The journey of buying a home often begins in an unfamiliar location. This could come about if you are constrained by budget, moving to a new area for a job, trying to stay close to family, or any number of other reasons.
Buying in a unfamiliar suburb or town in Eugene, Oregon, can be daunting. So here are some tips to increase your chances of securing the best possible home.
Tip 1. Don’t be in too much of a rush.
Buyers often start by missing out on several houses in their target suburb, then move to a cheaper area and buy the first house they see because it looks like great value. This can be a mistake.
If you haven’t spent time studying the new area you are looking in, you may end up overpaying for a property. Or worse, you might find out the location doesn’t suit your needs.
Tip 2. Take a slow drive around the area.
Explore every nook and cranny of the town or suburb you are planning to buy-in. Travel around at different times of the day. Incredibly late on a Saturday night to find out where the party spots (noisy neighbors) are.
Test out the morning commute and see what traffic will be like driving to and from your place of work. Also, test the traffic during school hours. For example, find out if roads become jam-packed at 3 pm or if there are significant sports fields that cause gridlock on the weekend.
Tip 3. Visit at least ten homes before you make one offer.
The best thing you can do to learn a market is to visit homes in that area and then find out what they end up selling for. With that knowledge, you will do a far better job judging the value of prospective properties that come to the market.
Tip 4. Lookup recent sales.
To further your local market knowledge, get a list of recent sales in the area from an online source or a local real estate agent and go for a drive past them.
You won’t be able to go inside, but at least you will be able to get an idea of what that property is like from the outside. You might even be able to run a google search of the address and view some internal photos online.
This is all going to help you paint a picture of real estate values in the area so you can make educated decisions when it’s time to make an offer.
Tip 5. Every market is different.
Every market is different. Prices in one suburb don’t always correlate to prices in the next suburb, and there are often markets within markets for specific streets, development areas, or school zones. So take your time. Look at as many properties as possible so that you can make an educated buying decision.
Bonus tip:
Let us speak of school zones. Even if you don’t have children, it’s essential to understand if there are certain features of a property, like sought-after school zones, which will influence its value now and moving forward.
Ready to go?
In a hot market, there can be a lot of pressure on buyers to make quick decisions. You might feel that if you don’t secure property this month, you will have to pay more for a similar property next month. Prompt action can be an advantage, but buying a home is such a big decision it pays to do as much research as possible first.
If you would like to talk about the real estate in Eugene Oregon, the Team Ruiz is here to help! So get in touch today to talk about your real estate goals.
