Why You Should Buy a Home

by Elsa Soto | Jun 2, 2021 | Blog, Homeowners

Why You Should Buy a Home

Have you considered buying a home in Florida? From being a prime location to live to increasing your net worth, there are many advantages to owning a home in Central Florida. As June is National Homeownership Month, we weigh in four benefits of purchasing a home.

Consistent monthly housing payments

No longer will you have to deal with the unpredictability that comes from renting such as lease termination, change in landlord or rent spikes. As a matter of fact, buying a house rather than renting is often a more affordable option. While home insurance rates and property taxes may not always be steady, you are able to pay the same amount of fixed rate throughout the entire time of your home loan through a fixed-rate mortgage.

Beginning your retirement mortgage-free

There’s no feeling like getting to live in a house you can fully call your own. Once you pay off your mortgage, you’ll be able to allocate money you’d be spending on housing to other things you’ve been wanting to splurge on. Now that’s an attainable Florida retirement dream!

If the house you’re purchasing isn’t the one you want to officially settle in forever, you can always sell it and use the money to fund your retirement. After all, the average American has about double in home equity as they do in their retirement savings.

Receiving Florida tax benefits

Owning a home in Central Florida gives you the advantage of getting to claim some extra tax deductions such as:

Mortgage interest
Mortgage points and insurance
Property taxes
Medical home improvements
Energy efficient upgrades

Earn extra income

Whether you choose to hire a property manager to lease your property to a tenant, host with Airbnb (the average host earns about $924 a month!) or rent out a spare room, by owning property you have the opportunity to earn passive income.

Owning property in Florida is something to take pride in. It’s a milestone to celebrate! While it is a significant commitment, the financial and lifestyle benefits make it a worthwhile investment. Don’t know where to start? Contact us to speak with a Bardell Real Estate agent and learn more about how you can buy a Central Florida home.

Ready to make a Move?

Bardell Real Estate are the experts in helping you with your selling, buying or renting needs near Orlando, Florida. Make your Disney area experience a forever memorable one. Call us now to speak to a real estate agent.

Dear Homebuyers: Learn About Your Down payment

by Elsa Soto | Feb 21, 2019 | Blog, Buyers, Homeowners, Mortgages, News, Real Estate News

Dear homebuyers: Please stop thinking you need 20% down payment

NEW YORK – Feb. 18, 2019 – First-time buyer surveys consistently show the top hurdle to homeownership is saving up for the down payment. But potential home shoppers may be misunderstanding the amount of money they really need to buy a home.

“Paying 20 percent down is, quite frankly, a myth,” Karen Hoskins, vice president at NeighborWorks, told HouseLogic. “Most buyers pay only 5 percent to 10 percent down – some even pay zero.”Several assistance programs can help buyers with down payment concerns break into homeownership. For example, 69 percent of about 2,500 homebuying programs tracked by Down payment Resource offer down payment assistance. The average amount of assistance from these programs tops $11,000.

HouseLogic offers several places where buyers can search for down payment assistance, including through national government programs. The Federal Housing Administration offers loans to first-time buyers with down payments as low as 3.5 percent. Programs like the USDA Rural Development Loans and VA Home Loans offer eligible buyers zero-down payment loans. Mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac offer eligible buyers loans where they can put down as little as 3 percent of the purchase price.

When buyers put down less than 20 percent, they pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) each month to protect the lender’s interest, though the PMI can often be cancelled once they build up 20 percent equity in the property. Many state and local homebuying programs offer assistance programs too. There are many different forms of assistance, such as forgivable loans and grants (gifts for some or all of the down payment and closing costs) to soft mortgages (down payment assistance loans that are deferred for some period of time based on the program’s requirements).

Mortgage brokers should also be able to supply buyers with information about programs in their area and help determine eligibility.