For Buyers Who Want to Upsize on the Cheap

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2016

Is it possible to buy a bigger home without having to pay big bucks? Realtor.com® offers some tips to potential buyers who are looking for a larger home on a smaller budget. For example, they can:

Find a stale listing. 

“Search for homes above your price range that have been on the market for over 30 days,” says David Feldberg, broker/owner of Coastal Real Estate Group in Newport Beach, Calif. “Selling a home stinks, and after 30 days on the market, especially in a seller’s market like we have today, it’s obvious the home is priced wrong.” 

Read more: Trends That'll Influence Homes in 2016

Search for a “granny” home. 

Look for the most outdated home you can find -- orange shag carpet, floral wallpaper, and all.  “Older homes that haven’t been updated tend to languish because most buyers today want newly built homes or ones that look like a page out of the Pottery Barn catalog,” says Anne West, a real estate pro with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Winnetka, Ill.

Look for a home to renovate. 

Search for a home with potential to add on or open up cramped spaces. Can a wall be knocked down to open up a space or even added to make two rooms where there was one? Can the basement be finished to add space?  “In many instances, you can use an FHA 203(k) renovation loan, or in higher-priced homes you can use a conventional loan where you wrap the cost of the renovation into the original loan,” says Bruce Ailion of RE/MAX Greater Atlanta. 

Source: “How to Buy a Bigger Home for Less Money,” realtor.com® (June 30, 2016)