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New Home Buying Trends of Millennials

Since the late 1990’s, home buyers interested in a buying a home have dramatically increased their usage of the Internet to find available homes for sale. In fact, 2016 statistics from the National Association of Realtors show that 95% of home buyers used Internet searches throughout their home buying process. Of that 44% of home buyers started their home search online. And, 100% of home shoppers used the Internet to search for a specific property address.

Of these home buyers, 99% of Millennials, the new generation of home buyers, used the Internet to search for homes for sale compared to 89% of the Baby Boomer generation. And, Millennials are known for their intensive and overwhelming dedication to complete research of any product that they will buy. This generation is known for visiting multiple websites to compare just one product before purchasing it. Also, Millennials are just now able to find employment in their field and begin to pay off student loans and begin their search for a home now that employment is on an upward trend after the Recession. Because of the limited availability of extra cash for a down payment and the tightness of home inventory available to new home buyers, especially first-time home buyers, Millennials are interested in purchasing a home that does not need a lot of work or improvement in order to be able to support themselves and not spend money on repairs or renovations.

What has materialized out of this information is that Millennials may purchase a new home for sale, built brand new buy a builder instead of a “fixer-upper” home that requires additional money for upgrading or improvements. Also, Millennials typically purchase their “starter home” with plans to move again soon in the future to a 2nd or 3rd home choice, so they actually spend less time in their first home purchase than previous first time home buyer trends would indicate.

This information has given valuable insight to professionals who assist Millennials in the search for the home that they are buying. Builders know that Millennials may prefer to buy a new versus a previously owned home, so as long as they are a quality builder whose work is showcased effectively to a Millennial buyer, they start out with an “edge” over the competition. This information has also helped Realtors who assist Millennial buyers by helping prep home sellers who have homes to sell in the price range of Millennial buyers to make sure their homes are improved, upgraded, and ready to sell without any additional construction or renovation work required. Millennials tend to buy homes that are “just right.”

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Ron Lee Homes' Blog

Challenges Facing Millennials to Buy a Home

With home pricing increasing in the last 3 consecutive quarters of 2016 and 2017, interest rates inching up because of the Fed allowing interest rate increases, and the supply of housing dwindling because of an active real estate market, the home buyers in the market to purchase a home are in for a lot of challenges as they try to find a home to buy. Interestingly, the demographic of home buyers entering the market this spring is predicted to be 45% millennials.

“Millennials are mostly first-time buyers and they are competing against repeat buyers who have more buying leverage and experience,” said Javier Vivas, manager of economic research for Realtor.com. He added that Millennials recently became the dominant group of users searching for homes on the website.

Most millennials will probably be first-time home buyers, and these buyers new to the market will be going up against seasoned home buyers who know how to bargain and bid for the homes that they have been evaluating since last year. Combined with a rise of 7% in home values (according to Zillow) and a shortage of home for sale inventory in the housing market – approximately a 3% drop compared to the same time last year; millennials will need to approach their purchase decisions prepared both financially and proactively.

Homes going on the market in this type of environment are typically swooped up quickly or immediately have several people bidding on one house. Advice to these first-time buyers would be to establish your loan approval before even beginning the home search process so that you know exactly the type and price of home you can afford. Then, move quickly on any new homes for sale that come on the market. If the bidding war gets out of control, move on to the next prospect because going out of your approval amount or budget will only hold up your ability to close the sale. Most of all, don’t get frustrated – interest rates, though going up slightly, are still historically lower than in any years past, making now an excellent time to buy a home.

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Ron Lee Homes' Blog

Custom Home Builders in St. Tammany Parish

What distinguishes Ron Lee Homes from other custom home builders in St. Tammany Parish is that Ron Lee is personally involved in almost all of the custom home projects that are completed in the cities of Mandeville, Madisonville, Covington, and Abita Springs. New custom homes require an almost daily review and critique, so Ron Lee’s hands-on approach to building new homes on the Northshore is the key to his success in building custom homes. With amazingly unique interior and exterior amenities, energy efficient green building techniques, and top-of-the-line building materials, the new, custom homes built by Ron Lee Homes stand above the competition in design as well as durability.

One of the main aspects of a home built by Ron Lee is the foundation. Ron Lee takes great care with each and every foundation of his new homes because of the shifting and sometimes unreliable soil in Southeast Louisiana. These foundations have a step-by-step meticulous process that requires attention to detail and experienced

sub-contractors that have worked with Ron Lee Homes for many years. Relying on sub-contractors is a huge part of being a successful St. Tammany Parish builder, and with 24 years building in St. Tammany Parish, Ron Lee has met and vetted many different types of subs. With Ron Lee personally overseeing the laying of the foundation, the framing, roofing, siding, and interior construction of your new home, you can count on the construction work to be quality as well as critiqued and corrected as the new home is put together.

Another benefit of having such a personally vested builder is that you will get to have one-on-one contact with your builder. Ron Lee answers his phone, e-mails, and requests as timely as he can. Also, he is backed up by a team of people at his home building company who have years of experience in the real estate industry as well as the St. Tammany Parish area. From the many testimonials from our satisfied homeowners, most of our new home buyers have been pleasantly surprised by the level of professionalism, communication, and follow up provided by Ron Lee Homes.

If you are not sure where to begin your new home building experience, Contact Ron Lee Homes today for a custom home consultation to learn more about the new home design and building process. Call 985-626-7619 or E-mail [email protected].

Ron Lee Homes' Blog

10 Reasons to Buy a New Home

With the house market in full recovery, and home inventory tightening up nationwide, you as a home buyer have a very significant choice to make when deciding the type of home that you would like to buy. Location is always important, and price is normally a deciding factor, but there is one other huge consideration you should make when purchasing your home – choosing to buy a new home vs. buying an existing home. Below are 10 reasons to buy a new home vs. an existing one.

1. Tax Benefits: Each month as a renter, you spend about the same amount of money as a mortgage and get none of the benefits while your landlord pockets your rent, increases equity, and writes of property tax costs. As an owner of a new home, you will receive all of the tax benefits of owning your own home PLUS, if you have savings from a retirement IRA account, you can pull out $10,000 from this account – tax free – as long as the money is used for a down payment on your home, and you are a first time home buyer.

2. New Home Warranty: Buying a new home vs. buying an existing home gets you brand new everything – windows, doors, paint job, carpet, appliances, and all of your lighting and trim. When you buy an existing home, you may have the unwanted chore of constantly replacing worn out parts of your home. Also, your new home comes with a 1, 2, 5 warranty per Louisiana law which protects the home in its entirety the 1st year, all major structural components for 2 years, and framing and infrastructure for 5 years.

3. Repairs and Maintenance: In addition to replacing components, existing homes come built-in with a honey-do list. You could be repainting the interior and exterior, upgrading / renovating the kitchen cabinets and countertops, and replacing door knobs, hinges, and other pieces and parts of the home. With a new home, you don’t even have to worry about things falling apart for a few years at least if you have purchased a quality-built home in St. Tammany Parish.

4. Energy Efficiency: Green building has become standard for many home builders in St. Tammany Parish, and Ron Lee Homes is a Certified Green Builder by the National Association of Home Builders. By installing all green building features, you will not only get the benefit of owning a brand new home, but you will save money in the long run with lower energy bill as well as the environmental satisfaction of reducing greenhouse gases. With previously owned homes, especially homes older than 1980, you will be dealing with less efficient home openings, insulation, and HVAC systems which will increase the cost of heating and cooling your home.

5. Smarter, Safer, Well-Built: New systems installed in new homes now come with smarter and better working fire alarms, security systems, and smoke detectors. There is even certain types of primer boards, plywood, and sheetrock that is fire resistant to withstand a fire event.

6. Credit and Financing: Buying a new home allows your mortgage company, lender, or banker more options in choosing the right loan for you. Especially if you are investing wisely, your home may appraise for a higher amount allowing more equity and better interest rates.

7. Low Interest Rates: With all of the worry that the Fed is about to increase interest rates, rates are historically low and are still at record-breaking lows compared to any previous year of buying a new home. Because you get to write the interest off on your taxes, it is a win-win situation when buying a new home.

8. Holding Its Value: Because you are buying new instead of previously owned, your home is in better shape and will last longer as long as you chose the right builder. No matter how wonderful a previously owned home is, it will still “fall apart” eventually faster than a new home because it is older and more worn out.

9. Avoiding Health Risks: With the new information about lead paint and its effects as well as asbestos, many people are very aware that older construction can contain these hazards. As long as you have hired a quality builder to build your new home, you will never have to worry about hazardous construction materials that could drastically affect your health.

10. Fun Choices: When building a new home, you get to put part of your personality into it by making selections such as cabinetry, countertops, paint, siding, flooring and much more. In addition to being a part of building your own home, you can take comfort in knowing that you are making the biggest financial investment of your life – one that will give you equity and security for the future.

If you are ready to build your new home in St. Tammany Parish, Contact Ron Lee Homes, a custom home builder, at 985-626-7619 or E-mail [email protected].

Click Here for the Source of the Information.