Home is almost always tied to family and life stage.
For most people, a major life event can place you in the place of buying and selling a home:
- a first home for newlyweds,
- a new home for the renter who has saved up their down payment.
- a bigger home for a growing family,
- new homes for spouses after a divorce
- a move for a job,
- a smaller house for the empty nesters after the kids head off to college
- estate sale after a death.
The list goes on.
A family home is a special place where you gather to mark these occasions and make unforgettable memories.
Start the Cycle of Home Buying: The Rental Home
For many, this is where one might start. It might be an apartment, condo, townhouse, or a room in a house full of housemates. You pay the rent each month, but it’s a place where start to call home.
You know it is not forever, but you take care of it as if it were your own (so you get your security deposit back). You may not have to mow the lawn or change the air filters, but you get the basics of paying utilities, paying the rent, and establishing or improving your credit.
At some point, you dream of having your own place you call your own.
Next in the Cycle of Home Buying: The Starter Home
The purchase of your first family home is a huge, exciting leap into the next phase.
This starter home is a place for you to build a foundation. It doesn’t matter if you are single, want roommates to share your mortgage costs, or a couple starting out as a new family.
Your starter home might be small, maybe even a little out of date. It might have wallpaper from 30 years ago and carpets that need to be changed out.
Or maybe it was recently renovated by an investor and is in excellent condition to move in.
This starter home will provide you with many valuable lessons of being a homeowner – things like simple DIY repairs, lawn care, and the pride of ownership. You’ll learn practical lessons in caring for your home, as well as making precious memories while there.
It’s a place you know you probably won’t stay forever.
So, what should you look for in a starter home? Some factors to keep in mind:
- The cost of a down payment
- The number of bedrooms and bathrooms it offers
- Proximity to your job and overall commute time
- Whether or not you need a backyard for entertaining or pets
- How long do you plan to live there
Third Step in Cycle of Home Buying: Your Next Home -> Moving on Up
After a few years, your circumstances are different. Maybe you’ve moved from being single with roommates to married with a spouse. Maybe you’ve had your first child with a second on the way. Maybe there are just a few pets. No matter what the circumstance, you find yourself dreaming of your next home with particular features:
- A more functional kitchen
- A second story
- An additional bedroom
- A garage
- A larger yard for entertaining friends
- A larger home office.
- A shorter commute
- A different school district for kids
- A promotion that leads to greater income
To get that next home is a two-step process – selling your existing home and buying the next.
Welcome to that upgrade process. This might continue a few times. You might want a mother-in-law suite to care for an aging parent. You might want a home with a pool for your teenagers to make a hangout place. You might have to change cities due to a job promotion.
The Investment Home
Maybe it’s time to add a house – a place in the mountains, a place at the beach, a condo on the harbor that you rent out when you are not using it.
Maybe it’s time to buy that rental property for an investment.
These happen at different life stages, but all are part of the buying and selling process of homes.
The Downsize Home
Empty nesters may want to trade down the size of their place after their children have gone to college. Some may choose to downsize after their grandchildren have grown.
What was a great home for its size and stage in life has now gotten too big for you and you’ve decided to sell your home and scale down to a smaller home, a condo, or a townhouse.
Or just maybe with the equity you’ve gained over the years, downsizing to a smaller-priced home will let you have the cash to use and travel the world as you have dreamed.
That’s the Cycle of Home Buying
That’s the home buying and selling cycle.
Your family home is where your lifetime of memories are made. Although you may move through different stages in life, and in turn move from one house to another, there will be precious memories that you carry from each place. Your home is the place where it happens.
We aim to be some of the best Realtors in Port St Lucie by helping you with the process of buying or selling your Treasure Coast Property. Start a conversation with us about your next move.
