Retirement Dreams to Reality with Rental Properties
Planning for a comfortable and secure retirement is a priority for many individuals. While traditional investment options like stocks and bonds play a crucial role, there’s another avenue that holds great potential, rental real estate. Let’s explore the 12 key benefits of investing in rental real estate for retirement, shedding light on why it is a smart strategy to consider. Steady Passive Income – Rental real estate offers a consistent stream of passive income, providing a reliable source of cash flow during your...
read moreThe Top 5 Benefits of Owning a Home
Purchasing a home can feel like an overwhelming project, but the long-term advantages of homeownership make it a smart investment to secure your future where the benefits extend beyond simply having a place to live. Building equity is one of the most significant advantages of owning a home. As you make mortgage payments, your equity increases, and over time, your home can become a valuable asset to use the equity to finance home improvements, pay for college tuition, or even as a down payment on a second home. Two factors determine equity;...
read moreTalking Points to Identify an Agent
Having a list of talking points prepared before meeting with a real estate agent can be incredibly valuable in guiding the conversation and helping you make an informed decision about who will represent you in the sale of your home. Whether you’re a first-time seller or it has been a while since you last sold a property, asking these questions can reveal important information about the experience and expertise of your candidate. Even if you already have a trusted friend who is a real estate agent, it’s still appropriate to...
read moreProtect Your Belongings with a Home Inventory
As a homeowner, you’ve likely invested a significant amount of time and money into furnishing and decorating your home with items that are important to you. Unfortunately, unexpected events like natural disasters or burglaries can result in the loss or damage of these belongings. That’s why it’s important to create a home inventory to document everything you own. This can help ensure that you’re properly insured and can help speed up the recovery process if the worst were to happen. Here’s how to construct a home...
read moreAvoid Taxes by Keeping Track of Improvements
Keeping track of capital improvements to your home can help you avoid taxes later down the road when you sell it. Some homeowners don’t even consider such a thing because they are aware of the capital gain exclusion of up to $500,000 for married homeowners and $250,000 for single filers. Possibly, the gain in a past sale didn’t exhaust the limit that has remained the same since 1997. Today, homes are much more expensive and appreciation in the past few years has been exceptionally high. It is now possible and maybe more likely,...
read moreLaying the groundwork for the best mortgage
With mortgage rates having doubled what they were in early 2022, getting the lowest rate possible could mean the difference in being able to buy a home or at the very least, makes it much more affordable. Some people are waiting for rates to come down and while they are expected to come down some this year, most experts agree that they’ll never return to the three or even four percent range. There are things that a buyer can do to be eligible for the best rate available. Obtaining the most favorable terms is based on the loan-to-value,...
read moreHandling an Appraisal Gap
An appraisal gap describes the difference between the sales price and the lower amount of the appraisal required by the mortgage being obtained by the buyer. It becomes an issue if the seller is not willing to lower the price or the buyer is not willing to pay the difference in cash. Looking at the issue from the seller’s perspective, "if the buyer wants my home and he can’t get the loan he wants, he’ll have to make up the difference in cash." The buyer might have a different view like "If an independent...
read moreMake your home offer the most appealing
Sales in March 2023 were down 2.4% month over month and still down 22.0% year over year according to the NAR Housing Snapshot. The median sales price dipped 0.9% to $375,700 and there are 2.6 months supply of homes on the market compared to 2 months a year ago. "Inventory levels are still at historic lows, and consequently, multiple offers are returning on 28% of properties." According to Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of REALTORS�. It is still important to have a strategy for potentially competing with...
read moreProtect yourself with a new construction inspection
Builders of new homes offer or are required to warrant their work for a specified period. Municipal inspections are generally required during different stages to "ensure the life, health, safety, and welfare of the public" but even if something is missed, the ultimate responsibility for building to code belongs to the builder, even if the municipal inspector misses something. There are four basic stages of residential construction including: The foundation stage begins with excavation, footings, foundation walls or slab,...
read moreHigher Interest Rates May be the Help You Need
Like opening and closing a faucet increases and decreases the water flow, lowering interest rates increases home sales and raising interest rates decreases home sales. When home sales increase during periods of limited inventory, demand increases and prices go up. Contrarily, when home sales decrease, demand could lessen and prices moderate. There is opportunity with higher rates because it affects sales and demand, which in turn keeps prices in check. By waiting for rates to come down, and no one knows by how much but certainly not to the...
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