Moving day is here, your bags are packed, boxes loaded, and movers are en route. Everything seems to be going smoothly, then suddenly, you realize you can’t find Fido… More than 10 million pets go missing each year. A good number of those wander off while their families are preparing for a move. To avoid…
Buying a house is a minefield full of “I didn’t know thats.” From choosing the right home to qualifying for the best mortgage, you want to minimize the things you don’t know. Lower your “didn’t-know” ratio. With a shifting lending landscape, rising interest rates and down payment priorities based on your local market, here’s what you’ll…
Home shoppers outnumber home sellers in many places. If you’re a home buyer, you need every competitive advantage you can get. That’s why it pays to know how to find motivated sellers and persuade them to choose you. The definition of “motivated seller” has changed since the depths of the economic crisis about a decade…
When responsible first-time home buyers need help buying a home, the family bank can sometimes lend a hand. Younger home buyers face a mountain of obstacles, including rising home prices and interest rates, too few homes for sale and unpaid college debt. Student debt is a major source of trouble. When the National Association of…
A house with a fabulous view can be hard for a home buyer to resist. But seeing the mountains, water or city lights from the comfort of home comes at a price. The hazy part is figuring out what that added cost is — and whether it’s worth it. That’s where real estate appraisers and…
Every year, first-time home buyers venture into the market and make the same mistakes that their parents, siblings and friends made when they bought their first houses. But today’s novice buyers can stop the cycle. Here are 12 mistakes that first-time home buyers make — and what to do instead. 1. Shopping for a house first before a mortgage…
Trisha and Dennis Rawlings, a couple in their early 30s, are moving to suburban Chicago and leaving their over-60-year-old first home in the St. Louis area behind. “We were looking at potentially buying a house,” Trisha says. But in the area where they want to live, the options within their budget were limited to purchasing…
If you’re planning to sell a home in spring, prepare now for the crucial (and fun) job of luring home shoppers. Homes that look loved and well-maintained get more attention — and first impressions matter: “A buyer makes their buying decision as they are coming up the front walk or walking through the front door,”…
A typical first-time home buyer pays thousands of dollars more than an experienced buyer would pay for the same house, according to research from two housing economists. First-time buyers overpaid an average of about $2,200, or 0.79%, for their homes, according to senior economist Jessica Shui and economist Shriya Murthy of the Federal Housing Finance…
