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5 Very Important Reasons to Buy a House
1. House prices tend to rise over time, so a house is one of the best investments you can make. Home prices have risen three to six percent a year for the last 20 years and the trend is likely to continue. So if you buy a home now, you’ve put your capital in a safe investment where it is likely to grow.
5 Home Buying Mistakes
1. Over extending your budget
Buy a home that’s way out of your price range and you could find yourself feeling pinched every month. Just because you have been pre-qualified for a certain loan amount and payment doesn’t mean that is where your comfort level lies. Plan for emergencies, entertainment, vacations, savings furnishings and other amenities. Then take into consideration your future mortgage payment and all of your liabilities. That will give you a better idea of what kind of payments you can really afford.
When buying your home, consider how long you plan on staying in that house. You don’t want to find your self in too much or too little of a house. Plan for any lifestyle changes that may occur during that period and search for a home that fits your needs.
When you buy, think about the day it comes to sell. It’s easy when you’re house hunting to forget what it’s going to be like to sell your home down the road. Most first time buyers sell within four to six years. Walk yourself through all the negatives and think of how you will sell the property prior to buying it.
Everything looked just fine. How were you to know that the house had a termite problem, asbestos, a leaky roof, cracked foundation and electrical problem’s. You would have known if you had a professional home inspection. A home inspection generally costs between $300-$700 and is well worth it.
- Forgetting about closing cost
You’ve been saving for a long time and you finally have enough money for a down payment on a new home. You search for the perfect home, and you realize that you have enough for the down payment but not enough for closing costs. When saving for your down payment take into consideration the closing costs which include lenders fees, title fees, escrows for property taxes and home owners insurance. In most cases you negotiate with the seller to pay a portion of the closing cost. Most sellers are willing to contribute since it will help sell their home.
5 Things You Must Do Prior To Selling Your Home
1. Understand your options:
5 Tips Prior to Selling Your House
1. Get Pre-approved for a Home Loan
Seller sometimes sign a contract to sell their house before they know if they qualify to buy another. Financial circumstances sometimes change since the last purchase, and they could no longer qualify for a loan or they weren’t able to sell at a price that allowed them to buy a type of replacement house they want.
Call your lender to check the payoff for your current home mortgage.
Determine your home’s fair market value, you can get your real estate agent to help you.
- Make necessary repairs
Make all needed repairs unless you want your house to be regarded as a fixer-upper. Fix anything that is obviously broken that the potential buyer will notice to lower the price. - Get your house ready to show
Great curb appeal, fresh paint, organized closets and cabinets, clean windows and appliances and a clutter free look are essential if you want to appeal the buyers.
5 ways to speed up the sale of your house
1. Price it right. Set a price at the lower end of your property’s realistic price range.
A few tips on pulling together a down payment
1. Bank your extra money. Any time you get a tax refund, bonus, commission or birthday check put it into a separate savings account that you never touch.
Can I buy a home with damaged credit
Bankruptcy filings are at an all time record high. Many consumers have amassed large amounts of debt and have gotten behind in their bill repaying ability. Many think that there is no way they could qualify for a home loan how ever this is no longer necessarily true. A poor credit history, while unfortunate, does not eliminate the possibility of obtaining a mortgage loan. Many people have experienced credit problems over the past several years. In response to the growing number of potential home buyers with credit problems several lenders have now made available loan programs to assist those individuals with getting back on track with their credit profile. Lenders today have helped thousands of people with credit problems get into a home that they thought they could never qualify for. What bad credit does is impact the rate that you are going to pay and the amount of equity that you will have to have in the property. A few credit blemishes will slightly raise your interest rate over the current rate. Mortgage professionals are not qualified to advise you on correcting your credit. A legal professional or someone specializing in that field should handle this. However, many times, due to common last names, or an error of one number on a social insurance card number, credit files can be merged inaccurately. You should request a credit report to better prepare you before applying for a mortgage. That way if there are any errors you can work on correcting them before completing an application.
Fixed vs. Adjustable
Fixed rate Pros-
- Your mortgage payment and interest rate stays the same for the length of the loan.
Fixed rate cons-
- You will pay a higher interest rate so the lender will commit to lending you the money for a fixed period of time.
- If interest rates fall significantly, you maintain your current rate.
- There are sometimes prepayment penalties on fixed rate mortgages.
Adjustable rate pros-
- Your interest rate is lower which may allow you to qualify for a higher loan amount.
- Your principal and interest payments are lower
- If your loan has no prepayment penalty you can refinance into a fixed mortgage at a later time.
Adjustable rate cons
- It is difficult to budget your bills because your mortgage may change month to month
- If rates rise more then 1 or 2 percent and stay elevated, your adjustable rate loan will probably cost you more then a fixed rate.
How do you prepare a house to sell?
- Doing whatever you can to put your house’s best face forward is very important if you want to get close to your asking price or sell as quickly as possible. Short of spending a lot of money, here are several ideas for making your home show better.
- Sweeping the sidewalk, mow the lawn, prune the bushes, weed the garden and clean debris from the yard.
- Clean the windows and make sure the paint is not clipped or flaking. And speaking of paint, if your home was built before 1978, new federal law gives a buyer the right to request a lead inspection. If you think you might have some problems, do the inspection yourself beforehand and make any fixes you can.
- Make sure your doorbell works
- Clean and spruce up all rooms, furnishings, floors, walls and ceilings. It’s especially important that the bathroom and kitchen are spotless.
- Make sure basic appliances and fixtures work. Get rid of leaky faucets and frayed cords.
- Make sure the house smells good. Hide any kitty litter.
- Put vases of fresh flowers through out the house.
- Having pleasant background music playing in the back yard will also help set your stage.
Make your home more appealing with these low cost tips
1. Trim the bushes so they aren’t blocking any windows or cutting down on light.
How Are Pre-Qualifying And Pre-Approval Different?
Pre-qualification is an informal way to see how much you may be able to borrow. You can be “pre-qualified” over the phone with no paperwork by telling a lender your income, your long-term debts, and how large a down payment you can afford. Without any obligation, this helps you arrive at a ballpark figure of the amount you may have available to spend on a house. Pre-approval is a lender’s actual commitment to lend to you. It involves assembling the financial records and going through a preliminary approval process. Pre-approval gives you a definite idea of what you can afford and shows sellers that you are serious about buying.
How Many Homes Should I Consider Before Buying?
Visit as many as it takes to find the one you want. On average, homebuyers see more than 15 houses before choosing one. Just be sure to communicate often with your real estate agent about everything you’re looking for. Don’t jump into the 1st house you see, shop compare and then make your offer.
How To Pull Cash Out Of Your Home
Consider getting a home equity line of credit with your home loan. Credit cards are a good thing, but a Home Equity Line of Credit is even better. A credit card is a revolving line of credit that you use when you need it and make payments only if you use it. But credit cards can come with a high price: Sky-high interest rates. A Home Equity Line of Credit is like a credit card in that it’s a revolving line of credit that you use when you need it and make payments on only if you use it. But, unlike most credit cards the Home Equity Line of credit have rock-bottom interest rates.
Important Readiness Checklist for Homebuyers
1. Do I have a steady source of income (usually a job)?
reliable?
Listing Agreements aren’t all the Same
If you are selling your home, and plan to list it with a real estate agency, what type of listing contract will you sign?
There are three primary types of listing agreements and each one offers a different level of service, rights, and responsibilities for both the real estate agent and the home seller.
Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Agreement
The Exclusive Right to Sell is the most commonly used listing contract. As its name implies, it gives the agency the exclusive right to sell your property. You pay a commission to the agency at closing no matter who buys the property, even if you find the buyer yourself.
If an agency other than the listing agency sells the home, the listing agency typically splits its total commission with the second agency.
The Exclusive Agency listing contract also gives a specific agency the right to market and sell the property, but with one big difference-the seller retains the right to sell the property without paying a commission if he sells it to a buyer who was not introduced to the property by the agency.
The Listing agency shares its commission with another agency if the second agency brings a buyer.
In an open listing, no single agency has an exclusive on selling the property and the owner can sell it himself without paying a commission to anyone. A seller can sign an Open Listing with multiple agencies.
If the seller does pay a commission, it’s to the selling agency only. No commissions would be shared in an Open Listing Scenario.