Buying and Financing a Home in Southern California in 2016

With 2016 just around the corner millions of people will start to think about New Year’s resolutions. A large percentage of these resolutions will have to do with finances or taking a major step in one’s life when it comes to a major purchase in 2016. A home purchase is often the largest purchase in the common American’s life. Having to take out a home loan for $200,000 or $300,000 is ten times as much as most car loans or personal loans. With this being the case, it is smart to think about the entire process when buying and financing a home in Southern California in 2016.

While most will consider square footage, the granite counter tops in the kitchen, appliances and size of bedrooms there are other things to consider when buying a home in Southern California. One of the most obviously things to consider is the direction of the overall housing market. In the last several years most economists have correctly predicted a resurgence in the housing market in Southern California.

In fact, five of the top 10 hot housing markets happen to be in the state of California. If you are planning on buying a home with an investment component now is a great time to buy. With mortgage interest rates near all time lows the financing is quite affordable and home prices could go up in the near future.

If you are moving from overseas and you have many of your old appliances you may need to consider the plugs and outlets in the house. Rather than ruining all of your electrical equipment and flushing tens of thousands of dollars down the drain you may want to consider getting a heavy duty voltage regulator or converter. There “units” will allow you to convert voltage properly rather than having to worry about the outlets shorting out your chargers, appliances or other electrical items. While most people do not think about this it could end up saving you quite a bit of money. If you do not want to go with a heavy duty voltage regulator you may want to consider a voltage converter.

Also note that some will want to look at the overall condition of the outside of the house and the HVAC system. If you plan on buying and financing an older house the electrical work may need to be upgraded. Before purchasing a voltage regulator and a completely new HVAC system it might be a wise choice to contact an electrician and have them do a quick run through of the house to make certain you will not spend $25,000 just on getting the house up to code.

As with any major purchase, it is strongly suggested that buyers look at all angles of the purchase. These are just a few of the issues that may come up after purchasing and financing your home in Southern California in 2016. If you have an interest in lowering the down payment we suggest looking into a California FHA home mortgage loan. We can help you with each and every step of this loan process.