Buying a Home? Benefits of Using a Professional

 

Is it possible to go out and buy a home on your own without the assistance of a professional real estate agent?  Sure.  But it's not a good idea, and here's why…

 

Using a realtor to help in buying a home will make the entire process easier and will help to make sure you get the best deal possible.  Using a professional agent  means all of the legal issues involved in home buying are taken care.

 

A real estate agent or broker can significantly narrow down the home buying process by helping you determine exactly what your needs and desires are for the new home.  They are more capable than you are of negotiating on the price of the home.

 

Home buyers rarely pay out-of-pocket fees for the help of a broker.  Therefore you're getting professional advice and a better deal on your new home without any added costs.

 

If you are going to be purchasing a new home in a city you are unfamiliar with or in a neighborhood you don't know a lot about, a real estate broker can provide you with important information about neighborhood demographics and things like schools in the area.

 

Professional real estate brokers and agents have access to online listings of homes that you yourself may not have ready access to, making it possible for the broker to find a home for you to buy that you may not even know exists on your own.

 

There are a lot of details to buying a home and you may not be familiar with them, especially if this is your first time as a home buyer.  A real estate broker can help you through every step of the process so you understand what is going on and don't get cheated anywhere along the way.

 

The benefits to using a real estate broker or agent are obvious.  Buying a home is not something that you're trained to do, so it makes sense to work with a professional who is trained.  While there are certainly many areas of life that can be quickly learned and approached with the do-it-yourself mentality, home buying is not one of them.  There are just too many legal details involved and too much at stake - like your home!!

 

We'd love to hear your comments about the benefits of using a professional agent or broker when searching for a home.  Leave your comments and we'll respond if you'd like for us to.

 

 

Four Easy Home Improvements

 

If your house needs a makeover, but remodeling is beyond your reach, try these four simple fixes:

 

Touch-up exteriors. Repainting the trim and front door of your house can significantly boost its curb appeal. This kind of retouching work is easy on the budget and can be done in just a couple of hours.

 

Replace your floors. The widespread availability of affordable "floating floors" (flooring options that can be installed on top of existing boards or linoleum) makes updating the floors in your rec room or pantry a cinch.  You'll probably save a minimum $500 to $600 dollars by doing it yourself.

 

Update your hardware. Switching out old light fixtures and faucets is a simple, affordable way to modernize your home. While you're at it, equip your house with fixtures that support halogen light bulbs to save money on your electricity bill.

 

Transform your yard. Landscaping doesn't have to break the bank.  Replacing overgrown shrubs and bushes and adding some flowers for color is an economical way to add value to your home.

 

Many home repairs can be easily mastered by determined do-it-yourselfers, but there are still some things best left to the experts. If you need to re-floor your entire house, contact a flooring service, and call in the electricians whenever you're dealing with circuit boards or wiring in the walls.

 

Bad Credit? Insurers Will Make You Pay

 

By now you know that you need to keep tabs on your credit history to make a good impression on lenders, landlords and employers.  But did you know that your home insurer is also looking?

 

In most states they're allowed to use your credit information to formulate premiums - and in June the U.S. Supreme Court decided that your carrier doesn't need to tell you if your credit has caused you to pay more.

 

How insurance premiums are determined is a recipe long kept secret from consumers.  Some 90 percent of homeowner insurance carriers use a score based on credit data as part of that recipe, according to risk-assessment firm Fair Isaac, known for its FICO credit score.

 

However the scores are tabulated from your insurance company, here are a few tips that should help you get a better rate on your homeowner's insurance the next time your insurer takes a peek at your credit report:

• Pay bills on time: Late payments show up for seven years.
• Keep revolving balances low: Insurance companies look at how much debt you have relative to available credit.
• Keep your oldest credit card: Insurers like folks with well-established lines of credit. Five years is good, 10 ideal.
• Don't apply for lots of credit at once: Your score might drop. (You're not penalized for shopping, however; multiple auto or mortgage inquiries within 45 days are considered as one.)
• Get rid of miscellaneous cards you don't use: Having too many can hurt your score.

 

No matter who devises your score, the original data comes from credit bureaus.  So check your credit reports for accuracy.

 

Get a free copy from each of the three bureaus annually at annualcreditreport.com.

 

Housing Slump Gets Longer and Longer

 

The slump in home sales and prices will be deeper and last longer than previously expected, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors.

 

The trade group is now looking for flat prices for existing homes in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the first quarter of 2007, and a more year-over-year declines for new home.

 

For the complete story, click here…

 

Still Better to Buy a Home  

 

In areas where the monthly cost of owning is a big premium over the cost of renting, the long-term approach still shows that owning produces a higher lifetime standard of living than renting.

 

Let's say you bought a house for $150,000 with a 20% down payment and a 30-year mortgage at 6%, it would cost $8,634 a year for the mortgage and about $7,500 a year for taxes, insurance and upkeep (based on 5% of market value).  The total out-of-pocket cost would be $16,134 a year.

 

Long term, this would put you way ahead of a renter, even though the same house could probably be rented for about $15,000 a year, or $1,250 a month.

 

The benefit comes from the decline in the real cost of the mortgage.  Even modest inflation will cut the effective cost of the mortgage dramatically over 30 years.  And then the cost disappears.  The renter, meanwhile, faces a lifetime of rising rent bills.

 

Of course, in real life the actual numbers will differ. But as long as inflation whittles away the purchasing power of the mortgage payment, the odds will favor the homeowner over the renter.

 

We'd be happy to run the ACTUAL numbers for you to see for sure, but in most cases, inflation will protect us from all but the worst housing markets, if we give it enough time.

 

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