Summer has traditionally been the best time to sell a home. Not only do many families take advantage of moving when the kids are out of school, but in climates where winter weather is unpredictable or severe, the warmer months make it easier to be away for showings. With more homes on the market, how can you maximize your potential for a great offer among the options? Fortunately, you can take a few steps to ensure your home stands out from the crowd. Tips for Selling in Sum

Before you start searching for your new home, the first step is to speak with a lender and determine your budget. This is being pre-qualified for a loan. Once you find the right home, then your lender will order an appraisal of the property and complete your financing. If this is your first home purchase, or if it’s been a while since you’ve purchased, understanding how to prepare for the qualifying process is the first step to success. What do I need to qualify for a home l

Unfortunately, since the mortgage meltdown, foreclosed properties have become more common. Many home buyers see this as an opportunity to find a great home for a bargain price. While foreclosures can offer some nice discounts, understanding how foreclosures work and how this affects the buyer is critical to ensure you are getting a good deal and not a disaster. What is a Foreclosure? First, it’s important to understand what qualifies as a foreclosure. A foreclosure is a pro

Congratulations, you have multiple offers on your home listing. It’s exciting to hear that you have a choice in buyers. Yet how can you make sure that you choose the right offer? With varying sales prices and terms, comparing offers might be harder than you expected. Still – it’s a great problem to have. If you find yourself in a multiple offer situation, the first step is to meet with your agent to discuss each offer in detail. What are the actual differences? It’s easy to

Closing costs help facilitate the sale of a home and both buyers and sellers pitch in. Some closing costs can be paid before the home is officially sold and others are paid at the end. However, closing costs aren’t set into stone and they can be negotiable. You can ask your real estate agent or lender with help in estimating your actual closing costs. Look over everything to make sure all the numbers are right and then you plan accordingly in how you’re going to lower them.

Over the last few years, weekend warriors have been delighted to find an abundance of television shows devoted to fixing up homes. More specifically, they show viewers how to take a fixer-upper and turn it from an ugly duckling to a special property that they can call home. It sounds so easy but before you grab a sledgehammer and head out to buy that cheap bank-owned building on the corner, there are things to consider. First and foremost, how handy are you really? Fixer-up

We live in the information age; the Internet offers advice on every topic and real estate is no exception. With more and more home buyers starting their home search online, they are bombarded with advice and information – it can be easy to think that you can learn everything you need to know just by reading articles online. The truth is your real estate agent does much more than answer your questions and open doors with a special key. A professional real estate agent will b

Either buying or selling a home can be extremely stressful, it can be even more overwhelming if one is trying to do both at the same time! The good news is that this happens all the time and by following a few simple tips, both buying and selling can be a seamless process. The good news is that you're planning to move anyway. Before you list your home for sale, why not start packing now? Take personal items and excess furnishings and pack them up and move them to storage.