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Thursday, February 13, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Home Showing Activity!! How Many Homes Are being looked at in Onslow County??
Onslow County Home Showing Report!!
Here is a report on how many homes were actually looked at in Onslow County.
These are actual showings where a buyer viewed a home in the respective price range.
Source: Centralized Showing Service
Curious how this affects your home??
Contact us for a FREE complete market analysis on your home!!
(910) 378-9410
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Buying a Home? What's the difference in PreQualification with a bank and a PreApproval??
PRE-QUALIFICATION VS PRE-APPROVAL
These are two of the most commonly asked questions from first-time and experienced home buyers alike. One of the best places to start is by getting pre-approved by a lender up front in the process. Not only does it give you peace of mind knowing your price range is already pre-approved by the lender, but it also strengthens your position at the negotiating table, especially in a multiple offer situation. Some lenders offer pre-qualifications and pre-approvals. Here’s the difference:
How do I know what price range to look in?
Pre-Qualification
Provides a ballpark estimate of your buying power and is based on summary information you provide on your income and assets. It also requires a satisfactory review of property, financial documents, and program requirements to ensure final approval. Pre- qualification is offered by most lenders.
Pre-Approval
Provides proof to Real Estate Agents and sellers that you’re pre-approved for a specific loan amount and is based on verification of your income, credit, and assets. It requires a satisfactory appraisal and title review and no change in financial condition for final approval. As a service to you, Movement Mortgage offers pre-approval before you find a home — at no cost!
Just another tip to help you with finding your new home!!
Contact us today for your FREE buyer consultation and find out more about the home buying process!!
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Tips for Selling a home During the Holidays!
Selling a Home During the Holidays!
Selling a house during the Christmas period can be tricky. Shiny decorations and nosy relatives will put off even the hardiest of viewers. But once you’ve taken down the tinsel, and sent Great Aunt Hilda packing, what can you do to make sure your home has the ‘wow’ factor for the early spring buyers?
Here are some practical tips to help you ‘spring’ into your new home:
1. Heat it up
The thought of viewing an unheated house is uninviting and won’t create the right first impression on a viewing. If you know you’re going to arrive at the same time as your viewers, set the heating timer to come on a few hours prior to the viewing. Not only will the house be toasty warm, it’ll prevent any noises of boilers kicking in. Before they arrive, maybe pop the fire on low too if you have one, it makes a living room so warming and homely.
2. Clear the path
If you have a lot of tree's, clear the sidewalk, gutters, and front porch from leaves. Make it clear, dry and presentable to prevent slip ups. Though we don't typically have snow, if we do get snow, shovel the pathways too. Trawling through leaves or the snow to the front door isn’t massively inviting.
3. Let there be light
Create a warm, welcoming atmosphere even before your viewers step through your front door, by switching on all the lights, just like you see in showhomes. If the viewing is arranged for after the sun has set, leave the overhead lights off, and instead light all the lamps, for a cosier look. Don’t shut any curtains as it will make rooms seem closed in. Take advantage of timers too – if people go past your home and see for the sale sign, your home will seem more interesting with lights on.
4. Lighten up
Winter often encourages us to seek out deeper, richer colours in fabrics and bedding. To change the mood for Spring, change bedding and soft furnishings, like cushions and throws. Spring colours are soft pastels, like duck-egg blue, pale lemon and soft greens. Sprinkle some of these around for a fresh Spring-like feel.
5. Don’t forget the garden
If your garden is looking a bit worse for wear after Winter, it’s time to spruce it up – a well-presented garden can add thousands to the perceived value of a house. And there aren’t many buyers out there who will be keen to get stuck into an overgrown garden straight after moving in. Take out any garden toys left over from last summer, pressure wash the patio and add colour with some pretty hardy plants in pots.
6. Dress your rooms
Make a room look inviting and well-staged by creating a mood. In the dining room, set the table for a meal using your best china. Put your lotions and shampoos in neat groups in the bathroom, and hang freshly laundered dressing gowns. Place winter flowers in vases around the house. Set a newspaper on the coffee table and a few magazines to add that extra polish.
7. Add some sparkle
Make your home sparkle on the inside, and keep it really clean. Vacuum carpets, wash the windows, dust furniture and clean the floors. Clean out your fridge as – surprisingly – many people look in the fridge, especially if it is integrated. Your whole house should look and smell as if it has just been completely spring-cleaned.
8. I ‘scents’ a sale!
While making your home smell nice is a must, don’t spray air fresheners or perfume in case visitors are allergic.Focus on getting the home smelling naturally cleanand welcoming. A lovely inviting smell is baking – make some cookies and time them so they’re just ready as people arrive. Ensure that you offer them to the buyers though, or they’ll be disappointed. You can even get an apple pie from the store and place it in the oven to warm it up each time your home is shown, then freeze it again once they leave.
9. Flower power
Splash some cash on a couple of really nice bouquets of flowers. Put one in the living room, and split the other into two or three smaller vases for the hallway and master bedroom. Keep to the Spring colours, though bolder shades can work well for accent colours. Spring flowers like daffodils and tulips will add a lovely scent while reminding your viewers that warmer weather is almost here.
10. Add some ambiance
Try playing some soft music to add a sense of atmosphere to the house. There’s nothing worse than a house that’s too quiet, and you may feel you have to rush in and talk when sometimes viewers just need to soak it up. Music can really help to put everyone at their ease. Go for easy listening, but relatively up to date, like Adele, Dido or Michael Buble.
For more information, or to see what your home is worth, contact us: (910)378-9410
a4al
Monday, December 16, 2013
10 Things You Should Know Before Buying a Home!
| 10 Things You Should Know Before Buying a Home
|
Mortgage rates can be fixed or adjustable. Which one is right for you depends on whether mortgage rates are at a high or a low point when you purchase, and on how long you plan to live in the home.
For more information on the home buying process, contact us at (910) 378-9410.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Top 20 Communities Shown in Onslow County in October!!
Top 20 Communities Shown in October
This reports shows the top 20 Communities that had homes shown through-out the month of October. There are 126 communities that had showings in Ocotber!!
October's Top 20!!
Data from eShowings Showing Service for Areas 1-7
Curious about your home??
Curious what your home is worth??
Enter your Address here and get an instant estimated value!! Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Should I Rent or Should I Sell?????
Should I Rent or Should I Sell?????
This is a question we hear a lot and the answer is...... it depends.
If you do not want anything to do with renting your home or someone else living in your home, then selling is the only option. Have a professional Realtor complete a Market Evaluation on your home and cover all the options you have when it comes to selling.
If you are ok with renting, but concerned about tenants tearing up your home, you may want to consider renting if you can not sell for the amount you hope to. Here are a few tips about renting/leasing your home:
- Leave all your emotions at the house when you move out. - That may sound harsh, however the majority of the time people will not maintain your home the way you do. When you rent/lease your home, it becomes an invest property and decisions made about the home need to be treated that way. Meaning, if something gets broken the questions are: Who's responsible for making the repair? How much will it cost? How can we prevent it from happening again? and NOT Why did they break it? It took a whole weekend to put that in and we loved that!!
- Don't rent it yourself, select a property management company you are comfortable with. - Today you need a property management company to screen potential tenants, verify rental history, make sure payment is collected each month, complete inspections on the property periodically on your behalf, be on call for maintenance issues and have a pool of contractors that are reasonably priced. Not to mention the trust account requirements and differences in lease agreements property management companies use that are designed to protect YOU the owner.
- Establish a separate account for the property. - This will enable you to have a savings for that specific property to pull money for maintenance/repairs or times the property is vacant.
- Think about refinancing. - Look at the current interest rate of your mortgage, if it is more than 1% of today's rates, you may want to consider refinancing to bring your payment down. This will add a little to the principle balance owed on the loan (approx 2% of the loan), but will bring your monthly payments down so you can net more each month (I've seen this reduce monthly payments by $100-$200). You can contact a lender HERE to get started with refinancing or to just find out if it is the right thing for you!
Again, these are just a few tips if you decide to rent/lease your home out. For more information, contact us anytime with questions you may have about renting/leasing out your home.
ALWAYS Consult with a Professional Realtor to help you make the right decision for you.
a4al
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