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3 questions to ask yourself before buying a home. | Portsmouth NH Real Estate

Are you thinking of buying a home in Portsmouth NH or the New Hampshire Seacoast? If so you have probably been getting lots of tips and advice from well-meaning friends and family. All these well-meaning people may truly believe they have your best interests at heart but they not be fully aware of your needs and the current state of the real estate market.

Portsmouth, NH waterfront

 

Question number one should be “Why am I buying a house in the first place?” This is the most important question for you to answer. Forget about monthly payments, closing costs, and all the financial stuff for a few minutes. Ask yourself why you’re considering buying a home. Based on a study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, the four major reasons people buy a home have nothing to do with money:

  • A good place to raise children and for them to get a good education is one of the most important things.
  • A place where you and your family feel safe
  • More space for you and your family
  • Control of the space

 What sort of non-financial benefits will you and your family get from owning a home? The answer to that question should be the biggest reason you decide to purchase a home or not.

Question number 2: Where are home values headed?  Every quarter Pulsenomics, an independent economics research and consulting firm surveys a nationwide panel of over one hundred economists, real estate experts and investment & market strategists about where prices are headed over the next five years. They then average the projections of all 100+ experts into a single number.

Here is what the experts projected in the latest survey:

  • Home values will increase by 4% in 2015.
  • The cumulative appreciation will be 19.5% by 2018.
  • Even the experts making up the most bearish quartile of the survey still are projecting a cumulative appreciation of over 11.2% by 2018.

 And number 3: Now we get to the money part. Where are interest rates headed in the next 12 months? According to The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the National Association of RealtorsFannie Mae and Freddie Mac have all projected that mortgage interest rates will increase by approximately one full percentage over the next twelve months. Interest rates have a direct impact on your cost of home ownership by affecting your monthly payments and acquisition costs.

Only you and your family can answer these questions based on your needs, wants, and your current situation. To get help for these above questions you can get consultations from calgary property management companies.

If you would like to sit down with my partner Ann Cummings and I for a no obligation talk about buying a home we would be happy to meet with you at your convenience.

You can see all Portsmouth NH, New Hampshire Seacoast, and southern Maine homes on our interactive real estate website www.NHCoastalHomes.com.

Contact Jim Lee and Ann Cummings for more insights on real estate in Portsmouth, NH, and the New Hampshire Seacoast.

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