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first time home buyers

How to Save Enough for a Down Payment

For most first-time homebuyers, securing a down payment is the biggest hurdle. There comes a point for many first-time homebuyers when nearly everything you do becomes focused on saving for that purchase. Even when you’ve been putting money away regularly for years, you find yourself willing to cut out that beach vacation you had been…

Home sales rise for a second straight month

Existing-home sales were up 1.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.45 million in April from an upwardly revised 5.36 million in March, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Last month’s sales were six percent higher on a year-over-year basis and also marked the second consecutive month of…

Sales of new homes race to nearly a 9-year high

-Reuters 24 August 2016 New U.S. single-family home sales unexpectedly rose in July, reaching their highest level in nearly nine years as demand increased broadly, brightening the housing market outlook. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday new home sales surged 12.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000 units last month, the highest…

Closing Day 101

If you’ve owned a home, then you already know what to expect on closing day. To sum up this monumental day, it involves a lot of paperwork, many signatures and a lot of excitement.  There are so many moving parts on the day you close on your home that it can be hard to take…

How Much Can a Full-Service Real Estate Agent Do to Help Sell Your Home?

Get the best service you can when selling your home, but avoid going overboard. With the abundance of real estate information on the internet and the rising popularity of home improvement shows in recent years, homebuyers and sellers are more tapped into the market than ever. But having greater access to housing data and home…

Real Estate May Be a Safe Haven in a Bear Market

Rental properties can help level out the peaks and valleys in your portfolio. Is a bear market on the way? That’s the question experts and investors alike have been debating for months. Given the cyclical nature of the market, it’s unrealistic to expect the current bull market to continue its run forever. What’s uncertain is…

Understanding Your Property Tax Bill

I recently came across this article in the Huffington Post and thought I’d share.  This is the time of year when we get questions and concerns about tax assessments and how they are determined.  Understanding this process can be confusing especially for first time buyers.   I always encourage my clients to call their local tax assessor’s office if…

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