Doing A Budget To Buy A Home Is Important

Anyone looking to buy a home no matter where you live, it is extremely imperative to make a budget. You are probably wondering why making a budget is a must. It is simple. A budget will assist you, giving you a financial layout so you know just how much you can afford to spend on a new home and how much of a monthly payment you can afford.

However, before you spend the time to do a budget, even though a budget doesn't take that long, you need to make sure it's a place your going to stay at for at least 2 or 3 years. If you can't see yourself staying put at least that long, then you need to stop looking to buy. It would not be worth your time buying a home that you have no interest in keeping or staying in for at least that long.

Your budget plays a very important role when it comes to buying a home and how your going to move on. There are two parts to your budget, your monthly income and your monthly expenses. Figuring your monthly income is easy if you get a paycheck on a steady basis, however if you are self employed it can be more difficult to figure and take more time to figure out.

Always write down all your information as you go, you don't want to mess up on figuring it out because you could end up putting yourself in a really bad position, that will be hard to recover from. Once you know your monthly income, you can now move on to your expenses. Your expenses must include everything from rental payment, utilities all the to groceries and money for fun activities. Once that is completed, you can decrease from your monthly budget and see what you have left.

By looking at your budget you can determine how much of a house payment you can afford. Just make you take what your paying for rent and include that in the amount you have left from your budget, this will give you the amount you can afford for a house payment. If your buying a house you won't have a rent payment there for that amount is not going to be in your monthly expenses, so it is important to include that in your end amount.

As you can see having a budget to buy a new home is important. Of course you can probably get away without doing one but it is a risk. This will be a huge investment, a long term one at that, so this shouldn't be a risk your willing to take. It doesn't take long to figure out a budget, sit down and take the time to do one and proceed from there.

It is our job to help the seller to sell their home and inform them of what we know, what we have researched about the area, and their home. Everything needs to be addressed at the listing presentation from the price, market conditions, the appearance, what advantages their home has, and all the terms. If we take a listing solely based on what the sellers wants to do and saying yes to everything the seller says, then we are not doing our seller or ourselves any good, because we are not doing our job properly.

With that being said, we also have to keep in mind that it can be very costly for any agent to list every single listing that comes our way. Commission is the only thing we earn, so it is important to make sure the listing can be sold and will sell successfully. If we don't, we can end up spending alot of money and time marketing listings that are possibly overpriced, outdated, or just plain messy.

When your going to take a listing, ask yourself a few questions to be sure it is one that you want to present.

1. Would you buy the home yourself if you were a buyer?

2. Are the sellers terms and the time frames reasonable?

3. What are the positives and negatives of the home? Do the positives out number the negatives?

4. Are the sellers motivated?

5. Can the home be shown well? (If not, what can be done to improve it and will the sellers agree to it?

6. Will the sellers list with you on your terms?

If you can answer "No" to any of the questions above, I would think twice before listing the property.

Marketing Isn't Important To Grow Your Business!

Right, how else are we suppose to build a successful business, besides doing some kind of marketing. I have never known any real estate business or any other business for that matter to not use some kind of marketing. Marketing can change a business single handedly, from going under to making it so busy, your are completely swamped! If your business is failing, it is more likely the way your marketing your business and your service. Sit back and think about the way your marketing and do some changes, then see what happens.

The Real Estate industry is always changing and having the internet has dramatically changed the buyer's abilities to find the home they are looking for. This is why real estate agents and sellers alike, need to be very creative when it comes to marketing their listings or homes. This doesn't mean going out and spending tons of dollars on different places to advertise, there are plenty of free and very reasonable places to market online and offline for that matter. Be creative with your strategies, not just titles and ad descriptions.

There are alot of great places to list your properties online from Zillow.com, point2agent, realtor.com, myrealty.com, flipit.com, and plenty more. There are also places to place ads or flyers for your homes, craigslist.com, backpage.com and plenty more. My Virtual Assistant, Marey Hoeppner, places my listings on several places and watches to see which ones are being seen and then sticks to those ones, but she is always looking for new places and testing them out. She doesn't just place one ad and then alright no hits, then not use that place anymore. She changes up the titles, the descriptions to see if that helps, of course if it doesn't then she doesn't waste her time with it any longer.

We are in the real estate market and we all need to stay aggressive and play it smart, this will keep us all going while the economy takes it's course. Those of us that keep moving forward, no matter how the economy is, will come out on top in the long run. Just remember to keep changing your marketing strategies until you find one that works. Then stick to it, keep pushing forward with it and you will be successful. Good luck marketing!

Renting or Buying, What Would You Do?

Are you someone that would rather rent than buy? Honestly, I don't see how anyone would want to rent if your able to buy. I know I wouldn't rent! However, if your not sure if your going to be or want to be in the area your in for a long period of time (I say at least 3 years), if your budget isn't good enough to take on that type of investment, or have credit issues, then renting is really the only logical thing to do. But you need to work on all of those things, to make it possible for you to buy.

Think about this, your renting someone else's home, paying them a monthly payment to stay there and I am sure the payment is higher than their loan payment is, to make a bit of a profit. Who wouldn't want to make a profit on a rental property? Except for you, it's just tossing money out the window. You are going to have to eventually move from that place and you won't have anything to show for it except all the money you just tossed away. Depending how long you stay there or rent from someone, it can be very costly over the years, especially with rental prices rising each year. Your rent is $850, that is $10,200 for just a year, and of course that doesn't include your security deposit and cleaning fees when you first move in. As you can see renting can get very costly for you, especially if you have a landlord who doesn't fix anything and its all up to you.

Even though buying a home can be a steep investment upfront, with the loan amount, points, down payment, appraisal and application fees if there are any, these fees are usually recovered after the first 3 years, that is why i said at least 3 years up above. With that being said, each year your home should go up in value, usually about 3 percent on the average, but depends on the area you live in and also depends on the economy right now. Some areas are starting to move forward and go up in value, some are remaining neutral, and alot are below value owning more on their homes than they are worth, due to the foreclosure crisis.

This is another good reason to buy, housing prices are very low right now and you can get a good home in a good area for alot less than you could 2 years ago. When housing prices start moving up again, the values will rise back up and you could end up with alot of equity in your home, which makes for a great investment! Just make sure you research the area your interested in. Call a local realtor in the area that has some good feedback (testamonials), this will tell you just how good they are with their clients. Ask the realtor their opinion of the area, the schools, the values and prices of the homes. Way all your options and take it from there.

Happy House Hunting!

That is what alot of people seem to think anyway, when they are looking at builder homes! But it's not always true.

Your looking at a brand new home, just built, your first thought is "I don't need a home inspection done, it's brand new!" If it's new it must be in a good condition with no problems right? This is not true. Just because the home is brand new does not mean there isn't anything wrong with it. A new home can be just as much of a problem as an older home can be. Just because it hasnt been tested, lived in, or have years of wear and tear, it can still be filled with problems.

There are builders out there who do poor quality work and some that try to cut corners to give themselves a break. Having a house inspector come out to evaluate the home and letting the builder know you are having one come out, will let them know that if there are any problems that they are hoping aren't noticed will be by the inspector, maybe they will take care of it and not cut so many corners. I have seen this done first hand. I have walked through brand new homes, saw corners being cut just to get the house done because it was in the process of being sold.

Hiring an inspector to come out, before you buy could be a great help to prevent a loss on the investment at hand. YoHowever, a house inspector can be quite expensive depending on the time involved. They can cost a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars sometimes more! If you end up buying the house, it would be worth it in the long run, then again if your not quite sure or really cannot afford to hire an inspector, there are some things you can look for to see check the overall quality. This way you can find out if hiring an inspector is going to be worth it. Hopefully the list below will help you to determine if hiring an inspector is worth it!

1. Check the structure, make sure no walls are bowing out, or not square in the corners. Watch the floor for flexible areas, make sure it is solid. Try slightly jumping see if you feel softness on the floor.

2. Make sure there is no water damage. Look at the gutters and drains, do they empty away from the house or straight to the ground? Does the ground slope away from the house?

3. Make sure the roof is propertly done, the shingles are done correctly.

4. Check the house for quality work in the tile, the paint, hardwood floors, the moldings, things of that nature.

5. Check fixtures, especially in the kitchen and bathrooms. Make sure the sinks, toilets and tubs are secure and work properly and that the water pressure is good. A good way to check it is turn on the faucets let them run a second then flush the toilet at the sametime. Then watch the pressure in the faucets.

6. Make sure the electric is good, that all the numbers and locations of receptacles are sufficient enough for the needs of the house.

7. Check the plumbing and water heater. Make sure the pipes are copper. Is water heater gas or electric (gas is more efficient than electric for the water heater).

8. Check the heating and air conditioning. Are there any rooms without registers, how many registers are there? Where is heater located and what type is it? Is there central air?

9. Check the insulation as well. Usually can check it good through the attic, check to make sure it is proper type for the area you live in, meaning the climate you live in, colder climates require thicker insulation.

10. Does the home have any fireplaces? Are there screens or doors if so? Is there a combustion vent, dampers, log lighters?

If these things seem to be good and pass your inspection and you really like the home, then it's time to get that inspector out and really go through the house with a fine tooth comb! Remember this is a big investment for you, so you want to make sure your getting your money's worth! Of course if you have any issues with any of the things to look for, depending if it's alot or a little, might want to keep looking. These are just some ideas of what to watch and look for when buying a home. Doesn't mean you will find anything wrong, but you can never be to careful when it comes to your investments. Happy House Hunting!

Buffing Up Your House To Sell It

Sellers are always asking, what can I do to help make my home sell faster. What can be done around the home to make it look more appealing to those potential buyers. The answer is a simple one, but you will need to be in the mood to do the work. You don't need to make "HUGE" changes, no knocking down walls or renovating any rooms, just some a bit of hard work and an eye for detail. There are three things you can do, don't have any clutters anywhere, clean and repair things and the colors in the home if you have some wacky bright or dark colors, change them to a more neutral one.

De-cluttering is one of the best things you can do. You want to create a home that has a lot of extra space and organized. This means removing of piles in the closet, all the sentimental things that are stacked up all over the place. Potential buyers do not care about your sentimental things, they are looking for that extra space and a home that is nicely laid out, that gives them the ability to imagine themselves living there.

Cleaning is a must after decluttering. Also seeing what needs repaired and painted will be easier now that there is no clutter. Cleaning means, emptying and wiping out all drawers, cupboards, the kitchen and the bathroom. I know this all takes time and you may end up looking like this lady, but it will be well worth to you in the long run.

As for the painting, if you have dark rooms or bright rooms, sometimes that is a turn off for potential buyers so you want to try to do some neutral colors, beiges, whites, soft greens. You are trying to make your home look move-in ready and be as appealing as it possibly can. You want your home to shine and give it as much newness as you possibly can. You want the buyer to feel they are buying a very nice home that looks as if it was brand new.

Targeting Messages For Your Audience-Part 3

Realizing Your Position

If you missed the first two parts, follow both links.

Targeting Messages And Your Audience-Part 1
Targeting Messages And Your Audience - Part 2

Today, people are able to tune out messages, advertisements of all sorts, that don't address their personal needs or unfulfilled desires and wants. If your ad doesn't have a clear vision that can show any solution to what your target audience is looking for, then all that hard work, all that effort you put into it, the time and money, was useless. You could have tossed it out the window of a skyscraper and got the same results and saved you a lot more time. This is why you need to make sure you position what your selling and what your message will be.

Positioning is the marketing art of knowing what space your product fills in the market. Then you can get the message out to exact audience that you know will have a want or a interest in what your selling. This will make it easier to figure out what to say, to whom you want to say it too, and what marketing tools you want to use.

For example, if you had a lower priced home for sale in a area that mostly attracts those on a low income budget, your position would be lower end. So you would want to make sure you use a means of marketing that will reach those in that market. Usually lower income areas, don't have alot of internet access, or even cable television, so to use any means of advertising that way would be pointless and a waste of money. You would be better off using flyers in the area or a ad in the local newspaper. Realize the position your product is in and understand the position can make a change in your selling success.

Pricing the real estate is the major key to any positioning. 75% of the marketing strategy I use is set during mytime with the clients when I am doing the listing presentation with them and going over what price the home should be set at and why. When you and the seller agree on the listing price the rest of your marketing plan can take place. Once you have the listing agreement all done, your next position or step should be comparing the home with others in the same area, asking these questions.

• What does this home have that the others don't?


• What features and benefits does this house have compared to others?

Creating the listing and description, listing all the benefits of the home and reasons why no one should let this slip through their fingers, and then you can select the propert media tools to use to market to your potential buyers. You can also offer information on other houses in the area, this will help give you a great advantage when potential buyers talk to you about your house.