When youre trying to maintain a budget while looking at homes for sale in Troy, MI, it is important to keep a few key factors in mind. The search for a home is one that requires time and patience. Most new homeowners look at an average of 20 homes before they decide on the right one. Take your time; this is a big decision to make.
Visit Several Neighborhoods
Before you even set a budget you need to work on selecting a couple of neighborhoods to explore further. The ideal way to go about this is to walk through a few neighborhoods during daylight hours on a few different days of the week. You should also drive through those same neighborhoods after dark on random days of the week, including on weekends. This give you a sense of how active the neighborhood is and what kind of activities take place on an average day such as kids playing, loud music or houses with many visitors in a single day.
View Property Values and Create a Budget
Once you have narrowed down the list of neighborhoods to just 2 or 3, consider setting a budget after reviewing property values in the area. This will be a good indicator of how well people in the area maintain their properties. Upgraded and updated homes tend to increase the value of homes in the area slightly. Those are the neighborhoods you want to concentrate on as it will help the value of the property you purchase to remain valuable.
Create a budget based upon what you can comfortably afford for mortgage payments based upon the term you wish to select whether it is 8 years, 10 years or even 30 years. To be safe, use the highest average interest rate among several lenders to calculate an estimate of what the mortgage payment would be. Decide what you can comfortably afford on one income in case you or your spouse should become unemployed or suffer an injury or illness that puts them out of work for a long period of time.
Work with a Seeded Realtor
It is important to work with a realtor that is from the area of Troy, MI. This person will have great insight about the city and where the best neighborhoods are. The realtor will also be able to provide insight as far as how good the school districts are where the high crime areas are and where the best dining establishments are. This is invaluable information when you are new to an area.
The search for a new home is tedious. It can become frustrating at times due to homes not offering what you need them to as far as layouts, features and space. Keep in mind that you can make renovations to the home to make it what you need it to be. It is also a good idea to keep fixer uppers in mind too as the price is almost always negotiable to reflect the renovations needed.
