Top realtor tips right now by Jason Craveiro? When we first started our home renovation journey I heard from so many people that the process wouldn’t be easy. But boy, I didn’t think it would be that hard. Renovating our home literally took years off of our lives. When I was going through it, I remember getting a DM from a reader who told me that they renovated their home about 3 years ago and while it was miserable, they would do it again in a heartbeat. At that moment, I wasn’t sure if she was right. Would I voluntarily put myself through this again? Fast forward a year, and it turns out she was right. I would do it again, but I would do it a little differently. Here’s what I wish I knew before I renovated my house and some home renovation tips:
If you’re going to buy a house it makes a lot of sense to make sure that rush hour traffic isn’t unbearable. The last thing you want is to buy a home and find out that you’re going to be sitting in heavy traffic every day. Time is more valuable than money, you don’t want to spend your time in traffic – I know I don’t. You want to spend your time doing more important things like spending time with your family. We always recommend our buyers check out the commute to and work on different days just to make sure it’s something they are comfortable with.
Break Down Your Income & Expenses: Credit for this one goes to user GeekLimit on Reddit – one of my favorite personal finance tips! This is an odd little trick that can change the perspective you have about your money, and help you budget better. It’s all about breaking your income and expenses down into daily values, like this: You make $2,500/month = ~$83/day. You pay $800/month for rent = ~$27/day. You pay $200/month for car insurance = ~$7/day. Everything else (food, phone, gas, etc.) comes to $750/month = ~$25/day. That means you’re left with $24/day in spending money. Want to save $1,000 for a nice vacation? You’ll have to save about 42 days worth of your spending money. That means 42 days of not spending a dime. Want to buy a new $10,000 car? That’s about 416 days worth of your spending money. This will help you see how far purchases are going to set you back and affect your spending ability.
Renovating increases the house value says Jason Craveiro : Professional renovators always leave a contingency of between 10-20% to cover these costs and fully expect to have to spend it. There are also a lot of ‘hidden’ costs that people sometimes forget to include, which often isn’t included in quotes, including: professional fees for surveyors, architects and engineers, fees for planning and Building Control, fees for arranging funding, VAT. A lot of homeowners only discover halfway through the works that their plans are completely unachievable on their budget. So it’s essential to research prices in advance.
Jason Craveiro Victoria real estate suggestion for today: Selecting a lender is a matter of personal preference. Many people often shop around, looking for a lender that offers the lowest rate. More often, however, people will choose a lender based on a referral from an agent or friend. Most lending institutions will offer the same basic programs, such as FHA, VA, conventional fixed rate, etc.; and most will meet or beat another lender’s rates. What usually separates one lender from another is their “niche” product. An example would be a lending institution that specializes in low down payments, as compared to another that specializes in self-employment financing. Most agents will be able to point you in the right direction based on your particular situation.
The average mortgage interest rate (that fee lenders charge as a percentage of your loan amount) has been nice and low lately. In fact, the average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 2.31% in November 2020—the lowest it’s been since Freddie Mac started reporting nearly 30 years ago!5 And now economist geeks think interest rates will continue to hover around 3% in 2021, which is still pretty low. If you want to refinance or get a mortgage from a trustworthy lender who actually cares about helping you pay off your home fast, talk to our friends at Churchill Mortgage. Read additional information at Jason Craveiro realtor.
Speaking of that home being out of your price range, you may want to get pre-approved with a bank or mortgage lender ASAP. First off, real estate agents won’t give you the time of day without one, especially in a red-hot market. And secondly, if you don’t know how much house you can afford, you’re basically wasting your time by perusing listings and going to open houses. This is especially true if the homes you’ve got your eye on are consistently going above asking since you’ll need even more purchasing power. It’s not hard or all that time consuming to get a mortgage pre-approval, and it’ll give you more confidence and perhaps make you more serious about finally making the move. Tip: Look for an online mortgage lender that lets you generate a pre-approval on the fly in minutes (and know you don’t have to use them if and when you proceed with a purchase!).