How Much Money do I Actually Need to Buy a Home? Transcript from the Video A common question that we get from first time buyers or actually sometimes just buyers who don't remember from the last time they purchased is how much money do I actually need to buy a home? What a great question. It's a good idea to know what your investment is possibly going to need to be before you get too far...
Where There are Pros There are Cons Transcript from the Video In a recent video, we talked about all of the pros of living in a condo or a townhouse where there's an HOA that helps take care of things and all of the good things that come along with purchasing and living in a condo or a townhouse. But when there are pros, there are usually cons. And so this video, we're going to focus on the unfortunate...
7 Reasons Why a Condo or Townhouse is a great Alternative In today's real estate market, you might find that single family houses that are not attached to each other are just a little bit more expensive than you can afford, or maybe you want to pay. A great alternative to single family housing would be a condo or a townhouse. We're going to stay a hundred percent positive and talk about all the pros...
Questions you should ask when interviewing your next REALTOR - and what you should look for in the answers. If you are thinking about buying or selling real estate, you're probably going to want to hire a real estate agent. And I'm here to tell you that not all real estate agents are created equal. So you might want to put a little bit of thought and effort into finding the best agent for you. With...
What Electrical Upgrades to Consider When Building Your New Home! If you are building a house in the Greater Des Moines area, at some point, the builder is probably going to ask you, "Hey, do you have any changes that you would like to make to the electrical?". Sometimes they do a plan walkthrough where you have a meeting and they show you the blueprint and where they have all of the outlets and the...
Will I Need to Waive a Home Inspection in Order to Buy a House? It's 2022, and this spring real estate market is pretty hot. You're probably tired of hearing me say how hot it is and I don't blame you. I'm tired of saying it, but the fact remains that houses are selling pretty fast and the competition is stiff. So if you're a buyer, you may be wondering, will I need to waive a home inspection in order to...
When is the BEST time to buy a HOUSE? They say the best time to buy a house was 10 years ago. And the second-best time to buy is today, but is that really true? I don't know. So, let's look at some facts because if you have ever talked with me about buying or selling real estate, one of my very common sayings is "Let's make some decisions based on facts and not feelings". I try to be as data-driven as...
What is Earnest Money? When it comes time to write your offer - you're going to have to make a lot of decisions in a very short period of time. So it's a good idea to educate yourself in advance! When you write an offer on a house I'm going to say - how much earnest money do you want to offer? And you might wonder WTF IS SHE TALKING ABOUT? So earnest money is NOT required by law. But it IS customary in our...
According to the National Association of REALTORS, 87% of recent home buyers financed their home purchase. If interest rates go up - how will this affect your buying power? Disclaimer: Please know that I'm a real estate agent. I am an amazing real estate agent, but I'm not a lender. I know just enough about financing to be dangerous. So if you want reliable information related to your...
Are you thinking about buying a home this year? Here's a prediction of what buyers can expect in 2022: 1. HOMES ARE SELLING FAST Well, first of all, you can expect that homes are going to be selling fast. And I know that because in 2021, they sold a lot faster than we expected. The first half of 2022, I expect really similar to 2021. It's January, we've got a foot of snow on the ground, but...