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Why Every Home Buyer Needs A Mortgage Pre-Approval

why every home buyer needs a mortgage pre-approval

Why Every Home Buyer Needs A Mortgage Pre-approval

Just as you would not go shopping for groceries without cash in your purse/wallet or without knowing you have available credit on your credit card you should also not got shopping for a home without knowing if you have been pre-approved or not for a mortgage.  Just as no one wants to go to the store and find out their credit card has been declined or that they are short on cash to purchase their items, viewing homes to purchase without knowing if you can afford it can also lead to great disappointment.   Thinking that you can get a preapproval at any time with enough time to make an offer and you could end up losing out on a house you really like and/or realizing you may have never been able to get pre-approved for an amount to buy a particular house in the first place.   Cash buyers keep note, while you may not need a pre-approval since you have sufficient cash to purchase a home you still may be required to show that the cash is readily available.

What A Mortgage Pre-Approval Can Tell You

Even if you have a great credit score that does not mean you should wait until the last minute to get a mortgage pre-approval.  The mortgage pre-approval is the first thing you should get before you even look at the first home.  A big issue you can run into when viewing homes without a mortgage pre-approval is that you find a home that you really like, but once the pre-approval is run you find out the pre-approval is not enough for the home you like.  A mortgage pre-approval will let you know how much home you can afford and save you some stress down the line.

Also a pre-approval...

5 Smart Strategies For Selling Your Luxury Home

smart strategies for helping to sell your luxury home

5 Smart Strategies For Selling Your Luxury Home

Selling a home involves quite a bit of preparation in order to make sure you are presenting the best possible product.  When it comes time to sell the home you will need to think of it as a product since ultimately that is what it is in the buyer’s minds until they buy it and make it their home.  Taking it one step further a luxury home is also a product, but one that needs to be elevated much more since buyers for luxury homes are looking for specifics in a home and want something that will justify the price.  The following strategies are designed to help luxury home owners elevate their home so that when buyers visit a home the home in person they can sell the luxury difference.

Marketing

Luxury Home Photography and Video

As a Cincinnati, Ohio Luxury Realtor I have been asked about what differences are there in marketing a luxury home versus marketing a non-luxury home.  The differences can be minor such as having more pictures of a luxury home versus a non-luxury home.  One of the main reason a luxury home has more pictures is usually because luxury have more features and amenities to show off compared to non-luxury homes.  Buyers looking for those luxury features and amenities will first want to see them in pictures before they decide a home is worth visiting in person.  If the pictures can’t keep the buyers attention then the luxury real estate agent may not doing their job.

Photography and videos of a luxury home must be top notch and your typical point and shoot cameras...

What Is A Real Estate Survey?

what is a real estate survey

What Is A Real Estate Survey?

When it comes to buying a home or other real estate sometimes it may be necessary to have a survey performed on the property.  A survey is normally done by a licensed Surveyor who will examine the deed and any plat maps associated with the property you want to purchase or currently own.  (A plat map is the map used to show where the boundaries for each parcel of land.)  After the deed and plat maps have been examined the Surveyor will then go to the land in question and physically begin to observe and mark out the boundary lines in order to determine the exact location of the plot.

How Exactly Is A Survey Done?

As noted above a land survey is done by initially looking at the deed and plat maps to roughly determine where the property boundaries are.  After review of the deed and plat map the Surveyor will start the process of using the deed language and plat maps to mark out the boundaries of the land.  The actual determining of the boundaries of the land is done with equipment such as measuring tape, GPS devices, tripods, levels, theodolite (a device for measuring angles) and more.  Surveys will also show what easements, right of ways, utility line information and more are located on your property.  Having that information is valuable when it comes to deciding if a certain add on structure can be placed on the property.

The end result of a survey is usually a survey map that shows the details of the boundaries of the property as well as any improvements on the land.  Where the buyer or the land owner need to know the physical...

Do I Need Title Insurance When I Buy A Home?

do I need title insurance when I buy a home?

Do I Need Title Insurance When I Buy A Home?

When it comes time to close on the house you want to buy you may be asked if you want to buy a title insurance owner’s policy at the closing table.  Unfortunately title insurance often times is presented late at the closing table after you have signed too many documents and in addition you are being asked to pay extra for homeowner coverage of title insurance for which you have little information about.  By understanding what title insurance is and what it covers you can go into the decision about purchasing it better informed.

What Exactly Is Title Insurance?

Many people already know that insurance protects them from loss or liability for things like your home, your cars, your business, your career and more.  Title insurance protects you from a claim against the title of your home.  In other words title insurance will protect you in the event someone claims to be a prior owner or have a prior right on the land or home you now own and now wants to kick you off of the land or wants you to pay money for a debt that is not yours.

Many of you might be thinking how can someone come and kick me out of the home you bought and paid for?  The reason that can happen is that under most state laws a person first in line on the title who can show they never transfered the property is the legal owner of the property.  In order to enforce their claim to the property they will need to file a lawsuit in court.  The same applies to liens on a property, if a lien was filed in the past then that lien goes with...

Telltale Signs You May Have Hired The Wrong Real Estate Agent

telltale signs you may have hired the wrong real estate agent

Telltale Signs You May Have Hired The Wrong Real Estate Agent

Depending on the state you are in the bar to get a license to become a real estate agent can be quite low.  Take a few classes, pass a test and you too can become a real estate agent.  On the other hand skilled real estate agents are continually doing more to enhance their knowledge and skills so they can better serve their clients.  So what are the exact signs that can let you know you got stuck with the wrong real estate agent?  Read on below to learn more.

Agents Not Returning Calls

If from the start of your relationship with a real estate agent you are having issues with them calling you back on time or they don’t call you back at all that is a major problem.  One of the greatest way to kill a real estate deal is by not returning phone calls.  In very fast moving real estate markets time is of the essence and if an agent is not able to put in an offer to buy a home within a reasonable amount of time of you calling them you could lose the home to some other buyer whose agent was timely in responding to their clients.

A typical example of this is after seeing a number of homes during the day you decide to take a few hours to consider which home you would like to make an offer on.  After finally deciding on a home that best works for you, you call up your agent and leave a voice message saying you would like to make an offer on one particular home.  If your agent never returns your call to get the details of your offer that means they are not able to get the details of what you want to offer submit it to the sellers.  If your agent is...

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