Well this morning we are looking at the Special challenges that firsttime buyers Face in their attempts to achieve the American dream at in a time when Becoming a new homeowner is increasingly Difficult Nancy Chen is here with the Story Nancy good morning good morning It's tough out there isn't it many Prospective home first-time home buyers Feel like they're at a disadvantage they Make up just 32% of the market one of The lowest percentages since records Have been kept and those who have Beening say it has been plenty of hard Work sometimes with very little to show For it one woman we spoke with has made 30 bids usually well over the asking Price she has now tripled her budget While making concessions on size Location and neighborhood and she has Been looking for three years that is a More extreme case but it's a tough go For so many people first-time home Buyers are getting locked out because of High interest rates keeping people from Selling in a spike in all cash offers on Top of that Millen the nation's largest Generation they're competing against Empty nesters who have more savings for The same properties while mortgage rates Are coming down from their recent highs And there's a lot of eyes on what the FED will do this week one real estate Agent says it is not so simple is this
Going to be a game Cher unfortunately Historically when rates drop um Inventory levels drop too it's going to Add another level of hardship onto the Firsttime home buyer because what'll Happen is more more people will jump Back in and more competition means Prices are going to Rise and if you can't afford it right Now CBS News business analyst Jill suser We spoke with her she did tell us some Important things to keep in mind she Says never buy a house without being Able to fund your retirement and that Renting can sometimes be a good Alternative so instead of having to pay Your principal and your interest and Homeowners fee along with those taxes in Maintenance that money can instead go Towards savings if you are looking to Buy though keep in mind there are local And National assistance programs for Firsttime home buyers through loans or Grants and that could help with closing Costs and down payments up to 5% of your Home's price which could really be quite A bit of money when you look at the how Much these listing prices are just ask Your local lender if they can point you In the right direction absolutely take Advantage of all those opportunities you Know once upon a time like the whole Idea was that you would get this sort of Tiny starter home that was affordable
And you maybe stay there for maybe 5 Years or whatever and then you would Kind of jump up your next home what I'm Sort of noticing is the jump up is way Bigger now and it's not so easy to get Out of that starter home what what do You seen people doing well and the jump Up is also not happening as often Because what turns out when sellers are Selling their home that they become Buyers and they don't want to be on the Market right now because of all the Challenges so yeah a lot of those people Who have those starting home or starter Homes they are staying put uh our Colleague Mark stman did a really Excellent Deep dive on this and he found This uh he compared it to five years Years ago that's when one in three American families could afford a starter Home in 63 of the largest 100 cities This summer it is down to 10 for that Same group so just 5 years 63 of the Largest 100 cities you could find Something and now it's down to 10 so you Know just a few months ago we had this Sort of landmark uh lawsuit right that That had to do with realtor fees and What we were sort of hearing was that Now these fees will be negotiable and so They might not be sort of the mandatory Minimum that you thought that I think The fees were always negotiable but I Don't think most people knew that but is
That going to have an impact well and Often times people the fee would Essentially the buyer was always paying The fee it just got roped into your Mortgage and so it was a little bit more Digestible I think for so many buyers Now it is a negotiable thing where Buyers could end up paying for their own Fee uh and so you know take this Opportunity though we were told to Really talk to potential Realtors Because they really are working for you You are are essensially going to be Paying for them so ask them how they Work how much you might expect to pay And and also most importantly make sure You include that when you're calculating Your overall budget because you are now Paying for that money upfront you got to Make sure it's included in that lump Suum that's really smart uh Nancy thank You so much
