real estate tips
buying home or selling home tips
home  buyer and seller guides
FreeCreditReport.com
The Leading Provider of Consumer Credit Monitoring Products.
(Plus very entertaining and catchy TV commercials)
America’s #1 online choice going on 10 years.
[ Get Your Free Credit Score and a Whole Lot More... ]



SolveYourProblem Real Estate Article Series
When Buying a Home, Keep Your Cost Down

       

Today's boom in home building is by-passing millions of families who lack the money to buy the expensive houses that most builders are putting up.

A new study by Professional Builder, a major trade journal, finds that $81,000 is about all that most families are willing and able to pay. A whopping 42 per cent of prospective buyers are looking for something under $70,000.

Homes selling for less than $70,000 are a rarity in many cities, but substantial, well-built homes can be had for less than that in many places - sometimes for a good deal less.

Buy a "basic" house

It may not be the home of their dreams, but many families are now settling for a "basic" house - one that is modest in size and features - to be able to enjoy the tax and investment benefits of home-ownership.

In an attempt to slash prices, builders in several cities have eliminated the family room, extra baths, the garage and certain appliances. Many are going to standard sizes in windows, doors and other materials to eliminate waste and are using more factory-built parts to cut costs at the home site. The result is a price tag below $70,000, sometimes even below $50,000, on these houses. Wherever the models are offered, buyers are snapping them up.

Put in "sweet equity"

People who make the effort to acquire new skills find that they can pare thousands of dollars off the cost of a new home by doing much of the construction work themselves. These families are linking up with builders who erect only the shell of a home - exterior walls, roof, interior studs and subfloor.

Financing is sometimes a problem for people who want to try sweat equity, because many lenders will not grant a mortgage until a home is completed. Jim Walter provides its own financing for do-it-yourselfers. The term of a loan is 15 years, and the interest rate is about 11.5 per cent - well above the 9 per cent charged on conventional mortgage loans. And buyers are expected to own their building lot free and clear.

Fix up an older house

While existing homes often are priced as high as new models, some families get over this hurdle by buying older dwellings in marginal neighborhoods that have a solid chance of reviving.

Many such neighborhoods are benefiting from major renewal projects, and a number of cities have earmarked thousands of dollars of local and federal funds for home-rehabilitation loans and for improvement of streets, parks and other community facilities.

Consider a mobile home

With the prices of regular homes soaring, more people are choosing a type of shelter that they might have snubbed in times past: mobile homes. The only moving of most of these homes nowadays is from factory to owner's site.

Not only is the quality of factory-built homes improving, but the price gap between them and conventional housing is becoming wider every year. A site-built house costs almost twice as much as to produce as a similar mobile unit.

One of the fastest selling types of mobile homes is the "double-wide," which is made up of two sections bolted together. Placed on a concrete foundation on the home site and provided with a pitched roof, aluminum siding, shutters and downspouts, the double-wide often is indistinguishable from a conventional dwelling. Yet the price is generally less than $45,000.

The manufactured house is not welcome everywhere, however. Some communities have zoning laws and building codes that prohibit such shelter. Mortgage lenders are frequently skeptical, and labor unions in certain cities object to the manufactured homes.

Still, most of these roadblocks are not as big as they were just a few years ago, and experts predict an expanded market for mobile homes as the price of conventional housing soars.

# # # # #

SolveYourProblem.com : 2007

> Home > Real Estate Articles: Main Page

 

AddThis Social Bookmark Button      AddThis Feed Button

 
> How To Keep Your Bathtub/Shower Clean
> 12 Steps To Fix And Replace An Old Toilet
> How Do I Refinish My Hardwood Floors?
> Why Doors & Windows Stick & How To Fix
> 3 HDTV Questions You Should Ask
> 6 Tips for New Home Buyers: Before You Sign
> How To Buy or Sell Any Home
> Why Your Loan is Rejected
> 5 Facts Credit Scoring Lenders Consider
 

STOP. Immediate Action is Critical. Make a Difference.
Discover 93 Proven Ways You Can Fight Global Warming.
“…the most important environmental issue facing mankind today…”


- by Jeff Cohen, Founder of SolveYourProblem.com

Like This Article?
Want More?

Click Here To
Connect To
This Channel's
Index Page.

   

Hot Channels
For The Past 7 Days:

Home Tips
(2,466 views)
HDTV's
(521 views)
Gardening
(459 views)
Mortgage & Loans
(346 views)
Home Theater
(302 views)
Lawn Care
(283 views)
Real Estate
(270 views)
Home Security
(265 views)
Landscaping
(215 views)

Top How-To's
For The Past 7 Days:

Air Conditioner
Problems

(199 views)

Copper PVC
Galvanized Pipes

(127 views)

Fix Stuck Doors
& Windows

(113 views)

How To Replace
Your Exterior Door

(110 views)

Do Not Tile Over
Vinyl Flooring

(107 views)

How To Install a
Hot Water Heater

(103 views)

How To Patch a
Hole In The Wall

(90 views)

Replace An
Old Screen Door

(87 views)

Keep Your Bathtub
& Shower Clean

(86 views)

Ways To Conserve
Energy

(84 views)

Rejuvenate
Hardwood Floors

(82 views)

How To Fix,
Repair Toilet

(77 views)

Got Ugly Wood
Paneling?

(71 views)

5 Different Types
of Nails

(71 views)

Changing Your Locks
(53 views)

[ more... ]

 

What's Hot in Home & Pet Life:

CAT TRAINING MADE EASY
Put an end to the stress & annoyance
of your cat behavior problems!
Thousands of people worldwide
have used my unique course

to fast-track their cat's learning.
[ Immensely Satisfying Results Fast ]
VETERINARY SECRETS REVEALED
In Less Than 24 Hours, I Can Show You
How To Examine, Diagnose And Treat
Your Pet At Home.
Over 1,000 Safe, Natural
& Effective Solutions for Healing Your Pet.

[ Proven Solutions - Tested By A Vet! ]
DOG TRAINING MADE EASY
Put an end to the stress & annoyance
of your dog behavior problems!
Thousands of people worldwide
have used my unique course

to fast-track their dog's learning.
[ Immensely Satisfying Results Fast ]

Home | Self Improvement | Small / Home Business | Merchant Accounts | Advertising | Technology | US Elections & Politics
Relationships / Dating | Autos | Gardening | Home Improvement | Pets / Animals | Shopping / Hobbies | Sports | Travel
Directory / All Channels | RSS / XML Feed | Contact | Site Map

SolveYourProblem.com Downloadable "How-To" Guides

AddThis Social Bookmark Button      AddThis Feed Button

© Launch 3, LLC All Rights Reserved