Category: buying

By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon The secret? It’s all about the lighting. Here’s how to get it right. Well that was a total waste. That Robin’s Egg Blue you picked for your entryway now looks like the color of that (really cheap) beach hotel room back in your spring break days.  Kind of makes you feel […]

REALTORS® aren’t just agents. They’re professional members of the National Association of REALTORS® and subscribe to its strict code of ethics. This is the REALTOR® difference for home buyers: 1️⃣ Ethical treatment. Every REALTOR® must adhere to a strict code of ethics, which is based on professionalism and protection of the public. As a REALTOR®’s […]

If you are interested in investing in real estate, there are some things that you are going to want to do and common pitfalls that you are going to want to avoid. It is important to note that investing in real estate takes time, patience, and most importantly, cash. You probably shouldn’t invest in real estate until […]

With COVID-19 comes new ways of doing business. Although we have always provided mobile closings  as part of our services, we are happy to share that our technology allows for Remote Online Notarization. WHAT EXACTLY IS RON? RON is when the notary is in one location and the signer is in another. Instead of being […]

Credit scores play a big role in determining whether you’ll qualify for a loan and what your loan terms will be. So, keep your credit score high by doing the following: Check for errors in your credit report: Thanks to an act of Congress, you can download one free credit report each year at annualcreditreport.com. If you […]

The Florida homeowner portability benefit can reduce the tax burden for property owners moving into larger or smaller homes Portability is the ability to carry accrued property tax savings from one piece of property to another. Any homeowner who is thinking of either purchasing a larger home or downsizing to a smaller one should consider […]

How to Prepare to Finance a Home 1️⃣ Develop a budget.Instead of telling yourself what you’d like to spend, use receipts to create a budget that reflects your actual habits over the last several months. This approach will better factor in unexpected expenses alongside more predictable costs such as utility bills and groceries. You’ll probably spot […]

Vocabulary: Loans & Lending Terms Amortization With each mortgage payment, some of the money reduces the loan balance and some pays interest. This allocation is called amortization. While the earliest payments mostly cover interest, the split changes over time. That’s because as the loan gets smaller, less interest gets charged. Annual Percentage Rate (APR) The APR […]

Tax benefits.The U.S. Tax Code lets you deduct the interest you pay on your mortgage, your property taxes, and some of the costs involved in buying a home. Appreciation.Historically, real estate has had a long-term, stable growth in value. In fact, median single-family existing-home sale prices have increased on average 5.2 percent each year from […]

🧳 Plan ahead.Develop a master to-do list so you won’t forget something critical heading into moving day. This will also help you create an estimate of moving time and costs. 🧳 Discard items you no longer want or need.Ask yourself how frequently you use an item and how you’d feel if you no longer had […]