Real estate professionals all know that the longer a home is for sale, the higher the chance will be that the price will drop. Sellers tend to think their home is wonderful and will sell quick. If you have a good location, and your home is in good repair then the only other factor is […]
The IRS makes a special consideration for the sale of jointly-owned main home after the passing of a spouse. The surviving spouse can qualify to exclude up to $500,000 of capital gains if specific requirements (listed below) are met compared to only $250,000 exclusion for single people. Selling the home needs to happen within two […]
For some home sales there can be two periods of negotiation. Your primary negotiation happens when the contract is agreed to including price, closing date and possession. Both parties feel relief once this primary negotiation period is finished. But if there are any contingencies for financing, inspections or anything else, more negotiations will ensue. Getting […]
Online shopping is the trend and it applies to real estate. One major factor in that marketing is listing photos. The National Association of Realtors reports that over 90 percent of buyers look on the internet first when looking for a home. It it more efficient for them to review photos of homes online than […]
Over the last several years during the real estate recession, some homeowners who couldn’t sell their home decided to rent it instead. You may be one of these people. Now that the real estate market has turned around in most areas, that same home may now sell and bring a higher price. With all forecasts […]
If you are a seller, you have three tools within your control that will affect the marketability of your home: price, condition and terms. Price is the easy one, easily adjusted against competing properties, inventory levels and market conditions. But lower your price may not be your best decision when you want the most from […]
An available solution for helping buyers and sellers is this uncommon mortgage program. Called a temporary buy down, it is a fixed mortgage in which to seller prepays the interest at closing i order to lower the payments for several years. The borrower must be approved at the note rate however, but will get the […]
Lenders use credit scores to measure a borrower’s creditworthiness. Although several different companies offer credit scores, the Fair Isaacson Corporation or FICO is the one that is most often used. FICO uses five key components to determine a borrower’s overall credit score or rating. The highest percentage, 35 percent, is judged on payment history which […]
Today there is a real chance that if you ask a real estate agent if they have sold a home to a buyer who did not see the home until after purchase they will say yes. Selling a home this way may have seemed unconventional just ten years ago but is getting more commonplace. The […]
A popular tool for homeowners looking at their home’s value these days is the AVM or Automated Valuation Model. A computer analyzes public records to provide you a value based on square footage, comparable sales around your home and a few limited factors that you can edit. Just go to their website, enter your address […]
