Category Archives: Real Estate

New Real Estate apps can help renters, buyers, sellers and remodelers

Posted on January 6, 2016 | Leave a comment

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For people making an offer on a home:

After a mortgage, utility expenses are often the next highest cost of living in a home. Now with Enerscore anyone can find out more about the total monthly cost for a home before they move in, even before they make an offer on the property.

Enerscore uses public records to make up a profile of a home and then determines an energy performance rating. Using this information, the site estimates the monthly utility costs based on local rates for that neighborhood.

For buyers:
Mozaic is a new mobile-optimized social platform that connects buyers and their real estate agents directly to listings in the multi-listing service (MLS) database. It is currently available in Washington and its surrounding markets (i.e. all of the areas served by our MLS for the Mid-Atlantic).

disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

More Housing Predictions for 2016

Posted on January 4, 2016 | Leave a comment

Interest rates
All eyes are on the interest rates. They have been so low for so long that just about everyone expects them to rise several times during the coming year. The increases will start off in small increments, so we don’t anticipate a sudden impact on the housing market, but it could make it more difficult for some buyers to qualify for a mortgage.

However, the pent-up demand for buying a home in the D.C. area is large enough to offset the potential loss of those who won’t be able to qualify for a mortgage as rates increase. After all, buyers have had a few more years to save up for larger down payments and improve their credit scores so there are more qualified buyers than even a few years ago.

Timing
Given the predicted rise in interest rates, the selling season might kick off earlier than usual. Buyers will want to lock in as low of a rate as possible. The ones who know that they want to buy a home this year will most probably try to get a head start on finding one that fits their needs before rates rise again.

Spring real estate activity is also always weather-dependent. Heavy snow late into February and March can deter people from going out to tour homes. That has a domino effect in delaying any offers, which then delays the final closing date. Thus, only if we have a mild winter do I predict an early start to the spring market.

disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

How to start shopping for your first home

Posted on December 12, 2015 | Leave a comment

1. “Keep your credit in check.”
Approaching the homebuying process — and it is a process — begins with sizing up your finances. (Spoiler alert: you’re going to be writing some checks!) Your financial footing, including the state of your credit, plays an important part in obtaining a home loan: lenders look at the score on your credit report to determine if you pre-qualify (more on that later). Personal-finance expert suggests looking into your credit score several months before you hit the open-house circuit. She explains that you can pull your credit report for yourself once a year at no cost from each of the three major credit bureaus

2. “Get pre-qualified.”
With your credit in tip-top shape, next you’ll likely want to zero in on the budget range for your home purchase. “Before you even start shopping, you need to know how much a lender is willing to extend [to you] to purchase your first home,” says Quinn, who bought her first home with her husband at age 27. By meeting with mortgage brokers — at your own bank as well as others — and getting prequalified for a home loan will help to clarify that picture. While you may have done your own calculations, “only a lender can give you a truly accurate figure,” Quinn says.

3. “Sign up for email listing alerts.”
OK, your credit is tuned up and you have a price range in mind. We’re guessing by now you’re pretty eager to, you know, go see houses? To scour the inventory like a pro, real estate marketer suggests seeking out home-search tools online such as email alerts about new listings. In signing up for these notifications you can filter for price, house size, community interior features and more, Fox says. “New homes that match your criteria [are] automatically emailed to you … often multiple times per day.”

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Category Archives: Real Estate

New Real Estate apps can help renters, buyers, sellers and remodelers

More Housing Predictions for 2016

How to start shopping for your first home

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