Showing posts with label Home Buyer Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home Buyer Tips. Show all posts

Part 2: 6 Buying & Selling Mistakes to Avoid


There are six mistakes you want to avoid during a simultaneous sale. Here are the last three.


In the final episode of our two-part series about the biggest mistakes to avoid when buying and selling at the same time, we’ll go over the final three pitfalls that can harm your simultaneous transactions. To recap the first part of this series, click here. Without further ado, here are the final three mistakes to avoid: 4. Working with too little of a cushion when it comes to financing and terms. If you’re selling your house for a certain number because you absolutely need that amount to purchase your next home, you’re not leaving yourself that much cushion. You never know what will happen during negotiations. You don’t know what a buyer will ask for, and cutting it tight can make the situation way more stressful. Try to have a little bit of a cushion in terms of what you need from your sale and what you require for your next purchase.

Try to have a little bit of a cushion in terms of what you need from your sale and what you require for your next purchase.
5. Failing to compromise. When going through the buying or selling process, it’s easy to stand on principle and refuse to compromise on what you want or what you’re willing to do. There’s a time and a place to put your foot down, but during a real estate transaction, you should think long and hard on whether little things like not wanting to fix a broken window are worth potentially putting a stop to the entire process. 6. Using two different real estate agents. If you’re moving out of town after you sell your current home, then using two different agents is a way better idea than using just one, but if you’re buying and selling in the same area, the process will be a lot smoother if you use just one agent or team. On our team, for example, we have specialized agents who focus on just one side of the transaction, so if you worked with us, you’d get the best of both worlds in terms of expertise. Once again, if you have any questions about this or any other real estate topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be glad to help you.
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Location: Temple, TX, USA

Part 1: 6 Buying & Selling Mistakes to Avoid


There are six mistakes you want to avoid during a simultaneous sale. Here are the first three.


In part one of our two-part series on real estate mistakes, we’ll be going over the first three pitfalls you want to avoid when buying and selling at the same time: 1. Waiting too long to prepare your home for the market. If you wait until the last second to prepare your home, it can cause a lot of unnecessary stress. You may have to paint walls, repair decks, and more. Don’t wait until it’s too late! 2. Not having a backup plan. When you’re going through the buying and selling processes at the same time, there are a lot of moving parts to consider. It’s good to have something to fall back on if issues come up and you need to make changes.

Don’t let reality hit you after you’ve found the perfect home.
3. Not speaking with a lender before starting the home search. If you don’t talk with a lender up front, you won’t have a pre-qualification or pre-approval and you’ll have no idea what you can actually afford. Don’t let reality hit you after you’ve found the perfect home; speaking with a lender from the outset will help eliminate the daydreaming. Stay tuned for part two of our series, where we’ll cover the final three mistakes to avoid during a simultaneous sale. If you have any questions or would like more information, feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
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Location: Temple, TX, USA

How Long Does a Pre-Approval Last?


Once you get pre-approved, how long is this pre-approval good for? Find out with today’s quick message.


You probably already understand the importance of getting pre-approved. After all, meeting with a lender to verify your capacity to buy is the first step you should take in your home search. But after a lender reviews the necessary documents (bank statements, pay stubs, etc.) and explains what kind of home you can afford, how long will this pre-approval last?

Meeting with a lender to verify your capacity to buy is the first step you should take in your home search.
Thankfully, you’ve got quite some time before your mortgage pre-approval will expire. Lenders understand that buying a home can be intense. They know it can’t happen overnight, so most mortgage pre-approvals will remain valid for at least 90 days. After that point, you may need to undergo a second pre-approval process to ensure that you still have the means to buy a home. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
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Location: Temple, TX, USA

Don’t Forget to Do These Things When You Move


People tend to forget a lot of things when they’re moving. Here are five such items that you should be aware of.


When you’re moving into a new home, there’s a lot of stress involved. With that being the case, homeowners tend to forget about certain things during the process. Here is a list of the top five things you should remember when moving: 1. Switch banks. If you are at a regional bank and moving to a different region, you’ll need to switch banks. 2. Take care of medical needs. You might have to get a new doctor, too. This is another thing that can fall by the wayside during the moving process. 3. Transfer your utilities. This includes things like cable, utilities, and internet. Make sure your utilities are turned off at your old home and on at your new one.

Try to be aware of transfer expenses up front and budget them into your moving costs.
4. Prepare for transfer fees. For example, if you have a home alarm contract, you might have to pay a fee or penalty for canceling your agreement early. Try to be aware of any expenses upfront and budget them into your moving costs. 5. Raid the kitchen. Don’t leave any food behind. The freezer is a common place where these items end up sitting for years until you move. One great idea is to take inventory of what’s in your freezer and start planning to cook it before the move happens. These are five basic things that you should keep an eye on if you’re considering a move. If you have any questions in the meantime or if you are interested in buying or selling a home in the area anytime soon, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
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Location: Temple, TX, USA

4 Tips for Surviving a Seller’s Market


Today I’m here to discuss four very important tips for surviving a seller’s market.


Our market has been fairly competitive, so here are four tips that we’ve compiled to help buyers compete more favorably in a tough market: 1. Submit a large earnest money deposit. Earnest money is like a deposit you can put down with your contract. The great thing about earnest money is that as long as you adhere to the contract, that money is never at risk. If for some reason an inspection turns out badly or things don’t otherwise work out, there are ways you can back out of that contract. The larger the deposit you put down, the more attractive it makes you look to a seller. 2. Make sure you’re pre-qualified. This is extremely important; listing agents looking over offers want to see that you’ve been pre-qualified with a reputable local lender. A pre-qualification letter will show the seller of the property that you’re serious and qualified to move forward with the transaction. If the lender you’re pre-qualified with is local and reputable, it will always carry more weight in the seller’s eyes.

A pre-qualification letter will show the seller of the property that you’re serious and qualified to move forward with the transaction.
3. Give the seller time to move. Once their home has been sold, a seller will need time to pack their things together, coordinate their families, and move out. If you don’t give them a lot of time to pack up, that will create a very stressful experience for them. If you include a lenient move-out time in your original offer, it might be a way to further incentivize the seller to choose your offer over others. 4. Write your best offer. There have been a number of times when I’ve worked as a listing agent to evaluate different offers on my seller’s home that I’ve seen a family who really, really wants the house for any number of reasons, but they’ll come up $500 or $1,000 short on their offer. If you consider this over the next 15 to 30 years, that $1,000 means absolutely nothing; it will make almost no dent in your monthly payment. I hate to see people miss out on getting a house that they love over $4 a month. Always put your best and strongest offer forward. If you’re thinking of buying or selling a house, feel free to visit our website at www.RyanSmithHomes.com, or else contact us at any time. We’d love to hear from you.
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Location: Temple, TX, USA

The Final 5 Common Real Estate Myths


Today we’ll discuss part two of the top 10 common myths in real estate and debunk our final five misconceptions.


Today I'll be sharing the second part of my two-part series on the top 10 myths in real estate, featuring myths No. 6 through No. 10. 6. Weekends bring out the most serious buyers. When people are preparing to put their house on the market, we often hear of sellers thinking they won't be able to show it during the week, so they make showings available for the weekend only. Serious homebuyers, however, are coming throughout the week, and while you are more likely to have showings on the weekends because people are off, you may still get buyers during the week. 7. Zillow says it, therefore it is right. First, I want to say that Zillow is very rarely accurate. There is nothing more frustrating as a real estate agent than having folks come in and say that Zillow says the home is worth a certain amount. While you can get good information from these types of websites, they are very rarely accurate because they use algorithms based on tax records.

Every seller is in a different situation and has different circumstances involving their sale.
8. It is better to initially list a home on the high side because you can always negotiate it down. If you start out too high, it is actually one of the fastest ways to kill your home sale. When you initially list your home, you’ll have the most activity that you are going to have; if the price is too high, you end up missing out on people. If you try to make adjustments and catch up later, those people have already moved on to other properties and your momentum that you need to sell for top dollar is gone. Although I actually love pricing homes as the highest in the neighborhood, it has to be priced realistically so you can get the most money. 9. Multiple price reductions mean that a seller is desperate to sell. Every seller is in a different situation and has different circumstances involved in their sale. This does not necessarily mean that someone is desperate. 10. All agents are the same and do the same exact thing. This is definitely not true. If you look at the results, you can see very different outcomes depending on the team or person you hire. The people who are successful or have been successful for a long period of time are clearly doing things differently to enable them to achieve that kind of success. If you have any additional questions or are interested in buying or selling, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to speaking with you soon.
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Location: Temple, TX, USA

5 Signs You Can’t Afford the Home You’re Purchasing


There are five signs that will tell you that you’re about to buy a house that you simply can’t afford.


Sometimes, when we’re working to help guide a buyer in their home purchase, they’ll ask us how they can know if they’re buying a house that is more than they can swing. Just because they were approved for a certain amount, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have an easy time managing payments. To gauge whether you’re stretching yourself too thin, keep an eye on the following five signs: 1. Are your financing options unconventional or creative? If you’re resorting to or being offered highly unconventional mortgage options to use in order to make your purchase work, it could be a sign that you’re swinging a little too high. 2. Do you need down payment assistance programs to qualify for this house? If the purchase or sale price of the home is so high that coming up with the down payment is a struggle, then it could be an indication that you’re trying to purchase outside your range.

If you have enough money per month to cover your mortgage, but have little left over for the rest of your expenses, that’s a definite sign that you’re exceeding your limits.
3. Do you have just enough money to cover your mortgage? If you have enough money per month to cover your mortgage, but have little left over for the rest of your expenses, that’s a definite sign that you’re exceeding your limits. Don’t squeeze your budget too tightly. 4. Are you considering taking money from your retirement funds? If the only way to make your mortgage work is to take money from your hard-earned retirement funds, then that’s an issue. 5. Do you have a bad feeling about the purchase? If, during your purchase, you get an overwhelming sinking feeling that the whole thing is a bad idea, it’s a good idea to go with your gut. We do want to help you purchase a home, but you should also be happy with it. You’re the one who has to live in the house and manage your expenses, so your feelings are paramount. If you’re a homebuyer who is experiencing one or more of these signs, or if you’re interested in purchasing a home, please feel free to reach out to me. We’re always here to help and provide excellent service to you.
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Location: Temple, TX, USA

4 Tips for Finding the Perfect Neighborhood for Your Next Home


Finding the perfect neighborhood for your next home can be a lot easier if you follow these four tips.


Are you unsure of how to find the best neighborhood for your next home? Here are four tips to help you make the right decision: 1. Consider the value of the homes in the neighborhood. What are home values doing in that area? Are they consistently increasing or decreasing? This factor plays a big role should you choose to sell the property later on. If values are going up, that’s typically a good thing. It also gives you an idea of other dynamics at work in the neighborhood. For example, studies have shown that homes located with a mile of a Starbucks tend to appreciate at a much higher rate than homes located farther away. 2. Look at the schools. Homes located in good school districts are proven to appreciate faster and hold their value much better. If you have kids, you want to make sure they’ll be able to attend a good school system that will be able to support them well.

If home values are going up in that neighborhood, that’s typically a good thing.

3. Make the drive. If you have to drive from your prospective neighborhood to your workplace, do a trial run so you know what you’re getting into. Will you regularly encounter any high-traffic situations to get to work on time or will it be a nice and easy commute? 4. Get local with each neighborhood you inspect. Drive through them during the day and at night and see what it’s like. If you’re looking for a quieter setting and during your drive you see kids everywhere and it’s very loud all the time, that might not be the best fit for you. If, on the other hand, you have kids and are looking for a more active atmosphere, that might be the perfect neighborhood. If you have any questions about finding the right neighborhood or there’s anything else we can help you with regarding the real estate field, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d be happy to help.

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Location: Temple, TX, USA
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