How much you should put down to purchase your new home?
by Ben John McCall
Historically, home buyers seek to put down 20% when they purchase a home. However, according to a recent survey by The National Association of Realtors (NAR), the actual national average is much closer to 10%. When it comes to first-time homebuyers, the average down payment is at 4% as per the same survey. While down payment requirements vary based on the lender you choose to work with, the amount required will usually depend on your credit score and your...
Read MoreHow to beat other buyers to hot, new listings (Before they even know about them)
by Ben John McCall
Buyers want three things when they’re making a purchase: Selection: Have the largest number of options from which to choose Price: Get a smoking hot deal on what I want to buy Ease of doing business: Don’t make it hard for me to buy it It doesn’t matter if you’re buying shoes, a toaster or a house, all three of them matter and they usually matter in that order. And when it comes to buying a home,...
Read MoreHow to Find Bank Foreclosures and Distressed Sales
by Ben John McCall
Everyone wants a hot deal. For those who have the ability/desire to work with a home that is, in most cases, less than perfect, foreclosures and distressed sales represent some of the hottest deals out there If you want to locate distressed properties, the first thing you have to understand is that no one will usually advertise their home as a “distressed property” unless they are absolutely desperate to unload their home. Homeowners,...
Read MoreHow to get qualified to purchase a home for no money down
by Ben John McCall
Even with all the insanity that happened during the mortgage meltdown and all the changes that resulted in how money would now be lent to buyers, there are still some amazingly affordable loan programs out there. Included among them, believe it or not, are no-money-down options for buying a home. Here are some of the best programs that are out there today and how you need to get qualified to purchase a home using them to buy a home for no money...
Read MoreHow to get the home with the furniture included
by Ben John McCall
So you like the dining room table in the house you want to buy, but your agent tells you it’s not included with the sale. What do you do? In short, you ask for it. Well, you negotiate it as part of your offer to purchase the home from the seller. To effectively get the home you want with the furniture included, you should identify in advance any furniture that you are interested in buying and let the seller (or your agent) know...
Read MoreHow to handle a multiple offer situation
by Ben John McCall
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...
Read MoreWhy You Should Get a Home Warranty When You List Your Home
by Dennis Rosa
Home warranties aren’t just for buyers anymore. In the past, buyers have asked sellers to pay for a home warranty to give the them a year of protection after it sells on roughly 16 major systems in the house including things like the electrical system, appliances, hot water heater, furnace, etc. Overall, it makes sense because the first time claim on a home warranty for most buyers runs around $1,100 - $1,200 including the $75 deductible that comes with making the...
Read MoreWhy You Should Have A Home Inspection Before You List
by Dennis Rosa
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...
Read MoreTo Stage or Not to Stage Your Home for Sale
by Dennis Rosa
Up until the early 2000’s, most home buyers would have only experienced the eye-popping appeal of home staging if they went and visited a model home at a new construction site. Builders know that it’s much easier for people to make a home-buying decision when they see a home decorated beautifully and set up like someone lives there. These days, staging is highly recommended whether the home is brand new or currently occupied because it has...
Read MoreTop deal breakers for a home under contract and how to fix them
by Dennis Rosa
Selling your home, while exciting, can also be extremely stressful. Even the best of real estate agents have to deal with complicated issues that arise with a home sale. In fact, you’ll find that even when seller and buyer get along great and the sales process is humming along smoothly that challenges can crop up requiring lots of negotiations and may delay the transaction weeks before you can close on the transaction. Conversely, some deals are complicated...
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