In todays real estate market much, if not all of the focus has been on price and the REALITY that buyers can certainly purchase homes at incredible prices. When you combine that with incrediby low interest rates and phenomenal loan programs available to buyers, at least in my market (The Washington DC area), I have started to notice that many of the truly important reasons that we all buy homes and select the homes and locations we do are not being discussed as much and they are not on the forefront, where they need to be. One of the biggest reasons many of us live where we live is due to the sense of community that the neighborhood provides us. That we live in a safe and nice community. That if we have children, there are good, if not great, schools for our children to get educated in. For me, that is one of the most important factors in choosing a home & community as well as in assisting my clients. At the risk of being a bit controversial i share some of the following thoughts regarding the market in the hopes that whether you are a lender, real estate professional, home owner, or potential buyer or seller, these thoughts help you in some way. Many of us are where we are in life due to decisions we made and in some cases perhaps the decisions that were made for us by our families. What schools we were able to go to in our upbringing, how diverse was our neighborhood, how safe was the community we lived in? These are all factors that for most of us helped mold us into who we are. If you are not one of those people, then great! what I am writing is not for you. However if you are, I encourage you to look at a few different thoughts. Quite often, to get into that better school district, better community & better neighborhood, to provide a better life for our family and a better upbringing for our children, we have to pay a price & it is usually financially. The good news to that is that when we look at interest rates today & I am taking rates from one of my preferred lenders page, the rate for a conforming loan is 5.75& with no points. So the difference in the payment on a home that is $20,000 more comes out to about $128. a month. Now, I am not negatiing the value of $130, whatsoever for it is money and money is money (many of us can always use more) however, I am suggesting that depending on your situation, that may be a sacrifice worth making to be into that better community & better school district or perhaps even to be closer to work, places of worship or family. All are very important factors to look at when purchasing a home. So for anyone who is interested and wants to take these factors into account I have made it very simple. To compare schools and communities in the Washington Dc metro area click hereCommunity & School Reports and if you are interested in seeing the difference in living 5 or 10 miles further out, consider clicking on this link for some very interesting and eye opening information about living further away Buyer Cost Calculator. Should anyone have any questions on any of this information or need assistance in Montgomery County MD or anywhere of the surrounding areas, please feel free to contact me. As you can see, I truly believe that while getting a great price is immensely important, sometimes there are other factors that are certainly worth looking at and we need to take those into account.
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