By Douglas Holtz-Eakin
The young drop coverage to avoid higher premiums
A silver lining of the recession is that consumers are becoming more focused on ways to save money, and today's savvy homebuyers are no exception. By shopping around for property and a good mortgage program, homebuyers often can save hundreds or thousands of dollars while still investing in a home they love.
"People are sometimes waiting for home prices to drop more, and they don't realize that an interest-rate increase could hurt them more," Ms. Huffman says. "For example, if you are buying a $350,000 home at 4.5 percent interest with a down payment of 3.5 percent, your monthly payments will be about $1,711. If the home price drops by 5 percent, that sounds great, but if interest rates go up at the same time by 1 percent, your monthly payment will be $110 higher."
Valerie Huffman, a regional vice president and manager of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase office of Weichert Realtors, says buyers should think about resale value when considering less expensive neighborhoods or more distant communities.
