Monthly Archives: December 2016
Selling your home? Be sure to clean!
When getting your home ready to sell, spending some elbow grease cleaning can save you some money and make your home more attractive to buyers. Here are a few of the items to try. Cleaning Painted Walls When cleaning painted walls, start with a clean microfiber cloth or sponge and water. Gently wipe or sponge... Read More
Top 5 Interior Design Trends for 2017
Straight-lined minimalism gives way to liberal ornament, and kitchens get a room of their own. Dozens of interior-design pros weigh in on next year’s trends. PHOTO: ART RESOURCE ; F. MARTIN RAMIN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Out: Rigid Geometrics Atlanta designer Julie DeWalt said, “Hard edges and stark patterns are fading away as we strive to... Read More
The 5 Real Estate Trends That Will Shape 2017
We won’t pretend to know everything that 2017 will bring—heck, 2016 sure surprised us—but we’re pretty certain there will be changes. A lot of them. And while the surprise triumph of Donald Trump in the presidential election won’t alter the fundamentals shaping the 2017 real estate market, its impact is already being felt. We’ve seen interest rates jump... Read More
Should you wait until Spring to put your house on the market?
Listing In Spring Typically the end of the Holiday season and New Years signal the advent of Spring, so putting your home on the market around the time of the Spring Equinox might be the perfect option for you. Markets vary, so only your local professional real estate agent can advise you on what is... Read More
Six basic types of homeowners insurance
Once you have purchased your dream home, it’s time to protect it! Buying a home can be very risky without homeowners insurance. It is essential for safeguarding your most valuable possessions against defects, vandalism and disaster. It will cover the costs of repairs in the event of calamities such as fire, storms, vehicles, aircraft, riots,... Read More
FHA Mortgage Insurance Explained
An FHA mortgage is a loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The FHA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, insures loans so that lenders will offer appealing rates to less qualified borrowers at a lower down payment. Typically, an FHA loan requires a down payment of just 3.5 percent... Read More
First time buying a home? Read this first!
Finding a new home can be one of the most exciting times of your life. It’s a little like dating – the pursuit, the “getting to know you” period, the proposal (aka “offer”), and the marriage (aka “closing”). If you don’t want your relationship with a new house to crash and burn, you need to... Read More
Buying and selling with contingencies
While your home is on the market, and you find your dream home (or at least the perfect “next” home), it is tempting to place an offer on the new place to hold it until your home sells. Unless you own the house you are selling free and clear, or can afford two mortgage payments,... Read More
Arrange furniture like a pro – it’s easy!
You bought a new house and you can’t seem to make your older furniture fit. Buying new furniture is out of the questions, so how do you make your round pegs fit into those square holes? Make a plan Literally … make a floor plan. This can be a rough sketch, or a sophisticated layout,... Read More
Thinking of becoming a landlord?
According to Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), multifamily rent growth should level out to its long-term average performance as interest rates increase. That does not mean that investing in a multifamily property is a bad idea, it just means that the supply and demand conditions are varying by location and adjusting... Read More