Category: Real Estate

  • How to Buy and Save Money on Your First Home Plus Top 12 Good Read Articles

    Buying a home is one of your biggest financial decisions as an adult. This is probably among the major decisions that anyone can make no matter what your status is. If this will be your first home, you need to be smart about it and make sure that doing so won’t burn a hole in your pocket. There will be quite a lot of considerations that you have to take, as well

    Find a suitable location.

    Your location is an important factor that you need to choose before you finally purchase a home. Your location will affect the price of the home. Properties in big cities like Los Angeles and New York are pretty pricey. But when you go a few minutes out of the city, you can find more affordable homes. Just keep in mind that each location has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. In addition to that, you need to find one where you can see yourself living for a long time. Do you want to live near your workplace? Are you looking for a house that’s close to a good school district? You need to think hard about this as you’d want to live and keep the home for not less than seven years at least. You’ll be spending thousands of dollars on a home and getting out of it will be just as costly.

    Set a budget.

    Find out how much you are able to afford. Make sure that you know the price range of the homes in your location of choice. This will vary depending on the size of the house and the type of property. Check with different property listings online so you are able to have a glimpse of the cost of different homes. Setting a budget for your home will also guide you on what you can and cannot afford. You have to be realistic about your budget and your income. You wouldn’t want to put all your money in your home. Make sure that you set a reasonable amount for a house that you’ll live in a good number of years.

    Save for a downpayment and boost your credit score.

    Once you’ve identified how much you’re able to afford, work your way into saving for down payment and improving your credit score. Many younger buyers are often plagued with credit score problems. Make sure that you boost your credit ratings while you are saving for a big down payment on your dream home. Your score will affect your mortgage. A bigger credit score will ensure that you get the best interest rates, as well. Set aside enough money for your home’s down payment. Ensuring that you can provide at least 20% of the home price as down payment will also give you better mortgage terms.

    Shop for a loan.

    Take the time to look around for a good home loan. You need to check the different financing options that are available to you as a first-time buyer. Check rates from different lenders so you can get the best rates. Look for the best loan type with the best payment options. Most home buyers go for the typical 30-year loan. But, there are different mortgages that you can check if you want to pay off the house faster and save on interest.

    Negotiate.

    Negotiation can make a difference when you’re buying a home for the first time. Being comfortable and good at negotiations will help you save big on this major purchase. Your goal is to agree with a seller on a good price. Make sure that you don’t offer a really low price as this can offend the seller. Another option is to ask your lender to cover the closing fees of your purchase so you can save a couple of hundred dollars.

     

    Top 12 Good Read Articles to Read Before Buying Your First Home:

    In random order:

    1. 5 Steps to Buying a Home That Won’t Bust Your Budget by Dave Ramsey | Post Link
    2. 8 Financial Tips for Buying Your First Home by Kumiko | Post Link
    3. How Much Should I Save For a Down Payment? by Brian O’Connell | Post Link
    4. How to Buy a House with Bad Credit in 6 Steps by thelendersnetwork.com | Post Link
    5. Home Loan Tips for First-Time Home Buyers by creditrepair.com | Post Link
    6. Negotiations You Might Have to Make When Buying a House by Courtney Price Davis | Post Link
    7. 10 Negotiation tips for buyers by Glenn and Ben Gohlke | Post Link
    8. Tips for First-Time Home Buyers Nerdwallet| Post Link
    9. First-time Homebuyer Trend for 2018: Advice for Savvy Families by hometrek.org | Post Link
    10. Top 10 Things First-Time Home Buyers Should Know in 2018 by Brandon Cornett | Post Link
    11. 25 Tips for First-Time Home Buyers by Emily Starbuck Crone | Post Link
    12. How To Buy Your First Home: A No Nonsense Step-by-Step Guide by Jon Gorey | Post Link
  • Why is Photography for Real Estate Important to Sell Your Homes Fast?

    Why is Photography for Real Estate Important to Sell Your Homes Fast?

    For a real estate agent to become good in selling his properties, he needs to present compelling images to his clients. It also includes the excellent communication skills he uses in enticing clients. The present generation of sales agents, real estate brokers, and realtors find the Internet a good place to market real estate properties. But with the over saturated number of people using the Internet as a marketing vehicle, it is far better to negotiate face-to-face to prospective buyers.

    It would be advantageous to have real estate photographs that can either be presented personally to targeted clients or to be uploaded to personal websites or social media. As of the moment, social media is considered the most powerful tool in digital marketing. Although real estate is considered a big gamble to sales agents, it can be a big boom when the business is marketed properly.

    The idea of real estate photography is to present the images of the property. This is for the reason that the agent try to impress the clients to show the details and various angles of the said property. These photographs are needed to be processed to its best quality. Enhancement of photos requires the services of the different photo-editing applications, tools, and techniques because this job is very critical.

    Real estate properties can be photographed both from the outside and at its interior. In as far as photo outlook is concerned, there are many techniques that will make photos look great. There are modification skills that needed to be developed to get familiarized about proper blending of interior colors.

    Photo editing jobs are very common today. For properties to be sold fast there are countless photo adjustment to be made just for one particular image. A photo editor should look at some parts of the photo to ensure that there are characters of the picture that needed to be changed. He can also change the blend of the contrast at the same time.
    For a wide-angle view, consider the topographical area of the property. A panoramic photo can represent a bigger view of the property. But panoramic photography entails continuous overlapping images. In doing so, photo editors needed special imaging software to stitch several sections together.

    In the practice of real estate and architectural photography, real estate agents photograph houses, buildings, and commercial real estate companies to be subject for different kinds of marketing purposes. Some owners wish to advertise their properties – hotels, gyms, restaurants, studios, etc. – for promotional purposes only. A real estate photographer sometimes needed to work with interior designers to make the properties more attractive as possible.
    Some photographers will shoot and edit images using different software applications and programs. With the tasks of photographing architectural and real estate structures, the work is quite unique but this is very important to hastily sell the properties. Being sensitive to landscape photography and aimed at selling homes quickly, photographers needed to be sensitive to spatial aesthetics. A real estate agent must realize that he also has to reach to potential clients as part of executing the business tasks more importantly in reaching out to old and new clients. He must have a network with fellow photographers, must attend real estate meetings, and other relevant events that will allow shooting schedule perfect.

    Importance of Photography to Sell Home Fast

    Photography to Sell Home Fast

    It is a truth that whenever homes are listed using professional images, it tends to sell faster. There are proofs that real estate photography helps selling homes 50% faster as compared to homes without images. Because the images involved in the listing of your homes have great positive impact to selling the property, most real estate agents and brokers turn to photography for this specific yet valuable reason.

    • More professional look.

    A real estate agent wanted his real estate images look more professional. High-quality images can give more avenues to a more selling possibility. Because of the stiff competition in this industry, all the images a real estate puts in the listing must stand out. To look professional means you gain more confidence in presenting and selling the property. Using photographs will not only get your listing the attention you need, it also makes your property more appealing.

    • Time-saver.

    Shooting of images, editing, resizing, and uploading of photographs will consume more time than you imagined. With the help of a professional photographer, it gives you little stress. Real estate photographers can shoot, edit, upload, re-size and do the correct formatting of the image, thus will help in selling properties fast.

    • Gives competitive edge.

    People who are selling their homes who use professional photography in listing have the marketing advantage. This is because showcasing their homes using better images has a faster chance of selling potential. The technology we have today made it easier for clients to search on the Internet to look for new homes. Online listing is one of the most practical ways to promote the real estate properties being sold and at the same time, it can attract potential buyers.