Living the Dream – 6 Tactics for Home Buyers
The numbers of home buyers continue to outpace the availability of homes to purchase.  The low inventory has created a marketplace where future homeowners carefully plan a strategy for success or face frustration.  Here is a few strategy tips:
Know the Market
Do your homework try to know what determines the value of a particular community and why other areas are less expensive.  Look for trends.  What makes a type or location of homes more popular?    What style or design fits your personality?
Be Approved for a Mortgage Loan
Almost all sellers will reject your offer if you don’t have a firm pre-approval letter from a lender they trust.  Beware of a prequalification which is not much more than what you can do with online tools.  Make sure they have pulled your credit and calculated your ratios based on your current bills and gross income.
Interview Multiple Agents
This advice ma. ...

8 Hidden Reasons Why Buyers Don’t Choose Your Home


Sellers will often get frustrated when their home has not sold.  They will usually blame the real estate agent.  While, admittedly, not all agents bring the same level of professional marketing, often it is one of these seemingly small things tripping the seller up.


In some cases, the buyer can’t even tell you why the home was not desirable to them.  After all, if they could pinpoint exactly what was “not quite right”, an adjustment to the offer could be made and the home could sell.  If you are considering a move, make sure you get these things right.




Fragrance:  Some homes smell like the local candle shop with overwhelming “pleasant” smells.  Two things happen when a buyer enters the home.  First, they either love or hate the seller’s choice.  Fragrance is a personal thing.  Even when they like the choice, you don’t ...

When Buying a Brand New Home is a Bad Idea for You


There is nothing like walking into a brand new home and making it your own.  The fresh smells of carpet, paint and brand new systems is hard to resist.  But new homes are not always the best choice for buyers.  Real estate agents represent buyers in selling both new and resale homes so they will not steer you to one or the other.  Instead, they will help you take an objective look at the pros and cons of new construction.


The dollars and cents of your decision can be balanced into the decision, but often the deciding factors have to do with lifestyle and location.  Famous author, Ric Edelman wrote the book “The Truth About Money”.  After building two new homes, he purchased a resale to be fixed up.  His comment was “One of the fundamental mistakes that consumers make is a rush to judgment.  They often dismiss a new home or a resale when one is far more appropria ...

Who is FICO and Why Do They Score You?
To many, FICO is similar to the Wizard of Oz.  The mystery of how they operate is huge and so is the result of their scoring your credit worthiness.
Who is FICO?
In 1956, Bill Fair and Earl Isaac founded a software company in San Jose, California.  They developed a process for measuring consumer credit risk.  The score ranges from 300 to 850 based on the credit behavior of the person.  In 1989, the company made its first general purpose scoring system available for lenders.  In 2013 alone, mortgage lenders purchased more than 10 billion FICO scores with credit reports.
Why Do They Score You?
Prior to this scoring system, lenders were expected to carefully analyze each mortgage loan application based on the known merits of the borrower.  It was much easier for borrowers to hide derogatory information.  The process was also dependent on the highly developed skills of loan officers and underwriters to weight su ...

Joys of Moving During the Holidays


The hustle and bustle of the holidays will often discourage real estate buyers and sellers.  However, there are many advantages to moving during the holidays.  It can be good for you whether you are a buyer or a seller.  Here are a few reasons why you may want to move during the next couple of months.


Seller Reasons


Your home is never more beautiful than when it is decorated for the holidays.  Evocative scents and charming decorations will allow potential buyers to see your home at its best.  But there are more practical reasons to consider having your home on the market during the holidays.


Motivated buyers:  Corporations will often notify their employees about staff changes right after the budgets have been set for the coming year.  Very often, they will give little notice to the upwardly mobile executive.  The family will need to move quickly to be ready for the New Year job expec ...