I have been advertising on Craigslist to first time homebuyers: “Starter Homes.”
If you’ve read anything on my website or of my postings at the Craigslist Housing Forum or NYTimes.com Housing Forum you know one thing about me above all else: I believe in owning your own home.
Strip away your agonizing thoughts about interest rates, the economy, the global state of politics, oil prices, the jobs outlook, and just about any other distracting negative news that prevents your from achieving this most important goal. And if you’re working with me I’ll peel away the distractions from your brain for you. No problem. My pleasure. Really, I will bring you back to the most important reality, and the only one that counts: you’ve got to own your own home.
My “Starter Homes” ads on Craigslist sprung from a mission I had with my wife, The Realtor last fall. A young woman was referred to me by her aunt. Lorraine and I were entrusted with the task of finding this young lady her first home, located in Nassau County, and priced no more than $330,000-340,000. Whoa. This seemed a daunting task.
More about our experiences with that house purchase here: https://www.tcurranmortgage.com/blog/?p=7
We very quickly discovered the lie to our perception about the Nassau County market. You didn’t have to spend $500,000 to buy a home! Wow! In fact, we found over 140 houses in that first search. And these homes were located all over Nassau. Best news yet: the homes were all priced less than $350,000!
We helped our young customer make her dream come true. I saw this as an opportunity for my clients. I meet so many homebuyers who have the strong desire to live here on Long Island, yet can’t afford the prices. Thus began our work to help as many homebuyers as possible make their dreams come true with homes priced in a range affordable to their monthly budgets.
Now, these homes are what I call Starter Homes and I will write these next blog articles specifically to discuss what I mean by that term. I can tell you in advance: it’s a good thing!