by Jeff Pittman | Feb 19, 2015 | Weekly Quote
“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” ~ Adrienne Gusoff
by Jeff Pittman | Feb 19, 2015 | Buyers
As a first-time home buyer, you may be concerned about doing comparison shopping when it comes to getting a loan. A mortgage may be a commitment that you are tied to for decades or until you sell your home, and you certainly want to ensure that you make the best decision possible when applying for your loan. Here are 4 useful online resources when shopping for your home loan: Online Budgeting Tools and Apps Before you go through the effort to start shopping for a home loan and comparing interest rates, you may first want to review your personal budget. You can use great resources online like this general budget calculator from YouCanDealWithIt.com.Each tool and app may offer different benefits, so you may consider putting several to work for you as you prepare a budget. Once you know what your budget for the near future looks like, you’ll be much more prepared to meet with a financial representative, and stay within budget when house hunting. Home Affordability Calculators After you have a functional budget prepared, your next task will be to determine the size of home that you can afford to purchase. Keep in mind that some lenders may tell you that you can afford to purchase a much more costly home than what may be manageable for your budget. Home affordability calculators are available through many bank and lender websites, as well as through Bankrate.com and others around the web. Mortgage Loan Payment Calculators Many who are shopping for a home loan may use a home affordability calculator in conjunction with a mortgage loan payment calculator. You can...
by Jeff Pittman | Feb 13, 2015 | Weekly Quote
“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” ~ Vidal Sassoon
by Jeff Pittman | Feb 11, 2015 | Sellers
5 Really Good Reasons To Work With A Real Estate Agent – Selling your home is a big step and it takes a big commitment to do it right. Sure you could opt for the DIY home sale and do For Sale by Owner (FSBO), but is it really worth your time and money? While you’re weighing the benefits of working with a real estate agent or not, don’t forget to consider all of details of a home sale they help out with including paperwork and contracts, marketing, negotiating and more. If you’re ready to start looking for an agent to work with then check out our tips for how to choose the best one. And if you’re still on the fence about whether or not you want to go it alone, just consider these 5 Really Good Reasons To Work With A Real Estate Agent. Handling the paperwork and tricky contracts Selling your home requires a large amount of paperwork. If you don’t fill out all of the paperwork correctly you can lose a buyer or worse – face legal action. There is the sales contract, property disclosures, tax records, homeowners insurance, escrow paperwork, pre- and post-occupancy agreements and more to get in order. Take a look at these 9 surprising things home sellers need to disclose and you’ll start to understand that not all of the paperwork is self explanatory. It takes an experienced professional to know everything you need to prepare for your home sale. A real estate agent is trained to deal with real estate contracts, paperwork and the legal jargon. They’ve filled out the papers time...
by Jeff Pittman | Feb 11, 2015 | Homeowners
Home renovation can be a fun project to undertake but before you know it, it can be draining your bank account in a big way. Whether your renovation is in preparation for a home sale, a long planned expense or a spur of the moment need for change, you can pull it off without breaking the bank if you’ve got the right plan.Thanks to some insider tips from the pros at Richards Micro-Tool we’ve put together these 5 tips for planning your next home renovation. Saving money and pulling off your next home remodeling project like a pro is all in the details. Here are 5 Secrets to Nailing Your Home Renovation Without Breaking the Bank: 1. Visual Planning Before you start your project, it is important to set out a schedule. Visualize your renovation project in your mind because that is how pros do it. If you are good with the pen, you can even sketch the changes out on a sheet of paper. Whether you are going to do the entire work yourself or you are hiring a renovating professional to help you out, these draft sketches would help to put your idea across to them. This is also important because it helps you avoid surprises – and the extra costs that come with them. 2. Budgeting Make the most of your budget. You can only do this if you know what your budget is. Always keep some room for mishaps or losses when you undertake a home renovation project. Also, know what is important to you. Why did you undertake the renovation in the first place? Did you see...
