Home Buying Tips – Adding A Mile Can Save You Thousands
If you’re in the market to buy a home, consider casting your net just a little bit wider. Research is becoming a real key to home buying and some of that research should include settlement and ongoing costs. There can be a huge variation between states when it comes to transfer and annual taxes – there can also be a large variation between counties in the same state.
There are situations where, by adding a mile or two to your search area, can result in savings that run into thousands of dollars. In fact, you can often measure the difference in tens of thousands of dollars. Taxes aside, home prices between counties can vary. A three bedroom home in one county may cost you $200,000-$250,000 while the exact same home in the next county, $10,000-$20,000 less. The difference, an extra 15 minutes travel time to work perhaps.
If you do the math, a savings of $20,000 when buying a home, particularly if you are like most buyers and relying on a mortgage, will save you thousands just in interest payments. Add to that a possible smaller transfer cost and annual taxes that, all things being equal, are going to be charged on a lower valuation. In many cases, the annual rate is also smaller, further adding to the savings.
Home buying when money is tight is becoming a real skill. Adding a mile or two and moving into the next county could save you tens of thousands of dollars – yet that one or two miles is meaningless when it comes to travel times. If you are in the market for a new home, considering looking just a little further afield – you may find better value.
Of course, I have to add one rider to this – you can add an extra mile and find yourself in a county with higher home prices and higher annual taxes – but then, I did say you have to do some research.
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