Moving “Down” in an “Up” Market

Selling a home and buying a lower priced home that meets your current needs can be to your advantage in an “Up” market like the current one with low inventory. The advantage is that you can maximize the price for the home you’re selling and not have to reinvest it all in your replacement. Just …

Cutting Your Housing Costs in Half

Cutting the price will generally bring buyers of anything out of the woodwork that were not serious before. Some renters could easily lower their monthly cost of housing by half or more by purchasing a home with all the financial benefits that come with it. The most obvious thing in today’s market is that the …

Some Mortgage Interest May Not be Deductible

Banks are concerned about making loans that will be repaid not about making loans that are tax deductible for homeowners. It is good business for the bank but how is the homeowner supposed to know? Most homeowners and potential homeowners are aware there are tax benefits associated with ownership. For instance, mortgage interest and property …

Seven Questions to Ask Before You Choose an Agent

The concern today when putting your home on the market should not be whether you’ll get a contract; it’s whether you are going to recognize the majority your net proceeds without any unnecessary delays. What you realize from the sale of your home has to do with maximizing the sales price while minimizing the sales …

Four Things Sellers Should Do Before the Sign Goes in the Yard

Just like buyers should be pre-approved before they begin to look at houses, Sellers should have their home pre-approved. The reasons are similar: appeal to the “right” buyers, discover issues with the home early, improve marketability, increase negotiations position and close quicker. For the seller, there are few things that need to be done before …

Selling or Buying Smart Homes

More and more homeowners are employing smart home technology within their homes. It may start with a video doorbell or lights and progress to other devices. The smart-home device market is rapidly growing and Forbes research expects it to grow from $55 billion in 2016 to $174 billion in 2025. The popularity of these high-tech …

Alternative Investments

In a recent article, The Wall Street Journal reported that investors have rarely been this flush with cash. The economic uncertainty due to the pandemic and the volatility of the stock market has caused assets in money-market funds to increase to approximately $4.6 trillion, the highest level on record according to Refinitv Lipper. The question …

How Does It Measure Up?

People are always looking for a “down and dirty” way to determine the value of a home and square footage seems to be one of the most common things used by people whether they are buyers, sellers or real estate agents. While it seems straight forward, there are several variances that can lead to inaccurate …