St Thomas real estate listings and homes for sale, home buying, home selling information – Sunhaven Realty LLC

St. Thomas Real Estate Trends

YES! Prices for St. Thomas Real Estate are dropping!

October 23rd, 2011 4:47 PM

NOW MAY BE THE TIME TO BUY YOUR PIECE OF PARADISE!

But just because the market’s good doesn’t mean it’s the right time for everyone to buy. The decision whether to buy a home is a very personal one; you need to carefully examine your own situation to determine whether it’s right for you.

So, what are the questions you need to answer in deciding whether you’re ready to buy? Here are some of the big ones:

1. Do I have enough money for a down payment?
And how much, exactly, is “enough?” Today’s minimum down payment requirements for the most part on the island is 20 percent for conventional loans. While VA loans and other loans other than conventional are available in the USVI, our banks are much stricter than stateside.

Talk with our office to get the latest local on island rates and loan officer contacts. Putting down as much as you can a) makes you more attractive to lenders, so you might qualify you for better loan terms and b) gives you additional purchasing power, either decreasing your monthly mortgage payment or increasing your purchase price limit for a home.

2. Can I handle the not-so-glamorous aspects of homeownership?
If you can’t even fathom the prospect of having a home maintenance crisis without having a landlord to call to fix it, you might want to reconsider homeownership - or at the very least, buy a lower maintenance condo. As a home owner, after all, you essentially are your own landlord. Pipe bursts in the middle of the night? Guess who’ll be up fixing it or calling (and paying) the plumber? (Hint: you.)

There are also some less-than-glamorous bills you’ll have to deal with in your new role as a homeowner that you never laid eyes on as a renter: property taxes and hazard insurance, to name two. When you go from renter to owner, you also need to account for the cost of appliances and maintaining the property’s roof, windows, and landscaping, among other things.

3. How long do I intend to stay in the house?
If you think you might tire of the area in the next few years, then you really shouldn’t be thinking about buying a house (unless of course, you want to play landlord and rent it out after you leave - a prospect which requires its own risk/rewards analysis). For your home purchase to pencil out as a good deal, financially, you’ll shouldn’t buy unless you’re comfortable staying in the house at least 5-7 years - or even longer. This gives you some time to build up equity and make up for the costs of buying, selling and moving.

4. Are my job and finances stable?
Maybe you just went through a major career change and are in the process of working your way back up from the top. Or maybe you work in a field that has been hit really hard by layoffs and cutbacks. The worst case scenario is to find yourself in a spot with mortgage payment you have no way to make, when you could have avoided that by seeing the writing on the wall. If you feel like there’s a real chance you could lose your job or income tomorrow, you may want to hold off on buying a house - that has the added bonus of giving you the geographic freedom to move, if needed, to get a new job.

Is there really such a thing as 100 percent job security in today’s economy? Probably not. But the best practice is to be confident that your finances could handle a temporary loss of income and still make your mortgage payments, before you buy, especially on your vacation home.

5. What are my real reasons for buying?
Buying a home is a long-term commitment that will have massive impacts on your lifestyle - island living is very different from stateside living - lots of wonderful times in paradise and some days present challenges - be ready to think outside of the box!

Ask yourself these questions, and be honest with your answers. If you really want to buy start planning now - consider working closely with our office and a mortgage professional to get an action plan in place and start working that plan.Your Place in Paradise Awaits!

Posted by Sunhaven Realty LLC on October 23rd, 2011 4:47 PMPost a Comment (0)

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