REMAX of Paradise
Taking the Leap from Tenant to Area Homeowner
Each day, any number of tenants see the perfect area house for sale, yet fail to go ahead and investigate further. Making the move from tenant to homeowner is, after all, one of life’s major decisions — so no matter how perfect such a find might be, making the leap can seem daunting. According to the Rental Protection Agency, by last week there were more than 107,000,000 renters in the US — a number that increases by 2,600 a...Continue Reading!
Everything is ‘Onstage’ When Selling Your Home in Town
The Real Estate Staging Association is always telling the world that when you are selling your home, you can expect to spend 73% less time on the market if you use the services of a professional staging company. Although this is an outcome everyone aims for, the cost of full bore professional staging can be a budget-cruncher. A compromise solution is to combine a little personal elbow grease with some of the ‘inside’ tricks stagers use. When selling your home in...Continue Reading!
Town Recovery’s New Obstacle: Not Enough Homes for Sale
So the market’s recovering, interest rates are low, and you think you’re finally ready to buy a home? Not so fast. Buyers across the country are running into a new roadblock: there don’t seem to be enough homes for sale. Anyone who has looked at entry- to mid-level homes for sale in our neighborhoods probably knows what I mean. Mortgage rates remain near historic lows, and as the prices of homes for sale continue to rise, fears that we could soon...Continue Reading!
Area Real Estate Market Watchers Find Another Surprise
When the Wall Street Journal or Forbes run mortgage rate stories as their lead items, those of us who keep an eye on the local real estate market pay close attention. I frequently share what they say here. But when even the non-financial outlets like USA TODAY and the cable TV news channels give top billing to real estate market news, it’s a real attention-grabber. That’s what happened last week. USA TODAY’s online headline focused on the 15-year fixed mortgage rate,...Continue Reading!
6 Common Mistakes After Listing Your Property for Sale
Previously, we cited three of the most common mistakes sellers make after listing their local property for sale. Here are three more: Proper Insurance When you have a local property for sale, it’s more important than ever to see that your homeowners insurance is up to date. It is highly unlikely that someone will have an accident on your premises, but the increase in the number of visitors makes it prudent to be well covered. Of course you will want to mitigate...Continue Reading!
Area “Boomerang Buyers” Enter the Picture
“Time flies when you’re having a good time” we hear. But time can also pass quickly for those who’ve had to go through difficult times. Case in point is a million and a half borrowers who have recently experienced the pain of a foreclosure. That’s the estimated number of those who, by this time next year, will have waited long enough to again become eligible for an FHA loan. Anyone interested in buying a local home after a foreclosure has...Continue Reading!
For Area Property Owners Awaiting Those Refund Checks… The Not-So-Obvious Tax Refund-Property Connection
Remember playing Monopoly? After another player had put up a hotel on a pricey property like Boardwalk or Park Place, remember that feeling of relief every time you got past without landing on them? Whew! That’s the way many of us feel now that Tax Week is over. If you’re one of the millions who will soon be checking the mail for your refund check, you are probably also pondering the best use to put it to. Especially if you’re thinking...Continue Reading!
Local Housing for Sale Benefits from Yards with ‘Destinations’
As a local homeowner prepares a property for sale, he or she faces the inevitable series of tradeoffs. One of the major ones is the decision about how much time and budget to devote to interior vs. exterior renewal. In cases where the inside is going to get the lion’s share of attention, it’s good to remember that there are ways you can make simple changes to your backyard that can markedly raise the whole property’s overall appeal. As with...Continue Reading!
Missed Mortgage Payments Can Attract Scam Proposals
When natural disaster strikes, you can be certain that two groups will soon be there: the Red Cross — and scam artists. Unfortunately, the same holds for turmoil of all kinds. Local homeowners who have missed mortgage payments should be aware that, in addition to getting their accounts back on track as soon as possible, they should be prepared to be targeted by unethical operators. Missed mortgage payments can cause a local homeowner’s name to appear as ‘arrears’ on public tax...Continue Reading!
Practical Kitchen Facelift Solves House Sale Dilemma
For homeowners preparing a local house for sale, it’s often the single most difficult decision: what about the kitchen? When the kitchen is undeniably past its prime, it can be a true dilemma. We all know that kitchens can sell a home, but when the budget for a full-blown remodel doesn’t make financial sense, what are the alternatives? Enter remodeling’s more practical first cousin: refacing. Faster, cheaper — and sometimes every bit as effective — kitchen refacing is a widely overlooked...Continue Reading!
