Why Right Now Is a Great Time to Buy a Home
Buying a home can be an excruciating life decision. While many people know that homeownership is a great investment, they also do not like the idea of forking over their entire life savings for a down payment on a property, giving up their freedom of liquidity in the process.
However, even the most laggardly know that renting forever is not the greatest idea, so if you are tired of letting rent burn a hole in your pocket, or you simply want to add to your passive income stream by purchasing an additional property, the timing has never been better to buy a home.
The World is in a DIY Renaissance
Part of owning a home is providing the upkeep and investing in value-adding renovations. The problem with this, in years gone by, was that unless you had access to the right contractors–and had the funds to pay said contractors–these maintenance projects would remain in the “planning” phase indefinitely.
With advances in information sharing, many of these concerns no longer remain. Whether it be the around-the-clock home improvement programming on HGTV or the thousands of incredibly insightful YouTube channels dedicated to renovation, many home improvement projects, such as constructing a pergola or adding a gravel driveway, can be completed by amateurs as if they were experts.
Sure, there will always be those projects where it is more convenient and economical to hire the professionals, but many of the standard jobs are no longer so scary for the everyday homeowner, making now an ideal time to buy.
Innovative Building Materials Allow for Creativity
Part of the hesitation behind becoming a homeowner, for some, is the fear of purchasing a cookie-cutter home in a cookie-cutter neighborhood and leading a cookie-cutter life.
Fortunately, the days of every suburb in America consisting of wood-framed homes with white vinyl lap siding and asphalt roofing shingles are a thing of the past.
There are dozens of trendy building materials on the market in 2020 that allow homeowners to get creative with how they design their house, all while providing structural and insulative qualities unmatched by-products used in earlier eras. A few of the premier building materials on the market today include:
- Insulated concrete framing that allows builders to construct a solid, high thermal mass frame from an unlimited selection of blueprints
- Rustic house siding made of fiber cement that gives the appearance of natural wood or brick without requiring the same level of high-diligence upkeep
- Synthetic roofing that is virtually indistinguishable from asphalt or wood shakes that does not break down from extended UV exposure
Historically Low Mortgage Interest Rates
One of the most unnerving aspects of purchasing a home in the past was the sit-down with your mortgage lender to go over your loan amortization chart, only to discover that at the end of your term (likely 30 years) you will have paid more in interest than on the actual value of the home.
While this should have definitely been a concern for prospective homebuyers in the 1980’s, when mortgage interest rates ran close to 18%, contemporary mortgage rates are at historic lows of roughly 3%. This is extremely cheap financing, and prospective buyers should jump at the chance to secure a rate that barely outstrips annual inflation.
Owning a Home is Fun in 2020
While homeownership has always been desirable, it has seemed to convey a certain element of “stiffness,” likely stemming from post-war ideals that started in the 1950s and continued to exist through the subsequent decades.
However, just as ideas about the family and the “normal” familial unit have evolved considerably, so too have the ideas behind house construction.
The kitchen is a great area to illustrate this. What used to be a stuffy, isolated area meant for cooking and cleaning has since seen its walls torn down; large windows installed; and white solid surface countertops, islands, and bars offering inviting spaces to not only cook but hang out and enjoy life with family and friends.
Matt Lee is the owner of the Innovative Building Materials blog and a content writer for the building materials industry. He is focused on helping fellow homeowners, contractors, and architects discover materials and methods of construction that save money, improve energy efficiency, and increase property value.