Why Should You Get a Home Inspection?

Why should you order a home inspection before you close on a property? I’ll explain today.

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Do you need to get a home inspection when buying a home? Absolutely.

The home inspection is very important. When you walk through a house, you’re going to look at the floor plan, the rooms, and the area. You won’t necessarily be inspecting the home.

You need to know about any latent defects in the property, so hire a professional home inspector to go in and look through the home. You’re probably not going to look at foundation issues in the basement or how much insulation is in the attic on your own, but you need to know those things.

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You need to know about the condition of the home and maintenance costs.

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You’re going to want to know what the maintenance costs for the property will be. You’ll also want to understand what the long-term costs will be, which is why it’s very important that you have a home inspection before closing on a property.

If you don’t know any home inspectors, we can recommend a professional to you.

If you have any other questions about home inspections or buying a home, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

The Top 3 Things to Do Before Moving into Your New Home

Before you move into your new home, you should make sure a few things are taken care of within it. Here are our tips.

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Today’s topic is the top three things to do before you move into your house. Without further ado, let’s get to it:

1. Cleaning and improvements. If you want to change the flooring or paint the walls, it’s much easier to do before you move all of your furniture in. The same goes for a final, deep clean.

2. Get a new mail key and update your address at the post office. This way, once you start moving in, you can get your mail right away.

3. Call cable, internet, and utility companies. Just in case they need to run anything through the walls before you move in.

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Making any improvements before you move in is a smart idea.

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If you have any questions or want any more tips on what to do before you move in, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

What 3 Questions Should You Ask a Listing Agent When Interviewing Them?

If you’re interviewing an agent to sell your home, there are three very important questions you must ask them.

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As a home seller, there are many questions you can ask a Realtor when interviewing them, but here are three questions that are especially important that you do ask:

1. What sets you apart from other Realtors? Look at the technology they have and the access they have and make sure it’s different from other real estate agents.

2. What type of marketing plan do you use? Is it a specific, delineated marketing plan? For example, we have a specific, 78-point marketing plan we use to get the most value for our sellers.

3. Can I cancel the contract if I want? If you’re stuck in a contract with an agent you’re not happy with or don’t like, make sure you have the ability to cancel that contract. On our team, we give all of our clients the option to cancel with us at any point.

These three questions will help you identify the right agent for you.

If you have any questions about how to interview a real estate agent or you’d like to interview us to buy or sell a home for you, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to help.

New Homes vs. Resale Properties

How do you know if you should buy a new home or resale home? I’ll explore the pros and cons of each today.

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Which is a better investment—new homes or resale homes?

I get this question a lot from buyers. Ultimately, it all depends on your perspective.

A new home is a great investment if you’re looking for a low-maintenance home. If you’re looking for everything under warranty and you don’t want to make improvements to the property right away, then a newer home is going to be the better option for you. A new home will also maintain its value longer than a resale property.

If you are interested in making improvements, you can get a resale property at a lower price and make upgrades to increase the property’s value.

You can get a resale property at a lower price and add upgrades to improve its value.

Both are good investments. It ultimately depends on your perspective and how you want to manage your time and money in the property.

If you have any other questions about buying a home, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

What’s the Difference Between a Pre-Qualification and a Pre-Approval?

If you’re a homebuyer in our market, it’s better to get pre-approved than pre-qualified. Here’s why.

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What’s the difference between being pre-qualified and being pre-approved? Which one should you strive for as a homebuyer?

Being pre-qualified involves just getting on the phone and having a short conversation with a lender. They’ll take some basic information from you, and how they qualify you is based solely on the information you give them. However, this information, through no fault of your own, might not be accurate.

Being pre-approved means filling out a loan application, meeting with a lender in person, and giving your whole file to an underwriter. You’ll then get pre-approved by the underwriter. Once you’re pre-approved by that underwriter, you’re actually qualified to buy a home.

If you want to beat out other buyers, get pre-approved.

In this market, it’s especially important to be pre-approved. Sellers won’t want to take an offer from a buyer who is only pre-qualified—they’ll want a full pre-approval. If you want to beat out other buyers to the best deals in our market, get pre-approved.

If you have any questions about pre-approvals or pre-qualifications or you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in our market, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be happy to help you.

A Few Ways to Increase Your Home's Value

When it comes to adding value to your home, there are a few tried-and-true tips I recommend.

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If you want to add value to your property, there are two main areas where you should focus your improvements: kitchens and bathrooms. They say that kitchens and bathrooms sell houses, and that is absolutely true.

People spend a lot of time in these two rooms, which means any improvements you make will add a great deal of value.

On the other hand, there are some improvements you may want to avoid. For example, you should steer clear of making major changes to the landscaping or changes to the property that are based on personal preferences.

They say that kitchens and bathrooms sell houses, and that is absolutely true.

Changing the finishing on a floor from carpet to hardwood might help the home sell faster, but it won’t necessarily add value.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What Comes After the Home Inspection?

After the home you’re looking to purchase has been inspected, what comes after? Today I have some advice about what steps you should expect to come after.

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A home inspection is the process in which an inspector comes to the house being sold to find out any potential issues with the home that could affect its value. But what do you do after that initial inspection is over? Today, I’d like to give you some advice about the next step.

After you do a home inspection, the secondary negotiation period begins. The primary negotiation is where you initially discuss price and terms, but you have a secondary negotiation period that a lot of people don’t necessarily think about.

The important part of this secondary period is that you’re going to be able to negotiate the condition of the property that you’re looking to purchase. Take this time to ask the seller to make repairs that you find to your subjective discretion.

After you do a home inspection, the secondary negotiation period begins.

We will provide a document called an inspection objection to the seller, we’ll object to those items, and then the seller is going to provide us an inspection resolution. This is the agreement that you and the seller will come to regarding what they’ll repair on the property. That way, we can be confident about the property that you’ll be purchasing.

If you have any questions about what comes after a home inspection or anything else that relates to real estate, please feel free to give us a call or send us an email. Hope to talk to you soon!