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Aug 13, 2019
Selecting the Right Real Estate Agent
There is no shortage of decisions to make when you are going to sell property. One of them that is very important for the overall process and outcome, is hiring the right real estate agent. You want to make sure you can communicate with them well and they always have your best interest in mind. They need experience with family homes, commercial property, or investment property. Make sure their skills and knowledge is parallel with the type of property you are putting on the market. You need someone you feel comfortable with. Remember, you will be working with them closely to make important decisions about the sale of your property. Investigate your Options Take some time early on to find someone exceptional to work with. You can get recommendations from friends, family, and people you work with. Perhaps you had a wonderful experience when you bought property and you would like to use that person to help you sell your property now. You can also look around online to find great options. Read the reviews online and read profiles of potential agents. Local Works in your Favour You will find working with a local real estate agent works in your favour. First, you can meet with them in person. Second, they can come to your property and evaluate it with you. They will also have knowledge about the market and the selling prices in your given area. Finally, they can get a handle on the types of properties for sale and the demand for them. They may even have clients looking for particular homes they can match to your listing. See them at Work Before you hire a real estate agent, see them in action. Find out what they are doing at work. How do they greet clients and talk on the phone? Try to go to an open house they are hosting. You need to feel confident and happy with the way they would represent your home to others. Ask plenty of questions and get solid answers before you make up your mind. You don’t want to be in a rush to select someone to help you sell your home.
Jul 31, 2019
Questions to ask a Potential Real Estate Agent
Before you agree to hire any real estate agent, you need to ask them some questions. Some people hesitate to do this as they don’t want to pry or seem difficult to work with. The truth is, it makes sense to ask any potential agent some key questions. You don’t want to leave something this important to chance! A quality real estate agent isn’t going to mind your inquiries. How long have you been an agent and why? Find out what their experience is and how long they have been a real estate agent. There are perks to working with a seasoned agent. However, don’t rule out newbies, because they are often very motivated. They don’t have lots of clients yet so they have more time to get your house noticed and sold. Ask them why they became an agent and what they like about it the most. Do you currently have clients interested in homes and how many sales have you had in the last 3 months? It isn’t out of line to ask about how many sales they have had in the past few months. This gives you an idea of their motivation and about the movement in the market. Knowing if they have clients looking for a home like yours can also help you to see them as a bridge to assist you and the other party involved. Don’t be shy to ask them for references or contacts of other people they have helped to sell homes for recently. What do you think is a good selling price? A professional opinion about a selling price can help you to be on target, otherwise emotional connections can cause you to go too high or a desperate need to sell can cause you to go too low. Ask them what they are basing that figure on too. To go even further, ask them how long they think it will take for your home to sell and why. What forms of advertising will you use to promote the home and what will it cost? Never assume a real estate agent is going to use a multitude of advertising means to help you promote the home. Make sure you know exactly what methods they will put in place. Ask them to give you a good idea of the cost involved in such promotional efforts too. Ensure you inquire about their cost for promoting your home so you can budget for such costs.
Jul 23, 2019
Making Property Settlement a Smooth Transition
Selling your home either through a private sale or an auction is a great accomplishment. You may feel wonderful knowing that the deal has gone through. However, you still have the obligation of making sure the property settlement goes though as it should. The best way to do this is to make sure the documents clearly outline what will take place, who is responsible for the event, and when it will occur. Final Inspection Typically, the seller gets to set the settlement date. This is anywhere from 30 to 90 days after the sale. The final inspection should take place during this time. The seller legally has to give you the property in the same or better condition than when it was sold. Anything listed in the contract that is to remain on site must be there. Insurance The buyer needs to have proof of insurance ready when they take over the property. If there is a loan on the property, it is a requirement. The lender isn’t going to take any chances something might occur and destroy the home, meaning they lose all of that money. The insurance has to cover at least the minimums by law and they have to cover the dollar amount owed on the mortgage loan. Handing Over the Keys Once everything is completed above and there aren’t any issues to iron out, handing over the keys is the next step in the process. Make sure you deliver all copies of all keys you have for the home. This should include any garage openers. Most buyers will go ahead and change the locks anyway once they take over ownership, but that is up to them.
Jul 16, 2019
Common Tasks to take Care of before you Move into your New Home
Before you move into a new home, there are some tasks you should take care of. They will make you more relaxed and on top of things, and importantly, help you to enjoy your new home from the very start! New Locks Always give yourself the peace of mind of getting new locks on all the doors to your home. Make sure you get spare keys made too, then you won’t have to worry about being locked out. Put a spare well-hidden on site. Schedule Hook Ups You need your water, electricity,landline and internet hooked up before you move into your home. Get those scheduled so they are ready when you arrive. If they need to come into your home to connect, make sure they do so the first day you are there. Help with Kids and Pets You aren’t going to get your home organised with children or pets under foot. Get some help in place so you can focus on what you need to do around the home. You can get someone to come to the house and be with them. You can also schedule to take them somewhere while you focus on your new home. Change of Address Let your friends, family, employer, and the post office know about your change of address. Otherwise, you may miss out on wedding invitations, Christmas cards, and other information you would love to receive from your contacts. If you have any subscriptions for magazines, make sure they know your updated information so you can continue to get your issues on time.
Jul 9, 2019
Make Buying a Home a Smooth Experience
Buying a home doesn’t have to be a nightmare. It can be a smooth experience if you know what to do and how to do it. Too often, it is a learning experience and people find out the hard way they should have done things differently. This information can help you to have a solid plan of action that works to your benefit. Potential for Future Value Don’t think just about a home for the present, what will it offer for the future? Is the area under development and more homes will soon be in demand? Does the neighbourhood offer safety and a friendly atmosphere? What are the going prices for similar homes and what types of interest rates can you get right now? Is it reasonable to think you will be able to sell the home for a profit later on? Location does Matter Think about where you would like to reside and look for homes in that radius. Don’t fall in love with a home that is an hour from your job and then reason you can make the commute each day. It will take a toll on your free time and it will catch up with you quickly. You want to be happy with the area where you live. Avoid buying a home in a neighbourhood where you don’t feel you fit in or you don’t feel safe. Those are factors you should never overlook when it comes to feeling great about the home you invest in. Location can influence price, so consider moving to a suburb of a main area you are looking in. As long as it offers what you want and the commute isn't too time consuming, it can help you to reduce the purchase price. Get yourself Approved It is smart to get yourself approved for the loan before you look for a home. Knowing you can get the money for a mortgage is important. It is a huge let down if you can’t get approval for a loan, once you find a great house. You will feel that loss for a very long time. Knowing how much you can borrow and that the repayments won’t be overwhelming, can put your mind at ease. Then you can look for homes in a location you are happy with, in a price range that is reasonable for your budget. Ideally, try to avoid maxing out the loan amount. This will reduce the repayment figure each month and give you more disposable income in your budget to work with.
Jul 2, 2019
Getting the most from Attending an Open House
Attending an open house can be a wonderful way to find out if you like a home and would like to make an offer on it. However, you may feel a bit intimidated by all of it. Here are ways you can get the most out of the experience. Make sure you adhere to the times of the open house, don’t show up 15 minutes before it is over. Give yourself plenty of time to check it out. If you can’t make it during the open house hours, you need to schedule an appointment. Dress Comfortable Be aware of your comfort when it comes to what you wear. Do not show up at an open house in your tracksuit pants, but there is no need to dress up either. Be comfortable and wear shoes for walking inside and out. It is best not to wear noisy shoes that echo through the home as you explore. You want to be able to check out the garage and the yard too. Meet the Host Take the time to introduce yourself to the host at an open house. This may be an agent or it could be the owners of the home. Typically, they will be by the front door to greet those coming in and to thank those leaving for stopping by. You don’t have to feel obligated to make an offer or to stay if the home isn’t what you are looking for. If you have questions, the host is the person to converse with. If they are very busy with people coming and going, it can be hard to get their undivided attention. You can tell them you are interested and ask if you can schedule a time to talk. When you do, do not criticise the home and there is no need to give them too much information about your own personal situation. You can share with them the type of home you are looking for and even the price range if you like. Ask Permission You may be interested in taking photos or a video of the home so you can review them later. Never assume it is fine to do this. You should always ask the host for permission. It is very rare they will decline your request, but you should always get their approval first before you do this. You don’t have to ask for permission to open up drawers or closets at an open house. However, make sure you are doing so for the sake of the home buying experience and not out of curiosity.
Jun 26, 2019
Additional Homebuyer Costs you need to be Aware of
Don’t be caught off guard when it comes to buying a home. There can be several additional costs that you weren't ready for. Knowing about them in the early planning stages can help you to budget for them. What you will pay depends on where you live and the cost of the home you purchase. Stamp Duty Any time you buy a home, you will be charged a Stamp Duty. It can be sizeable so keep that in mind. The more your home costs, the higher this is going to be. For a $500,000 home, it can be as much as $25,000! There are Stamp Duty calculators you can use online free of charge. They can help you figure out what you may pay. Just enter your state, territory, and the purchase price to get the figure. Legal Research and Verification It is important for the owner of any property to own it free and clear before it is sold to someone else. If they payoff the person holding the mortgage but they also have other liens, it can’t be transferred to someone else. A professional in the legal realm has to do this research and to verify there aren’t any other outstanding debts the home is tied to. Insurance Any time you finance a home, you must have insurance to cover the remaining balance due on that loan. This is required by the lender to eliminate their risk of a complete loss if the property is damaged or destroyed. Plus, it is recommended to have insurance coverage for your personal belongings as well. Utility Deposits and Transfers You may have to pay for utility hook-up fees, deposits, and transfers. This includes money for the water, power, gas, and internet. If you have a landline, there may be a cost there too. What you will incur depends on where you have services.
Jun 19, 2019
Bidding at an Auction for Property
Going to an auction can be a great way for you to get your hands on a property for a low price. Yet this is a commitment and you should have a bidding strategy in place. This will help you to decide if you should continue to bid or let it go to the other interested parties. Bidding Yourself If you are going to step into the arena of bidding on property at an auction, you need to be confident. You need to remain calm even when there is pressure to continue to raise your bid by those around you. Be realistic and don’t let the buzz around you get you to keep bidding higher and higher, or you may suffer remorse later on. Ask Someone to do it for you If you are intimidated, ask a friend or family member with experience to bid for you. They can go with you and help you to stay relaxed. This is known as a proxy and they will be able to get things done for you. Keep in mind, what they bid and agree on, you will be bound to! Buying Agent You may find it is easier for you to get what you want when you count on a buyer’s agent. They can bid on a property for you. They will only bid on certain criteria you have selected and up to a given dollar amount. This can help you avoid trying to make time in your schedule to go to the auction. It can also prevent you from spending more than you had intended.