3 Things Every First-Time Homebuyer Should Know

Selling your Richmond area home? Get a free home value report  

Buying a Richmond area home? Click here for full MLS access. 

Buying your first home can be an incredibly exciting time. However, it requires a huge commitment and a sizable investment. That’s why I want to share my three top tips to help first-time homebuyers protect themselves during this crucial period:

1. Know what you can afford

Your mortgage is only a part of what you will need to pay when you buy a home. Homeownership comes with plenty of other expenses, including closing costs, taxes, property insurance, maintenance costs, and homeowner association fees.

Once you have a clear idea of how much all of these items will cost, you can compare it to your current monthly expenses. Then you can figure out the kind of home you can honestly afford without getting carried away and without getting bogged down in debt.

2. Choose your lender wisely

Choosing a lender is not something you should base only on the lowest rate. A competent and trustworthy lender will offer you advice on how to improve your credit and also help you take advantage of special homebuyer programs that might benefit you.

But how do you find the right lender specifically for you? It's often best to get recommendations from friends who have already worked with a lender or from a real estate agent you trust.

3. Don't overlook the details

There are many details that go into buying a home, and missing any of them can be a costly mistake. I always advise buyers to get a professional inspection done on their home, separate from the appraisal. An inspection will set you back about $300, but it can save you thousands of dollars down the line, and it can even prevent you from making a decision to buy a home that you would later regret.

A second example is understanding the fine print in the various contracts you will be signing. If there's anything that isn't clear to you, talk to your real estate agent and have it spelled out.

The process of buying a home can be intimidating, and that's why professional real estate agents are there to help. These three quick tips are only the start of the things you need to watch out for when buying your first home.

If you need more advice or you are ready to start looking for a home, get in touch with me. I love working with first-time homebuyers, and I can help you get your perfect new home with minimum hassle.

7 House Selling Pitfalls to Avoid

There are a lot of mistakes you can make when selling a home. Here are seven specific mistakes to avoid.

Selling your Richmond area home? Get a free home value report  

Buying a Richmond area home? Click here for full MLS access. 

Selling a home is a complicated process. If you aren’t careful or you don’t have the right person guiding you through the transaction, it can lead to a lot of headaches. Here are seven mistakes that you should avoid when selling to ensure a successful transaction:

1. Don’t take your own photos. We hire a professional photographer to come out and take pictures of our listings. It’s so important to have good photos, so that’s an expense we take on ourselves.

2. Don’t try to sell your home by yourself. You hire a professional Realtor to sell your home because they know that homes sell for more with an agent than you would save on commission if you didn’t hire one.

3. Don’t argue with your agent about price. Although you have the final say on price, you should use the data and information your agent gives you to make an informed decision.

4. Don’t trust Zillow as the word of God. We use an equity evaluation, among other models, to see four different angles of your market value and decide what the best price is. Don’t take Zillow too seriously.

5. Don’t be present during a showing. We highly suggest you get away while the home is being shown.

6. Don’t refuse to negotiate. Buyers have a tendency to lowball you and it might hurt your feelings. Don’t take it personally, use it to start the negotiations.

7. Don’t ignore your agent’s requests for repairs or cleaning. I’m a big advocate of putting your best foot forward when selling. If there are any small repairs or extra cleaning that could be done, you should do them if your agent recommends it. The more work you put into staging your home, the more it will attract buyers.

Paying special attention to these seven things can make or break your home sale. If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

How Should You Approach Buying a New Construction Home?

We get asked about buying new construction homes all the time. We’ve got some tips to share today that will help make the process easier.

Selling your Richmond area home? Get a free home value report  

Buying a Richmond area home? Click here for full MLS access. 

The holiday season is upon us and boy are we excited. We are thankful to have had an outstanding 2016 and to have helped as many families as we did. We are looking forward to another outstanding year in 2017.

We got a bunch of responses from our previous video asking for questions and topic suggestions. One of the most frequently asked about topics was new construction homes. They are becoming a larger part of the inventory around the country and we thought it would be a good idea to cover a few basics about buying newly-built homes today.

One common mistake that buyers purchasing new construction homes make is paying full asking price. If you have your own representation when you look at these homes in the form of a buyer’s agent, there is no reason you should pay full asking price. A lot of buyers think if a home is brand-new that they must pay the full asking price.

This is almost never the case.

Another question we get asked a lot about is whether or not an inspection is necessary for a brand-new home. The builders offer a one-year warranty (which they are required to by law), but we have found over the past few years, a home inspection is a smart idea. We’ve been able to uncover problems in brand-new homes that may not have been revealed otherwise until it was too late. Most builders will come out and fix things, but we don’t think it’s a bad idea.

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One common mistake is when buyers pay full asking price.

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If you’re looking to buy or sell a home, we’re always willing to help you out and give you some free advice. If you have any questions, we’d be glad to answer them too. Just give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.