The Expert Podcast

…With interest rates inflation and higher home prices There's a lot of talk about how there's no more entry-level homes There's no more starter homes Well that may or may not be true It talks about how vanishing inventory soaring mortgage rates and high prices There's little left of the starter home idea to the fact that there's other articles that says Americans are ditching their dreams of owning a house. Because of prices and…interest rates Well, It's a little bit too early to give up Let's not give up yet. And why do we say that Certainly prices are up. interest rates are up but if you do want to buy a home. If you're renting a house, there's plenty of those available. We did a search. using you know one of the most common. Online searches. And there's plenty of houses that are in and around the $200,000 range This is in Melissa Texas which is one of the north suburbs of Dallas in a growing area in north of Plano and prosper. it's not a new house but it's got nice yard a lot of land, and it's not the only one. if you look at that whole. area…You know here's another one…in Sherman Texas which is booming with tech development. One 60 for three to 1600 square feet. Right And older home but it's got some character. What about this? 2 0 5, 3 1000 square foot rent next to a lake. Now again these we just pick one area in north Dallas and certainly not everybody wants to move to this area but I can guarantee you that no matter what area of the country you look at. Close to almost any area. can find homes that are in and around 200 200 to two 50. So what does that mean? It's probably not going to be your dream house It's probably not going to be something that, you know you're going to put on HGTV but it is something that you could own where your mortgage payments go to yourself. They don't go to a landlord. And more importantly, your monthly payments are going to go up Rents are going up and they always have, even if they only go up 5% 6% a year with inflation. Your rent is kind of go up. You know maybe 70 80. a year sometimes $200 a year. And the fact that could go up higher than that. If inflation is higher or if home prices go up. But if you have a mortgage your payments stays the same. And at some period of time 20 or 30 years depending on how long your mortgage is your mortgage goes away. It's free. After that. So certainly. Prices are higher interest rates are higher. But don't give up on owning a home because there's ways to do that If you're waiting for house prices to crash. Or…interest rates to go down Certainly that's a strategy you can use there's schools of thought on both sides interest rates probably won't come down anytime soon The fed just announced another 75 basis points. Going up. And because of the fact there's still limited inventory house prices probably won't crash. Certainly there'll be some reductions and more importantly, lack of increases, but they may or may not crash. That's a personal decision but if the reason that you're not getting into the market is because you don't feel like you can find a house or afford it. Do a search put in a upper level on your price which is below even what you want to pay If you're looking for a 400 or three 50 house put in 300 or 2 75, I guarantee you. There's going to be houses out there. You may have to look through some cosmetic things like oh it needs carpet needs paint You can do those at your convenience and a lot cheaper than buying a house This turnkey look at all those home flipping. shows. All they do is cosmetic. They take a house Did they pay 200 for put 30,000 into it And cosmetics paint carpet landscape You know maybe new blinds and now all of a sudden it's a three 80 house. You could do the same thing You can flip it to yourself, buy a cheap, you sweat equity. you know buy the materials at your convenience over time. It's livable in the meantime. And end up with a three 80 house that you can buy for low twos. Or pick any number of gap that you like. That's just one person's opinion Let us know what you think Is it the comments about the nature of the housing market and whether or not buying a cheaper house is a good strategy.