Tammy Gordon, Real Estate Consultant
When you a buy a home, you need to think about more than just the price tag. You need to think about closing costs—and there’s no such thing as a typical number.
Check out THIS VIDEO on costs buyer’s should expect during the closing process.
If you’re a buyer in the market for a move in-ready home, you’re bound to see a few properties that were purchased with the intent to be sold as flips. A flipped house is one that has been purchased by someone (typically an investor), fixed up, put back on the market, and sold for more money. The most successful house flippers do this as quickly as possible.
Here are some signs of a cheaply flipped kitchen that warrant investigation.
First-time homebuyers are no doubt excited when they move in, and eager to furnish their new digs with all the essentials. But here’s the rub: While they may be thrilled to buy the perfect coffee table and ottomans—and those things are certainly nice to have—they may not be exactly necessary.
In the excitement of setting up your first house, it’s all too easy to overlook a few items that will truly come in handy.
Curious about what you might be missing? Behold these eight surprising must-haves to add to your cart, plus some advice on picking the best of the bunch.
It is entirely possible to buy a home in your 20s and become a first-time home buyer, and it will benefit you big-time down the road.
Here’s how you can make your home-buying dreams come true much sooner than you think.
Buying a home is as much about your state of mind as the state of your bank account—but both need to be in great condition.
A home’s risk of flooding—from hurricanes or a huge downpour—is probably not the first thing you’d think to check. Ideally, you want to size up this potential and take precautions if necessary well before you might end up underwater!
Most homes in high-risk flood zones are near a body of water. For instance, the Gulf Coast is one of the U.S. regions most vulnerable to hurricanes that cause flooding. Yet more than 20% of flood-related home insurance claims happen in non-flood zones, so no one should assume they’re safe.
And due to climate changes, flooding may also become more common. According to Popular Science, “Nearly 15 million American properties are at substantial risk of flooding in the next 30 years, and more than three million are almost certain to be underwater at some point in that time.”
So how can you find out if your home is in a flood zone—and if it is, how can you assess the size of this risk and what protections can you put in place? Whether you own a home or are looking to buy, here’s how to figure that out.
When homebuyers tour potential homes, most can spot obvious problems like a bad grout job in the bathroom or an outdated kitchen. But do you know what to look for outside the house, on the land beneath your feet?
Land is more of a mystery to homebuyers, since variables such as soil quality and proper drainage aren’t easy to eyeball. Still, it’s important to get the dirt on it, since it can hide a variety of issues that can cause major problems for the homeowner and be costly to fix (if it can be fixed at all).
To help you ferret out these expensive issues, here are some red flags that can commonly be found lurking on a bad piece of property.
Realtor®, real estate agent, broker—it’s hard to keep up with all the lingo involved in a real estate transaction. A good place to start is by learning what a Realtor really means.
What is knob and tube wiring? While it might sound like a bad 1990s indie band, it’s actually an outdated electrical system that’s still found in many old homes in the United States.
Often abbreviated as K&T, this early standard—widespread in residences built from the 1880s to the 1930s—is often considered a hazard today, depending on how it was installed.
So if a home you’re hoping to buy has it, you’ll want to have it examined closely and possibly replaced. Why?
Here’s everything you never knew you needed to know about ye olde knob and tube.
Do you know how much an average real estate agent commission is? Or who pays real estate agent fees and closing costs?
Though most homebuyers and sellers might not be able to tell you what these fees are, they’re fairly critical to the real estate agent working for you. These fees are how most real estate agents are paid.
So in real estate, who is responsible for paying commissions and fees: the homebuyer or the home seller? How much, on average, should you expect it to cost, and what other fees are you responsible for when you buy or sell a house?