There’s no getting around it: Moving can be a pain. And if there’s no pressing reason to move, it’s easier to put it off. But if you have a dream of (someday) moving into a larger home, you may be best served by looking now, says Howard Hanna real estate agent Kim Crane.
“We’ve been experiencing historically low interest rates,” she says, “the sort we’ll probably never see again.”
Buyers can expect to encounter interest rates at around 3.8 to 4 percent. But Chris Hartzell, managing partner at Union Capital Mortgage, says they won’t stay that low forever. If you wait one year and the rates increase 1 percent, that same $250,000 loan you declined at 4 percent today will end up costing you an extra $150 a month.
“I don’t think it is irrational to think rates could move up a full percent by next homebuying season,” says Hartzell.
In order to buy a new house, you likely want to sell your current house first. Those willing to move today are in luck, Crane says. “The market is strong, and the demand is high,” she says. As a result of low interest rates, homes in Northeast Ohio are going quickly, leaving a lack of inventory in popular locations such as Lakewood, Chagrin Falls, Rocky River and Hudson.
So finding the house of your dreams may take patience. With so many potential buyers, sellers are receiving multiple offers on their listings. She cites a house listed at $119,000 in Lakewood that a client recently put an offer on.
“There were 19 other offers,” Crane says. “Sometimes it takes losing one home to find your real forever home.”
