Buying a home is usually the largest purchase an individual will make in their lifetime. The Lawhead Team would like to share some helpful tips to know what to look for when house hunting:

• Most important is location! You can always change the home and its looks, but you can’t pick it up and move it. Make sure you are house hunting in the neighborhood you want to be in. Do some research on your potential home’s location, how close it is to work, what kind of neighborhood it is in, noise from traffic and neighbors and so forth.
• How is the house situated on its lot? It if is on a hill, does it have a view? Are there steep stairs to climb? Is the yard suitable for children or pets? All these items are important to consider when choosing your home.
• Take time to cruise around the neighborhoods you are looking at. Do your neighbors keep their yard clean and tidy? Is there trash or inoperable cars around others yards? You will also want to make sure your neighborhood is safe for children, if you have any, to walk around and play in.
• Take note of your potential house’s curb appeal. Is the landscaping attractive? Will the home’s exterior need to be painted soon? Make sure the appearance of your home is one that you will not get tired of seeing day in and day out.
• Determine the size of the home you want. If your children are moved out and it is just you and your spouse, do you really need a 5 bedroom home? A large house can give you the extra space you’d wanted for a home office or craft room but keep in mind the higher heating bills and property tax bills.
• Make sure your kitchen is what you are looking for in a home. The kitchen is the main focal point of a home and a kitchen remodel is usually very costly. Is there enough storage? These items are important to consider when looking at a house to buy.

The Lawhead Team came across a great article from the Wall Street Journal about the time to buy a house.

The time is now to buy a house.

Warren Buffett famously once said: “Be fearful when others are greedy, be greedy when others are fearful.”

And if you’re not instinctively scared of the housing market, then global warming, saturated fat, running with scissors and the bogeyman probably aren’t keeping you awake at night, either.

The fact that everyone is scared to dabble in—much less commit to—housing makes it a close-to-perfect investment based on Mr. Buffett’s principle. But buying real estate is a good long-term investment for many more reasons, some of which have only become apparent in recent weeks.

The most striking: Housing prices rose sharply from April to May. The S&P/Case-Shiller Index rose 2.2% in 20 of the nation’s big cities. Prices shot up more than 3% in Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco and Minneapolis. Even Detroit’s housing market scored a gain, inching up by 0.4%.

Nationally, the increase was the first in seven months. More importantly, the increase matched other data and empirical evidence this spring that foreclosures slowed and inventories were shrinking. Simple economics suggests that as the supply of distressed property slows, buyers will be forced into higher-price properties.

In addition, interest rates on 30-year fixed mortgages have tumbled below 3.5%. For those who can get credit, these aren’t just historically low rates; they are one-sided deals tilted toward borrowers.

Other good signs: Housing starts rose 6.9% in June. Home-building stocks are on the rise, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up 27% so far this year. And for those who can invest in property, rents continue their ascent. Prices are at a 10-year high, with the median unit renting for $710 a month. Real-estate website Trulia found that it is cheaper to buy than rent in each of the nation’s 100 biggest metropolitan areas.

In other words, if you can buy a house today, you can save the difference it would cost you to rent even if you stay in the home just five years. If you can buy a property and rent it, it is almost certain that the rent will cover the cost of the financing—and the property will appreciate.

Here’s where the fear comes in. From 30% to 50% of existing mortgages in the U.S. market are underwater, depending on the estimate. That means many borrowers are trapped in their homes and loans. They either can keep paying and hope prices will improve or walk away, putting downward pressure on home prices.

Foreclosure rates have leveled off, but market analysts believe an increase is likely.

Here’s why. Since the financial crisis, 3.7 million homes have been foreclosed on, but an additional 1.4 million remain in the national foreclosure inventory, according to CoreLogic, a real-estate research firm.

Finally, a housing recovery won’t happen, or could be snuffed out, by a rotten economy. There’s never been significant growth in housing with high unemployment. And as Dow Jones’s Kathleen Madigan noted, “Potential buyers must feel secure with their job prospects before they commit to long-term mortgages. Higher loan standards mean banks want to see an applicant’s solid income history before lending.”

There is plenty to be afraid of when it comes to home buying. But in the current investing climate, housing presents an attractive long-term investment that should hold steady or even have upside surprise in the short term.

Fixed-income yields have fallen to historic lows, and the stock market has traded in a range, rising and falling skittishly on jobs, growth data and the news from Europe.

Recently, I was forced to choose between renting and buying. I decided to buy because it offered immediate monthly savings compared to renting, not to mention a mortgage-interest deduction.

So this is at least one case where I’m putting my money where my keyboard is.

Mr. Buffett would remind us that investments of any kind are not without risk. Each should be considered with the investor’s time horizon and appetites. But he also has acknowledged that real estate is especially attractive when financing is cheap, there is pent-up demand and prices have been driven down by a spooked market. Put another way, it’s time to be greedy.

“Finally it’s time to buy a house” is from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443545504577563882778061396.html?mod=wsj_streaming_stream.

Contact The Lawhead Team because now is the time to buy a house.

According to a recent appearance on CNBC, Donald Trump stated, “Housing is one of the great investments right now. I tell people all the time when they come up to me, they say, ‘What should I do, Mr. Trump?’ I say go buy a house.”

Warren Buffet’s recent declaration that if he had a way to manage them, he would buy a couple hundred thousand single family homes and rent them out.  Housing seems to be rated as the right thing to buy as of late, especially among investors who see a rising rental market and big income potential.

Apart from investors, is this a good time for “organic” buyers to buy a house?  This meaning, people that are buying a home to live in it, raise a family, and hold onto it for a while.  Yes!

Around 73% of the homes sold in January were priced below $250,000, according to the National Association of Realtors.  47% of homes sold that year were either a short sale or foreclosure, where the lender is allowing the house to sell for less than the value of the current mortgage on the home.

Timing the housing market is about as difficult as timing the stock market.  While housing moves far more slowly, it works to your benefit with prices not changing on a daily basis or from major events. Sales clearly have bottomed in housing and prices always delay sales but they will come back.  If you cannot get a good mortgage now, maybe it is not your time.  However, if you can, don’t wait as this is the time to buy a house.