Homebuyers want price, condition, location
Homebuyers nowadays have some advantages over prospective buyers during the years of the housing bust: low (but rising) interest rates and relatively low (but rising) home prices in many markets. Those advantages don't necessarily translate into confidence about a home purchase.
Buyers want to be sure they are buying a home that will at least maintain its market value, if not appreciate over the coming years.
In order to feel more certain about their choice of home, today's buyers want homes that meet three factors of good value:
- Price.
- Condition.
- Location.
"Since no one knows when the market will truly level out and values will start to climb, buyers are trying to insulate themselves from buying an overvalued home," says Roxanne Gennari, a sales associate with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Princeton Junction, N.J. "Buyers are looking for the best deal they can get. In many cases, they only want to buy if they can get a house at a certain price."
Here are six items on homebuyers' checklists in today's market.