Blog

Today is a Skills Market

In today’s ultra-competitive real estate market where there is only 1.7 months supply of inventory compared to 6 months in a balanced market, and the average home is getting 4.8 offers per sale, it is more important than ever to have the right person "champion" your cause. In the Middle Ages, it became customary for … Continue reading Today is a Skills Market →

Existing Homeowners May be Facing Higher Payments

As a current homeowner, you may be basking in the consolation that you bought before the market got crazy with higher prices and interest rates. However, it doesn’t mean that you may not be facing higher mortgage payments for next year. Most homeowners pay their taxes and insurance into an escrow account with their mortgage … Continue reading Existing Homeowners May be Facing Higher Payments →

Homeownership and the Three M’s

Homes are valuable assets and must be maintained so they function properly, are safe, enjoyable and hold their value. Attention to maintenance, minimizing expenses and managing debt & risk will protect your investment. Maintenance It is interesting that people understand the necessity to maintain a car and regularly have the car inspected, repaired and do … Continue reading Homeownership and the Three M’s →

Will Selling Your Home Increase Your Tax Bill?

With home prices rising 20% nationwide in the past year and in some markets, even dramatically more, many homeowners are excited about the equity in their homes. In the past, most homeowners were not concerned about profit from the sale being taxed but some may be surprised. The profit homeowners make on the sale of … Continue reading Will Selling Your Home Increase Your Tax Bill? →

Buying a Home…Ask for a CLUE Report

People purchasing a used car have most likely heard of CARFAX vehicle history reports to help them avoid buying a car with costly hidden problems. Less likely are buyers to know that there is a way to discover some of the repair history of homes they are interested in. Lexis Nexis C.L.U.E. (Claims Loss Underwriting … Continue reading Buying a Home…Ask for a CLUE Report →

Coordinating the Sale and Purchase of Your Home

Usually, it is easier to buy a home than to sell a home but that isn’t necessarily the case currently. In today’s market, it can be scary to sell your home before buying another because you could find yourself without a home. Most sellers will not accept a contingency on the sale of a buyer’s … Continue reading Coordinating the Sale and Purchase of Your Home →

A New Opportunity for Homebuyers

You may not have heard of anyone assuming an existing mortgage for over thirty years and didn’t know they were even possible any longer. The reason is simple, it didn’t make financial sense but now that interest rates are increasing, it may be an opportunity for some homebuyers. Conventional loans added clauses to mortgages back … Continue reading A New Opportunity for Homebuyers →

Cost of Waiting to Buy in Both Price and Interest Rates

Have you ever been shopping on a website where you were looking at something that was on sale? You were interested in it but there wasn’t a sense of urgency and maybe, you had a lot going on and didn’t get back to it for a few days. When you did go back to the … Continue reading Cost of Waiting to Buy in Both Price and Interest Rates →

Why a Home Should Be Your First Investment

Real estate has been described as the basis of all wealth. Without considering income or investment property, buying a home to live in is an incredibly powerful way to build wealth or financial net worth. A home is an asset measured by the size of the equity. Equity is simply the difference between the value … Continue reading Why a Home Should Be Your First Investment →

Paying Points to Lower the Rate

Two commonly known ways to lower your mortgage payments are to make a larger down payment especially if it eliminates private mortgage insurance and improve your credit score before applying for a mortgage. Another way to lower your payment would be to buy down the interest rate for the life of the mortgage with discount … Continue reading Paying Points to Lower the Rate →