House hunting is always a process — but in the midst of COVID-19, there are even more things to know and learn about successfully finding and buying a home. But what, exactly, are those things? What do you need to know to find and buy a home right now?
Realtor.com outlines some key lessons home buyers should know if they’re shopping during COVID, including:Continue Reading
Video tours are a great option for long-distance buyers and buyers who are hesitant to tour a property in person due to COVID-19 concerns. But if you’re planning a video tour and want to get a comprehensive feel for the property, you need to tour more than just the interior of the house — you need to take the video tour outdoors.Continue Reading
While COVID-related restrictions have loosened in many areas, many buyers are still wary about going to tour homes in person — and video tours are still hugely popular. Perhaps it’ll even be a permanent addition to how some people look at homes even once the pandemic is entirely under control.
Video tours can give you just as much detail and information about a property checking as seeing it in person. But that’s only true if when working with a Buyer’s Agent who specializes in working with out-of-state clients.Continue Reading
Homeownership is one of the central tenets of contemporary life. Most of us dream of a familiar, comfortable place to call our own, and buying a home is gives us our own piece of the American Dream.
But until and unless you’ve been through the process several times, there are plenty of mistakes many people make on their journey to property ownership.
If you’ve made any of these yourself, don’t feel bad — it can happen to the best of us. And if you’re a home buyer who wants to get ahead of the curve, take a look at the following things not to do when buying a home… so when it’s time to pull the trigger, you’ll be ready to go!Continue Reading
When you apply for a mortgage, you expect your lender to have some questions. But the truth is, your lender is going to have a lot of questions — and if you know what to expect before you start the application process, all of those questions can feel a lot less jarring and invasive.
A recent article from Realtor.com outlined a variety of questions you should expect when applying for a mortgage, including:Continue Reading
The shelter in place orders that have been in effect for weeks across the country have many people spending more time at home than ever before.
And after spending so much time in their homes, many of them are noticing what they don’t like about their current space — and what they’re looking for in a new home. A new survey from realtor.com asked people what they considered must-have features for their next home after sheltering in place. And, unsurprisingly, many of them had to do with space. Continue Reading
We’re in a changing real estate market, and life, in general, is changing too — from how we grocery shop and meal prep to the ways we can interact with our friends and neighbors.
Even practices for engaging with agents, lenders, and all of the players involved in a real estate transaction are changing to a virtual format. What isn’t changing, however, is one key thing that can drive the local economy: buying a home.
We’re all being impacted in different ways by the effects of the coronavirus.Continue Reading
Owning a home has great financial benefits.
In a recent research paper titled “Homeownership and the American Dream,” Laurie S. Goodman and Christopher Mayer of the Urban Land Institute explained:
“Homeownership appears to help borrowers accumulate housing and non-housing wealth in a variety of ways, with tax advantages, greater financial flexibility due to secured borrowing, built-in ‘default’ savings with mortgage amortization and nominally fixed payments, and the potential to lower home maintenance costs through sweat equity.”
Let’s break down five major financial benefits of homeownership:Continue Reading
Are you about to apply for a mortgage loan in order to buy a home? If so, you may be curious about your FICO credit score and how this might affect your financing.
Here’s a look at how FICO scores can affect your mortgage and ways that you can boost your score to ensure your mortgage application is approved.Continue Reading
A “Distressed” property is the industry term encompassing foreclosures, bank owned (REO) and short sales.
Many people think that going after foreclosures, bank-owned or short-sale properties is a good way of getting a great deal on a home. It can be. But it can also be a risky purchase, and tough to even buy one, especially when financing.Continue Reading
