The Cost of Waiting

If you’re a buyer waiting for the market to tank before actually buying a home, there are a couple reasons why buying now might be a better option.

The first is that interest rates are down. They’re not the lowest we’ve ever seen, but they’re certainly well below average compared to the last 20 years. This means that if you plan on using a mortgage loan to buy your home, the rate on that loan will be significantly lower if you decided to buy now. Essentially, you’ll be able to buy more home for less money.

Second, you can take advantage of monthly appreciation. In the Seattle area, we’ve seen a minimum of 1% appreciation on a monthly basis over the last three to four years. If you owned a $500,000 home, you’d be collecting $5,000 in equity every single month. Most homebuyers in our market aren’t out to buy their “forever home”; most are just looking for something that works for now, so taking advantage of that 1% appreciation rate is a great move for your financial position.

Third, waiting too long can leave you priced out of the market. A couple years ago, we were working with a set of buyers who, for whatever reason, wouldn’t pull the trigger on a $500,000 West Seattle house. They wanted to wait for the market to tank instead. That same $500,000 home would now cost them anywhere from $600,000 to $650,000, which is no longer affordable to them.

At this point, we don’t see any indication that the economy will take a turn for the worse, so it’s likely we have a steady rate of appreciation coming in the next couple years.

Now is a great time to buy in our market. Don’t let time pass you by and miss out on all the benefits of buying now.

If you have any more questions about why now is a great time to buy in our Seattle market, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to speak with you.