What Home Thieves Target Most Renters are more likely to experience a burglary than homeowners, according to data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Apartment buildings with two to four units are the most at risk of theft. “This is probably because plenty of people come and go from apartment complexes daily, while homes only …
Category: Real Estate Tips
Aug 23
Kids Have Big Say in Real Estate
Kids Have Big Say in Real Estate Buyers with children put more weight on the neighborhood, local schools, and size of homes when shopping for the right property, according to the 2017 Moving With Kids report, produced by the National Association of REALTORS®. The neighborhood, in particular, has a big influence on home buyers with …
Aug 22
Bypass Appraisals to help would be home owners…
Bypass Appraisals to help would be home owners… Mortgage giant Freddie Mac has announced a new program allowing some home buyers to skip a traditional appraisal, which could lower the fees the buyers pay and speed up the closing process. Freddie’s Automated Collateral Evaluation (or ACE) will determine a property’s collateral risk by …
Aug 18
Buyers Want Bigger Yards Over Bigger Homes
Buyers Want Bigger Yards Over Bigger Homes A property that offers a great outdoor space is taking a higher priority among home buyers. In fact, home shoppers recently surveyed said they would be willing to sacrifice some space from a larger house in order to get a bigger yard. More than half of …
Aug 17
Ways to Cut Kitchen Remodeling Costs
Ways to Cut Kitchen Remodeling Costs Kitchen remodels don’t come cheap. The average cost to update a 200-square-foot kitchen—including installing new flooring, semi-custom wood cabinets, and standard appliances—is a whopping $62,000, according to Remodeling Magazine. Homeowners who want to add in more luxurious touches, such as stone counter tops, a commercial-grade cook top, designer …
Aug 16
Buyers Putting Down Less on a Home
Buyers Putting Down Less on a Home A 20 percent down payment is no longer the norm. In the past year, 1.5 million borrowers purchased their homes with down payments of less than 10 percent, according to Black Knight Financial Services. That marks a seven-year high. A growing number of home shoppers are financing more …
Aug 15
Facebook Marketing Is Key…
Facebook Marketing Is Key… Social media is increasingly a vital part of a real estate professional’s marketing strategy. Seventy-four percent of REALTORS® recently surveyed cited awareness as the main outcome of their social media efforts. Sixty-four percent of 265 REALTORS® recently surveyed say they plan to commit more time to social media, and 60 …
Aug 14
Is Housing Affordability Actually Improving?
Is Housing Affordability Actually Improving? Growing incomes and low mortgage rates are helping to prop up housing affordability and offset rising home prices, according to the newly released National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index. A quarter-point drop in interest rates in the second quarter helped to make homes more affordable …
Aug 04
Ugly Home Features Buyers Can’t Overlook
Ugly Home Features Buyers Can’t Overlook Home shoppers can get hung up on cosmetic issues of a home, even though often times the problems are relatively inexpensive to fix. “Cosmetic issues are a big problem for a lot of home buyers,” Linda Sanderfoot, a real estate professional with Coldwell Banker in Neenah, Wis., …
Aug 03
Quick Fixes Sellers Should Avoid
Quick Fixes Sellers Should Avoid It’s often a mad dash when sellers are working to get their home on the market or even to just clean up ahead of a showing. But some common cleanup tools can actually do more damage than many people realize. HouseLogic identified a few common products that can create …
Aug 02
5 Questions to Ask a Home Inspector
5 Questions to Ask a Home Inspector Home buyers would be wise to interview a home inspector before they hire one. But what should they ask? Here are a few questions to consider. 1. What do you check? A home inspector will look at everything from the roof to the foundation and in between, …
Aug 01
Top school districts in Pennsylvania
Top school districts in Pennsylvania When a family starts searching for a home, especially a family with younger children, it’s very important to find one in a community with a top school district. Why is this important, well we as parents all want our children to be better off than us, just like …
