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Before you start your house hunting in earnest, the real estate profession with who you are working will likely “pre-qualify” you to determine a price range you can afford. This is a necessary part of the home buying process that helps save you time and money.
Don’t be shy or withhold information about your income or credit status. Your real estate professional isn’t trying to pry. Rather, he or she must know all details related to your ability to obtain a mortgage. By candidly discussing your financial situation, you’ll give the agent the information necessary to show you homes you can afford. If you don’t open up, you are placing the real estate professional in the role of a tour guide, not someone who can help you find a home within your budget. You’ll wind up wasting your time and that of the seller.
Once you have signed a contract to purchase a home, you must choose a lending institution or mortgage company from which to obtain your home loan. Your loan application will request financial data including your place of employment, assets, and liabilities (including recurring debts such as credit card bills and car payments).
Here are two important tips on loan qualification form the Robinson Team at North Texas Home Finders. 1. Do not borrow the down payment without disclosing the loan, submit fake letters-of-credit or gift letters, or make secret financial arrangements. 2. Accurately list your income and assets, all debts and the approximate amounts you owe.
You’ll most likely be charged a credit report fee by the lender, which will cover the cost of having your credit examined. Credit reporting agencies compile credit reports on consumers, including bill payment history, as well as whether you have been sued or filed for bankruptcy among other information.
Federal credit reporting laws do not give you the right to inspect the actual credit report at the reporting agency or to receive and exact duplicate of the report. But, you are entitled to a summary containing the sources of the reports information.
If you ability to obtain a mortgage is adversely affected by the credit report, you have the right to challenge its accuracy and seek corrections.
The credit report is part of the information the lender uses to determine if you qualify for a loan. It is not a mechanism to prevent you from buying. Remember, lenders want to make loans, not turn them down.
Article by Teresa Robinson, Owner/Buyer Specialist, North Texas Home Finders Contact Teresa at 972.335.0571 or Teresa@Northtexashomefinders.com and she can help you sell your home or find a new one!
Get a Buyer Specialist and rest easy! The builder pays our service charge from their advertising budget which is built into every home they sell. Since these fees do not come out of the home construction budget, you cannot negotiate one penny of a better deal alone. We also work with preowned homes where the seller pays our fees! Visit www.northtexashomefinders.com for more information.
Teresa Robinson is one of more than 400,000 members of the Real Estate BUYERS AGENT Council (REBAC) of the National Association of Realtors, who have attended the ABR, Accredited Buyer Representative, designation. As the world’s largest association of real estate professionals focusing specifically on representing the real estate buyer, REBAC is the”The Voice for Buyer Representation, ” with more than 44,000 active real estate professional members of the organization throughout the world.
It’s the time of year in Texas when temperatures are starting to rise, and A/C units are starting to run. As we delve into Spring cleaning projects, it’s important not to neglect one of the biggest components of your home – the HVAC system. HVAC stands for Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning. Just like your car, it needs regular tune ups.
We’ve all heard the importance of changing the oil in your car every 3000 – 5000 miles. Think of how many hours your A/C unit runs during the summer. When is the last time you had it serviced? 1 – 3 years? 3 -5 years? Never? Having your A/C unit serviced once each year saves you an average of $30 per month on your electric bill. Yearly service also catches 40% of major problems before the occur. Have you ever had to replace a compressor or an evaporator coil? The costs are in the thousands. A regular tune up will usually cost less than $150. Many of the top HVAC companies offer club plans where you get discounts on service plans.
You won’t believe all the additions you can make to your homes heating and air conditioning system these days. If you suffer from allergies, you can intal state of the art media filtrations systems that block huge percentages of the particles that cause allergies. You can even add U/V systems to kill viruses. If you like your home smelling fresh, you can add ozone to the home. Of course all these items cost a little money, but you might save money in other areas – like on allergy medication.
If you system is more than 10 years old, you might consider adding a new one. Did you know the government is giving you tax credits when you update your home with more energy efficient products? If you upgrade to a 16 SEER A/C unit, the government will give you a tax credit of 30% of the cost up to $1500. If you add insulation to the required levels, R-44 in Texas, you get the same credit – 30% of the cost up $1500. Save money monthly, and on next year’s taxes.
The Department of Energy has more information on these programs and many others. The bottom line is the more we can save each month on energy bills, the better for everyone.
Written by Chad Underwood, Owner/Broker, North Texas Home Finders, www.northtexashomefinders.com, chad@northtexashomefinders.com.
Take advantage of this possible redo on .38 of an acre in North Dallas. The land itself is worth over 400K. House is in good condition, and needs mostly cosmetic, paint, carpet, bath and kitchen redo.
The backyard is a beautuful oasis retreat with waterfall pool and spa.
Feautures:
price: 349,000
About 2500 sq. ft.
4 bed
2.1 bath
2 living
2 dining
Newer pool with waterfall feature
Corner Lot with very mature trees in front and back yard!
Close to everything!!!!!
Please contact me for a private showing of this unique property. Amy Underwood, North Texas Home Finders. Cell: 972-921-8787 or Amy@NorthTexasHomeFinders.com, or if you visit our site: www.NorthTexasHomeFinders.com. Please put “AMY” in the “How Did You Hear About Us Section.” Remember our services are completely free of charge.
Many first time investors are trying to get out of the real estate game. Especially those that over extended themselves and bought homes using little or no money down in the hopes of building instant equity. In a few cases, families had to move due to job transfers or relocations. Finally, some people simply “right-sized” their home and have already moved into their new one. Now they need to sell the old one!
Selling a vacant home is much more difficult than an occupied home or one that has been professionally staged. Here are some minimum things you need to do to make sure the home is in top showing condition.
1. Clean out the cabinets, closet, garage and pantry. Many tenants will leave behind food and or trash. Be sure you go in after the last one has moved out and throw out any left overs. It is easy to drag out a personal move when you don’t have a time crunch. Last time we moved it took us a month to get the stuff out of the garage and attic. This doesn’t make for a good showing environment.
2. Clean out the refrigerator and put a box of baking soda in it to keep it smelling fresh. I was looking at a $400,000 vacant home over the weekend and the sub zero fridge had some sort of science experiment in it with mold growing out of a subway sandwhich no telling how old!
3. Keep the electricity/power on to the home. You need light to see the home. Remember many home buyers look at property after work. It is impossible for a home to be given a fair look if it is too dark.
4. Have the home professionally cleaned every few weeks. You will need to have a deep clean done when you or your tenants move out, then follow up at least every other week with a good vacuum and dusting. This will help your home smelling clean and fresh and not stale. A stale home isn’t very inviting, thus you will lose money on the transaction.
5. If you turn the water off, be sure to post signs in the bathrooms and around the sinks. Remember, you will need to turn it back on for inspections. If you live in Texas, turning off the water is never a good idea. The foundation needs to be watered in many cases to prevent damage. If you home gets foundation problems, that $50 a month you saved by turning off the water can cost you $1000s in repair costs.
6. Finally, keep up with the landscaping. Hire a service to mow, weed and edge once a week. If you can plant flowers and be sure to water the grass. You only have one chance to make a first impression. Make sure your property is making the best one possible.
The above items are the bare minimums you should do when you are trying to sell a vacant home. If you have a little extra cash, you might consider professional staging. Think of a builder’s model home. It looks like you could just change the photos to your family and settle in for the night.
Article by Teresa Robinson, Owner/Buyer Specialist, North Texas Home Finders Contact Teresa at 972.335.0571 or Teresa@Northtexashomefinders.com and she can help you sell your home or find a new one!
Get a Buyer Specialist and rest easy! The builder pays our service charge from their advertising budget which is built into every home they sell. Since these fees do not come out of the home construction budget, you cannot negotiate one penny of a better deal alone. We also work with preowned homes where the seller pays our fees! Visit www.northtexashomefinders.com for more information.
This is a proprietary program from one of the preferred lenders of North Texas Home Finders. It just became available this week. This program is set up to help folks you may have had a single event that destroyed their credit – divorce, job loss, medical issue, etc. These loans are manually underwritten so they can be looked at on a case by case basis. The best news is that first-time homebuyers sill qualify for the $8,000 tax credit. All the guidelines are outlined below:
NEW” 500 FICO PROGRAM
4/15/2009 NEW PROGRAM offered through Rentbusters, Dallas, TX by private investment bank in Boston, MA.
“This new program will be active for the next 120 days (Apply by Aug 30, 2009) to assist in eliminating excess housing due to foreclosures and economic downturn. The 500 FICO program allows buyers with low credit scores who have paid rent on time in the past 12 months to purchase a home now. Rent must be verified and cannot have been more than 30 days past due in last 12 months. All other personal credit factors, including collections accounts and consumer debt are secondary concerns to buyers ability to pay rent timely.”
Key Eligibility Factors:
- Household income of $2500 month or greater
- Buyer must have checking account
- Buyer must have verifiable income
- Home purchase price $70,000 – $270,000
- 500 Minimum Fico
- No Bankruptcy in last 2 Years
- No Foreclosure in last 3 Years
- No significant new derog credit issues in last 12 months.
- Prior rent payments must be verified
Interest rate is fixed 30 years at 7%. Buyers may earn lower interest rate after six on-time monthly payments. Initial 12 months of payments must be set up on auto-draft with buyer’s checking account.
This program is available to all First Time Buyers and individuals and families in Dallas Fort Worth Area earning less than $175,000 yearly income.
Buyers must attend one-hour housing counselor program.
For more information, or to find if you qualify, contact Chad Underwood, chad@northtexashomefinders.com. For information about available homes, and communities in Dallas-Fort Worth, visit our website at www.northtexashomefinders.com..
Written by Chad Underwood, Owner/Broker, North Texas Home Finders.
We have all heard the saying that purchasing a home is the largest investment you will make in a lifetime. While many of our clients move every 3 to 5 years, recently we are seeing a trend of home buyers looking to stay 10 plus years. If you are wanting to stay longer in your new home, there are a few things to consider:
1. How will your family change? Are you currently single? If you want to stay put for a while, you might consider purchasing a home with more than 2 bedrooms. This gives you space to add another adult and possibly a child over the years.
2. Married? Have you agreed that you want children some day? Make sure you home can accommodate the number of children you plan to have. A 3 bedroom home can make it hard to accommodate larger families.
3. Do you have aging parents? You might consider a guest suite on the 1st floor of your home. This way they do not have to climb stairs when they visit.
4. Do you work at a job that can be done from home? Many companies are downsizing to cut overheads. If you can offer to help cut their office expenses by working from home, you may just keep your job. You will need a dedicated room to work in this case to help keep that work life balance.
5. Don’t forget that babies grow up. Not only do they take over the inside of your home with all the baby gear of high chairs and strollers, but as they grow they take over garage space for bicycles, skates, sporting goods, etc. Then as teenagers you will need a place to park their cars. You may not need a 3 car garage, but you will need enough parking space. Remember some HOAs do not allow parking on the street in front of you home for more than 3 days.
6. Raised the kids and ready for the next stage of your life? This is a perfect time to consider maintenance free or limited maintenance living. Especially if you want to stay put a while. Let’s face it as we get older our priorities change and we would rather spend time visiting our grand kids and traveling than taking care of a mega home. This includes not only mowing and gardening, but also cleaning the inside of the home.
7. Consider yard space. Singles, recently married couples, couples expecting their first child, etc. need to consider how much yard they will need over time. A large yard may be too much for the single person or recently married that are career minded, so if you buy for those kids you may have someday, then budget for a weekly yard service to help you maintain your lawn.
Let’s face it. Our tastes have grown to bigger and better. My grandmother raised 4 children in a 1000 sf home with only 2 bedrooms, family room, kitchen, 1 bathroom and 1 car garage. Of course they had a big backyard and lived across the street from a park. The world was a safer place then and the kids spent most of their days outside at the park.
Most of us can’t imagine life without our media room, game room, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, home office, and 3 car garage. In some cases that is before the kids come. I hate to admit it, but before our 1st child came along, we filled up all the space. We had a pool table in the game room, a media room, guest room, home office, exercise room, and a craft room. The craft room became a nursery and now that number 2 is on its way, looks like the guest room is going to be a combo room of guest, exercise (bye, bye everything but the treadmill), and home office for me (my hubby has the main study as he works from home too!). I told my husband we might consider a new home now. After all we have lived here over 6 years now. 
Article by Teresa Robinson, Owner/Buyer Specialist, North Texas Home Finders Contact Teresa at 972.335.0571 or Teresa@Northtexashomefinders.com and she can help you find the right sized home!
Get a Buyer Specialist and rest easy! The builder pays our service charge from their advertising budget which is built into every home they sell. Since these fees do not come out of the home construction budget, you cannot negotiate one penny of a better deal alone. We also work with preowned homes where the seller pays our fees! Visit www.northtexashomefinders.com for more information.
He is Risen!
Happy Easter to one and all.
Chad Underwood, Owner/Broker, chad@northtexashomefinders.com
Pulte Homes, Inc. announced today that it is acquiring Centex Corp. This is huge news in the housing industry, as this will create the nations largest new home builder. Last year, the two companies combined to deliver more than 39,000 homes nationwide. DR Horton, formerly the largest builder in the U.S., delivered more than 26,000 homes in 2008.
The Pulte/Centex deal is great news for buyers in the Metroplex. Here’s why:
1) Pulte and Centex are known in Dallas / Fort Worth as two of the top builders when it comes to customer service and quality. This marriage makes sense because consumers can feel confident about working with this new mega-builder.
2) Larger builders, in many cases, are able to offer better deals for home buyers. A huge builder will be willing to make less margin on homes because of volume. At certain points of the year, they may even take a loss on a few homes, knowing that they will recapture the margins on other deals. If you are working with the right Realtor, they can help you take advantage of these situations.
3) Most importantly, the timing of this deal seems to indicate that Pulte feels that the downturn in the housing market has hit a bottom (on a national scale). They are acquiring huge land positions in this deal, which would be foolish if they felt the housing market will continue to trend down.
As an agent that has worked with each of these builders in the past, I am excited about having them as a major player both nationally and in D/FW. Home buyers in areas such as Frisco, Keller, McKinney, Prosper, and other suburbs should be excited as well.
Article by W. Cody Robinson, Owner/Buyer Specialist, North Texas Home Finders
Contact Cody at 972.365.0432 or Cody@NorthTexasHomeFinders.com
Get a Buyer Specialist and rest easy! The builder pays our service charge from their advertising budget which is built into every home they sell. Since these fees do not come out of the home construction budget, you cannot negotiate one penny of a better deal alone. We also work with preowned homes where the seller pays our fees! Visit www.northtexashomefinders.com for more information.
| Argyle ISD!!!!Over 5,000 sq. ft.5 Bedroom4.1 Bath
Media Library Game 4 Car Garage WAS: $759,000 NOW: $649,000 REDUCED $100,000 UNDER APPRAISED VALUE! GOLF COURSE LOT! MODEL HOME! Absolutely Stunning Custom Built Home. All the amenities-must see! Stone & Brick front. Beautiful entrance and appeal. Kitchen to die for. All rooms large & spacious. Huge outdoor living area. Golf course lot backed up to Country Club. Your Dream house. Buyer to verify all measurements, schools and tax information. Article by Amy Underwood, Owner/Buyer Specialist, North Texas Home Finders Contact Amy at 972.921.8787 or Amy@Northtexashomefinders.com Get a Buyer Specialist and rest easy! The builder pays our service charge from their advertising budget which is built into every home they sell. Since these fees do not come out of the home construction budget, you cannot negotiate one penny of a better deal alone. We also work with preowned homes where the seller pays our fees! Visit www.northtexashomefinders.com for more information. |
You have just finished unpacking the final moving box and the LAST thing you want to think about it moving again. I understand, but you need to remember a few simple tricks that will make your exit strategy easier. Tackle updating your home every 9 months to 1 year. Just do one project at a time, so it is not overwhelming.
Keep up with the trends in light fixtures, wall coverings, and hardware. These types of changes don’t cost much, but keeping them current will make it much easier to sell your home without have to invest a ton of money to get it ready to go on the market.
Don’t forget about your landscaping either! Simple additions or reductions at the season changes will keep your yard worthly of Yard of the Month and make it easier should the time come to sell your home.
By tackling small updates as you live in the home, you might find that you will stay there longer than if you don’t do anything at all. This gives you more time, in some cases, to earn some equity and have the opportunity to cover your expenses or make a small profit when you decide to move.
Article by Teresa Robinson, Owner/Buyer Specialist, North Texas Home Finders
Contact Teresa at 972.335.0571 or Teresa@Northtexashomefinders.com
Get a Buyer Specialist and rest easy! The builder pays our service charge from their advertising budget which is built into every home they sell. Since these fees do not come out of the home construction budget, you cannot negotiate one penny of a better deal alone. We also work with preowned homes where the seller pays our fees! Visit www.northtexashomefinders.com for more information.
