Posts Tagged ‘Money’
Home Value Factors for the Summerville, SC Real Estate Market
Summerville, SC has seen some of the highest growth rates in Charleston in regards to its real estate market in the past five years. Its affordability and small town appeal account for a seemingly endless demand from home buyers. So far this year, there have been almost 1,600 properties in Summerville that are currently under contract or have already sold!
If you’re considering buying a home in Summerville, be sure to keep in mind resale value down the road. With the steadily increasing demand from home buyers, the house you purchase may very well be one of the most important investments you’ll ever make. As this increasing demand pushes increasing property values, your home may yield a higher return than any of your other investments – if you choose a home that matches the trends seen in Summerville’s real estate market.
Most buyers in Summerville want a single family home. Most buyers choose Summerville because they can get more for their money. In other words, they don’t want to have to live in a cramped condo or townhouse in their price range. If they can afford to buy a house, they will. You’ll find that there aren’t many condo and townhouse communities in Summerville, and there is a reason for this. This supple reflects the demand: more buyers in the Summerville area want single family homes. So, unless you’re looking in the under $75K price range, buy a house.
Next, be sure to buy a house with at least 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. You may think that you only really need one or one and a half baths. But, again, think about what buyers are going to want when it comes time for you to sell your home in the future – even if you plan on living in this home until you grow old. The 3/2 combination is, without a doubt, the most common in buyers’ home searches. So, if you only have one or one and a half baths, your home won’t even show up in their search results. This means that your home won’t show up in the listings they receive from their Realtor, which in turn means that they won’t be coming to view your home for a showing.
The most important factor to keep in mind for resale is that you want your home to fit as many buyers’ search criteria as possible. The more buyers your home matches, the larger the pool that makes up your demand. On the other hand, if you buy a very specific type of home – let’s say a very modern glass-walled home – it’s going to require a very specific type of buyer in the future. The pool of buyers for such a home is reduced greatly as a result. So, although such a home may be very “cool” to live in, it’s simply not the kind of home that buyers want – especially in a small town like Summerville where traditional home designs are the most sought after. If you want to live in a very specific or tailored house, that’s great – just know that the resale value is going to be lower than if you had spent the same amount of money and bought a more adaptable home.
There are several other trends that are specific to Summerville that will be important to keep in mind for future buyers. First, most of the buyers who choose Summerville want newer homes. Although I personally love the older homes, from an investment standpoint, the property value would be better for a newer home.
Also, if you can get more than 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, it will certainly help with resale value. In a lot of older homes, you’ll see only 1 or 2 bathrooms because families shared more space. As families want more privacy and more convenience, there is a strong trend (not just in Summerville, but all over the country) to have more bedrooms, and especially baths.
The Real Estate Speak
Whether you are putting up your house for sale or on the lookout for a home to buy, there are several things that you need to make yourself familiar with in order to ensure that real estate agents do not get the better of you.
One of the jargons that you need to be familiar with is “flipper homes”. These are homes that were bought at a price lower than what the market dictates in a neighborhood that has a high real estate value. These homes are then “fixed” and are sold for a higher price. This practice is perfectly legal and is done by most agents in order to make more money.
On the other hand, a “short sale home” is one in which the seller’s lender is accepting discounted offers in an effort to release existing mortgage. This can be quite tricky as even if the seller accepts what you have to offer, the lender might not. Your best bet on this one is to get a real estate agent who specializes in short sales. Another term that you might come across is “gazumping”. This is when a seller verbally accepts a buyer’s offer and then sells the property to another buyer with a higher offer.
You might encounter a number of homes for sale in Centreville VA tagged as halfplexes. These are different from a duplex and are usually, as the name suggests, half the size of a duplex. Halfplexes are located side by side with each other but are entirely distinct. These are suitable for first-time house buyers as they are quiet affordable. Duplexes, on the other hand, are semi-detached homes. These types of homes usually share a common wall.
There are also times when you would be offered Centreville homes for sale that are located “cul-de-sac”. These are homes that are located at a dead end and are usually priced for the security and privacy that they bring. You would also need to understand what a buyer’s market is as opposed to a seller’s market. The former occurs when the demand for property is less than the existing supply, while the latter occurs when there is a greater supply then demand for a property.
When buying Centreville VA homes for sale, knowing these terms can help you understand what your real estate agent is talking about. This way, you are sure that he is not pulling one over you.
Buying An Apartment Building, What To Look For
There are many things to look for when buying an apartment building. One thing to look for when buying a property is the utilities. To rent out each apartment you must have electric meters for each apartment. If each unit does not have its own electric meter you will have to pay for everyone’s electric bill. To get around this you can charge a higher rent and include electricity with the rent. The down side of doing this is if the people or families you’re renting the property out to know they don’t have to pay for electricity they won’t be shy about using it.
In some cases the electric bill can be so high that you can lose money every month. Another thing to look for when buying an apartment building is the units. If the apartments are small it will be harder to rent out. One other thing to look for when it comes to the property is how much individual rooms each apartment has. When it comes to rooms usually the more rooms a unit has, the easier it will be to rent out.
One last thing to look for when buying an apartment building is the location of the property. If the property is close to public transportation, schools, and businesses this will make it a more desirable place to live. Buying an apartment building is a big step when investing in real estate, but with the information you read here you will have an idea on some of the things to look for.
A good web site where you can see more information on topics like this is Buying An Apartment Building which is highly recommended. Another article which is also recommended is Will Real Estate Go Up Or Down Thank you and enjoy.