Jacksonville Real Estate Agent

Are you a renter, wanting to fire your landlord for good? Or a seller wanting to sell and perhaps, move up or down size? I bet, you’ve been listening to the media and you wonder if this is a good time to buy or should you just wait?

No one has a crystal that will tell us what the future holds for Jacksonville real estate, so let’s just take a look at how things are right now:

 1. The rates are good, as long as you qualify.

2. Home prices are coming down.

3. Due to the higher inventory levels, you have more choices.

4. Due to the mortgage crisis, lenders have tighten their credit guidelines. A buyer who qualified for a mortgage two years ago or even a year ago, may not qualify now.

Have the prices hit bottom yet? I don’t think so. Should you wait to buy until they do? That depends on you and your family’s situation. If you’re looking at this strictly on an investment stand point and you’re wanting to buy a house in Jacksonville and in a year or two resale it, you may want to think long and hard. You may not have the equity you need to profit from it. Now, on the other hand, if you’re wanting a home to raise your kids in, enjoy your golden years, make memories with your spouse or partner and this is a long term investment, now can be your time.

Your first step though, is to find out if you can qualify for a mortgage.

Pre-qualified vs pre-approved

You may or may not have heard of the terms pre-qualified and pre-approved. Pre-qualified is something you can do right over the phone with a lender. They will want to know what your income is, time on the job, debts you may have, just basic information. Based on the information you give them, the lender could give you a letter stating you qualify for ‘x” amount of mortgage, but only if you meet additional criteria. Sounds good so far, but don’t start doing back flips just yet.

You goal should be to get pre-approved before you even start doing house shopping. Pre-approval means the lender has checked your credit, collected documents verifying your employment and income, as well as other documents that particular company requires.

Just in case, you get a red flag, due to credit issues, please read a blog I wrote about credit repair companies.

If you’re given the green flag to go out and grab your piece of the American dream, I want to stress the importance of learning from the mistakes of others. I’m sure you’ve been taking notice of the situation homeowners, have found themselves in recent months.

Foreclosures due to payments being too high for home owners to afford, arms resetting to a much higher interest rate causing the home to fall behind on their payments.

I’m not trying to scare you, but don’t become house poor (only have money to pay the mortgage and barely anything else) just to buy a house. It’s not a fun place to be and your dream of home ownership will become a heavy burden for you and your family to bear. If you really want to know if now is the right time to buy, you need to ask yourself, can I find a house that meets my family’s needs, at a monthly payment I can afford and still be able to enjoy the things we like to do?

If you answered yes, then I invite you to come take a peek at what homes are available for sale in Jacksonville, Orange Park and surrounding areas. You can start your search for Jacksonville homes here.