You’ve finally made the decision to buy a home, and you know what needs to be done. You need to get pre-approved and choose a Realtor. You probably aren’t sure what you are looking for specifically in an agent, but when you’ve made an expensive purchase in the past (cars, furniture, appliances), you’ve appreciated the salespeople who were knowledgable, personable, and available. These traits are magnified during the home buying process. Why? Because you are about to start a long-term relationship with someone, so you need to make sure you are compatible. It can mean the difference between cruising into the closing room with confidence or feeling like you just rode the Tilt-a-Whirl at the local fair. Continue Reading →

Common belief for years has been that the real estate market slows down in the wintertime, showings are sporadic, and no one wants to move in the wintertime.

I used to agree… until this year.

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Over the years I’ve noticed that house hunting shares many similarities with dating. With dating, you look for someone that catches your eye, that you can enjoy spending time with, and hope that, as time goes on, that person becomes your forever love. Dating is all about finding the match. Such it is with house hunting.

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Whack! That’s the sound of getting hit by a lowball offer on your home. You’ve probably heard about lowball offers: Offers that are much lower than a listing price. Maybe your list agent prepped you for the possibility of one, or maybe you got blindsided by one. Regardless of the preparation involved, it hurts. But, thankfully, there is a little more to it than just being a number written on a page.

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Con artist have a new trick up their sleeves, and it can be a doozy.  These rental scams can be done from anywhere in the world and it is pretty simple.  Con Artists find a nice home that is listed for sale or rent by a reputable company.  Then they copy all the photos and advertise it for rent at about half the going rate.  Continue Reading →

Last week, we were held captive in our home for three days by record breaking low temperatures and a ridiculous snow storm. My biggest worry was about how our submersible pump would hold up in our deep well outside. Granted, it should do fine, but we’ve never dealt with weather this cold before, so I just wasn’t sure. Well, the well pump held up fine, but our furnace did not.
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