3 Next-Gen House Hunting Tips for Singles
The American household has changed â big time. More and more, people get married later in life, if at all. Many even go from married to single and back multiple times throughout their lives. This all means that more and more people are buying homes while single. Many unmarried folks are buying homes to live in on their own, while others are looking for homes to live in with their children, parents or other partners â past, present and future.
If youâre embarking upon the process of buying a home on your own, here are a few things to factor into your thought process and your action plan:
1. Solo doesnât necessarily mean condo. A decade or two ago, many single house hunters were automatically directed toward low-maintenance condos and townhomes. And truthfully, some singles still enjoy the tax and financial advantages of ownership without the responsibilities of caring for lawns, roofs and other so-called âsingle family homeâ features they have no use for.
That said, the descriptor of a detached, standalone property as a âsingle family homeâ is woefully out of date. Many single people are electing to purchase detached homes for a number of reasons. Chief among them include:
- Needing the square footage to allow their household to expand to include future partners, future children, adult children, or even elderly parents
- Needing extra rooms (or even extra apartments!) to rent out, do hobbies in or run a home business from, and
- Having the outdoor space for dogs, cats, horses and vegetable gardens, oh my!
If you are dreaming of a life in more of a home than your friends and family members think you can handle and you can well afford the home of your dreams, donât be daunted. Reach out to other people in your circle of friends who are single and own either single family homes or condos and townhomes to get a sense for their experience. If you decide to go with a condo, make sure you read the HOA disclosures thoroughly and that you understand what youâre getting for your HOA dollars. (Hint: HOA dues often cover expenses you would pay out of pocket otherwise, like waste management fees, landscaping, building insurance and even roof and window maintenance.)
But if you do decide to go the single family home route, make sure you ask your circle (and your agent) for referrals to the contractors, gardeners and handyfolk who can make home maintenance on your own much more doable. It takes a village to maintain a home over the long run. So get a village!
2. Pay extra close attention to home inspections and home warranty provisions. Much of whatâs scary about solo home ownership are the seeming risks around things that could go wrong. The most common such fear is a valid one: What happens if something goes wrong with the house? With just one income, it can be frightening to think of how rapidly a lemon of a house could rock your entire financial world.
There are a couple of tools you can build into your transaction that can massively mitigate just this risk. First, your home inspections. Most people think of home inspections as almost pass-fail: if they reveal devastatingly expensive issues, they back out of the deal. But if they donât surface any fatal flaws, the deal is on.
Single home buyers should view their home inspections as the opportunity to spend a few more hours in the home, discovering its warts and all, before they move forward with the deal. Take special care to attend your inspections in person, ask the inspector to show you the issues they find while theyâre on site. Read the reports and get any follow-up inspections or repair bids before your contingency period runs out. That way, youâll have a concrete idea of the financial exposure to repairs that are needed right now while you can still either (a) negotiate to get the seller to chip in or (b) back out of the deal without penalty, if you need to.
The second tool is a largely underrated one: your home warranty plan. Most buyers get one, and often sellers pay for it. But what many buyers donât realize is that (a) they can pay to upgrade the plan so that the warranty company will cover a wide assortment of future home repairs, and (b) they can and should renew their home warranty plan annually, in the future. Having the ability to ring up the home warranty company and spend $50 for a service call when your water heater, furnace, or plumbing goes on the fritz can dramatically reduce the fear factor of solo home ownership.
3. Consult with legal and financial pros before you buy with a relative, friend or partner. Buying a home with a friend, a parent, a sibling or even a life partner can seem like the cure for what ails a single personâs home buying situation. Namely, it injects additional financial resources, allows you to buy a pricier (read: larger, nicer, better located) property than you could on your own, and even positions you to have help making hard house hunt decisions and maintaining the place going forward.
Co-buying has big benefits, but it also poses some serious questions â questions that a lawyer, tax advisor or financial planner can help you anticipate and resolve, in advance, to avoid conflicts later. If you decide to go the co-buying route, make the investment of time and money up front to get some professional advice about how to structure the transaction and the financial relationship. Doing so, and reducing the agreement to a clear, professionally-drafted written contract that is recognized by and filed on record with the relevant state and local governments can go a very long way toward helping you avoid later damage to the interpersonal relationship with your co-buyer.
BUYERS: Did your status as single or married factor into your house hunting decisions? If so, how? If not, why?
I read this article at: Â http://www.trulia.com/tips/2014/03/3-next-gen-house-hunting-tips-for-singles/?ecampaign=cnews&eurl=www.trulia.com%2Ftips%2F2014%2F03%2F3-next-gen-house-hunting-tips-for-singles%2F
Remember to follow our Blog at: https://therealestatebeat.wordpress.com/
Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help. Â
Email Sabrina & Susan at:Â Info@TheCatonTeam.com
Call us at: 650-568-5522Â Office:Â 650-365-9200
Want Real Estate Info on the Go? Download our FREE Real Estate App:  http://thecatonteam.com/mobileapp
Visit our Website at:Â Â http://thecatonteam.com/
VISIT OUR NEW INSTAGRAM PAGE:Â http://instagram.com/thecatonteam
Visit us on Facebook: Â Â http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sabrina-Susan-The-Caton-Team-Realtors/294970377834
Yelp us at: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-caton-team-realtors-sabrina-caton-and-susan-caton-redwood-city
Or Yelp me:Â http://www.yelp.com/user_details_thanx?userid=gpbsls-_RLpPiE9bv3Zygw
Connect with us professionally at LinkedIn:Â http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=6588013&trk=tab_pro
Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at:
http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com
Thanks for reading â Sabrina
 The Caton Team – Susan & Sabrina – A Family of Realtors
Sabrina BRE# 01413526 / Susan BRE #01238225 / Team BRE#70000218/ 01499008
Like this:
Like Loading...
The Real Estate Beat 
You must be logged in to post a comment.