Sherri Elkins

Hi Jerome,

To answer your question, Homewood is an excellent area. Great parks, neat shops, an excellent bakery that people all over Birmingham use, coffee shops, everything right there easily available. During a typical drive through Homewood you will see people walking and jogging down the sidewalks, the park will have lots of people in it. It is a GREAT area! Any commute to work or school in the downtown area would be very quick from Homewood. Homewood does have its own schools system, and it is a very desireable area. While you may not have children, the school system certainly affects resale so it is something to consider. Also Birmingham was ranked in the top 10 best performing real estate markets recently by CNN's Money (actually #3), which is excellent news when you are considering purchasing a home. FYI, the average home price in Birmingham is $150,000, and Homewood is above average. To give you some specific examples, we recently listed an 1100 sq ft home in Homewood for $189,900, and that is lower than average pricing in Homewood. Another home we listed and sold in one day was in the $220's -- this home was in need of repairs and in an excellent area of Homewood. If your price range is higher, you certainly have a lot of great options in Homewood. If your price range is lower, you may want to look at some other areas or consider a condo. Having lived and worked in the Birmingham area for over 20 years, with children heavily involved in sports, I am very familiar with other excellent schools systems in our area as well, and my office is in Homewood also. Feel free to do some research on my website where you can search Birmingham MLS listings and see what is out there for yourself if you'd like. If you need any assistance, I would welcome the opportunity to serve your real estate needs. - Fri May 9 2008, 07:33

One thing that helps your property tax be a little lower in Alabama is called a homestead exemption. This is a discount (of approximately 50%) when you live in the home you purchase. You can apply for this exemption even if you own a second home in Alabama, but there are specific restrictions, such as not renting the property, etc. Depending on your loan, your taxes may be escrowed (added to your payment and put to the side by your lender) and then paid for you when the bill comes due. Many buyers in Alabama select this option when financing their home so they don't have to write the check all at once when the tax comes due; others choose to pay it themselves. - Tue May 6 2008, 16:03

Tamika,

There are many things to consider when buying a home. Whether to buy now or later is certainly a decision you have to make for yourself. With that being said, I personally believe it is a great time to buy a home because prices are down and interest rates are down too. There are some great deals out there now too -- some are foreclosures -- and foreclosures can be excellent investments and can put you in a stronger equity position. Foreclosures, which are bank owned, are different than most typical purchases. Most foreclosures are in need of work, but you can get a 203k repair loan and include the repairs in one loan. This will allow you to either do, or hire the work done, and pick up some equity on the property by virtue of improving it. Good luck with your decision making and home search, whether rental or purchase. - Tue May 6 2008, 15:51