Buying a Home On a Budget in 2022

Some hopeful homebuyers were waiting and hoping to see property values begin to drop in 2022. Right now, values have yet to decrease as housing inventory remains low. This has led some buyers to be priced out of purchasing a home altogether.

If you’re hoping to buy a home this year but are on a tighter budget there are still some ways that you could get into homeownership. Here are four options that could make homeownership a more attainable goal in the next year or two.

Start out your home buying with a smaller property, like a condo or townhome

Condos and townhomes do not come with as much or any land as compared to single-family detached homes, but they can still be a good home buying investment. They are especially great if you are a first-time buyer and have never owned your own property before. They give you the ability to purchase real estate that you actually own at a lower price point and they also come with much lower requirements for home maintenance.

Some townhomes even come with a little bit of a backyard or front lawn giving you the opportunity to get outside within your own space. And what is great about most condos and townhomes is they come with associations that take care of a lot of maintenance with an added benefit of sometimes offering community amenities like hot tubs and workout rooms.

Purchase a home with a family member

Many buyers cannot afford to purchase a home solo or will be unable to qualify for a mortgage completely on their own. If you are a single homeowner or hoping to be, considering partnering with a family member to purchase a home could be your way in. There are many home buyers choosing this route and purchasing homes with their siblings or cousins or even an older parent. This could make qualifying for a mortgage and affording payments come back into reach. You could even purchase a larger home than you originally intended with plenty of space for both buying parties.

Before jumping into this with excitement make sure that you are being realistic about the way you intend to live in your home and your day-to-day habits and lifestyles and how they might work with the other person you would consider purchasing a home with. You also want to make sure that you are going into the purchase with clear expectations of who will take on what role in caring for the home. You also want to address what will happen should one person decide they wish to move or sell their portion.

Purchase a home with a rental potential

Purchasing a property that you could convert a portion into a separate rental space that is self-contained and able to be its own livable area could be a great option. You could also look for homes that already have this available.

For example, a home with its own finished basement that has a kitchenette and bathroom could be a great means of being able to rent out the area like a small apartment to help you make up a portion of the cost of homeownership. In some areas where rental properties are in high demand, it could even cover your mortgage payment completely.

You might benefit from just turning the rental portion of the home into a vacation rental space. This allows you to only have a roommate a portion of the time.

For more information on purchasing a home on St. George Island and surrounding areas and all Forgotten Coast real estate please contact us anytime.