Karen Eagle group shares advice for first-time homebuyers

By RITA KUEBER

Last year during the fourth quarter, the National Association of Realtors (NAR)*released a snapshot of the national market and some startling statistics about housing affordability and inventory challenges. In 2022 the portion of first-time homebuyers was just 26%, the lowest percentage since the NAR started tracking the data. Simultaneously the average age of the first-time homebuyer was the highest ever at 36 years old. The NAR points to demographic and economic changes for these two extremes including the rising cost of houses, student loan debt, and competition for starter homes from investors.

Karen Eagle, an agent with Elite Sotheby’s International Realty sees this struggle every day. Her market is the Chagrin Valley and other eastside communities, and she tells Currents it’s a challenge to buy an affordable starter home in 2023. “There used to be decent homes in Chagrin Falls on the perimeter of town that were affordable for the first-time homebuyer, but now those houses cost more just like all the others in the area,” she says. She describes how some buyers are looking in areas closer to Cleveland, but there are challenges there too. “Once you’re in the Heights, the housing prices are lower, but the taxes are higher, so your monthly mortgage payment can be just as high as buying a more expensive home further out. You have to ‘pick your poison,’” she says. “You have to decide what works best for you.”

Eagle describes how years ago a buyer could enter the market with a starter home and then trade up for a bigger home a few years later, even keeping the first home as a rental property. But it just doesn’t happen like that anymore.

“It seems like a lot of people are moving into the area, but not a lot of people are moving out,” Eagle adds, saying this imbalance contributes to the lack of housing inventory in northeast Ohio. In their remarks last year, The NAR pointed to several additional causes for the seeming lack of enthusiasm from first-time home buyers. They indicated student loan debt was preventing many from saving for a down payment on a first home. Competition from investors is fierce as well. The most affordable homes are getting snapped up as rental properties for people with ready cash. Finally, the NAR said career changes are also making an impact in housing sales- millennials tend to change careers more than baby boomers and many make a change just at a time when traditionally families decide to commit to a mortgage.

So what’s a first-time buyer to do?

What starting buyers need to do is talk to a mortgage broker, Eagle advises. “There are a lot of loan products available now that could enable them to buy what they can afford now. She points to “hero loans,” available to doctors, and those in social services – firefighters, nurses, and teachers may qualify for these loans that offer a lower down payment with no penalty.

“I recommend people look into a home they’re interested in, and to buy what they can afford now,” she adds. “Some first-time buyers hesitate because they’re waiting for the interest rate to come down. But while they’re waiting for that, the price of the house is going up. “Don’t wait,” she says. “It’s going to be harder to get a house since I see prices holding steady for a long time.” Eagle says now a ‘starter home’ in her market hovers around $300,000, although a buyer would be pressed to find something like this in the Heights or around Chagrin Falls, two of the most desirable areas. Unlike first-time buyers, however, homeowners with equity already built up will have better luck finding the next house.

Eagle and her group have also conducted some research of their own into local housing prices. Going by school districts, the eastern suburbs from Shaker Heights to Moreland Hills are all seeing an uptick in the price of homes, while the Geauga school district remains steady in its pricing.

“We read all the time that people are moving out of the older cities to places like Florida, but I’m not seeing that many people moving out of Northeast Ohio, yet many people are coming in from other cities to live here. This keeps our inventory tight. We’re just not seeing hundreds of houses for sale every year. There is a finite amount of houses and people are fighting for them.

She also recommends that first-time buyers work with a realtor they trust; someone who will pay attention and help guide them through the process, and someone willing to expend some energy and effort. “A good realtor can help a buyer get a house with some energy and effort,” she says.

*https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/narfinds-share-of-first-time-home-buyers-smallerolder-than-ever-before

Gates Mills Garden Club event

The Gates Mills Garden Club presents “Jewels from the Garden” flower show & “Sparkle!” expanded youth division flower show.

Gates Mills Garden Club is putting on a spectacular “Jewels from the Garden: flower show on September 15 and 16, “Jewels from the Garden” is an NGC standard flower show which features an expanded youth division,

“Sparkle!”, which in itself is a small standard flower show, with contributors ages 3 to 18.

The flower show takes place at the Gates Mills Garden Club located at 1280 Chagrin River Road in Gates Mills, 44040. It is free and open to the public on Friday, September 15 from 1pm to 5pm and Saturday, September 16 from 10am to 5pm.