If you’re among the many who have puzzled over when it’s the ‘right time’ to buy a home in South Palm Beach, you’ve probably found the answer to be elusive and volatile. Monday’s convincing solution can be suspect by Wednesday—and even flimsier by Friday.

Pinning down an acceptable answer can be helped by identifying several distinct primary factors to examine when making the call: your financial situation, the current state of South Palm Beach’s housing market—and your personal goals.

Pinning Down the Right Time to Buy a Home in South Palm Beach

Assessing your financial situation is the first factor that should precede any other. Do you have a stable income and sufficient savings to afford a down payment and monthly mortgage payments? One way to know for sure is to get pre-qualified by a lender—an action that has the additional benefit of making your position stronger if and when you decide to write an offer.

If you can’t get pre-qualified to secure a sufficient loan to qualify for the level of the home you are targeting, you’ll need to hold off until you are in a better financial position; either that—or adjust your search parameters to include less expensive properties.

Once you can be confident that you are financially prepared to buy a home in South Palm Beach, the state of the local housing market comes into play. Specifically, in the South Palm Beach neighborhoods you have decided to target, does the most recent activity point to its being a buyer’s or a seller’s market? If it’s a buyer’s market, you can expect to have more negotiating power. You’re more likely to be able to negotiate a better deal on a home you’ve targeted. On the other hand, if it’s clearly more of a seller’s market, you may need to act quickly and be prepared to pay more for a home.  

Whichever side of the coin the current market is trending toward, if you are buying a home you can afford and plan to reside in it for a sustained period, historically speaking, buying in either market should prove an adept move—if your personal goals support it. 

That said, your personal goals also need to be aligned with your purchase. Are you looking for a long-term investment or a short-term living situation? If you’re planning to remain in South Palm Beach for a while—are ready to put down roots—buying a home today is likely to be a good choice no matter what the market does. But if you are unsure how long you’ll be staying, or would be more comfortable in a more flexible living situation, renting may be a better option; at least for now.

Get In Touch With Your Florida Mortgage Expert Today!

If you’re thinking of buying a home in South Palm Beach this summer, reach out today at (561) 316-6800—I’ll be happy to help devise the path that gets you there!

The American Dream may have been pronounced all but extinct from some quarters of late, but at least one piece of information makes its impending demise questionable. It’s an unchallenged fact that everyone who keeps tabs on Palm Beach Gardens residential real estate will verify—one that writer Claire Trapasso summarized neatly in last week’s Realtor News:

For Palm Beach Gardens Residential Real Estate, the Dream Lives On

“Homeowners racked up some serious wealth over the past decade.”

The recent track record experienced by participants in that American Dream (Palm Beach Gardens version) is impossible to ignore. Back during the Great Recession, voices from many quarters focused on the financial beating taken by those who had joined a speculative rush, hoping to profit from loose lending standards. That lax period encouraged less-than-qualified mortgage borrowers to purchase houses they planned to sell within a short period of time. That may be the “stuff dreams are made of”—but it’s not anything like the true American Dream. And when the international banking system suffered a major shakeup, many were forced to sell at a loss (or worse).

Even though those circumstances were an anomaly, they caused the widespread devaluation of markets globally—Palm Beach Gardens residential real estate included. Although the vast majority of homeowners suffered only paper losses, the hue and cry in the press was universal: the luster of homeownership, in general, was gone! The American Dream had been tarnished—perhaps retired permanently!

Viewed through the lens of history, that was nonsense. Most Palm Beach Gardens homeowners would have been totally unaware of their theoretical financial shellacking if they didn’t happen to tune in to the nay-sayers. If they happened to glance at valuations a few years later, they would have yawned and gone back to their lawn mowing. On valuation charts, the dip (at first, a fright-producing steep drop-off) took a decade to reverse, and a while longer to resume its historical climb. But climb it has. As recounted by Trapasso:

• “The value of their homes has soared 68% since 2012…”
• “Middle-class homeowners who bought real estate during the depths of the Great Recession built over $122,000 in wealth…”
• “Low-income homeowners saw about $99,000 in home appreciation over the same period…”

Far from spelling doom for the Dream, the current crunch in affordability simply means that it is tantalizingly out of reach for many—and history tells us that this is bound to be temporary. But does it mean the Dream of homeownership is threatened with extinction? It would seem far more likely that the opposite is true: it may be elusive for some, but that makes it all the more tantalizing. And worth pursuing. The bounty to those who ignored naysayers at the height of the Great Recession proves the point.

Are You Ready To Contact Your Mortgage Expert Today?

The benefits of Palm Beach Gardens homeownership are still there, as is the advantage of teaming with the know-how and experience of a licensed Palm Beach Gardens Realtor^® to help secure them. Call me at (561) 316-6800 to discuss how you can write your own version of the Dream!