{"id":67,"date":"2026-10-01T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.frankdurnett.com\/blog\/?p=67"},"modified":"2026-10-01T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T16:00:00","slug":"u-s-starter-buyers-gain-leverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frankdurnett.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/01\/u-s-starter-buyers-gain-leverage\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Starter Buyers Gain Leverage"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"video-zmyer\">\n<div class=\"video-frame-zmyer\">\n        <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/www.roomvu.com\/agent\/embed\/frank-m-durnett\/starter-home-leverage-remotion-videos-bdda\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><br \/>\n        <\/iframe>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"video-description-zmyer\">\n<p>After 40 years helping Richmond buyers and sellers navigate the market, it\u2019s encouraging to see the starter-home landscape shifting into a more balanced phase. Entry-level buyers now have more choices and less of the intense bidding competition we\u2019ve seen in past years. This environment means you can often negotiate for seller credits, closing-cost assistance, rate buydowns, post-inspection repairs, longer inspection periods, or occasionally even appliances and furnishings included. Well-maintained, fairly priced homes are still snapped up quickly, but homes that are overpriced or need work give buyers real leverage to negotiate. It\u2019s important to be aware that affordability is still a challenge, with average 30-year mortgage rates hovering near 7% through mid and late Q3 2026. For those who are financially prepared, this calmer market can be a welcome change\u2014just remember to keep your savings, credit, and monthly budget in sync so homeownership truly supports your financial health.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After 40 years helping Richmond buyers and sellers navigate the market, it\u2019s encouraging to see the starter-home landscape shifting into a more balanced phase. Entry-level buyers now have more choices and less of the intense bidding competition we\u2019ve seen in past years. This environment means you can often negotiate for seller credits, closing-cost assistance, rate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":68,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankdurnett.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankdurnett.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankdurnett.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankdurnett.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankdurnett.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankdurnett.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions\/69"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankdurnett.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankdurnett.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankdurnett.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankdurnett.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}