My real estate friends tell me that it is not impossible to sell a home in a short period of time, it just depends on the home. Still, with the housing market the way that it is, you don’t want to spend a lot of money getting your home ready for the market, but you don’t want it to sit out there forever being passed over for other houses that are also for sale. Use some smarts and a little elbow grease to make your home stand out among all the rest of the housing inventory, and do it for … Continue reading →

The housing market continues to go into decline according to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Expert indications are that it will continue to decline in 2012. Some areas have been hit worse than other areas. Recently, the Housing Misery Index was published by Trulia, an online real estate search and marketing website. The reports lists and ranks each state’s housing market, taking into consideration the changes in home prices plus the rates of delinquency and foreclosure. They also tend to have high unemployment. One thing that is interesting to note is that many of the states hit … Continue reading →

For sale, one deserted village in France. Includes several buildings with exposed beams and fireplaces, a tennis court, a horse stable and even a swimming pool. It was the homesite of Jeanne d’Albret, mother of King Henry IV, and is said to have several springs that have healing powers. Price: $400,000 or best offer. Hmm, maybe it is time to move to France. For the cost of one smallish house here in my neck of the woods, we could have an entire french village, Courbefy. Wow–think of how much fun the kids would have. Maybe we could even grow grapes. … Continue reading →

Ever wonder what all of those real estate terms mean? They can often be confusing. I remember the first time that I ever heard about points and how they could lower your interest rate. Everyone just assumed that I knew all about them, when I had never heard about points before and how they played a role in getting a mortgage. Heck, I had never lived in, let alone purchased, a home before. Just in case you find yourself in a similar situation or want to be able to point a friend in the right direction about real estate, I … Continue reading →

Usually, a seller puts a home on the market and the potential buyer who is interested in the home makes an offer with the contingency of a home inspection. Every buyer should have a professional home inspection done, unless they are a professional home inspector themselves or plan on leveling the home. But there is a good reason why a home seller should get a home inspection before they put their house on the market. Actually, there are several good reasons. First of all, a home inspection will cost you some money to have done. A really thorough inspection can … Continue reading →

We have been hearing a lot about short sales lately. For prospective home buyers, a short sale can be a real bargain and get them into a house and a neighborhood that they might not otherwise been able to afford. But what exactly is short sale, and what can you expect if you are interested in buying a home this way? Here is some useful information all about buying a home through a short sale. So what exactly is a short sale? A short sale occurs when a home seller agrees to sell his or her home to a buyer … Continue reading →

These days, having your home stand out from the crowd may be the only way to get it to sell. There is a lot of inventory out there, presenting something special that will spark and emotional connection for buyers will aid its marketability. Everyone loves a good story. Photo Montage Create a photo montage that showcases your home through the years. You may be able to find copies of photos from the previous owners, at your local town hall and through old newspaper clippings. Check with your local library and historical society. Is your home too new? Look for old … Continue reading →

We all know that the housing market has changed. It isn’t all that easy to sell a home today. Some analysts are saying that people who don’t currently own don’t really want to buy one, they would rather rent, and that this may not change for a long time. In fact, the housing collapse has scared so many people that some of the people who do own homes just want to sell them and become renters. That makes it really difficult to sell a home. Of course, it isn’t impossible, but if you are planning to sell your home soon, … Continue reading →

Yesterday I was curious about the house down the road, the one that has been sitting vacant for almost half a year. About the same size as mine, although it is a split level instead of a colonial like ours, and it sits on three acres of land instead of our two. Looking this for sale house online, I discovered that it had recently been reduced by almost $50,000. The house is in a very nice neighborhood, if I do say so myself, with low taxes. It features the things that most home buyers in this area are looking for: … Continue reading →

It is a good time to buy a home, but that doesn’t mean that it will be easy. Buying a home can be a stressful time, even when it turns out to go smoothly. Here are three things that new home buyers need to know. Where the Professionals Are Having the right team of professional working for you can really mean the difference between getting a great deal and getting disappointment. From a real estate agent to a home inspector, always get plenty of references and use them, and research the companies and team members that you will be using. … Continue reading →