Robin Rohrich sees promise in the housing market. After earning her law degree from Case Western Reserve University in 2009, she went to work as a real estate agent and not in the courtroom. The Stouffer Realty agent says there’s a lot of momentum building for a strong summer of home sales. “People who couldn’t afford to sell [after the housing crash] have been building up enough equity in their home that they can afford to move now,” she says. Here are three things you need to know before diving in to the search for your next home.
Find a great rate: Interest rates remain low, hovering around 4 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, but improvements in consumer confidence mean they’re likely to rise. “You want to get your foot in the door before interest rates go up,” she says.
Keep the door open: You may qualify for government-backed loan programs that require lower down payments even if you’ve previously owned a home. If you haven’t owned a home in three years, you may requalify as a first-time homebuyer. “We have a big piece of the population who have been renting that are going to enter back into the purchase market,” says Rohrich.
Maybe just chill: As the weather warms up, so does the housing market. So if you have the luxury, consider waiting until winter when fewer buyers are motivated to move. “Sellers tend to be more serious about selling,” she says, “because the market is a little bit more sleepy.”
