Builders of new homes offer or are required to warrant their work for a specified period. Municipal inspections are generally required during different stages to "ensure the life, health, safety, and welfare of the public" but even if something is missed, the ultimate responsibility for buildi
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06/10/2023
Keeping track of capital improvements to your home can help you avoid taxes later down the road when you sell it. Some homeowners don't even consider such a thing because they are aware of the capital gain exclusion of up to $500,000 for married homeowners and $250,000 for single filers. Possi
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06/09/2023
5 Like opening and closing a faucet increases and decreases the water flow, lowering interest rates increases home sales and raising interest rates decreases home sales. When home sales increase during periods of limited inventory, demand increases and prices go up. Contrarily, when home sales
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05/01/2023
A person's decision to sell their home comes with a lot of other decisions causing an owner to stress or procrastinate. Early in the process, the owner will consider selling the home "As Is" to avoid the looming issues that accompany selling a home. From a seller's standpoint, "as is" means t
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04/29/2023
Nobel Prize recipient, Richard Thaler, in his research into seemingly irrational economic behaviors, "found that consumers generally search too little, get confused while evaluating complex alternatives, and are slow to switch from past choices, even if it costs them." "Why are consumers leavin
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04/28/2023
Sales in February 2023 were up 14.5% month over month and still down 22.6% year over year according to the NAR Housing Snapshot. The median sales price dipped 0.2% to $363,000 and there are 2.6 months supply of homes on the market compared to 1.7 months a year ago. "Inventory levels are still
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03/27/2023
2/ Locking your interest rate protects you from increases due to market conditions. Locking early safeguards your budgeted payment. By locking the rate, if the market goes up, you get the lower rate; if it goes down after the lock, you may be able to pay a fee and lower the rate. Knowing when t
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02/20/2023
If you are a prospective homebuyer, things have changed in the past year. Most notably, mortgage rates have more than doubled which has created an affordability gap that has taken approximately 15 million buyers out of the market. Inventories are growing but it isn't because more people are dec
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02/02/2023
If you're on the sidelines to buy a home, there are things you can do to be ready when you do get back in the game. Improve your credit score to qualify for the best mortgage rate available which are reserved for those with the highest scores. Get a copy of your current credit reports from all
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01/23/2023
Opportunities exist for a subset of homeowners, possibly in their 60's to 70's, who want to downsize to smaller homes for convenience, less maintenance, change of lifestyle, or to save money. These homeowners are more likely to have large equities and will not feel the same constraints that ar
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12/12/2022
