It seems like no matter what market we are in, real estate agents all over are saying, “It’s a great time to buy a home!” Kinda annoying, and predictable, right? And it probably leaves you wondering if now really is a good time to buy a home in San Antonio or not. But there really are a few reasons why this actually IS true and why all the agents that you see on social media have this one consistent message, even with all the recent interest rate increases. So today we are going to talk about 4 of the BIGGEST advantages of why it could be the BEST time for you to buy a home in San Antonio, Texas.
Buying a Home in San Antonio, Texas
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Is it REALLY a good time to buy a home?
So, why is it that real estate agents always say, “Now is a GREAT time to buy?” Well here’s the thing: it is our job to find circumstances that make it reasonable and even advantageous for buyers to buy homes. Everyone needs a place to live, homes in San Antonio are being bought and sold every single day, regardless of interest rates, inflation or what’s going on in the stock market. But what sometimes doesn’t get communicated to potential home-buyers properly is the WHY behind the phrase “Now IS a great time to buy a home” and the WHY is what actually changes from month to month or year to year as the housing market changes. For example, 6 months ago even though home prices had peaked and were crazy high, interest rates were historically low, so it costed less to borrow money for a mortgage loan. So even though you were paying more for the home, you were paying less over the life of the loan to borrow that money, so it was a great time to buy at that time.
Today, as you already know, interest rates are much higher, so it is more expensive to borrow money, but that doesn’t mean that sales prices have dropped dramatically, or have even regulated at all. They just aren’t appreciating at the rate that they were during the pandemic. BUT, here is where the big advantages are to you as a homebuyer that could far outweigh the higher interest rates and actually make it an even better time to buy a home in San Antonio:
1st Advantage to Buying a Home Today – Return of Contingencies
The first advantage to buying a home in today’s market is the Return of Contingencies.
Over the last two years, more buyers were willing to skip really crucial steps in the homebuying process just to get their offer considered: like waiving appraisal or option & inspection contingencies just to try to have an appealing offer & win a bidding war. AND, you couldn’t even consider putting an offer in if you were contingent upon selling your current home first. You didn’t stand much of a chance of winning with that offer. But today, even though we are still in a strong seller’s market because of low home inventory, sellers are in a position where they aren’t getting 237 cash offers over list price on their home, so they are in much better positions to be able to work with contingencies. Which takes a lot of stress off of you as the buyer, so that you can get the home inspected, possibly negotiate for repairs during your option period, have protection in case the home appraises too low, and even be able to have the contingency time window needed to sell your current home while under contract with the new home.
2nd Advantage to Buying a Home Today – Possible Closing Costs & Other Seller Concessions
The next reason why it’s a great time for home buyers to buy a home in San Antonio, is that sellers are more willing to help with closing costs.
Typically, closing costs are between 2%-3% of the purchase price for the home. Before the pandemic, it was a common negotiation tactic here in San Antonio for sellers to cover some of the buyer’s closing costs to sweeten the deal. This was pretty much unheard of during the buyer frenzy over the past two years. In fact, there were situations where the BUYER would offer to cover the seller’s closing costs, in addition to their own just to get their offer considered. Today, as the market shifts and demand slows, even though this isn’t quite as common as it used to be, it is becoming at least a possible negotiating point again.
Another form of a seller concession that is becoming really popular in this market is negotiating for the seller to buy down the buyer’s interest rate, which of course can help to keep monthly payments a bit lower. Just keep in mind though, there are limits on closing cost credits that are set by your lender and can vary by state and loan type, but that is something that we can absolutely figure out when the time comes. I will add here, that if you are considering a new construction option, then this is an excellent time to be able to negotiate closing cost concession from the builders and many of them are actually able to provide incentive to buy down your interest rates also.
3rd Advantage to Buying a Home Today – Less Competition
Another advantage of buying a home in today’s market is that there is LESS competition, overall.
There is just more room to breathe in this market, and less panic-mode buying. As I mentioned, there is still very active buyer demand here in San Antonio, and still low inventory, so don’t get me wrong-there is still competition. Especially when there is an awesome home that comes on the market at a great price, in an amazing area-bidding wars are still likely going to happen on those homes. But typically, we aren’t seeing 59 over-list cash offers on every home. So, there is time to be able to see multiple homes, write up a competitive offer that benefits both parties on the home that you love, and not feel like you’re rushed to make a decision and submit a ridiculous offer, just to get into a home. Which can definitely be a relief, compared to the frenzy of the past market conditions. Those times were beyond stressful for buyers.
4th Advantage to Buying a Home Today – Less Likely to OVERPAY
The next reason why now is a great time to buy a home in San Antonio is that you are Less likely to overpay for your home.
No one wants to feel like they are overpaying for something, and of course everyone wants the best deal! Even though there are price reductions on homes all over San Antonio-don’t mistake that for a falling housing market. Most of those price reductions are happening because the sellers originally listed too high, and didn’t consider the slow down of the market into their list price. So, in many cases, they are price adjusting to where the home should have been priced from the beginning. Even though it is now possible to get your offer accepted that is under list price (of course, if the circumstances are right), that doesn’t mean that you will want to go in offering a drastically low price to feel like you are getting a good deal. When it’s time, we will want to consider recent comparables to determine market value and then consider an offer price. BUT, that being said-you no longer have to shop way under your budget amount just so you can offer $20k or $50k over list price just to get your offer accepted, and THEN when it didn’t appraise for that, have to pay out of pocket for that appraisal gap. Which left buyers in a position of having instant negative equity on their homes, and that should never be the case. Homes typically alway appreciate in value, which is why they are such a great investment.
Interest Rate Breakdown
Now, at this point in the video, I’ve given you 4 reasons why right now could be a great time for you to buy a home, but if you’re still a little hung up on higher interest rates, consider this:
Interest rates on vehicles are upwards of 16%
Interest rates to finance that pricey new iphone -around 22%
Interest rates on credit cards are typically around 24%
But, the interest rate on renting a home or apartment-100%, as your monthly rent is going directly into your landlord’s pocket.
I hope that helps to put it in perspective for you and that this blog has been helpful to you as well! For more tips on buying your home in San Antonio (whether it’s your first, second or even your tenth home), make sure to check out this blog post next where I give you even more tips, tricks and insider info to home buying in San Antonio, Texas. Thanks for watching, and I look forward to connecting with you soon!
