Real Estate Information Archive

Buying a home for the first time can be an exciting time in your life. However, there are misconceptions floating around that may give you cause for concern. Maybe you’ve heard things from family or friends that could deter you from buying your first home. But what was true about home buying years ago may not be the case today.  What are some of the misconceptions of buying a home?

1. You need a 20% down payment to get a mortgage.

A few decades ago this was true. In fact, you needed almost perfect credit and had to pay 20% - 50% down for a mortgage.  To make it possible for more people to own a home, the government created the Federal Housing Administration and began offering “FHA Loans”. The FHA will now back a loan from a home buyer who only has a credit score of 500 and a 10% down payment. And for those with a better credit score of than 580, you only need 3.5% for a down payment! This is a big reason why more people can afford to buy a home today.

1. You Can’t Qualify For a Mortgage With Student Loans

Having student debt doesn’t mean you can’t get a mortgage. Lenders look at your total debt-to-income ratio to see how much you make each month compared to all of your debt, no matter who you owe. So if you’re handling all of your debt responsibly and can still afford the payments, that’s what matters.

1. You can save money by not using a real estate agent.

More people use a real estate agent today than ever before. You may think that agents are just out for the money. Sure they get paid for their services with a 3% commission.  But you don’t pay that fee as a home buyer.  Instead that fee is part of the selling price. Don’t be lured into thinking that you’ll save money by not using an agent. And don’t forget that they will also take care of all the paperwork, appraisals, inspections, and other matters that are part of the process. Imagine having to do all that by yourself. Let a professional with years of experience handle the process.

1. It’s cheaper to buy a home that needs a lot of renovating.

Perhaps you’ve been inspired by TV shows that make it look like fixing up a house is the way to go. They make it almost look easy, but don’t be fooled. All of these repairs take time and money and in the end you may end up getting tired of all the renovations. So if you need to renovate the whole house to make it livable, it may not be the best choice.

Search for your dream home in Albuquerque with our easy to use home search. Check back on our blog every week for more real estate advice and local articles about living in Albuquerque. And make sure to follow us on Facebook for up to date real estate news for Albuquerque and surrounding areas.

It may seem to be a bit predictable that a real estate agent would advise you not to sell your house on your own, or FSBO (For Sale by Owner). But it really is in your best interest when selling a home to consider why using an agent to sell your home really will get you more money and sell your home faster.

Selling your home will no doubt be the largest transaction in your life. It's one thing to sell something large like a car on Craigslist or Facebook for a few thousand dollars.  But we're talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars here, possibly millions. Plus there's far more than just exchanging money to consider. There's legal considerations, mortgages, mounds of paperwork, and more than a few people to negotiate with. Also, do you know how much your home is really worth in the market, especially here in the Lowcountry?

The thing to remember is that real estate agents have many years of experience and training in selling homes.  Sellers usually do not have this experience. Your ability to negotiate will determine if you get the best deal for you and your family.

Here is a list of some of the people you must be prepared to negotiate if you decide to FSBO:

• The buyer who wants the best deal possible
• The buyer’s agent who solely represents the best interest of the buyer
• The buyer’s attorney (in some parts of the country)
• The home inspection companies, which work for the buyer and will almost always find some problems with the house
• The termite company if there are challenges
• The buyer’s lender if the structure of the mortgage requires the sellers’ participation
• The appraiser if there is a question of value
• The title company if there are challenges with certificates of occupancy (CO) or other permits
• The town or municipality if you need to get the CO permits mentioned above
• The buyer’s buyer in case there are challenges with the house your buyer is selling
• Your bank in the case of a short sale

Search for your dream home in Albuquerque with our easy to use home search. Check back on our blog every week for more real estate advice and local articles about living in Albuquerque. And make sure to follow us on Facebook for up to date real estate news for Albuquerque and surrounding areas.

Search for your dream home in Albuquerque with our easy to use home search. Check back on our blog every week for more real estate advice and local articles about living in Albuquerque. And make sure to follow us on Facebook for up to date real estate news for Albuquerque and surrounding areas.

If you've ever moved, you know it can be a stressful time for people. But just imagine how stressful it can be for pets. It's a huge change to their environment that they aren't expecting or understand, especially if the home you're moving from is the only one they've ever known. So how do you make the experience less stressful? There’s no way to remove all the stress for you and your beloved pets, but you can take some steps to make the transition for bearable.

Here’s a few tips you can try.

Prepare for the First Few Days

The first few days of unpacking can be the rather stressful, so make an ‘overnight kit’ that has enough food, litter, toys and other needed items to keep your pets comfortable.

Keep Them Out of the Action

It's best if you can keep your pets with a friend or in a kennel during the move. But if that's not an option, at least keep them in a quiet space. If there’s an empty room in your new home or garage you can keep clear, then that is ideal. Check on them regularly and try to stick with feeding and walking routines.

Talk to Your Vet

If you’re moving to another area and need a new vet, contact your current vet to obtain records and prescriptions if any.  See if they can recommend a vet in your new area.

Move Them in Your Own Vehicle

Your pets, especially dogs, are used to your family vehicle. Your pets will take the changes better if they ride with you and not in a moving van or with other people. You may want to throw a blanket over their carrier so they can’t see the changing environment.

Keep Them Inside

Don’t let your dog or cat outside until you get to your new home, as they can get lost if they get away from you. Do this even if your dog is normally well behaved. They need a few days to adjust to their new neighborhood and environment.

Move the House Before Your Pets

The more of the house you can have moved and set up before you move your pets, the better. Try to set up one room first to move them into and keep them there to let them adjust.  Give them plenty of love and attention and toys to make them feel at ease in their new home.

Moving is never easy, but if you prepare, you can make it easier for your furry family.

Search for your dream home in Albuquerque with our easy to use home search. Check back on our blog every week for more real estate advice and local articles about living in Albuquerque. And make sure to follow us on Facebook for up to date real estate news for Albuquerque and surrounding areas.

Are you getting your home ready to sell in Albuquerque? If so, it’s a busy time for sure, with plenty of preparations to make. One of the things you need to really focus on though is making your home stand out in the Albuquerque real estate market. This is called staging. Many people may feel the need to hire a professional to make their home shine. There’s nothing at all wrong with that idea, but it can get expensive.  You can save money by doing a few basic main tasks. And the best part is that you can save money and raise the potential of selling your home for more.  Here’s what you can do.

De-Clutter & Clean

Who wants to buy a dirty home? Not many, so make sure you go through your house with a fine-tooth comb. Your home needs the deepest clean it’s ever had. Go room by room and clean from top to bottom.  Then sort through all of your possessions and decide what really needs to stay for showings and what you can discard or put in storage.  Doing this kills two birds with one stone. You not only raise the appeal of your home, but it will be easier to move when you sell. Keep in mind that this is no longer going to be your home. Buyers need to see it as their own, so make sure the slate is as clean as possible so that they can envision their own possessions in it.

Be Versatile

Sure, the pink kid’s room may have been cute once. But it may not appeal to everyone. The best thing with rooms is to make them more generic instead of making it seem like they need to be used for the purpose you used them for. You can paint the bedrooms a more gender neutral color and take down posters and other personal items.  If you have a room that you used for something specific, like a sewing room, you may want to turn it into a more general guest room with a desk or table for projects.  Like we mentioned above, buyers need to see this home as their own and be able to see themselves living in it.

Curb Appeal

We all know the saying about first impressions. When it comes to selling a home, that saying rings true. What do people think when they drive by your home? Why not ask your neighbors or friends? The more ideas and input you can get, the better. The fact is that many times buyers will drive by a home before they even schedule a showing. You don’t want that, obviously, so make sure you make the outside of your home appeal to as many buyers as possible.  You should make sure the yard is well cared for.  Add a fresh coat of paint to the siding and trim.  Polish or replace dull hardware.  Clean the walkways and driveway. Also think about investing in new roofing if it’s showing its age.

Other things you can look at in your home are making sure your foyer is clean and clutter free, do a walk through to find areas to focus on, find ways to let in more light, cleaning the fridge and organize the cupboards.

Search for your dream home in Albuquerque with our easy to use home search. Check back on our blog every week for more real estate advice and local articles about living in Albuquerque. And make sure to follow us on Facebook for up to date real estate news for Albuquerque and surrounding areas.

Search for your dream home in Albuquerque with our easy to use home search. Check back on our blog every week for more real estate advice and local articles about living in Albuquerque. And make sure to follow us on Facebook for up to date real estate news for Albuquerque and surrounding areas.

Here's the scenario: You're buying a home in Albuquerque, and the seller has accepted your offer.  The contract is signed and you've paid the deposit.  Then you have the home appraised and it turns out that the home is worth less than what you offered. And now the bank won't grant the mortgage.  So how do you avoid this kind of situation? Appraisal contingencies are the answer.

What are appraisal contingencies?  They are conditions that have to be met on a real estate contract before it becomes legally binding.  Most real estate contract include these conditions:

1. The appraisal contingency: This states that the home has to be appraised at the sale price or higher.  This will help keep the mortgage from falling through.
2. The finance contingency: This mandates that the deal is based on the bank granting the loan.
3. The inspection contingency: The home must pass inspection.

These conditions must be met in a specified time.  If they aren't then there's no deal and you get your deposit back.

The appraisal contingency works like this: the bank hires an appraiser to assess the fair market value of the home.  This value is based on similar Albuquerque homes in the area, and is referred to as comparative sales, or comps. The bank will only loan the amount that the home is appraised for.  So if the appraisal is lower than what the seller is asking and they refuse to lower the price, you can walk away from the deal and get your money back.

So you might wonder if this is the same thing as a finance contingency. The finance contingency can sometimes cover the same things. If the bank refuses to write a mortgage based on a lower appraisal, then you can leave the deal.  But the bank may agree to a smaller loan that meets the finance contingency. In that case, the seller can demand that you pay the difference.  So if you don't also have the appraisal contingency, then you're left having to come up with that extra money, or be in breech of contract and possibly lose your deposit. And that's why you should have both the appraisal and finance contingency in a contract.

What if the appraisal is too low and you still want the home?  You can ask the bank for another assessment, as well as present evidence that represents what you believe makes the home worth more.

Should you ever enter a deal without contingencies? In this hot Albuquerque real estate market, sellers can entertain offers from multiple buyers.  The easier the deal is for them, the better chance you have of getting the home.  But you run the risk that you won't get the loan you need. In the end, it's up to you, based on the market and what risks you want to take either way.

Search for your dream home in Albuquerque with our easy to use home search. Check back on our blog every week for more real estate advice and local articles about living in Albuquerque. And make sure to follow us on Facebook for up to date real estate news for Albuquerque and surrounding areas.

Search for your dream home in Albuquerque with our easy to use home search. Check back on our blog every week for more real estate advice and local articles about living in Albuquerque. And make sure to follow us on Facebook for up to date real estate news for Albuquerque and surrounding areas.

Indoor evenings on the couch are so last season. Relaxing around a fire and under the Albuquerque night sky is about to be the place for a perfect night. But a built-in fire pit can cost as much as $4,500 installed. That’s a pricey upgrade.

If you build a fire pit in Albuquerque, there is an Outdoor Burn Program that you should check first.

With these money-saving tips, you can build a fire pit for your Albuquerque home for less than a grand, and still have a fabulous one:

Choose Wood Instead of Gas

Gas fire pits are more expensive because you’ll have to hire a plumber to run the gas line and an electrician to power the pit.

A wood fire pit has none of that cost, which will run at least several hundred dollars. Besides, who doesn’t love the smokey ambiance of a wood fire?

If You Want Gas, Put It Close to Your House

OK, not everyone loves an ashy, smoky fire pit. If you do want the simplicity of gas, you can get it most cheaply by keeping that gas line as short as possible.

The farther from your house that plumber has to run the gas line, the longer he’ll be there. And the longer he’s there, the more it will cost. And remember the electrician you’re going to pay to run wires to power the automatic starter? Same thing.

Skip the Built-In Seating

Those stone benches in a semicircle around a flaming fire pit look like money. That’s because they’re made of it.

Built-in benches that will seat six people with a comfortable amount of personal space can cost as much — or more — as the fire pit itself.

Six resin Adirondack chairs can cost as little as $120. Plus, chairs are easier on your butt as well as your wallet.

Don't Do Custom Anything

You can have a fire pit designed just for you. But unless you’re a trust-funder or just like spending money like one, stick with a contractor’s standard build. Most offer prefab, modular units that cost at least half as much as a custom build.

Go With a Paver Patio

Flagstone gives you the natural beauty of real stone, but it costs $15 to $20 per square foot. Unless you’re making a one-person pit, that will add up. A paver patio looks manufactured, but it costs $6 to $10 per square foot.

Choose a Decomposed Granite Patio (It's the Cheapest!) It looks like sand. It isn’t fancy. But it’s cheap. A pro can lay this stuff for as little as $2 a square foot.

Very important: Heavy rainfall can wash away a decomposed granite patio. If you live in Albuquerque, decomposed granite is a great option.

Search for your dream home in Albuquerque with our easy to use home search. Check back on our blog every week for more real estate advice and local articles about living in Albuquerque. And make sure to follow us on Facebook for up to date real estate news for Albuquerque and surrounding areas.