Is now the best time to sell your home? That’s an intensely personal question that depends on a number of factors — many of them beyond your control. In 2006, some sellers might have been wondering if they should have waited another year and netted even more profit … but today we know that those sellers would have kicked themselves for making that decision. Still, major economic shifts aside, there are ways you can manipulate your home’s sale to best benefit you and your family as you move into a bigger place or downsize to better fit your lifestyle. When you’re trying to target the most op ..read more

In markets where all-cash offers are common, it can be easy for buyers to become discouraged early on in their home purchase process. After all, how is an everyday buyer supposed to compete with a cash offer on a home? Most of us don’t have several hundred thousand dollars lying around that we can use to buy a house, after all. But buyers in cash-offer-heavy areas should take heart because there are ways they can compete with those all-cash folks and come out ahead — with the keys to the home of their dreams. If you’ve found yourself losing out to all-cash offers and you want things to chan ..read more

Buying a home is always an anxiety-ridden process, and that goes triple for anyone who’s embarking on homeownership for the very first time. There’s so much to do and so much you don’t know that “overwhelming” hardly seems like an appropriate description of how it feels. And even though you don’t want to scare yourself away from the entire process, you still need to be wary of falling into a few common traps that first-time buyers generally don’t avoid. If you’re aware of these five potential mistakes — and able to keep yourself from making them — then you’ll be saving yourself some signific ..read more

Daydreaming about owning your own home is one of the most intoxicating practices known to modern man, especially now that HGTV is a thing. But when the time comes to actually put your money where your daydream is, it can be challenging for first-time buyers especially to understand how a home that doesn’t currently come anywhere close to “dream” status could be whipped into shape — and how a home that they think is perfect now will end up feeling like a mistake in a couple of years. To avoid that unfortunate scenario, first-time buyers will need to think carefully and weigh all of their opt ..read more

Is now the best time to sell your home? That’s an intensely personal question that depends on a number of factors — many of them beyond your control. In 2006, some sellers might have been wondering if they should have waited another year and netted even more profit … but today we know that those sellers would have kicked themselves for making that decision. Still, major economic shifts aside, there are ways you can manipulate your home’s sale to best benefit you and your family as you move into a bigger place or downsize to better fit your lifestyle. When you’re trying to target the most op ..read more

Even the very best real estate agents at the top of their careers have to deal with clients who are upset with them after the transaction closes and everyone walks away from the table. But even though it’s a fact of life, that doesn’t make it especially pleasant or enjoyable; experienced agents can feel overwhelmed and put on the spot when confronted with a buyer who’s extremely upset and not afraid to let you know all about it. What should you do if a buyer reaches out weeks or months after leaving the closing table and informs you that they aren’t thrilled with some aspect of their new ho ..read more

If you’ve seen the Tom Hanks classic movie, “The Money Pit,” you know that while it’s funny happening to someone else, when your fixer-upper home becomes a money pit, it’s more like a horror movie. If you’re looking for a new property and considering an underpriced fixer-upper, you could end up with a nightmare full of endless home repairs. Here are some ways to make sure your home-buying reality doesn’t become the stuff of movies and cost you more money than you bargained for.    Start With A Solid Foundation One of the most important components of a home, it should stand on a so ..read more

Moving to the suburbs can be a real toss-up when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. On one hand, you probably have access to clean sidewalks, big parks, and more room to wander, which is very helpful when you’re trying to squeeze in exercise around your work and family life. On the other hand, some suburbs are a lot more “walkable” than others, and it’s not always as easy to sneak in “extra” movement like walking to the store or the bus stop or train station. Things in the suburbs are more spread out than in the city. So when you’re getting ready to buy a home in the suburbs — and yo ..read more

There’s a reason why people love looking at photos of homes for sale — it’s rare that we get to see a place look it’s very best, and scrolling through gorgeous room after room helps serious buyers see themselves settling down in those very rooms. But as any seller (or photographer) can attest, getting a home ready for it’s close-up (also known as “staging”) is not easy and is definitely not always fun. It involves a ton of cleaning, some furniture removal (or placement), a plethora of attention to detail, and usually a lot of light. This is why professional stagers charge hundreds (sometime ..read more

When you make the decision to become a homeowner, there is a series of additional decisions that you’ll need to make before you reach that final goal and cross the threshold of your new front door. One of the most important decisions in that series is which type of mortgage loan you’re going to pursue in order to buy the house. There are several different types of a mortgage loan, and it’s useful to understand your options going in so that you can decide which one will be best for your financial future as a homeowner. Here’s a quick primer on what you need to know — but remember, talking it o ..read more