Why You Should Join a Real Estate Team One of the most important choices you must make as a newly-licensed agent is whether to work solo or alongside a team. There are benefits to both sides of this coin for new agents and even experienced ones. Keep reading to discover why you should consider joining a team as a new or experienced agent today. Learn From and Network with Your Peers For inexperienced agents, having mentorship is crucial to becoming familiar with the industry. You could always jump into the field solo, but being part of a team is a surefire way to gain industry knowledge and h ..read more

Options Fees vs Earnest Money: What's the Difference? Minute details of the real estate market can be confusing to both buyers and sellers alike. Real estate documents contain complicated jargon, making it difficult for even the most experienced buyer to understand. Before making an offer on a home, there are two up-front costs to be aware of: Options Fees and Earnest Money. Both are important pieces to remember when negotiating your contract. Keep reading to learn the difference between the two. Option Fees An option fee, or option money, is a non-refundable fee paid to the seller by th ..read more

If you are debating purchasing a home right now, you are probably getting a lot of advice. Though your friends and family will have your best interest at heart, they may not be fully aware of your needs and what is currently happening in the real estate market. Ask yourself the following 3 questions to help determine if now is actually a good time for you to buy in today’s market. 1. Why am I buying a home in the first place? This truly is the most important question to answer. Forget the finances for a minute. Why did you even begin to consider purchasing a home? For most, the reason has not ..read more

It’s time for the kids. The Brent Germany Team is often asked by people looking to buy a home in Frisco, TX or investigating Frisco real estate options about sports and recreational opportunities in and around town, not for mom and dad but for the kids. And if there is one thing Frisco loves — heck, the whole North Texas area — it’s sports . . . the professional teams, leagues and fitness for mom and dad, and youth sports for the kiddos. As you’d imagine, there’s pretty much every youth sport played in Frisco — from the majors like football, baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, and hockey ..read more

Don’t laugh: Whenever prospective homebuyers contact me about Frisco, TX real estate or homes for sale in Frisco, the first question they ask me beyond the usual house stuff is “What’s the shopping like in Frisco?” I’m not joking. Every part of the country has something it’s known for: mountains outside of Denver, beaches along the coasts in Florida, golf courses pretty much everywhere. Here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, particularly North Dallas and Frisco the quality of shopping and local eateries are big attractions in lieu of mountains and beaches. So, when it comes to shopping, Frisco ..read more

If you are a sports fan or weekend warrior looking to buy a new home in Frisco, TX or just investigating Frisco’s real estate options, get out that No. 1 foam finger and softball mitt. There are so many sports to attend and play year ‘round that the new lawn will never get mowed — at least by you. To help newcomers to the area, The Brent Germany Team has put together a few lists of sports to attend as a fan, to play as a weekend warrior, or to get the kids involved. We’ll start with the professional teams and their ties to Frisco. Professional Teams (Part 1) One thing that’s a super sell for ..read more

There’s so much information about real estate on the internet these days that it’s easy for first-time home buyers to become confused and drown in viewpoints and opinions. The Brent Germany Team strives to keep answers simple, whether we’re having a conversation in the office or at a coffee shop, whether we’re answering an email or text message. We’re asked all the time: “What do you need to buy a house?” Instead of inundating potential buyers with an exhaustive, detailed list of A to Z answers, we prefer to start with an overview or the major steps required for most home purchases. Pre-Appro ..read more

There are some who are calling for a decrease in home prices should mortgage interest rates begin to rise rapidly. Intuitively, this makes sense as the cost of a home is determined by the price of the home, plus the cost of financing that home. If mortgage interest rates increase, fewer people will be able to buy, and logic says prices will fall if demand decreases. However, history shows us that this has not been the case the last four times mortgage interest rates dramatically increased. Here is a graph showing what actually happened: Last week, in an article titled “Higher Rates Don’t Mean ..read more

I’m going to get straight to the point: When thinking about what NOT to do when selling your home, this tops the list: #1 Do not think, in today’s day and age, that you don’t have to change anything in the house prior to selling because it’s better to let the buyer do whatever he or she wants to do to the house. It’s not. I’m not sure where this belief same from. Maybe it’s a holdover from the pre-cable TV and pre-internet days. But it’s an outdated way of looking at selling one’s home. Let me give you an example. A couple of years ago The Brent Germany Team had a client with a lovely two-sto ..read more

I don’t mean to be an alarmist. I just want you to know that, once you have a contract in hand to purchase a new home, there’s more to do to get the transaction closed. Statistics from various organizations show that, for various reasons, anywhere from 10 to 25 percent of pending home sales don’t close. That sounds high to me, but failed closings do happen. Our work together — as home buyer and realtor — isn’t finished until the papers are signed and the keys are in your hands. In this post The Brent Germany Team takes a look at what happens after your offer is accepted — and what can go wron ..read more