5
The challenges and pitfalls for first time purchasers BY PHILIP A. RAICES You’re a first time purchaser and are excited about pursuing your “American Dream” of homeownership. You are ready to begin searching for your next place to call home. But have you done your homework? The first most crucial step is to go to a lender to see what amount of a mortgage that you will qualify for. Email or bring with you your most recent tax returns, W-2’s or 1099s (if self employed) and have them do a complete credit profile. After the process is completed, you will receive the most important piece of paper, your commitment letter with no conditions except subject to an appraisal of the property. This would be the most prudent path to take as our inventory is historically low and those buyers that procrastinate are either not ready to “go to war” with the other competition of buyers or are losing deals. There are those who are getting outbid on homes, where emotion and need are combining to make the winning bids sometimes way above the asking price. My advice is not to succumb to getting too emotional in your search and purchasing and not let your common sense and critical thinking go by the wayside. If it makes sense in the brain, it will make sense in your pocketbook! In many cases affordability is being sacrificed and people are stretching their financial capabilities to a point where there could be a major risk factor that might come into play in the future. One should look at their job and/or business and make sure that their income will continue to be consistent, so as not to have to worry about not being able to pay and then may need to do a short sale, where the value
of the home becomes less than the mortgage or worse go into foreclosure. Those who are most in jeopardy are the ones that are putting down less than 10%. It will take several years for inventory to become more normalized to reach 6-7 months. Also, most important is guessing if and when interest rates will moderate lower. If home values were to decrease sufficiently enough due to a pull back in demand in the future there would be no equity build up and if there were a loss of income, then there might be problems paying the lender. The first 9 years are mainly interest payments on your mortgage, so there is very little equity buildup. Even if rates were to go substantially lower, refinancing may not make a lot of sense as you would have to determine how many years it would take to break even with the lower interest rate to pay back the initial cost of refinancing. But also consider that you would be starting all over and the next 9 years of your new mortgage would be mostly interest payments once again. No one has a crystal ball or can predict what may or may not happen in the future. My professional opinion is to always buy within your financial comfort zone and don’t go overboard and get emotionally involved in purchasing, especially if this is your first or even move up purchase. Whether it is a single or multi-family, townhome, condo, coop, do you due diligence and stay grounded when searching. If you have children
or plan to have them, buy the best school district that your budget allows you too; even if you may have to travel further to work, assuming you have to commute to an office. If you work from home then you will have more flexibility in choosing a town. Hire a broker that has many years of knowledge who will educate and guide you through the sometimes tumultuous, complicated and stressful process and not try to sell you the favorite flavor of the month. Consultative selling provides a stronger methodology as a broker must do as much listening as possible and ask the necessary and required questions to be able to assist you your journey to find your next place to call home. He or she must also be caring enough to address your specific “needs and wants” and stay focused on the end game of finding that special first or move up home. Make sure you hire a qualified, licensed and insured home inspector as well as a qualified real estate attorney. There are a multitude of variables, problems and issues that will always come into play that will need to be strategized and solved to finally get to the closing table. Stress can be a real critical issue, so do your best to keep your emotions in check. Use your common sense when making your purchase and stay within your budget and what you are qualified for financially. Better to be safe than sorry. Philip A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave
Suite 180 in Great Neck. He has 40 years experience in the Real Estate industry and has earned designations as a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (G.R.I.) and also as a Certified International Property Specialist (C.I.P.S.) and in 2022 has earned his National Association of Realtors “Green Industry designation for eco-friendly construction. He will provide you with “free” regular updates of sold and new homes in your town via the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island (MLSLI) or go to https://WWW. Li-RealEstate.Com and you can “do it yourself (DYI) and search on your own. For a “FREE” `15 minute consultation, as well as well as a “FREE printout or digital value analysis of what your home might sell for in today’s market without any obligation or “strings” attached. He can also provide a copy of “Unlocking the Secrets of Real Estate’s New Market Reality, and our Seller’s and Buyer’s Guides for “Things to Consider when Selling, investing or Purchasing your Home. You can email or snail mail (regular mail) him with your request or ideas, suggestions or interview you for a specific topic and a Q & A for a future column with your name, email and cell number. He will email or call you back and respond to your request ASAP as long as he has your complete name, cell, email and/or full home or business address. Again, for a “FREE” 15 minute consultation, he can also be reached by cell: (516) 647-4289 or by email: Phil@ TurnKeyRealEstate.Com to answer any of your questions and concerns in selling, investing, purchasing, or leasing residential or commercial property.
E V E R Y D A Y C H E A P S K A T E
Sometimes You Need a Microscope to Get to the Truth Continued from page 2 Thankfully, my fine print surprises of late have been minor (I’ve learned the hard way) compared to a few trusting souls burned years ago during a New York City construction boom. It seems that these folks bought new Manhattan apartments before construction even began, subject to the detailed blueprints they reviewed and accepted. In writing. Legally. Months later, they walked into their dream homes only to be met with rooms that are significantly smaller and ceilings that are lower than what is called out on the plans. And appliances that are not the brand names agreed to. What happened? They failed to read the fine print that
says, “square footage is approximate” and “appliances will be of similar quality.” Who would have thought that a room that clearly shows on the plans as being 11 feet, 2 inches by 12 feet, 8 inches would turn out to be an approximation? OK, so my laundry detergent isn’t exactly a million-dollar-apartment, but wouldn’t any reasonable person be safe to assume that if the container declares “96 loads,” one could expect to have enough detergent to last for 8 months if one does 3 loads of laundry per week? Here, let me do the math: 3 loads times 4 weeks equals 12 loads a month; 96 divided by 12 equals 8. Right? Now I wouldn’t quibble over a couple of weeks give or take. But when I ran out in less than half that time -- even though I’m careful to
measure -- I figured that something’s not right! I decided to investigate. Sure enough, right there on the back in very small print, the manufacturer discloses that “96 loads” refers to small loads -- the lowest line marked “1” on the measuring cup, not the line marked “3,” which I use and I bet everyone else who measures does, too. Look, I have an extra-capacity machine. Why on earth would I run small loads? What I thought was a bargain turned out to be very expensive detergent. I was burned by the fine print. I’ll admit that my angst over laundry detergent is nothing compared to getting burned on a real estate deal. And it just goes to prove once again that whether it’s laundry detergent, credit card appli-
cations or a fancy NYC apartment, what the big print giveth, the fine print taketh away. Mary invites you to visit her at EverydayCheapskate.com, where this column is archived complete with links and resources for all recommended products and services. Mary invites questions and comments at https://www.everydaycheapskate.com/ contact/, “Ask Mary.” This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of EverydayCheapskate.com, a frugal living blog, and the author of the book “Debt-Proof Living.” COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM
Friday, August 4, 2023 Discovery
R E A L E S T A T E W A T C H