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By Lindsey, on August 8th, 2011
Do you ever feel like you are in a hamster wheel deciding when the best time would be to jump off?
Well you are not the only one. There are a few things to consider before deciding when to buy a home. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the housing market is highly unstable presently. Waiting around for it to stabilize would be foolish if you take a look at your current financial situation and decide it is a good time for you, personally, to buy a home.
Get your ducks in a row.
Raise your credit score and make sure your debt-income ratio is at the correct percentage.
What is the correct percentage for your debt-income ratio to be? According to the Lending Tree website, your debt-to-income ratio should be no higher than 36 percent. Anything higher and you run the risk of denial or higher interest rates.
Job Stability.
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(560 words, 0 images, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)
By Lindsey, on June 10th, 2011
Rental prices have gone up dramatically. As with everything in the economy, the rates follow supply and demand. Now that there are more foreclosures, there are more people looking to rent homes. If the home prices aren’t enough to entice you to call your local buyers agent, maybe checking out local rent will be.
Rent is up almost 8% in the last 10 years according to CNN Money. In a Trulia report out of 50 cities that were covered, it was cheaper to buy in 36 of the cities than it was to rent!
Home buyers are overly cautious. In order to break the cycle of indecision, it is time to break out the calculators and do some real number crunching. Make sure you have a timeline of how long you will be renting vs how long you would stay in a home if you purchased it. Start with the price-to-rent ratio. This means you divide the price of the house by the cost annually it would be to rent a similar one. If the rate ends up to be above 20%, it is generally smarter to rent if you are only planning on staying about 5-7 years.
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(333 words, 0 images, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)
By Lindsey, on April 12th, 2011
Dual agency definition: Occurs when the same brokerage represents both the buyer and the seller under written agreement. This means that if you have a buyers agreement with a real estate agent and find a home you are interested in that is under the same broker that your agent works for, another agent or the same agent within the same office can represent the seller.
That doesn’t sound so bad does it? Written agreements are made, that sounds safe.
Think again. Dual agency can be detrimental to a buyer in certain cases. A company that allows dual agency may say they work as a dual agency but actually operate more closely to a single agency. In small offices, phone calls with the buyer discussing pricing and terms can be overheard or faxes accidentally seen. Unintentionally an agent may be talking about a buyer in the break room and be overheard by the sellers agent. This can give the sellers agent information that may benefit the seller.
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(318 words, 0 images, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)
By Lindsey, on March 27th, 2011
Geothermal underwear? Is that like the new Under Armor? Wait, geothermal is under the ground…I get it.
I saw a commercial on tv recently promoting geothermal heat. Where I live oil heat is still the predominant source of heat for many homes. It is expensive, NOT earth friendly, and quite frankly prehistoric.
So the geothermal commercial intrigued me to find out more about this efficient, green heating system. Here is what I found out.
Apparently in Maine there is a way for homeowners to get 30% of the installation cost put towards a tax credit. Sounds good but is it worth it?
This is not a new concept by any means. Humans have been using the earth’s own heat in productive ways since the Paleolithic era, think hot springs. There are many left over minerals and solar energies that were absorbed when the earth was formed. The decay of these minerals is a little radioactive. So the decay along with the solar energy that is absorbed at the surface creates a heat that can be used to heat our homes with the help of a heat pump.
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(448 words, 0 images, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)
By Lindsey, on March 16th, 2011
Are you a teacher, a firefighter, law enforcement officer, or an emergency medical technician? If so, you may qualify for the Good Neighbor Next Door incentive that is offered through the US Housing and Urban Development program.
What is the Good Neighbor Next Door Sales Program and who qualifies for it?
The Good Neighbor Next Door Sales Program is a program when the HUD offers a large incentive, a discount of 50% off the listing price of the home. This applies to homes in “revitalization areas.” These areas are designated by HUD and authorized by Congress under the National Housing Act. It promotes revitalization through more opportunities to own homes in the areas. HUD uses criteria like household income, the rate of homeownership, and the foreclosure activity on FHA-insured mortgages.
Your local buyers agent can help you find eligible properties in your area.
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(415 words, 0 images, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)
By Lindsey, on March 6th, 2011
So if you didn’t catch the first half of this list last week, check it out here. I have entered the second half of the list below. I would love to hear from people who live in these places or are considering buying in them!
If you think there is a city out there that wasn’t on the list but should have been, let me know and I will pass the word!
1. Winner of Best View for the Money: Deerfield Beach, Florida
Average Home Price in this beach town is $89, 400! Did I just say that? Yes, 89 thousand. This awesome ocean town is within driving distance of the major sports teams in Miami as well as the culture in Ft. Lauderdale. I don’t know about anyone else, but I think I am feeling the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder and this sounds like a great place to start my sunshine/warm weather therapy.
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(563 words, 5 images, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)
By Lindsey, on February 27th, 2011
I came across an article recently on walletpop.com that gave “Top Tens.” Of course they had the top 10 locations to buy a home in 2011. These are not order-specific and I believe them to be somewhat biased. This all depends on the buyers point of view. I will let you decide for yourself.
1. Best All Around City Winner: Austin, Texas
Average Home Price: $119, 788. This city is the capital of Texas as well as home to many good colleges, making it a great college town with a lot of diversity. Their unemployment rate is about 2% lower than the national average. It is a beautiful city (I know, I have been there) and the job growth over the last decade has increased by roughly 14%. The riverwalk is a beautiful place to stroll with your family and friends, and the food is to die for.
2. Best Job Winner: Broomfield County, Colorado
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(650 words, 5 images, estimated 2:36 mins reading time)
By admin, on February 21st, 2011
If you were thinking about buying real estate last year and thought you might purchase a single family home for under $100,000, you were not alone. A significant number of buyers lwho contacted us for an under-$100K home actually closed on their home.
If you’ve got a great credit history, you may be able to buy a home with little more than the money saved up in the change jar! Low prices combined with historically low interest rates gave these first time home buyers and investment buyers some great deals.
Not surprisingly, about one fourth of them found their property in Ohio. Also represented were Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.
Buyers agents helped these folks find properties in the in the following specific areas:
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(370 words, 0 images, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)
By admin, on February 17th, 2011
C.P. from Massachusetts wrote today about her Florida retirement home search experience and her buyer agency agreement:
…please feel free to use my comments (including those that follow). Given that my first name is fairly unusual, could you use my initials, “C.P.,” instead? If not the first name is certainly OK. I’m happy to sing the praises of buyer brokers!
Our experience convinced us of the value of an exclusive buyer broker. By previewing properties, he made our search much more efficient, and once he found a waterfront property that we liked, he performed extensive research on local and state restrictions, environmental data, its history (back into the 1800s), etc. Ultimately, this resulted in our having more accurate information about the property than even the selling broker or the owners had. Our buyer broker’s services were invaluable and helped to relieve many of the stresses and complications inherent in purchasing a home, especially as we were buying out of state in an area that was new to us. He even found us a local real estate attorney and a home inspector His patience, diligence, and professionalism meant that we could negotiate and make our purchase with confidence, equipped with all the information we needed. Overall, his personal attention to serving our needs and protecting our interests made for a most positive experience.
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(343 words, 0 images, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)
By Lindsey, on February 7th, 2011
2011 seems to be off to a great start. I am seeing more people taking the first step of researching local buyers agents in hopes of finding excellent buyer representation when they buy a home. It seems that many buyers are finding just what they are looking for.
The qualities a buyer finds in a buyers agent differ from broker to broker.
What one buyer sees as an important quality in a buyer representative may be dramatically different than what another buyer finds outstanding about their buyer representative.
Christina, a buyer who recently bought a home in Framingham, Mass had the following to say about her exceptional buyers agent:
“…we received inquiries from the agents you gave us and we ultimately chose Connie. We are very happy with her. She has already shown us an exceptional level of professionalism and quick response time to all of our requests and questions. It is an education just having her take us through a house and we are very happy we chose her. “
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(691 words, 0 images, estimated 2:46 mins reading time)
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