Austin ranks as one of the best markets for first-time home buyers in 2019 according to bankrate.com. In the site’s survey of the top 50 U.S. Metro Markets, Austin ranked number 14 overall.
That’s good news for first-time home buyers. And, on a side note, if you haven’t owned a home for the last 2 years you qualify as a first-time home buyer.
The survey looked at five specific metrics including: affordability, culture, safety, market tightness, and job market.
Here’s how Austin ranked in these five categories:
Job market – 6th
Safety – 13th
Market tightness – 22nd
Culture – 22nd (Let’s keep Austin Weird)
Affordability – 39th (Prices have been going up)
All in all, Austin is a pretty good place for first-time home buyers. Of course, any home buyer would be interested in such a good place.
The report also gave some great tips for first-time buyers:
- If affordability is an issue, consider moving farther out from your ideal location. The suburbs are always more affordable than downtown. And, for the Austin area you want to look in places like Cedar Park, Leander, Round Rock, Pflugerville, Liberty Hill, and Georgetown.
- Consider look at homes that are older, smaller, and may be in need of some TLC
- Consider asking family and friends for a downpayment gift. Many home buyers over look this resource.
- Build a good credit score because the higher your score the better mortgage loan rate which means the lower your payment.
- Don’t wait for prices to fall. Prices continue to go up.
In addition to these great tips I would add:
- Ask your REALTOR® about First-time homebuyer assistance programs. There are several programs available here in Austin that provide downpayment assistance.
- Don’t forget that Veterans can takes advantage of Zero Down VA Loans.
- And, another source of Zero down financing is USDA which is geographic specific.
