When it comes to renting, purchasing or selling property, a real estate agent may be your best bet in getting in really good deal. Most people have some sort of property dealings at one time or another. When you are young and just starting out, you usually just rent. When you have become more established [...]
Washington DC is a great area to live. In spite of being the national capital, it is far from being a congested concrete jungle. Rather it is a sober place with buildings of national and international importance scattered here and there. If you are planning to buy a second home for yourself or you have [...]
Before starting your home search and committing to any realtor, it is wise for you to research all the ones in your local area to find the best option for you. Buyers in the Washington, DC area have several options with realtors. Although it is routine for sellers to sign a listing agreement with a [...]
If you are at the stage of signing a contract with a real estate agent you are probably wondering about the differences of them or thinking they are all the same. They are different and have different values to you. Most real estate agents have three contracts. They are: Open Listing – A non-exclusive contract [...]
How many times have you seen the most delicious, juicy hamburger on television and thought, “ooh, I want that!”? Visual images go a very long way in touching our senses so that we want what we see. The exact same thing can happen when you sell your home. Lots of images. If you are thinking [...]
The Washington, DC area is experiencing a yo-yo effect when it comes to the real estate markets. The average price per square foot is approximately $441. That is an increase of 28% compared to the same time last year. However, at the same time, home sales decreased 7.5% for the same time period compared to [...]
Good news for the real estate markets. New building permits are on the rise and will be a boost for the markets next year. New construction coupled with low mortgage rates will help the struggling real estate industry tremendously. Just when it seems that things could not get any worse, a light can be seen [...]
The Christmas Holiday season is coming up fast. Should you keep your home on the market or not? Many are asking this question. It really is a personal choice in the long run, but it can spell disaster if you do take it off the market. Of course the holiday season is a very busy [...]
Everyone believes their property is worth more than others may think. This is because you pay for it, you live in it and it is worth a lot to you. But, these factors aside, do you really know what it is worth if you decide to sell it? Or, if you are looking to buy [...]
Everyone has heard a sales pitch. Whether it’s from a car salesman or an appliance dealer, there are salesmen out there that are excellent at what they do. Still, that does not mean that everything they say is wrong. To be a good salesman, you have to know your product. Real Estate agents are the [...]
They say that buying a home is one of the most stressful times that we go through. In many cases, it seems to be that we create our own stress situations. Take a young couple who are about to buy their first home. They have their mortgage (lucky them), they have negotiated a great price [...]
With mortgage interest rates at almost record lows, it is tempting for some home owners to reconsider their current home finance strategies. There are a number of options available to home owners including refinancing at lower rates, selling and buying a better home, or just hanging in there and doing nothing. The latter option is [...]
Finding a suitable home to buy can be a very stressful period for families. The stress starts to go up a little once you find a home that you ‘simply must have’, especially if negotiations don’t start off well. Here’s a bit of advice, negotiations are rarely simple, so don’t let them get to you. [...]
It seems that social media is a panacea to all problems – at least, if you believe marketers and heavy users of social media. When it comes to home buying, social media is not a great tool, especially when there are so many websites dedicated to home buying. It’s far easier to find a home [...]
Whether you are a home buyer or a home seller, then one of the most important questions is how much a home is really worth. One of the problems with our current society is that there is too much data around, so much that it can be quite confusing. Who do you trust, the national [...]
Home buying is one of the most stressful periods a person can go through. You need to find a sizable down payment these days, generally around 10% of the sales price. At the same time, you will need to find the money to pay for the costs of actually buying your home, and they can [...]
Dual agency, or dual representation, is when the same real estate broker, or sometimes the same agent, represents the buyer and the seller. This is generally not a good idea, for several reasons. First, money is always going to win out over other principles. If your broker is representing you, the buyer, and the seller [...]
If you are looking to buy real estate, whether to live in or for investment purposes, be prepared for some hard work. Seasoned professional investors find the process difficult, and they have years of experience behind them. First home buyers often enter the process all dreamy and starry eyed – after all, it is their [...]
When it comes to buying and selling homes, the one thing both the buyer and seller agree on is that they want the sale legally under contract as soon as possible. But then, at what stage is the house ‘legally under contract’? This is a question that is not as simple as it sounds. However, [...]
There are some real estate commentators who advise that knowing the market is an essential part of home buying. Is it really? The answer really depends on why you’re in the market and whether you are looking for a particular suburb or just a city or town. Knowing the market is obviously important if you’re [...]
Buying a home these days is fairly straightforward. You see the home you like, make an offer and then perhaps haggle a little before settling on a price. Once all the formalities are over, all the documents signed and the money paid, the home is yours. Or is it? I don’t want to burst any [...]
Buying investment real estate is high on the agenda for a lot of people at present due in part to low prices on offer. Tenanted properties can be quite attractive. From day one your property is providing an income. If you are using credit sources to fund your purchase, the income can go a long [...]
