Real estate brokers often bring clients to a home in need of significant work and try to help them visualize a finished product after renovation! But, typically there will be a huge leap and a great deal of work between imagining what a home will look like and then seeing the project through to its eventual end. This process of […]
While there’s nothing better than telling a client great news, conversely, the bad news contact can be one that’s extremely difficult to initiate! As a result, sometimes we are tempted to take the easy way out! In residential real estate, some examples of the disappointing news that may have to be conveyed includes… The sellers rejected the offer […]
But is what’s good for the consumer necessarily an easy thing for the mortgage industry to actually implement? While the new mortgage disclosures will be easier for consumers to read and understand compared to the jargon of today, for the many players in the mortgage industry that come together to make-up a successfully closed loan, […]
When buying residential or commercial real estate the temptation can sometimes exist to ‘go it alone’ or, in other words, without a real estate broker! There can be a variety of reasons for thinking about going this route including having the ability to work with sellers who are also going it alone by listing their […]
For anyone or any couple who has ever hunted for a house, chances are that you are likely very well aware of the variety of emotions that entered into the exercise! But as we enter the Spring home buying season, if you haven’t yet had the house hunting experience you can either take our word […]
If you ask Shakespeare’s Juliet she would tell you that there’s not that much to a name and that in fact, ‘That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” But if instead we were speaking about a street name it appears that the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ name could add […]
How much do you need to earn in order to buy a home in 27 cities around the United States? Here are some examples given interest rates, median home prices, taxes and insurance. Cities 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate % Change from 4Q13 Median Home Price % Change from 4Q13 Monthly Payment (PITI) Salary Needed Cleveland 4.50% […]
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO A CLOSING WHERE THE TITLE WASN’T CLEARED? WE HAVEN’T! ________________________________________________________________________ The impact that an increase in mortgage rates has on real estate affordability, also known as purchasing power, is a concept extremely familiar to most prospective buyers who watch them on a daily basis until they are locked-in! The chart below illustrates the […]
Anyone searching for a new home has likely had the experience of drawing a blank at the end of the day when the features of the various houses all meshed into one large abstract mental collage! Remember the one that had the vaulted ceilings and the gym in the finished basement? Or was that the one with […]
Follow @Hallmark Abstract Service ____________________________________________________________________________________ Whether you are a Realtor, a real estate attorney, a mortgage originator or the actual buyer in the home purchasing process, at some point the question may arise that asks ‘Are you actually ready to buy a home?’ This is a question that will hopefully have been asked and answered […]
