Blog

What does a real estate agent actually do?

by Autumn Chung

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    Being a real estate agent requires you to employ a significant number of skills to complete a variety of different tasks on a daily basis. Trying to put what an agent does each day in one or two sentences is virtually impossible to do. It would be like trying to tell you what a chef does “cooks food” or what a nurse does “takes care of patients”. There’s a lot more that goes into what they do than just “helping people buy or sell properties”. If...

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What is your debt to income ratio...why should you care?

by Autumn Chung

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      Any time you have more income and less debt, you’re in good shape in life. That said, there is an ideal ratio between your debt and income in order to qualify for a good mortgage.   When your debt to income ratio is on the high side, you run the risk of not getting a good loan (or not getting a loan at all) if your income were to take a hit during right before or during the loan funding process.   Conversely, having no debt can work against...

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What happens when you overprice your home?

by Autumn Chung

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    When the real estate market favors sellers, it’s almost like there’s a feeding frenzy among buyers trying to secure listings that seem to get snapped up within hours of being put on the market.   Such demand drives the prices of homes up rapidly, which only feeds into the perception that the good times will last forever.   Unfortunately, trees don’t grow to the sky and there will always be a top of the market. What this means is that even...

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Why Get Pre-approved? Structuring Your Offer to Get the Best Deal

by Autumn Chung

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    Buying a home is a dream come true, but the process of getting an offer prepared and accepted can be a nightmare if you don’t know what you’re doing.   There are over 80 variables that need to be managed properly when buying a home and mishandling just one of them could cost you tens of thousands of dollars in unnecessary expenses.   Making a home purchase is expensive enough that you don’t need to part ways with any more of your hard-earned...

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Why You Should Have A Home Inspection Before You List

by Autumn Chung

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        One of the largest home sale killers is the home inspection.   Nearly one-third of all terminated real estate contracts fell apart because of the inspection results. Inspections also ranked as the number three cause of delayed settlements, accounting for 13 percent.   For some reason - and I’ll never get it - a home inspection that comes back with anything less than a perfect report strikes fear into the hearts of buyer agents and home...

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Your home is under contract, what’s next?

by Autumn Chung

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    Great news, you’ve put a home under contract and you’re excited to move in one day soon.  There’s a lot that has to happen before you can take occupancy: home inspection, appraisal, financing paperwork, contingencies and other dates to be met. Here’s what you can expect to happen over the coming weeks. Due Diligence Now that the home is yours to negotiate exclusively with the seller, you have a due diligence period that allows you to...

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What will be your payment on your new home?

by Autumn Chung

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    Buying a new home can be overwhelming. Between understanding the financial aspects of your loan and all the paperwork required to buy your home, things can get a little crazy. One of the biggest parts of getting a new home is figuring out the terms and conditions of your mortgage. Two of the biggest areas that impact your loan are credit and your down payment. In this post, we’ll cover both and also explain how to determine the down payment on your new home. Understanding...

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How to handle a multiple offer situation

by Angie Tonini-Rogers

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    Over the last five years, properly priced homes have been fetching multiple offers on a consistent basis.    It is, without a doubt, a seller’s market.   But as exciting as having a bidding war on your property is, it can also provide for some confusion and even anxiety in figuring out what to do with all those offers.   Your natural instinct might be to choose the one that lets walk away with the most amount of money, but there are many...

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How to Sell Your Home Fast and for the Most Amount of Money

by Angie Tonini-Rogers

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  How to Sell Your Home Fast and for the Most Amount of Money     The market has been moving at a pretty good clip over the last several years and it appears that things are going to stay that way for a while.   According to the Case Shiller Home Price Index across the United States have increased 33% over the last 5 years.   Despite all of the amazing things happening in virtually every market across the country, including ours, one thing still rings...

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If your home inspection report comes back bad, now what?

by Angie Tonini-Rogers

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    One of the biggest deal killers for any real estate transaction is the home inspection. It strikes fear into the hearts of sellers and buyers...even though virtually everything about a home can be repaired or replaced. The good news is that if you have a great real estate agent and a competent home inspector, you can usually handle a failed inspection report properly without having to panic in the process. The key thing to remember is that when the home inspection report...

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