Looking for a vacation home just might be more fun than looking for a new everyday home. A key piece of the vacation home puzzle is how to get financing. The good news is that it can be a straightforward, and painless process. Here are some simple tips and things to consider helping make getting vacation home financing feel like a vacation itself.     1) Get your credit in order. Your credit score will likely need to be in the mid-600s to qualify for a mortgage on a vacation home. The higher your score, the more competitive the interest rate you’ll be able to secure. If you know ..read more

Whether you live in a flood, hurricane, or tornado zone, you want to make sure your home is ready to stand up to whatever mother nature can hurl its way. The best time to storm-proof your home is before severe weather strikes and well in advance of warnings of imminent weather.     Here’s what to focus on to keep your home safe and strong: 1) Check your roof, gutters, and downspouts. Your entire roofing and drainage system’s goal is to direct water as far away from your home as possible. Twice a year, check and clean gutters of any debris, and test your downspouts to make sure w ..read more

There are enough television shows and magazine spreads about home decorating that many of us probably assume we have the basics down pat — declutter to the nth degree and clean, clean, clean, then apply your “neutral with pops of color” philosophy, swap out some personal items and artwork with items that have a bit more mass appeal, and you’re all set! Right? In some cases, that might be all you need, but in most homes, there might be a little bit of shopping in order before you’re ready to list that house for top dollar. That doesn’t mean you need to buy an entire new living-room furniture se ..read more

Real estate teams have been around for decades, but you can be forgiven for not being familiar with them if you’re new to real estate or work in a market where teams aren’t very active. Over the past few years, new tactics like expansion teams have boosted the number of teams operating in the country as well as those teams’ market share, and joining a team instead of operating individually under a brokerage can be a good option for agents both starting out in the business and working on gaining more experience. However, the nuances between a real estate team and a brokerage can be confusing ev ..read more

Building a new home is a perfect opportunity to customize your space according to your own needs and wants — and it can also feel completely overwhelming. Many homes built from the ground up will require the new owner to make more than one thousand decisions about everything from paint color to what fixtures you want in your kitchens and bathrooms. If you’ve always dreamed of having complete control over what goes into your home, then don’t despair. There are lots of ways you can make your new-construction experience smoother and even take some decisions off the table until further on down the ..read more

Buying a new home can be an exciting time. It can also be frustrating and exhausting. To help prepare you for home hunting success, here are five important things to know about the market before you schedule your first viewing, or visit your first open house. 1) Buyers market or seller’s market? And what’s the difference?   Most markets are governed by the law of supply and demand–the housing market is no exception. When demand (buyers shopping for homes) is high and supply (homes for sale) is low, prices go up. On the flip side, when demand is low and supply is high, prices go down. As ..read more

If you’ve never fixed and flipped a home before — but you’ve watched enough HGTV think it looks like fun — then you might not think you need a real estate agent to help with the process. What can an agent tell you that you don’t already know? Plenty! Whether you’re fixing and flipping in an area you know intimately or a new region where you’re not as familiar, agents can help you understand fair market value, identify which fixtures and finishes are going to be most desirable, and potentially even find you a buyer when you’re finished. But that’s far from all. Keep reading to discover the many ..read more

There are plenty of reasons to go green. Conserving energy and running an energy-efficient home can lower your monthly utility bills, saving you some green for your wallet. Here are seven simple ways to reduce your home’s energy footprint and save some cash on your bills too.   1) Upgrading Appliances While the upfront cost may be higher, the national standards for energy efficiency are constantly improving the environmental performance of appliances, so the next time your old refrigerator needs repairs, it might be time for an updated model. Trading in your old appliances can save energy ..read more

Most people have heard of a franchise before and at least sort of understanding what it is and why someone would join a franchise, and some of that information does translate to real estate — but when it comes to choosing a brokerage, most new agents especially aren’t sure about the differences between an independent and a franchise brokerage, or which one would be best for them. Only you can say for sure whether you’d prefer working for an independent or a franchise brokerage, but it’s important to know how they’re different (and how they are similar) so that you can make an educated choice a ..read more

When you’ve indulged in aspirational dreams about your real estate career, you may have envisioned yourself as the head of an office full of sharply dressed agents and their streamlined, uber-efficient assistants. Most agents probably don’t daydream about hiring a virtual assistant to help them manage their business, but even if a virtual assistant isn’t part of the vision in your head, hiring one can be an excellent way to get a few low-hanging tasks off your plate without completely breaking the bank. But when is it worth it to hire a virtual assistant? Are you ever better off skipping the v ..read more