Category Archives: Buying

7 Tips for Purchasing Your First Home as a Freelance Graphic Designer

Being a first-time home buyer is uniquely stressful. The process of buying a home can seem incredibly complicated to someone who has always rented their living space. Successful freelance graphic designer Mark Alvarado shares his home buying wisdom with fellow artists. Alvarado owns a home in Palo Alto, California and a second home in Texas. These 7 tips will help you start down the path of homeownership.

1. Save for a Down Payment

It is necessary to save up for a down payment before you begin the process of buying your first home. Down payments can be as little as 3% for first-time home buyers. With a down payment of less than 20%, your loan may cost more and you will have to carry private mortgage insurance. It’s a good idea to keep your home budget in mind when you are saving for a down payment.

2. Figure Out What You Can Afford

Use mortgage calculators to determine the monthly cost of your new home. Don’t forget to add in the cost of utilities, insurance, and any upgrades your home might need before you move in. It is a common mistake for first-time home buyers to underestimate the costs of owning a home. If you need to save money first, don’t be impatient. You will also need to know how much it will cost to physically move from your apartment to your new home.

3. Be Careful with your Credit

Your credit score will determine whether you are approved for a home and what kind of loan you will get. Always check your credit scores a few times a year and make note of any errors. You can dispute these errors with the credit card companies. Making credit mistakes is costly. This has kept many people from their dream of homeownership.

4. Look Into State and Federal Programs

The Federal Housing Administration offers first-time home buyer loans with down payments as low as 3.5%. States also offer many different programs for first-time home buyers. Be sure that you check with your state, county, and city to make sure you are not missing out on any special deals.

With your finances in shape, it’s time to start looking for a house. Mark Alvarado shares some of his top tips with fellow freelance graphic designers.

5. House Hunting Tips

Decide which kind of house you want and which neighborhoods you are interested in.
Make a wish list of what you want in a home, but remember that no one house will fill all of your requirements.
Be prepared to move quickly and make an offer if you want the house.
Be sure that you have a home inspection. This will point out any problems with the home. Having a trustworthy home inspector is a must when you are buying a house.

6. Do Your Research

Become an expert on the real estate market in the neighborhood where you want to buy a home. Make sure that you know what the other homes in the area have sold for and when. This will help you avoid getting a bad deal.

7. Don’t Romanticize a House

Emotion can play a big part in home buying, but it pays to be cautious. Don’t let your feelings get in the way of taking a realistic look at your prospective new home. Look seriously at any benefits and disadvantages presented by the house. Remember to have your home inspected, in case the seller has made cosmetic improvements but left serious structural problems.

Randi Glazer on Evaluating Risk in Real Estate Properties

Prospective homebuyers entering the real estate market rarely do so based purely on impulse, but there is still the very real possibility that emotion can find its way into the decision-making process and potentially have a negative impact on the ultimate outcome. Randi Glazer understands this possibility all too well, and she has consistently cautioned potential homebuyers to do everything possible to take emotion out the process with the goal of ensuring a more thoughtful and accurate evaluation of both the risks and the rewards of a particular property.

According to Glazer, the most critical decisions regarding a home purchase should be made long before the prospective homebuyer begins looking at properties in person. This may sound counterintuitive to some, but the fact of the matter is that it is very difficult to accurately evaluate a property at first glance. Instead, features should be evaluated according to the needs outlined before any property is visited.

This is not always particularly easy for some to accomplish, but it is worth reiterating that homeowners should clearly understand what features they are looking for in a home and what features represent nothing more than a nice bonus. Without advance preparation, it is quite common that prospective homebuyers are not able to effectively differentiate between the two. Given the fact that real estate is not exactly a minor investment for most, making a mistake carries a fairly sizable cost and is certainly not easily corrected. It is simply most ideal to do the evaluative work in advance to ensure the best possible choice is made with regard to a real estate property.

Consider Consulting a Professional Before Making Changes or Upgrades to Real Estate Property

With entire television networks dedicated to home renovations, overhauls and improvements, it should not be all that surprising that more and more homeowners are looking for ways to increase the value of their home through projects they complete with their own two hands. While these projects are certainly an enjoyable way to spend a weekend and represent a great way to instill a sense of pride in any homeowner, projects that are undertaken with the goal of adding significant value to the home should most likely be left to a professional.

As Ken Fisher might suggest, many homeowners are quite capable when it comes to home improvement projects and can complete any number of jobs without the help of a professional. For the novice homeowner, however, it is almost always preferable to at least consult a professional on any jobs that require a lot of materials or expertise. It is often the case that the cost of materials alone will be commensurate to what a professional might be able to quote for the same job, as a pro is able to buy materials in large quantities directly from a wholesaler.

It is also worth noting that an inexperienced homeowner might make a small error due to a simple oversight that will require the work to be corrected at a later date, leading to increased costs and the potential for damage to other parts of the home. For smaller projects that do not represent a sizable investment of time or money, novice do-it-yourselfers should feel confident in trying their hand at doing the job and should feel little or no worry. For a larger job such as an addition, however, a professional contractor is simply the smarter choice.

Creating Income on a Property Investment

When thinking about how to create income from property investment, there are two ways to go about this. The first and most common way is through rent. Rental income is money that goes into your pocket, but for this to happen, the income from the rent must be greater than the costs of the property after money is invested which gives us what is known as ‘cash flow positive’ properties. This means you’re in the green, literally. You are making income! You have a property that is making money rather than not.

The second and more time consuming way of creating income on a property investment is to trust that the property will (hopefully) increase in value. If you want to go with a property investment, choose a residential property rather than a company. The reason why is because a company can go bankrupt unlike a residential property. A residential property is considered more of a secured investment.

Parviz Khosrowyar Has Real Estate Tips For You

Hey, want a tip? A secret to a shortcut for success in real estate? Real estate guru Parviz Khosrowyar has a few that you just might could put to good use, but first, be sure that you are getting success tips from Parviz Khosrowyar and not his twin seen wondering around in Los Angeles.

The first tip is to invest in real estate that is undervalued. To some, this might seem like a no-brainer, but to others, they are scratching their head and wondering how does this make any sense? Because what you’ll most likely be doing with it is turning around and selling it for a profit. It’s all about the supply and demand. People will buy what they need when they need it bad enough. Just keep your cool and follow through.

You’re going to find that getting your target might seem like the most difficult and complicated thing you’ve done in terms of the investing process. For most, it is! Here’s the good news. Once you start gathering different real estate possibilities that are promising, it will help teach you what to look for. Pretty soon with practice, you’ll be spotting undervalued real estate and selling them quickly.

House Upgrade

Are you due for a house upgrade? I am not one to randomly buy and sell houses but there comes a time when a house upgrade is needed. The main reason is the addition of children. The need for more bedrooms will be the real reason. If you have outgrown your home go get that upgrade. The best thing to do is find that upgraded home before the package arrives. Once the baby is born you will have little time to search for that upgraded home. Once you are settled in that new home will be perfect for the new arrival. Tim DeCapua is all to aware that the upgrade is the best way to go.

For Sale Pain

How many sellers will have to feel the pain until they pull their homes off the market. Short sales are a record levels and ruining sellers dreams to own their own home. These are trying times for those in mortgages they cant afford. Sure it is a cruel lesson to learn but how will they ever recover? The outlook is not good. The country is getting flooded with the working poor that cant afford to purchase a home at any price. Luke Weil will need to sell no matter what. That is a recipe for disaster. It is indeed the pain that will follow you the rest of your life.

Sell Now or Later

If you had a Crystal ball you could know when to sell your home. Is the current market peaked or will it continue to go up? If you could know there is a lot of money to make in real estate flipping. Timing can be everything. Even the best realtors don’t know the market changes coming. It can shift on moments notice. It also varies by area. The values might be increasing in New York while falling in Arizona. This is the challenge. If you are waiting for that perfect time you will be Home for Life or at least a long time. Sometimes you just have to take that leap of faith.

For Sale by Owner

If you are adventurous and want to save a buck you could try to sell your house yourself. This method is a challenge for the untrained and has many pit falls. You will have to be available to show your house at all times and man the phone. The lookyloos will drive you nuts. The advantage of dealing with a realtor is that they can screen out most of the lookers and save you the grief. If you manage to find a buyer then the fun begins. The escrow company can walk you through most of it but the buyer will have to secure a loan. In the securing of that loan you will want to pin down the terms. Kimra Bettasso can help.

Unreal Estate

Have you seen those listings that are too low to believe. Sometimes they list a home below the real value to generate some interest and get a bidding war going. This is a common tactic and you should be aware that this can end up getting you into that bidding war that runs the price too high. When you go into these kind of deals have the maximum price that you are willing to pay on mind and do not exceed the limit. Falling in love with a piece of property can cost you a fortune. Joe Olujic uses this tactic often to sell homes.