If you’re a homebuyer without a home to buy, the ongoing housing shortage is making housing to buy less affordable by the day. Certain factors should change with time, which should provide you with a better chance to buy a home in mid-to-late 2022.

One factor that helped fuel the current housing market boom was record low interest rates. According to the latest weekly Mortgage Bankers Association survey, the average contract interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) under $647,200 was 5.20% with 0.63 points. That’s a quick rise from the record low recorded by Freddie Mac in December 2020 of 2.68% for the same FRM loan.  As a borrower you could ask your lender about a hybrid mortgage that gives you a lower adjustable rate for a fixed period of five years before the rate adjusts to a fixed rate. 

Since the Great Recession, there’s been a serious shortage of new homes being built. The National Association of REALTORS says the U.S. needs to add 550,000 more homes to its 1.5 million annual average for the next ten years to make up the shortfall that’s now calculated to be about 6.8 million homes, after accounting for demolitions. Builders need more labor, more land and an end to supply chain shortages to meet this goal.

What can you do? Buy an older home that needs work. You’ll have the option of improving it or tearing it down and rebuilding when the market improves.

According to EyeonHousing.com, half of owner-occupied homes were built before 1980. That could be just one of many reasons why many homebuyers and homeowners are going more “retro” in their decorating styles. Retro pieces of furniture, art, and accessories, whether antique, reproduction or derivative, can bring unique personality to any home.

TheSpruce.com explains that home décor has always mixed the old with the new. Retro is widely thought to mean Mid-century design, but it can also include nods from other eras, including Art Deco and Modernism from the 1920s to the 1940s. Both post-war, these modernistic motifs reflect large lifestyle changes, and are based in the joys of progress and optimism for the future.

Art Deco décor: The 1920s was a time of wealth, optimism, and confidence, concepts reflected by geometric shapes, opulent details, shiny surfaces, luxurious fabrics and vertical lines. Art Deco décor pays homage to the technical achievements that produced skyscrapers, planes, trains and automobiles. Machine-made objects such as toasters, blenders, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners revolutionized housekeeping. Bring Art Deco influences into your home with brass, chrome, statuary, luxe fabrics like brocade, velvet and suede, rounded seating and bold colors like emerald green, black and gold.  

Mid-century décor: Mid-century design takes inspiration from suburbia, highway travel, the invention of jet airplanes and easier international travel, and the Space Race of the 1950s to the 1960s. It’s practical, sleek, uncluttered, and features light cheerful colors, low furniture with exposed legs, and new materials like plastic, rayon, acrylic and Formica.

Do you need a home inspection when you buy a condominium or a co-op? According to BrickUnderground.com, home inspections are common for single-family homes, but they’re also increasingly being requested by urban homebuyers of condos and co-ops. Condo and co-op owners share common spaces such as elevators, lobbies, parking, and grounds, but where they differ is who’s responsible for maintenance and what the inspection can cover.   

Condos are privately-owned units within a community of other privately-owned units, explains Bankrate.com. Owners share common areas, but inside their apartments, they own the air space and interior walls of their units plus the structural components of the exterior walls. Condos are managed by a homeowner’s association that collects monthly or annual dues to pay for common area maintenance, repairs and replacement. These services are typically provided by a third-party property management company.

In a co-operative, or co-op, a corporation owns the building, common areas and all apartment units. Instead of buying an apartment, homebuyers buy a share of the corporation, according to Amfam.com. The corporation holds the title to the property, and homebuyers build equity when future buyers pay more for their “share.” The board of directors is responsible for maintenance inside each unit and the building as a whole.

A housing inspection is the homebuyer’s right, but only for the unit and the major systems that the homebuyer is responsible for, including plumbing, electrical and heat and air systems, patio or balcony, kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, appliances, walls, doors, windows and flooring, advises AllAspectsInspections.com.

In 2020, Americans spent $420 billion remodeling their homes, according to a new report by The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) and The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI.) They remodeled to upgrade outdated worn-out surfaces, finishes and materials (30%), add features and improve livability (20%), and just enjoy a change (16%.)   While most consumers (83% of those surveyed) said they would have remodeled regardless of the pandemic, most found that they were happy with the results (57%), satisfied (39%), and felt a sense of accomplishment (69%).  

Homeowners reported that the best results from remodeling were better functionality and livability (35%), durability (22%), and beauty (14%). A whopping 84% of homeowners said they enjoyed their homes more than before they remodeled.  Although most projects were completed with standard quality fixtures and materials, and some with better-quality installations, NAR and NARI calculated the consumers’ typical “Joy Score” at 9.6 out of a possible 10.

So which renovations brought the most joy to homeowners? Interior projects that received a perfect Joy Score of 10 include: painting entire interior of the home, painting one room of the home add a new home office, hardwood flooring refinish, new wood flooring, a closet renovation, insulation upgrade, and attic conversion to living area, said the report.  Scoring 9.8 were complete kitchen remodels and partial kitchen upgrades. A basement conversion to a living area scored a 9.7, and a bathroom renovation scored a 9.6. Adding a new laundry area and a new master bedroom earned a 9.5.