ERA Shields December Stat Pack

ERA Shields December Stat Pack

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Fall back...Sunday, November 5th, 2:00am

Know Your Real Estate: 5 Researching Tips for Home buyers

Being a first-time homebuyer can be an intimidating prospect; it seems like there’s so much to learn! The process doesn’t get less challenging the second or third time around, but here are five tips to help you research and prepare for your next home buying experience.

Location, Location, Location

It’s a cliché but it’s true: location really is the most important part of the real estate equation. However, the right location isn’t the same for everyone. Take your family’s priorities into account and know where you would buy a home, and where you would not. Try to be flexible, but if you’re longing for a place with a yard, then a balcony might not cut it, however, a roof deck might! Always look for the exception to the rule. It’s also a good idea to compare home prices around the home that you’re considering. This will help you figure out if your house is a good deal and in line with the market expectations.

Find Your Financing

Finding the perfect house can take years, but once you find it things will move quickly. Most real estate markets are fast moving and a great house at a great price can easily go on the market in the morning and be under contract by the evening. When you find that house you have to be ready to jump on it. This means that you should have your financing figured out before you make an offer. Ask friends, family, any law or finance professionals your family uses, or ask your REALTOR® for a recommendation for a mortgage company. Be sure to get quotes from several different firms so you have a general idea of what your rates really should be.

Understand the Vocabulary

You should take the trouble to educate yourself about some of the jargon that comes with the real estate territory, otherwise, you might find yourself completely out of your league when discussing purchasing terms.

Check out the Neighborhood

If you’re looking for homes outside of the neighborhood you live in, the best way to get a feel for it is to go and spend the day there. Find a few open houses you’re interested in and go make a day of it. Have lunch, stroll the streets, check out the parks, schools, and find out what kind of people live there. These are the things that give a neighborhood its flavor, and things that you can’t know until you go there and see for yourself.

Choose a Trustworthy Agent

A real estate agent can make or break your home buying experience. If you don’t have an agent you already know and like, Call me!

Buying a home is an exciting and stressful process, but with these tips, I hope you’ll have a great experience researching, shopping and purchasing your next home.

The Most Beautiful Abandoned Places in the World

https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2015-11-18/the-most-stunning-abandoned-places-on-earth/2 

Perfect Fit – 3 Tips for Finding Your Ideal New Home

Moving to a new city is exciting – new sights, new sounds, maybe even a new job. Let’s not forget, however, one of the largest tasks when it comes to relocating: finding a new home. House searching can seem daunting, but not if you’re equipped with the right mindset and tools. To get you on track, we’re sharing a few home-buying tips from a recent RISMediaarticle:

Know what you want. When you’re in the market for a new home, it’s easy to get swept away with Pinterest boards full of “must-haves” and dream décor but it’s important to be realistic with yourself. Your new home should be conducive to your personality and daily lifestyle; if you’re an avid at-home cook, prioritize a large kitchen. Being able to articulate what you want and need will help your REALTOR find exactly what you’re looking for.

Do your research. Oh, the beauty of the Internet! Before you begin booking appointments to check out new living spaces, be sure to do a quick search of the area. This will allow you to pinpoint a few neighborhoods that intrigue you – and don’t forget to keep your price point in mind when searching!

Project the future. Avoid narrowing your focus on solely the here and now; a home is a great investment, and you want to treat it as such. Thinking about where you may be in five to ten years will help you pick a home that can grow with you, both in your career and your family.

When Is the Right Time to Sell Your Home?

If you are like so many homeowners today, you are not living in your “forever home” right at the moment. Rather, the home you currently reside in is a stepping stone to get you that much closer to your dream house.

It is likely you are always keeping one eye on your home and the other eye on the housing market, trying to figure out when the time is ripe to sell and move to the next home. Here’s how to know for sure when it is a good time to sell your home.

When your current home is no longer a good fit for your needs – Stepping stone homes are bought for a specific reason at a specific time in life. Maybe you moved because you are expecting a baby and needed more room. Conversely, maybe your “baby” just went off to college and suddenly your formerly cozy home feels like an echoing cavern. Perhaps you just got a job on the other side of town and the commute is killing you, or now you work from home and you discover you hate your neighborhood. Regardless of why, when your home no longer works for your situation in life, this is a clear sign it is a good time to think about selling.

When the market favors the seller – If there is one thing you can count on the real estate market to reliably deliver, it is shifting trends. Some years, it will be a buyer’s market and in other years, it will be a seller’s market. If you’ve been feeling like a move might be welcome and the real estate market just happens to be favoring sellers at the moment, you might as well throw your house in the ring and see what you reel in!

Your mortgage is paid – Once your mortgage is paid off in full, every dollar you earn over what you paid for it is pure profit. Very few people in this country today get to enjoy the great feeling of being debt free, but if you sell your home after it is paid off and pocket the profits, you can be one of them.
 
Your current interest rate is high – Right now, interest rates on mortgage loans are at historic lows. If you are currently carrying a mortgage on a home that has a high interest rate attached (and especially if a refinance won’t fix this adequately), then now is a good time to sell.

At this point in time, real estate is scarce and homes are in demand. Interest rates are low and the market is strong overall. Whether you choose to sell and just rent for a while or you decide to turn around and buy another home at a low interest rate, it is a win-win to sell and get out of that higher rate.

Every single day, homeowners become former homeowners for all kinds of different reasons. There are no invalid reasons to sell your home; there are only the reasons why now is the right time for you.

This was originally published on RISMedia’s blog, Housecall.