The Dangers of Shoddy Home Repairs Everyone knows that selling your home can be a LOT of work. There are all of those confusing terms, from escrow to amortization to APRs, and what exactly is the difference between a realtor, a real estate agent, and a broker? But the biggest challenge comes with the [...]
With employment in Arizona now reaching pre-2008 levels and memories of the recession fading away across the country, housing is starting to pick back up again. In Arizona in particular, it is growing slow and steady—just the way it should be in order to encourage stability. Prior to the 2008-2009 real estate crash, there was [...]
A common misconception of people who are selling their home is that they will never get scammed. The words “it could never happen to me” are uttered frequently. The public’s prevailing perception of a real estate scam is that they occur in seedy, unfiltered corners of the country and prey on only extremely gullible, [...]
Don’t Renovate Before You Sell! Selling a house is a major event that involves many decisions. Preserving as much equity in your home before selling is one of the most important financial decisions a homeowner can make. Unfortunately, sellers often end up being lured into the financial trap of paying for renovations they will [...]
Don’t Renovate Before You Sell! Selling a house is a major event that involves many decisions. Preserving as much equity in your home before selling is one of the most important financial decisions a homeowner can make. Unfortunately, sellers often end up being lured into the financial trap of paying for renovations they will [...]
Is buying an existing home a better deal than a new home? Homebuyers today have more options than ever before when considering what kind of home to buy. One of the largest decisions they will make is whether to buy an older home or a brand new one. Not only are there distinct costs related [...]
Owning vs. Renting With rising home prices and tightening restrictions on loans, many are wondering whether there are still any advantages to purchasing a home today. Renting has become an inexpensive alternative as increasing down payments make it harder for many to purchase a home, despite lower interest rates. While renting may seem cheaper in [...]
How will a foreclosure affect my credit? Foreclosures occur when a property owner is unable to make his or her mortgage payments and the banking institution that holds the loan takes ownership of the property in question. Apart from declaring bankruptcy, defaulting on mortgage payments is likely the most detrimental hit someone can experience to their credit score. This is important because credit scores are likely the single largest determinant of whether an applicant will succeed in obtaining the loan they require to purchase the home they want. Credit scores are generally provided by FICO, and they fluctuate depending on payment and credit history. […]
A bad credit score can be really detrimental to anyone, but it can be particularly harmful to potential homebuyers. Credit scores range from 300 to 850, and the higher the better. Your credit score is a calculation of a variety of things such as: Timeliness of previous payments Debt to income ratio Type of credit [...]
What is a Realtor's commission? A realtor's commission is the fee agreed upon as payment for assisting home-buyers or sellers during a real estate transaction. The commission is decided upon by services to be rendered and depending upon the amount of work and market conditions. If you choose to employ both a listing and selling broker this commission is roughly [...]
