Buy House, Condo or Townhouse As 1st Home?
When it’s time to buy your first home, you may face a choice: Should you get a single-family house, a condominium or a town house? Besides price and affordability, there are other factors you need to consider to help you make a decision. Here are some questions to ask when deciding which type of residence would be best for your first home. Does the location fit your lifestyle? For young professionals who want to be close to the action, a short walk to restaurants, shops and a
Best Things to Buy in the Spring
Spring is finally here! The warmer weather may tempt some shoppers to hit the stores looking for deals. During the months of March, April and May sales abound on everything from household items to electronics, which can add up to big savings when you’re planning a major purchase. If you’re thinking of doing a little retail therapy to cure your cabin fever, here are some great spring buys that won’t break your budget. Chocolate March is a great month for chocolate lovers who a
Modernizing a Dated Home on a Budget
For many young families, home ownership means settling for an older home at first, or being cash-poor in the early years. Even when you're on a budget, however, you can update the look and feel of your older home. Today's home improvement and discount stores are a rich source of paint products, lighting fixtures and fabrics you can use to modernize the rooms in your home without breaking the budget or hiring professionals. Look at magazines, home decor websites and cable TV h
Real Estate Vocabulary
Words you need to know before buying your first home: Buying a home involves its own language. Here’s a guide to the terms you may encounter. 1 BD/1 BA — One bedroom, one bathroom DR — Dining room FP — Fireplace FB — Full bathroom. A bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower and/or bathtub. HB — Half bathroom. A bathroom with only a toilet and sink. Also known as a powder room. LR — Living room W/D — Washer dryer Active — A property that is on the market and available for sale.
3 Reasons You Should Consider a Duplex as Your First Home Purchase
When most people think about buying their first home, a nice little brick house with a white picket fence comes to mind. And while there’s nothing wrong with this, maybe you should actually be thinking about a duplex. 3 Reasons to Consider a Duplex If you’ve never thought about owning a duplex, then you’re probably unaware of just how many exist in your market. Duplexes are everywhere, and they can be extremely wise investments in certain situations. While you probably don’t
10 Reasons to Buy Instead of Rent
If you're struggling with whether to buy versus rent, consider these 10 reasons to take the plunge into homeownership: 1. You can ramp up energy efficiency. Energy-efficient improvements, from adding insulation to upgrading your air conditioning unit, can reduce your monthly utility bill, says Jane Hodges, author of the new book Rent Vs. Own. While renters can make plenty of green improvements on their own, from unplugging appliances to turning off lights, homeowners can make
5 Reasons It'll Pay to Sell Your Home Early in 2018
It's been nearly a decade since the Great Recession delivered the worst housing crash in modern memory. But these days, the fallout feels squarely in the rearview mirror. Markets have bounced back with fervor, and confidence is skyrocketing: From Charlotte, NC, to Stockton, CA—and everywhere in between—homes are flying off the market at record prices, and buyers are still clamoring to get in the game. One thing is clear: It's a great time to be a seller. "We’ve seen two or th
Mortgage Loan Types
There used to be only three mortgage loan types available to a home buyer. Buyers could get a fixed-rate conventional mortgage, an FHA loan, or a VA loan. Times have definitely changed. Now there are a dizzying array of mortgage loan types available -- as the saying goes: more mortgage loan types than you can shake a stick at! Popular Types of Mortgage Loan Programs Fixed-rate Mortgage Types This is the granddaddy of them all. Today you can choose from 5-year, 10-year, 15-yea
10 Things Americans Want In Their Homes
There’s the ideal home. Then there are the homes in which we actually live. The discrepancy between the two is the topic of a new report from the Demand Institute on what it calls the housing satisfaction gap. More than 10,000 households—including renters and owners—participated in a survey about their current homes and their ideal ones. The Demand Institute is a non-profit organization run by the Conference Board and Nielsen. Overall, people are generally satisfied with thei
Top Reasons Why People Fall In Love With A House
What made you fall in love with your home? The top reasons for buying given by homeowners revealed: 56% said they bought a property because they had fallen in love with it The top reasons for falling in love with a property included location, price and a garden The appearance of a property was one of the main reasons buyers were put of a property Buyers are told it's all about 'location, location, location' when it comes to making a decision about which property to buy. But n