Blog - Month: February 2022
Month: February 2022
Staging Your Home to Sell FAST
While we may still be in a hot seller's market right now, the market is starting to cool down in certain parts of the country. Especially with the feds announcing a hike in interest rates throughout 2022! While it doesn’t mean it will make your home more difficult to sell, it will mean that the craziness we’ve witnessed since March 2020 will slowly die off. Therefore, homes in all states and prices won’t necessarily sell at the same ease they’ve been selling for the past few months. If you want to ensure your home sells quickly regardless of the market’s state, any real estate professional would recommend one thing: stage your home! Not only does staging your home give a “WOW” Factor to buyers and make the sale happen quicker, but it also influences the price your home sells at. Now, let’s go through a few staging tips together! Invest in Curb Appeal First impressions are extremely important, and one of the first few things someone sees about your home is the front yard! Make sure your grass is cut, bicycles or toys aren’t lying on the lawn, etc. Curb appeal can make or break a first impression! Get rid of clutter We all know how clutter can make us go into a cleaning frenzy… Imagine how buyers feel when they walk into a stranger’s home and face that same amount of clutter! Remember that clutter may be an eyesore, but the bi
How to Choose the Right Title Company
There are lots of paperwork and things to take care of when you buy a home, and one of those things is title insurance. While it may not be legally required for you to purchase title insurance for your new home, it is recommended for many reasons. But how do you choose the right one? Here are criteria you should consider… Local experience and knowledge Local experience and knowledge about the area your home is situated in are super important factors to consider when you’re in the process of choosing a title insurance company. The reason why is because you need to have people you can trust know the local customs and laws to ensure your transactions happen smoothly. Plus, it doesn’t hurt if they have an office near you that is accessible and easier for you to pop in and get what you need from them. Reputation You also want to avoid a company that once they close the deal with you, will ghost you or fight with you for every cent you try and claim after a dispute. The best way you can find out what their reputation is like is to go around and ask people who live near you if they ever did business with the title company you’re considering or if they had heard anyone say anything about the company. Customer Service When you’re amidst a potentially very expensive and stressful dispute regarding the title of your home, the last thing you need is your title insurance co
Building a Home? Here's What You Need to Know
As much as it is exciting to be building your dream home, there are a few things you need to know to make sure the building process goes smoothly. Let’s dive into 5 things you need to know before you start building… Set A Budget with some wiggle room While it can be pretty straightforward to determine what your budget is, it’s a bit more difficult to stick to it. That’s why when you come up with your budget, you should leave some wiggle room for any surprise costs… Which usually arise during building a home. Get your financing in order Building a home requires you to get some financing from a bank. However, this process is a bit different from when you get a traditional mortgage at your bank. Since you’ll be building, banks won’t be providing you with a lump-sum payment, like is the case when you buy a home with a mortgage. Chances are that you will need both a construction loan and a mortgage. However, for both of these loans, most banks, and other financial institutions will be able to pre-qualify you for the amount of money you can spend. Choose the right building team Picking a builder is the most crucial part of this important project of yours. You will be working with the builder and their team for months, if not over a year. So make sure you pick one that will make the process as least stressful as possible. A few things you can look at when picking a
3 Reasons Why You Need to Get Pre-Approved to Buy a Home
If you’re in the market to buy a home, then you might have heard of the term pre-approval. But what exactly does it mean to be pre-approved? Simply put, pre-approval is a process by which you give the bank with whom you want to obtain a mortgage your personal information, financial information, and asset information. With this information, banks will be able to determine whether or not they can issue you a mortgage and up to what amount. In other words, they will be able to pre-approve you for a certain amount with which you can buy a home. Therefore, you can go house hunting with a realistic price-range already in mind. While it’s not legally required for you to get pre-approved for a mortgage before shopping for a home, it is recommended. Let's explore three reasons why you should get pre-approved… You can close faster If you’ve already gone through the process of getting pre-approved, your bank (or the bank you got pre-approved for a mortgage with) already has all of the information they need about you. So when your offer is accepted, you have peace of mind knowing that your financing is taken care of and your bank can quickly issue the funds for the transaction. It makes your offers way more attractive to sellers In today’s hot market, having your financing lined up and ready to go is attractive to sellers. So why not put luck on your si