Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale joins Brad Smith to discuss her best advice for homeowners moving from their starter home into their second home.
"The first, I would say, is to be aware of what are your non-negotiables," Hale says, explaining this could be the school district, the square footage, or the location, among other things. "Whatever your non-negotiables are, figure that out and lock it in upfront. It will make it easier for you to make trade-offs down the road because we know that consumers have to make trade-offs."
"The other thing to consider is being willing to buy during the off-season. You'll get better pricing. You might sacrifice options. We do see more for sale homes in the peak spring season, but you'll get sellers who are potentially a little bit more flexible if you're buying during the shoulder season, which is typically in the fall," she tells Yahoo Finance.
"The other thing that you want to do is focus on the things you can control. You cannot control inflation. You cannot control the [Federal Reserve] policy and what's going to happen to mortgage rates. But there are things that you can do to get a better rate for yourself. Those include improving your credit score, lowering your debt to income ratio ... [and] focusing on your loan to value ratio."
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Watch the video above to hear all four of Danielle Hale's best tips for prospective homebuyers.
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This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.