Browsing Tag

home purchase

General

Should I Hire A Real Estate Agent To Help Me Buy A Home?

My husband and I have bought two homes now and both times we hired a real estate agent to help us. Many people know that a real estate agent can help you to sell your home, but not everyone knows that real estate agents also offer the service of helping you to find your home as well. When an agent helps you buy a home, they are considered a “Buyer’s Agent”.

Below are three reasons why I recommend that you hire a Buyer’s Agent to help you while looking for a new home:

1. Agents do all the leg work

They will help you find the home you want. They have access to MLS and other listings and can provide you with indepth details on the homes you are looking at. A thorough agent will also research homes that were sold in that area in the past, so you have a good idea as to what homes are worth in the specific area that you are interested in.

October 31, 2012

Household

How Big Does Your Home Need To Be?

I recently read an article about a woman who lives in a tiny New York City apartment that is just 90 square feet. Her bed is within a few feet of her ceiling and she doesn’t have room for a kitchen. She’s in a prime location near Central Park and she says she is content with her living conditions. It allows her to spend money on other things besides a huge rent bill.

There is always a trade off, I guess. If you want to live really comfortably but still live in a prime location, you have to expect to pay a lot more. If your goals are to travel, eat out a lot, etc. then you may not be able to afford the luxury of having the best of both worlds and you may need to live in a much smaller place.

August 19, 2011

Household

Play House Before You Buy One

If you are currently renting, and you want to know if you could really afford to buy a house, one thing you can do is “play house”. In other words, pretend you already bought one and see if you can manage financially.

All you need to do is set up a separate savings account and consider it your “house account”. Every time you get paid, put money into this house account just as if you were paying for a mortgage. Be sure to also take into account the additional costs of owning a home such as property taxes, utilities, etc.

May 9, 2011

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