6 Steps to choosing a First Home, from your local Huntington County Realtor, Andy Eckert

6 steps to choosing a first home

First-time home buyers get a lot of good advice on finances before they buy their first home: They should be pre-approved for a mortgage, have cash on hand, and take a look a property taxes.

But before that, buyers should consider what they will look for in a home. 

Here are 6 considerations that will help you make the decision.

1 Take the long-term view. 

Young buyers should remember that their first home probably won't be their last. In fact, one way to financial success is to buy a starter home that will appreciate and then sell it later for a profit.  Use the profit to buy your next home; one suited to your needs at the moment.

2 Choose substance over style.

Granite counter tops should never be the make-it-or-break-it feature of a first home. That is just style. The best home is one that suits lifestyle needs. Put substance ahead of style every time.

3 Find the right size home.

Big is not necessarily better. In fact, a big home can be a burden for two working people. Consider the time you will spend cleaning, furnishing and decorating a home for a party of 20. 

In the same way, tiny is not necessarily better. Since a first home is rarely the last home, consider how much the home will be worth at resale. Will a tiny home be difficult to sell? Making an investment work over the long-term is a better idea than going with a trendy choice.     

4 Shun fashion.

A graceful Victorian home or the mid-century modern with potential might be the ultimate dream of a young person fascinated with architecture, but it probably isn't the best first-time buy. Think about the investment in maintenance and unforeseen problems that can crop up in an older home.

Fixer-upper shows can mislead buyers into thinking that a home that needs a lot of work is a great buy. Even for the handy-man, a fixer-upper may not be the right choice, even if the price is right. Consider how long the improvements will take, then double the estimate in time and dollars. Will that be acceptable?

5 Buy location not just bricks.

It doesn't matter how great the house, if it is located in an area with bad schools, high crime, and a run-down house next door, the house won't be worth as much at resale. Even if you don't have children, consider the school district.  A great school district increases the number of interested buyers at sale. At the same time, be open to a good location outside your preferred neighborhood.

6 Choose an expert then listen.

Find a real estate agent, then listen to his/her advice. The agent will advise you on price, negotiation, value, and possible pitfalls. There is no substitute for having a good agent on your side.

Can FHA help you buy your first home? and the Downside to Smart Homes, from your Local Huntington County Realtor, Andy Eckert

Can the FHA help us buy our first home

this year?

Maybe it can. 

The FHA has reduced its Mortgage Insurance (MI) rate, resulting in a monthly payment reduction of $80 on average, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

"Buying a home is about more than owning a roof and four walls. It's about investing in savings and building a family and planting roots in a community."

That was the message that President Obama relayed in his January 7 speech on housing and homeownership in Phoenix, AR. His speech announced significant improvements to mortgage loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration.

"We're going to start this week laying out some of the agenda for the next year. And here in Phoenix, I want to talk about helping more families afford their piece of the American dream, and that is owning their own home."

Obama announced that FHA Mortgage insurance premiums would be reduced from 1.35 to .85 percent on both purchase and refinance loans. The upfront mortgage insurance premium (UFMIP) will however, remain at 1.75 percent.

The White House estimates more than 800,000 homeowners stand to save on their monthly mortgage costs from the reduced MI premiums. They also predicted that 250,000 potential buyers will enter into homeownership over the next three years as a result of the changes.

CoreLogic estimates the change will benefit FHA borrowers with an average of $80 per month, or $900 per year, in savings.

The President's measures are designed to address homeownership numbers r adiating from the flagging first-time buyer market.

First-time buyer participation limped into 2015 accounting for a meager 33 percent of the overall homes sold, the lowest market share since 1987 and down from 50 percent in 2010.

Downside to smart homes

 Smart homes are now a reality wit Amazon Echo and Google home. Appliances, heat, air conditioning, power, lights, security cameras -- everything can link to your smartphone. Turn on your pool heat from 50 miles away. Turn up your AC at the same time.

Of course, there are still some downsides to smart homes that are worth considering.

According to Christopher Harper at maketecheasier.com, security issues are serious. Breaches are inevitable, and security strategies must keep changing to keep up with the hackers. Your  system quickly could become outdated.  Even if it is not outdated, a hacker could send the air conditioning system into Antarctic mode at any time. You take your chances.

Smart homes also add to big data. You are letting big companies that already know a lot about you know more about you.  Afraid of big business? Afraid of big government? 

Finally, smart homes still cost a lot of money to do things like turn up the heat and turn on a light. Is it worth it now?  

Land cruisers in the outback

You think your cell phone has blackout spots. Imagine the Australian outback.  We are talking 2 million square miles of blazing heat, unpleasant snakes, and no cell service.

According to gizmag.com, what the Outback does have is Toyota LandCruisers.  Toyota has joined with other corporations and universities to set up a LandCruiser Emergency Network.

Using a mix of technology, the plan is to supply LandCruisers in the area with plug-and-play wifi devices. Every Cruiser will be a little wifi hotspot with a 15-mile range. People will connect their phones to a nearby LandCruiser that will forward the message along a chain of other LandCruisers until the message gets to a base station.  Consider how important this would be if the message were FIRE.

Hope you had a great 4th of July Holiday, from your Huntington County Local Realtor Andy Eckert

These past 30 days have proven to be busy and full of travel. My family which included all 3 kids and Steph made a trip to St Louis for 5 days. We filled the trip with a lot of walking, eating, swimming and sightseeing. I think since we all made it back still talking to each other it was a success. This was the 1^st vacation all of us have taken together since Olivia was a senior in HS (5 years ago). As our kids grow up and become young adults the environment seems altered in a way. I miss when they were small and we all went together and meandered around at a much slower pace. I think the only way it could have been better is if we would have left our cell phones in the hotel room.

We explored the Arch and went on a river tour; we also went to a St Louis Cards game, man what a stadium. We visited the City Museum which would be any kids dream come true, it offered tunnels and cages to climb for 10 stories and if that wasn’t enough they had a Ferris wheel on the top floor. There were slides from level to level and a 10 story slide which Steph and I road. We enjoyed watching our kids climb around like they were 10 years old again, Sebastian said he was going back and Olivia had red face for about an hour after we left, not sure she has done anything that exhausting for awhile. Aleah took it all in stride and just enjoyed hanging with her Big Sis and Bro.

We also walked through the Zoo which was free and enjoyed seeing what animals would come out into the blazing hot sun so we could see them; I think we all enjoyed the Penguins area the most since it was 45 degrees in there. After we finished at the zoo Olivia talked us into taking the Budweiser tour which thrilled Aleah to no end, which if you follow my posts on Facebook you would have seen. That place was amazing if you like beer which 4 of 5 of us don’t. Olivia was happy to drink our samples.

What I figured out about taking a family vacation when your kids are no longer kids is, it’s really expensive to feed them. I also found that they all have different opinions as to what we should do, it was much easier when Steph and I made all the decisions.

I enjoyed the time together and the time away from home. I hope all of you also get a chance to get away this summer. We spend too much time watching everyone’s life happen on social media vs living ourselves.

Put down your cell phones and take a walk and breath some air. You deserve it!!!!!!!!

God Bless All