The median house price in Sonoma County recently hit $670,000. If you feel there is simply not enough inventory to choose from you may want to think again. Here is why…

First order of business-what does your financial capacity support purchasing? Your buying power is your future. Put another way if your buying power supports purchasing a home in the $670,000 price point you have options. It’s very easy to become jaded and to say that there’s nothing available in your price point. For the last few months since the beginning of January 2018 approximately 25 to 30 houses hit the Santa Rosa market per week. That’s independent of Rohnert Park Cotati and Sebastopol and West County.

If you’re waiting for “the” “property, it would be advisable to be in a situation where you’re putting down substantial funds 20% down or more with conventional financing with excellent credit. You need to have an extremely strong financial scenario to put yourself in this type of situation. The reason is this type of property will hit the market, but when it does, combined market forces and increased competition it’s likely that you’ll have to make a strong offer perhaps well more than the listing amount to beat out the competition. That takes your chances of purchasing a property and makes things very slim unless you can adjust your purchase criteria. There are houses on the market, but where you may need to adjust would be changing something in your financial profile.

Following are some ways to change your situation…

• Getting a cosigner
• Changing bedrooms and bathrooms expectation
• Changing lot size expectation
• Changing area location
• Paying off debt

By making changes or perhaps even small concessions to some of the above things you’ll start to realize they’re actually is more opportunities on the market then perhaps otherwise thought. Change your criteria or change your borrowing power and you’ll see that there are more homes available in the market. Therefore, it’s critical to work with a local experienced lender who knows your financial profile backwards and forwards and can clearly and accurately articulate the choices you must make to change your borrowing power and price point. It is also recommended to speak with a qualified full service real estate professional who has their finger on the pulse of the local market who can help identify opportunities and make pragmatic suggestions for you and your family so you can make your home-buying plan a reality.

Looking to buy a home? Begin now.