It might seem like the present time is too volatile to be optimistic about selling your house. Here’s some reasons why that isn’t the case.   New Buyers Are Still Entering the Market As interest rates rise, some buyers will hesitate to make an offer on a home or apply for a mortgage, so […]

  Real estate jargon, like any other, can be confusing. Since buying a house is a very serious investment, it’s important to be aware of as many terms as possible, since it could impact the rest of your life. Here are some key words to know.   ARM Adjustable-Rate Mortgage. A mortgage loan with a […]

  Living on the lake is an amazing lifestyle, and a great real estate investment. It is not just a home location. You will love your community and everything a lake has to offer. Choosing to live on a lake is a choice that is easy to make, and there is a lake to fit […]

  Moving with your pets can be a hassle. Pets can be even more stressed than a human when their routine is disrupted. Here a few tips to make it easier.   Keep Things Normal Instead of pulling an all-nighter to pack, try to pack over a long period of time so that your pet […]

When buying a home, there are several important steps to the process. The final, and most legally complex steps, are the escrow period and its culmination, the closing. As the home buyer, you will be busy with various tasks during this time, depending in particular on what contingencies you placed into the contract. Here’s some […]

Preparing to sell your home comes with a lot of tasks to keep in mind. Some of these are more important than others. Here are four of those tasks you definitely want on your checklist.   Declutter Living Areas Less is definitely more when it comes to getting your house ready to show. Do a […]

  Finding a place for your aging parents to live can be difficult. Some realtors and firms specialize in this. Here’s one way they do it.   SLRA Senior living referral agents, sometimes also called elder care referral agents or senior placement agents (often called Seniorly Partner Agents), can be a company with several employees […]

  Selling Costs Selling your parents’ home comes with some pretty high costs. You’ll likely have to do some facelift/style updates to get the best price, you could have 6% or more in realtor commissions. If they make enough money in the sale, capital gains taxes could take a big bite out of their earnings. […]

  Lower Price A home that needs work likely will be less expensive. Such properties rarely list at full market price. Buying a fixer-upper house is, without a doubt, cheaper than purchasing a ready-to-go home. Since no two houses are the same, it’s hard to do a true, apples-to-apples comparison as to just how much […]

  Be Their Best Resource Help your clients by being the best resource for them.  Answer all their questions, field their phone calls, and provide them with as much information as needed. Being diligent will pay off in the long run.   Find Out What’s Holding Them Back Sometimes, it honestly comes down to the […]

  Become a Master Communicator Real estate is not much more than a conversation. Of course, there are many facets of a transaction, but every one of them are carried out through a conversation. The fastest way to master the conversation is to learn scripts and dialogues. There are dozens of free script books on […]

Determining when you may or may not want to consider moving to a senior living community is a very complicated decision process.  Many people wait for a crisis to occur before considering such a move; while others plan and move before something happens. Try to imagine your life in 5 to 10 years from now. […]

  Inventory Without inventory, you have no income—and no business. Finding listings in a low-inventory market, however, has become a challenge even for agents with years in the business. New agents, especially, will find it a challenge to find sellers. Lack of experience makes new agents less attractive to homeowners seeking to retire comfortably and […]

  Figure Out How Much You May Need to Spend to Make Your Home Safe and Relative-ready   Ask yourself: Will my house accommodate my relative’s needs now; in six months; a year? What is the relative’s physical and mental condition, and what chronic illness does he or she have? Do you have room to […]

Roof Does the roof look relatively new or is it caving in? If the roof is eye-catching—in a bad way—it could cost you. A newer roof, on the other hand, could mean a lower homeowners insurance rate. Likewise, a roof made of an especially sturdy material is better equipped to defend against wind and hail […]

  Moving in with your kids — especially when you are still vibrant and healthy — means you can free up your child and child-in-law to work a bit more and manage their joint expenses better. Plus, the grandparents can help the household by providing childcare and cooking, as they are able. With many Americans […]

  A great deal of a real estate agent’s time, money and personal effort go into marketing their expertise and qualities to the public to build a client base. Once they’ve done a great job for them, repeat business, and referrals will follow. They do so with these traits.   Knowledgeable It isn’t enough to […]

  Have a Game Plan If you’re giving up an hour on a Sunday, you might as well set aside the entire afternoon. Research properties you want to see and schedule your day so you hit up open houses in one area, move on to the next area and so on. Allow yourself enough time […]

Home Prices Are Up For home buyers, that lowball offer isn’t likely going to stick this spring. A recent study showed that sellers don’t have to accept much less for their home than what they list it for. Nationwide, homes are selling at about 98% of the asking price. Homes are fetching more, and in […]

The spring weather gives us a renewed energy to start projects such as downsizing that we’ve been putting off all winter. The days start to get longer, which is emotionally motivating to begin on an area of your house that needs some attention. By focusing on downsizing, you can look forward to enjoying the lifestyle […]

It’s one thing to buy a shirt online that you’ve never seen or tried on in-person, but another entirely if you try to apply that buying technique to a house. Looking at online listings is a helpful first step in the home-buying process. Buying a home without viewing it yourself in person (and preferably with […]

  Studies have shown that most homebuyers say they would definitely use their real estate agent again or recommend the agent to others. It is a huge benefit of this business to be able to reap future business rewards from the goodwill of past clients. Pay as much attention to the nuts and bolts of […]

Maintenance Keeping your home well-maintained can be a lot of work. Between yard work and perpetual maintained, the upkeep can leave you exhausted. Or maybe it’s getting harder for you to do certain household maintenance tasks due to age or physical restrictions. There’s also a financial component to home maintenance. You may not want to […]

Online listings have made real estate a whole new ballgame. Unlike the old days, when real estate agents relied on newspaper ads that by design only provided partial information about a property, online listings now can tell consumers almost everything they need to know about a home before they even get in to see it. […]

It’s a conversation we never want to have but for a lot of us the time will come when we need to talk to mom and dad about moving out of the family home into something smaller and more manageable or perhaps even into assisted living. You may have noticed that they just can’t keep […]

License Overview To earn a commercial real estate broker’s license, it is necessary to meet minimum eligibility and training requirements that are laid out by their state for individuals who want to take the licensure exam. Individuals who pass the exam must also periodically complete continuing education courses.   Licensure Process Licensing requirements for commercial […]

Perhaps a good way to begin is to ask your parents if they would allow you to box things up in the rooms they can’t get to and bring everything downstairs (if they have them) for them to sort. As you help them work their way through the boxes, cleaning out each room as you […]

Most real estate agents are independent contractors. This means they can set their own work schedules, develop their own client bases, decide on their own marketing methods, and grow their business as their own.   Have Control of Your Business Growth There are no limits to the growth of your real estate business, and you […]

Property Might Be Too Big A big property brings with it lots of cleaning, gardening and general upkeep—and for some this can become too much. Having a property that is too big for your needs—perhaps because your children have left home—means spending time looking after areas of a property that are no longer being used. […]

The “For Sale” sign is up. You’ve completed the big projects and the little tweaks, so you’re hopeful your efforts will pay off with a quick and profitable offer. But now comes the most critical part of the home-selling cycle: the day of a showing or an open house. A negative first impression can directly […]