MOVING DAY

Per Zillow, Oklahoma’s market is up. The average priced home is up 7.1% as of December 2020. Permits to build a new home, just in the Oklahoma City area, has grown 55.7% since the summer of 2019. The number of days that properties spend on the market has fallen to 14 days.

by ALLISON ELDREDGE

Is today moving day? In today’s real estate market, moving day is happening for many Americans and it is good for everyone.

The stories I hear from local Oklahomans cover many aspects of home ownership. Selling a lifelong home for something smaller for the golden years, upgrading to a larger home to accommodate a growing family, remodels of the newly purchased home, remodels to the current home, looking for that new home and finding the market is moving fast, and finding the perfect place and being able to get it quickly are all happening every day in the lives of our family and friends.

What should you do if you want to find your moving 32 THE CORRIDOR MAGAZINE / MAY 2021

day? There are many resources to use for your advantage. HGTV.com lists their “10 Best-Kept Secrets for Buying a Home”. Nerdwallet.com gives a great list of “Tips for First-Time Home Buyers”. We’ve listed a few of those tips.

Keep your money where it is. Don’t make any huge purchases up to six months before buying a new home. Improve your credit, if you can. Save extra finances that occur.

Get Pre-Approved for your home loan. A pre-approval will get you into the house you want fast. Recently, my husband’s co-worker was planning on looking at a house after work. It had gone on the market the night

before; however, by noon it was under contract. How? The purchaser was pre-approved and ready.

Get a survey of the land and inspection of the

home. This will prevent border disputes later and will help you know if you need to budget for any repairs on the property. An inspector is an unbiased third party and will provide you will information about the health of the home so that you can make an informed decision to purchase the property or not.

Stalk the neighborhood. This is one tip that may make you feel uncomfortable, but it is completely necessary. Visit the neighborhood at all hours of the day and all days of the week. Will the train track be near and wake you up at 2am. Make sure that you can live comfortably within the neighborhood with all the different aspects of your neighbors and their routines. Does the guy across the street mow his lawn at 7am? Or 10pm? Get up early one day and make your commute to work from the prospective property. Make the commute from work. Is it going to be a good commute or make you frustrated?

Use an experienced realtor; one with local ties to

the community. A realtor can help you find a home to fit the needs you have, can offer other options that you hadn’t explored, and can be a guide to some of the most unusual properties you never knew existed.

Don’t forget extra expenses. Move-in costs, property taxes, changing to new locks, utilities (set up and/ or transfer of services), home association dues, any needed repairs or upgrades, and new furnishings can be budgeted ahead of time.

A realtor once told me a story about a couple to whom he was showing a house. He told them before meeting the current owners at the signing that they should not mention that they were changing anything in the house. They had already decided that the main floor half bath was going to need a makeover. They found it hideous. They were hesitant, but agreed to keep quiet. The current owners asked them how they liked the main floor bathroom. They nicely said that it was unique and they had never seen a bathroom done in that style. The current owners breathed a sigh of relief and signed the papers.

Turns out that the current owners had poured their heart into that unique bathroom and they were worried the new owners would not appreciate it.

Remember, the real estate market will have ups and downs, ebbs and flows. Buying a new home is exciting. Don’t get caught up in the emotion of finding the “perfect” house and find one that you can live in, enjoy, that will fit the needs of your family today and the in the years to come.

The area of the corridor is home to many unique areas to look for your new home: rural, semi-rural, small town, and urban.

Is today the day your start your moving-day journey? n