Happy Friday the 13th to you! After last week’s spooky market report, I thought you may want to know where you could buy a new home and stay within a universally affordable price range. A little treat after the last mind trick.
First, why focus on new construction? That answer is simple, when a buyer is looking at homes, they will 9 out of 10 times choose a new home over a resale. In today’s market, mortgage payments are highly affected, so the burden of unexpected expenses weighs on the minds of buyers. When you buy a new home, at least you know that the most expensive components are new and will be under warranty for a few years. This helps ease the minds of those concerned with unexpected budget busters.
New construction also means that the home is clean and no one has graced the toilet seats or showers! This is a real big thing, especially if the rival homes on the market are unkept or have been poorly maintained.
Currently, there are 205 new homes for sale under $308,000. The lowest-priced home is found in Jackson, S.C. It is listed for $167,900. Surprisingly, if you want a new home, you should look in South Carolina. Of these homes, 148 are for sale in South Carolina and the majority of them are found in Graniteville and Aiken. They cost about $169 per square foot on average, and the average size home is about 1556 sq. ft.
About half of these new homes are attached or townhomes. Most have at least a one-car attached garage and are found in new or established subdivisions. There are a couple of outliers that have about one or two acres of land and no homeowners association.
Some good news is that nearly all of these homes are found in areas where 100% loan options are available to those who qualify. This would be a loan that requires NO DOWN PAYMENT and very minimal cash in hand to close. To qualify for one of these loans, you should expect to need a 620 or better credit score and not own a home you plan to keep. These special loans also have no mortgage insurance or PMI charged to the buyer. So, they give you the ability to get a lower or more affordable mortgage, compared to the extremely common FHA loan.
At an estimated 7.5% interest rate, on a 100% loan with no PMI, you can expect to pay about $1400 a month for $167,000 OR $2500 a month for a purchase price of $308,000.
Some other good news for buyers looking to buy these homes, most of the subdivisions with larger volume availability, are offering nice incentives. These incentives would be things like fences, blinds, refrigerators, and closing costs or giving interest rate buydown funds. I’ve seen some offering up to $10,000!
I’ve included some (not all available homes or communities are included) images of communities advertising incentives on both sides of the river. If this sounds intriguing to you, I would love to talk through your specific situation.
I am always available to answer any questions you may have, even the scary ones!
