Happy 4th of July everybody! What a week it’s been. Spent a good part of the week looking at homes, checking out a few open houses and a couple of homes with my real estate agent. It’s tough. My budget is $800K, no more than that. In this market, to get anything under that price I either have to purchase a 3-4 bedroom townhouse in a good location or a 3-4 bedroom single family home in the next city over, which is less ideal due to traffic.
My ideal home is a single family built in the late 90’s to early 2000, where the homes are still fairly modern and have a decent sized backyard. I love the idea of having friends and family over and entertaining in the backyard with bbq and patio and even room for gardening. Townhomes won’t usually allow for that. Additionally, townhomes always have a pricey HOA fee attached to it because they maintain all the exterior of the home and the common area. Some communities have pools and clubhouses that are covered.
Personally, I’d rather maintain my own yard. It’s cheaper in the long run. The costs to consider when purchasing a home are mortgage, property tax, home insurance and HOA if applicable. This can add up. Luckily interest rate is still low, however has steadily climbed from 3.8% for a 30-year fixed a few weeks ago to 4.2% now. My gut tells me that once the banks sell off foreclosures this year, the interest rate will go up and home prices will climb.
It’s hard to believe as home prices are incredibly high as it is! Can you believe $750K for a 3-4 bedroom townhouse? Yeah, I could get several homes out of state. Anyway, it’s July 4th and time to take my mind off the stress of house hunting. A few friends and I decided to rent a limo with San Francisco limousine and take it out to the Berkeley Marina to see the firework show. We didn’t want to deal with the traffic and parking so it only made sense to rent a limo and a chauffeur.
I hope you are all having a fun and safe 4th. There are certain counties that allow purchase and use of fireworks residentially and other counties that don’t. For example, Contra Costa County is a no while Alameda County is a yes. There a lot of great 4th of July parades this morning. The Danville and Livermore parade are usually fun to attend. Stay safe all!