Buying A Home Before Marriage

Is buying a home before marriage a good idea?

Buying A Home Before Marriage

The answer: It depends!

Long ago, couples married first, then bought a home.

Fast forward to 2019 and things have changed!

It’s now common for unmarried couples to live together before marriage.

A Coldwell Banker Real Estate survey revealed that 1 in 4 married millennials purchased a home together with their current spouse before marriage.

Unmarried partners considering buying a home should consider the following.

Put It In Writing

Hire an attorney and prepare a written agreement that covers all of the details and consequences if your relationship fails.

Who Will Qualify For Financing?

It’s likely that you and your partner will have unequal incomes and credit scores.

Both of those factors will affect qualifying and your interest rate.

They might even cause one partner to not qualify for the financing.

Be sure that you both understand and agree on how to structure your financing.

Who Will Pay For Housing Expenses?

Be sure to decide who will pay for specific housing expenses if the percentages of ownership are unequal.

You should consider setting up a separate checking account to pay for planned, and unplanned, housing expenses.

Who Will Own The Home?

Get legal advice on the various ways you can take title to the property.

Plan for all outcomes, including the death of a partner, rights of survivorship, and other important legal issues.

Understand the differences between Joint Tenancy, Tenants In Common, and other options for taking title.

What If You Break Up?

Love doesn’t conquer all and couples do break up.

  • What will you do if your relationship fails?
  • Will you sell the property?
  • Will one partner buy out the other partner?
  • What if one partner stops paying their share of the housing expenses?
  • What if the property is lost through foreclosure?
  • How will you handle personal property that was jointly-purchased?

A few final thoughts  .  .  .

  • Buying a home before marriage is not a casual undertaking.
  • Take your time and carefully think things through before you buy a home with your partner.
  • Buying a home together isn’t necessary to cement your relationship!
  • Plan your (mutual) exit strategy upfront; just in case things don’t work out
  • Legal Stuff
  • Both partners should have a will or a trust.
  • A will or trust will allow an estate to be settled based upon pre-planned outcomes developed before the death of a partner.
  • Settling the estate of a partner lacking a will or trust will probably be determined by a judge.
  • That judge may make decisions that create outcomes you don’t like.

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Meridian Idaho Home Sales – April 2019

Meridian Idaho Home Sales Activity For April 2019

Meridian Idaho Home

Meridian Idaho Homes For Sale

Meridian ID Pending Sales

  • # Pending: 548
  • Average Asking Price: $378,527
  • Median Asking Price: $343,055

Meridian ID Home Sales – April 2018

  • # Closed: 231
  • Average Sales Price: $312,324
  • Median Sales Price: $295,000

Meridian ID Home Sales – April 2019

  • # Closed: 301
    % Change: +30.3%
  • Average Sales Price: $362,771
    % Change: +16.2%
  • Median Sales Price: $337,900
    % Change: +14.5%

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Data extracted from Intermountain MLS on 5/5/19 and pertains to Meridian Idaho single-family residences on lot or acreage.

Data does not include condominiums or townhomes.

Months’ Supply = available listings divided by average monthly closed sales for the past twelve months.

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Chinden Boulevard Road Widening

Here’s An Update On The Chinden Boulevard Road Widening

Chinden Boulevard Road Widening

(photo by Phil Hoover)

The Northwest Meridian area is undergoing tremendous growth with new subdivisions, new homes, new schools, and new retail development.

The new Costco warehouse store, to be built at Chinden Boulevard/Ten Mile Road, will be a part of that growth.

The new Linder Village development, anchored by a Winco Foods supermarket, will be built at the corner of Chinden Boulevard and Linder Road.

The proposed Central Valley Plaza 71-acre development on Chinden Boulevard, near Highway 16, will be developed by Brighton Corporation and Ball Ventures Ahlquist.

Central Valley Plaza will include medical facilities, office space, retail space, and senior living facilities.

All of that means that already busy Chinden Boulevard, with its inadequate two traffic lanes, must be widened to accommodate the additional traffic generated by the above developments.

Most of the widening will be managed by the Idaho Transportation Depart (ITD).

That’s because Chinden Boulevard is actually State Highway 20/26; a state highway.

General Information

Chinden Boulevard will be widened to four lanes between Eagle Road and Highway 16, including a sidewalk on the south side of the road.

During the Chinden Boulevard widening project, some segments will be reduced to a single lane of traffic.

Most of the construction will be completed in 2020.

The developers of both the Costco store and Linder Village have agreed to pay for portions of widening Chinden Boulevard as a condition of their approvals.

ITD is also working on plans to extend Highway 16 from Chinden Boulevard to I-84.

That project is in its early stages and will require more time and funding to be completed.

Here’s a summary of the Chinden Boulevard road widening schedule:

2019

Planning and design.

2020

Widen Chinden Boulevard between Eagle Road and Highway 16, except for Locust Grove Road to Meridian Road.

2021

Widen Chinden Boulevard from Locust Grove Road to Meridian Road.

This segment of the road widening will be done after the rest of the widening project to allow developers to pay their portion of the construction costs from expected revenue cash flows.

Commentary

Meridian City Council member Genesis Milam, during a March 12th city council meeting, was quoted as saying that the widening project “just looks like it will be hell in both directions”.

(at least we know what she was really thinking!)

Jake Melder, ITD spokesperson, has been quoted as saying that widening Chinden Boulevard “will be like ripping off a Band-Aid”.

Encouraging, right?

I expect Jake’s prediction to be proven accurate; albeit relatively short-lived.

Sometimes, progress includes some pain along the way.

Those planning to navigate Chinden Boulevard during the widening project should consider alternative routes, including McMillan and Ustick Roads.

Highway 16 and Highway 44 already provide a convenient shortcut to Eagle that bypasses the Chinden Boulevard corridor.

When the project is completed, it will be well worth it!

Northwest Meridian is rapidly becoming the epicenter of planned growth in our area.

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Meridian Idaho Homes Under $400,000

Are You Looking For Meridian Idaho Homes Under $400,000?

Meridian Idaho Homes Under $400,000

Up until a year or so ago, that would have been easy.

With the Meridian Idaho average price at $361,762, it’s more difficult today.

Here are some typical MLS searches I’ve recently completed for buyer clients.

View All Meridian Idaho Homes Under $400,000

Or, maybe you’re interested in a single-level Meridian Idaho home?

View All Meridian Idaho Single-Level Homes Under $400,000

You might also be looking for a NW Meridian home with more than 1,600 sq. ft.

View All Homes in NW Meridian With More Than 1,600 sq. ft.

As you can see, I have deep MLS search capabilities allow me to refine my MLS searches for your specific wants and needs.

My deep broker-level search capabilities far exceed what you can accomplish by searching Zillow on your own, especially if you lack the context that’s necessary to understand what you see online.

Working with buyers is challenging and similar to solving a puzzle.

Each buyer client has unique wants, needs, likes, and dislikes.

If we choose to work together, I will help you define your home buying criteria, then apply my extensive market experience to find the best options for you.

Sound interesting?

Check out About Phil Hoover and How I Work With Buyers for more information.

Then, give me a call @ (208)938-5533 or e-mail me so we can get started.

No sales talk, no closing questions, no drip marketing, and no team of junior agents.

Just plainspoken, straightforward advice to help you make informed decisions.

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Rumored Meridian Idaho Trader Joe’s

Will This Become The New Meridian Idaho Trader Joe’s?

Meridian Idaho Trader Joe's

(photo by Phil Hoover)

The rumor mill ran amok a few years ago as everyone speculated on the possibility of Trader Joe’s coming to the Boise Area.

At one point, speculation was rampant that Trader Joe’s would go into the Bridges at Lakemoor development in Eagle.

But, that didn’t happen.

Trader Joe’s eventually opened its downtown Boise store, located at Capitol Boulevard and Front Street, in 2014.

Now, rumors abound that we will soon have a Meridian Idaho Trader Joes’ going into the empty former Rosauer’s Supermarket store at Eagle and Ustick Roads in Meridian.

Trader Joe’s remains non-committal about confirming a new Meridian store, but I was surrounded by contractors’ work trailers and construction workers when I shot the photo above on 4/13/19.

From all appearances, including recent articles by both BoiseDev.com and The Meridian Press, something appears to be in the works.

Rosauer’s Supermarket closed their Meridian store after five difficult years in that location, around the time when the Boise Co-Op opened its Meridian store in The Village At Meridian, less than a mile away.

The area around Eagle Road/Fairview Avenue will soon provide ample shopping for foodies.

The rumored Trader Joe’s will compete with the Boise Co-Op, the new Albertson’s Market Street store, and a new Smart FoodService (formerly Cash & Carry) warehouse store; all within a mile of each other.

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