.

 
pregnant wife moving boxes
 
[Physical] Labor of Love Part 2
No one likes to move. Few people like to pay for services they can do themselves, but baby bumps and heavy lifting do not mix. If you were on the fence about calling in friends or a moving company to help, this can be your deciding factor. You’ll get to move without having to move.

 
man and woman holding hands with baby shoes
 
Saving Your Bottomline
Depending where you live and what your financial situation looks like, you could save money by purchasing a home. While this isn’t possible for every person in every real estate market, oftentimes mortgages are comparable, if not less expensive, than paying rent. Homeownership comes with the added bonus of building equity which helps you to get more money for your house when you sell than you paid for it. Babies are expensive. Saving money by reducing your cost for housing might be exactly the right thing for you.

 
trendy loft with open stairs
 
New Priorities = New Home
Even if you already own a home, being a parent will change your preferences, priorities, and requirements. While in your childless days you might have enjoyed living in an interesting, multi-level home with a narrow spiral staircase, as a parent that same design will make you a nervous wreck. Can you block the stairs so a newly crawling baby won’t fall? Is the master suite on the same level as the nursery or will you have to navigate the stairs (while half asleep) to comfort a crying infant? What about school district? Daycare? Your new priorities will shape your preferences on what kind of house you need and where it should be located.

Whether you’re expecting or not, you can find your next home on the RealtyHive marketplace. Find your new home by searching here