Making the decision to move isn’t easy, it comes with months of planning, finding your dream home, unexpected bumps in the road, and sometimes a lot of stress. If you’re moving with your furry friend, check out these tips to make the process a bit easier on your pup.
The post New Home Anxiety: Helping our Furry Friends Adjust appeared first on Homes.com.
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I thought I was up to the challenge of a long-distance home purchase during a pandemic. After all, I was moving back to my hometown after only three years away. I knew the area. Family members could fill in the rest. I had a trusted real estate agent from my last house purchase. Plus, I look at real estate listings as a hobby even when Iâm not in the market for new property. What could go wrong?
But after purchasing a midcentury modern ranch sight unseen and trekking 1,800 miles across the country to finally get an in-person look at it, my husband and I couldn’t be more shocked.
Wendy Schuchart
There were so many shoddy details that hadnât translated through video and photos. The ceilings were lower and the rooms were narrower than they seemed in photos. The countertops that had looked like granite in photos were actually laminate. Every single counter and bathroom fixture was customized for a short person. After seeing broken fixtures and a layer of grime over everything, it was clear that I would have to cure decades of bad maintenance.
Wendy Schuchart
And then there was the constant noise pollution from the nearby interstate. Our ground team thought the sound was minimal, but a month after we moved in, the surrounding trees dropped their leaves and the dull murmur grew to a roar heard through closed windows.
So what were our mistakes?
In general, experts agree that buying a home without setting foot in it can be a dicey proposition at best and a nightmare at worst. And online listing photos, while helpful in narrowing down your property search, won’t give you the full picture of a house’s condition.
âIâve visited homes only to discover that the yard is steeper than it looked online, the rooms are smaller, and you couldnât tell there were power lines right behind the house,â says Steve Heard, a Realtor® with The Heard Group in the Sacramento, CA, area.
There were so many deal breakers that I would have noticed had I been able to set foot inside the home instead of relying so heavily on listing photos and videos. Case in point: Visitors at the front door of my new home have a direct sightline to the main bathroomâs toilet.
âMuch like anything you buy online, a home’s listing is created to sell, not inform. Theyâre marketing,” says Shana OâBrien, owner of Cascadia NW Real Estate in Washington and Oregon.
A home inspection is standard operating procedure for anyone buying a home, but a long-distance purchase should always go through rigorous vetting to make sure you’re not buying a money pit.
Typically, the buyer pays for the home inspection during the escrow period. This can cost around $300 to $500, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. But to cover your bases and make sure there aren’t any major system failures before you sign a purchase agreement, experts advise bringing in an additional pair of eyes.
Go to the American Society of Home Inspectors, where you can search by your home’s address for a local inspector who can examine the house on your behalf.
Barton L. Slavin, a senior litigation and transaction attorney on Long Island, NY, advises hiring an experienced licensed and insured engineer to inspect the premises before the purchase.
That would have been great in my own long-distance home purchase. After the home inspection, the seller had “fixed” some conditional electrical work that my home inspector found, but those fixes broke other things, which resulted in an electrician visit on my dime. And on the first cold day, when I turned on the furnace, it failed to heat, which was another big repair bill that would have been covered by a warranty.
In my first two months in this house, I’ve also found faulty plumbing hacks and a massive rodent infestation.
âThe key to success is extreme buyer due diligence,â O’Brien says. “That means having a team of trusted âboots on the groundâ to physically visit and inspect the home.â
In retrospect, my live-video walk-through was fairly quick, less than 15 minutes. At the time, it felt like it was enough, but now I realize it wasn’t nearly long enough.
Our experts advise an extensive live-video walk-through with a long-distance home purchase.
âFaceTime works great,â OâBrien says. If buyers see something they have questions about during the walk-through, the real estate agent can zoom in. They can even take still photos and close-ups, which have better detail than streaming video.
Pay attention off-property, too.
âWalk around the block, video camera on, and capture the neighborhood, the condition of the sidewalks, the level of pride of ownership in the surrounding homes,” says O’Brien. “Is the narrow street jammed with parked cars? Are the sounds from the elementary school super loud at recess? Whatâs the street traffic and street noise like? The buyer will not know unless their agent does the investigation.”
Despite all of your best efforts, though, there’s still a chance your long-distance home purchase will not be all you bargained for. When that happens, O’Brien suggests taking it all in stride.
âReal estate is almost always a good investment,” she says.
As for me, Iâm already planning out my investment strategy and making the best of my midcentury modern surprise fixer-upper.
The post We Bought a House Sight Unseenâand It Turned Out To Be a Total Nightmare appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.
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The coronavirus pandemic has led to record-high unemployment rates not seen since the Great Depression. And this is particularly worrisome for would-be home buyers.
If you were among the 23.1 million Americans who were laid off or furloughed, you might be worried about your financial future. And if you were hoping to buy a houseâeither now or in the next few yearsâyou might also wonder how your current jobless status might affect those plans.
While the situation might seem dire, unemployment does not mean that home-buying plans have to be put on hold for long. Here’s how to navigate a period of unemployment so that it doesn’t derail your hopes to buy a home.
For starters: If you lose your job while in the midst of home shopping or after you’ve even made an offer, you might have to put the purchase on hold.
The reason: Given your reduced income, the odds of lenders loaning you money for a property purchase are slim, unless your spouse or partner has a sizable income that can carry the mortgage alone.
And even if you’re getting unemployment checks every week, that money is considered temporary income, so it canât be used to qualify for a mortgage, says Jackie Boies, senior director of housing and bankruptcy services at Money Management International, a nonprofit providing financial education and counseling.
In short, âunemployment could have an effect on your ability to purchase a home in the short term,â Boies says.
But the good news is that once you find a new job, you can likely resume home shopping without trouble, Boies adds. âUnemployment shouldn’t have a long-term effect on being able to buy a home.”
But even once you do find a new job, that doesn’t mean you can easily buy a house just yet. That’s because lenders like to see a steady history of employment before loaning someone money.
“Regular employment must be reestablished as stable, reliable, and dependable,â says Karma Herzfeld, mortgage loan originator at Motto Mortgage Alliance in Little Rock, AR.
So how long is enough? Lenders typically require borrowers to have six months of employment at their current job, and two years of continuous employment. Breaks in employment older than two years shouldnât affect getting a mortgage.
While unemployment doesn’t jeopardize future home-buying hopes per se, financial experts warn that what can put those plans at risk is how you handle your finances while jobless. Unemployment, after all, can stress your budget in ways that can damage your credit history and credit score.
Lenders check your credit score to assess how well you’ve managed past debts. Scores between 650 and 700 range from fair to good; scores below 650 are considered subpar, which could limit which lenders are willing to loan you money for a house. (You can check your score for free on sites like Credit Karma.)
Credit scores can be damaged in a variety of ways during unemployment. For one, if you get behind on paying bills, this will put some blemishes on your credit history and drag your score down.
Unemployment can also lower your credit score by negatively affecting your debt-to-income ratio, a calculation used by mortgage lenders to compare how much you make against how much you owe.
If you’re unemployed, you may face a double whammy as your income is lower and you’re charging more to your credit cards, thus increasing your debt. Both moves can negatively affect your debt-to-income ratio, which may make lenders leery of loaning you money.
âAny factor that affects income or debt may affect the debt-to-income ratio,â Herzfeld explains.
In sum, hopeful home buyers should be careful not to take on too much debt, even while unemployed. You need to preserve cash as best you can.
âI recommend, if on unemployment, [you] cut back on all discretionary spending and make every effort to keep bills current so that the credit score may not get negatively impacted,â Herzfeld says.
Debt-to-income ratio will likely rebalance once you return to work, as long as you havenât racked up too much debt during the period of unemployment, Boies says.
âMy recommendation is to always try as best as you can to pay at least the minimum required payment on all monthly debt obligations, otherwise credit may be negatively affected,â Herzfeld says.
Boies suggests reaching out to landlords, credit card companies, utilities, auto lenders, and others to find out what options you have, such as payment plans, deferments, or forbearance. You might also be able to reduce some bills, such as insurance, by reviewing your policy.
âDonât think that if you canât pay that bill, you just can’t do anything about it,â Boies says. âYou need to reach out to see what options they have available to you.â
If your credit score is negatively affected while youâre unemployed, itâs not the end of the worldâbut it will take time to repair.
Six months to a year or more of positive credit rebuilding could get you on track to buy a home, Herzfeld says.
âThe sooner past-due debts can be remedied, the sooner the score may begin to improve,â she says.
The post How Unemployment Can Affect Your Plans To Buy a HomeâNow and Later appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.
Source: realtor.com
If you’re torn between buying or building a home, understanding what each option entails will help you make a more informed decision. Here are the pros and cons of each journey.
The post The Pros and Cons of Building vs. Buying as a First-time Homeowner appeared first on Homes.com.
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Purchasing a home is both exciting and a major milestone in your life, so you’ll want to be prepared for what to expect to avoid a stressful process. Having an in-depth look at the buyer’s journey can help you make informed and confident decisions.
From finding a real estate agent, negotiating offers to getting your keys on closing day, we’ve outlined all the steps of a home buyer’s journey in our free Buyer’s Guide, which you can download here.
The Buyer’s Guide will cover the buyer’s timeline from meeting an agent to preparing for closing day. We’ve outlined the 8 steps in a home buyer’s journey below.
Every city is filled with thousands of agents, but not all are equal. We believe it is important to choose an agent that you feel confident with. Before you commit to working with an agent, make sure you have a good understanding of the knowledge and experience they offer. It’s important that you ask your questions before making the decision to work with them.
Before you set a budget and start looking for a home, you’ll have to understand what costs to expect when purchasing a home. Here are some of the major costs involved:
You’ll also want to calculate a rough estimate of the down payment that you will be expected to pay. Depending on the price of your home, your minimum down payment can range from 5% to 20%. If you’re interested in learning more about how to finance your home, you can get our free Financing Your Purchase guide here.
An important part of searching for a home is understanding how the home will fit with your needs and your lifestyle. You’ll want to consider home ownership as well as different types of properties and features.
Tip: Depending on your budget and desired location, you may need to be flexible to find a home that meets your needs. By being willing to trade some features for others, you’ll have more options to choose from.
When you are making an offer to purchase a home, the purchase agreement should include the essential components listed below. Your agent can help put together an offer that is compelling, while safeguarding your interests and puts you in a competitive position to secure your new home.
You’ll also have the opportunity to choose the conditions that you’ll want in your offer. Some of these may include a home inspection or a status certificate review.
Whenever you make an offer on a house, you need to provide a deposit to secure the offer. The deposit is in the form of a certified cheque, bank draft, or wire transfer; it’s held in trust by the selling brokerage and is applied towards your down payment if your offer is successful.
There are two types of deposits:
To firm up a deal or educate yourself more on the state of the property, you’ll likely want to have a home inspection if you’re purchasing a house. If you’re purchasing a condo, then your lawyer will review the building’s status certificate.
A home inspector will assess elements of the home such as the walls, windows, plumbing, heating and roof to judge the condition of the home. This process is non-invasive and is essential to help provide buyers with a good idea of the home’s current condition and the confidence of putting in an offer.
Tip: The home inspector will provide a summary of suggested work along with a minimum budget estimate for the repairs needed.
If you’re purchasing a condominium, you’ll need to obtain a status certificate from the condo board or management for your lawyer’s review. This document will include valuable information about the condo’s budget, legal issues, reserve fund, maintenance fees and future fees increases – and the lawyer can help identify potential red flags
Before the big day, you’ll want to keep a checklist of what to do ahead of time. Some of these include:
Closing Day is when you’ll finally get the keys to your new home! In addition to bringing the cash required for closing, you’ll have to sign a few more documents which will include:
For the full details on the home buyer’s journey including examples, advice, pictures and sample calculations, download a copy of our free Buyer’s Guide here.
The post Home Buyer’s Guide: How to Purchase a Property, From Start to Finish [Free Download] appeared first on Zoocasa Blog.
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How long does it take to buy a house? The answer is: it depends. You can buy a house in a matter of weeks or it can take you anywhere from 4 to 6 months. The question is how ready are you? It can take a long time, and that’s just learning about various mortgage options or improving your credit score.
So understanding the various factors involved in buying a house can give you an estimate of how long it will take you to buy the house
Check out now: 5 Signs You Are Not Ready To Buy A House
It can take a homebuyer a few weeks to several months to complete the home buying process. But when determining how long it will take you to buy a house, you first have to find out if you will be pre-approved for a mortgage. There is no sense of shopping for a house to then realize you can’t afford it.
If you are interested in comparing the best mortgage rates through LendingTree click here. Itâs completely free.
If you’re serious about buying a house, it’s important to get pre-approved for a mortgage. So when it’s time to make an offer, the seller will know you’re serious. If you don’t have one handy, the seller will likely move to the next buyer.
Getting pre-approved for a mortgage in order to buy a house can take longer. That is because you have to make sure your financial situation is in shape. For example, your income-to-debt ratio, your down payment, and your credit score must be good. That’s exactly what a mortgage lender will look at.
Even when these things are in order, shopping and comparing mortgage rates and fees can take several weeks.
Let’s take a look on how long it will take you to get these things in shape before buying a house.
Click here to compare mortgage rates through LendingTree. Itâs completely FREE.
A low credit score can make buying a house take longer, because it can take months to a year to improve a bad credit score.
A conventional loan will usually require a 640+ credit score.
In fact, your credit score is the number 1 item mortgage lenders look at to decide whether to offer you a mortgage. And if it is not where it’s supposed to be, you might get rejected.
Luckily for you there are other ways to get a loan with much lower credit score: FHA loans.
FHA loans only require a credit score of 580 with 3.5% down payment. You may get qualified with a 500 credit score, but you’ll have to come with a 10% down payment.
So before you get into the fun part of shopping for a mortgage or visiting homes, it’s best to know what your credit score is and take steps to improve it.
You can get a free credit score at Credit Sesame.
Fixing errors on your credit report in order to get pre-approved for a loan in order to buy a house can take 30 days.
According to Transunion, “most investigations are completed within 2 weeks, but some may take up 30 days.”
Again, we recommend you get a free credit report at Credit Sesame. A credit report will give you a detail analysis of your credit history, how much debt you owe, and how creditworthy you are, etc. If there are any errors or inaccuracies, fix them immediately so there’s no surprise when you’re actually applying for a mortgage.
The best way to do that is by filing a Transunion dispute or Equifax dispute.
How long it will take you to buy a house will also depend on whether or not you already have money saved up for a down payment.
Unless you’re going to buy the house with outright cash, you’ll need a down payment. And saving for a down payment can take a long time. Depending on your income and expenses, saving for a down payment on a house can take years.
Assuming, for example, you want to buy a house that will cost you $450,000, and you’re using a conventional loan to finance the house. With a 20% down payment, you will need to come up with $90,000.
Let’s say again, because of other monthly expenses, you can only save $1500 a month for the down payment.
You see how long it will take you to save for a down payment to buy the house? 5 years. And that doesn’t even take into account other upfront costs of buying a house, such as closing cost.
While it’s possible to get a mortgage with a down payment as low as 3.5% of the home purchase price, it’s advisable to put at least 20% down. The reason is because you will avoid paying private mortgage insurance (PMI), which protects the lenders in case you default on your mortgage.
Home buyers with a down payment below 20% are usually charged with PMI.
Another reason for a larger down payment is that it reduces the cost of the mortgage, grows equity much faster, and saves you on interest over the life of the loan.
As you can see, it can take you as much as 5 years from the time you’re thinking about buying the house to the time you’re actually ready to start the process.
But once you have taken care the things above, buying a house can go a lot faster.
Average time: 1 day to a month
Once you have been pre-approved for a mortgage, the next step is to find an experienced real estate agent. Finding a good real estate agent can take a day to a month. Websites such as Zillow and Redfin list real estate agents you can use.
Average time: a few weeks to a few months
With the help of a real estate agent and your own due diligence, finding a home can can go faster or take longer depending on available homes, the season and your desired location.
But experts say on average it can take a minimum of three weeks to a few months.
Average time: 1 to 10 days
Once you have found the home of your dream, the next step is to make an offer. You and the seller can go back and forth negotiating the price.
Once your offer has been accepted, you and the seller sign something called a purchase agreement. Then, the next step is to hire a professional to inspect the home for defects. Depending on your state, a home inspection must be completed within 10 days. And if the inspection finds some defects in the house, that could delay the process.
Average time: 30 to 45 days.
Once the inspection is done, your lender will need to officially approve you for the loan. And depending on the lender, it can also affect how long it takes to buy a house. You may need to provide additional documents. But the lender will need to assess the home for its value. And depending on the program (whether it’s conventional loan or FHA loan) it can take anywhere from 30 to 45 days to close on a home.
When asking yourself this question: “how long does it take to buy a house?” The answer is : it depends. If you have your credit score, your down payment, your other finances under control, you can buy your house in two months or less. But if you have to save for a down payment, fix errors on your credit report, raise your credit score, the whole home buying process can take years.
Click here to compare mortgage rates through LendingTree. Itâs completely FREE
You can talk to a financial advisor who can review your finances and help you reach your goals (whether it is making more money, paying off debt, investing, buying a house, planning for retirement, saving, etc). So, find one who meets your needs with SmartAssetâs free financial advisor matching service. You answer a few questions and they match you with up to three financial advisors in your area. So, if you want help developing a plan to reach your financial goals, get started now.
The post How Long Does It Take To Buy A House? appeared first on GrowthRapidly.
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Pandemic-related layoffs and income loss have driven many people to community food pantries for the first time in their lives.
According to Feeding America, about four out of every 10 people who visited a food bank from March through June of last year were first-time visitors. As the winter holidays approached, more than 80% of food pantries were serving more people than the year prior.
Economic concerns have caused countless others to become more conscious of their spending â resorting to cheap staples rather than more expensive options at the grocery store.
Getting groceries from a food pantry and reducing food spending can be great on the wallet, but you may also need to adjust to cooking and preparing meals differently. We spoke to registered dietitian and nutritionist Wendy Wesley for advice on how to make nutritious, tasty meals using ingredients from food pantries.
Canned goods should not be overlooked when it comes to creating great meals, Wesley said.
âI keep an arsenal of canned beans in my pantry at all times,â she said.
The key to making satisfying dishes from cheap ingredients is to incorporate kitchen staples like onion, garlic, peppers, spices, dried herbs, butter and eggs.
âYou get rice and beans from a food pantry and then you doctor that up with your onion, your green pepper and your garlic and you use chili powder, garlic powder [and] onion powder,â Wesley said.
One of her favorite cheap meals to make is black bean soup, using a can of black beans along with onion, garlic and green pepper.
âThere is something magical about black beans,â Wesley said. âFor maybe a dollar or two in ingredients, you have this meal that is very hearty, very filling, full of fiber and is going to stay with you for a long time.â
Another of her inexpensive meal ideas: Crack some eggs you pick up from your neighborhood food bank into a pan with onions, peppers and maybe tomatoes and mushrooms. You can make a big scramble for less than a dollar.
Think food pantries only give out non-perishable canned foods? Think again. Many also distribute a good share of perishable ingredients like eggs, dairy products, bread, fresh produce and more.
When it comes to keeping your kitchen stocked with those supplementary meal-enhancing ingredients, Wesley recommends picking up a few items here and there when you grocery shop.
âIf you went to the store and tried to buy it all in one day or one shopping trip it would be quite expensive,â she said.
Spices, in particular, can be pretty pricey, so look for less expensive brands.
Wesley saves money by buying Badia brand spices. You can also try your storeâs generic option or shop at an ethnic grocery store.
âWe donât need very expensive ingredients to have delightful and tasty meals at home,â she said.
Whether youâve got a family to feed or youâre just trying to make food last longer for yourself, making your ingredients stretch means more bang for your buck.
Add beans and veggies to stretch meat dishes.
âIâll bulk up taco meat with onions and green peppers and tomatoes, so itâs a little bit of meat and a lot of vegetables,â Wesley said, as an example. âOr Iâll bulk it up with beans, so itâs a little bit of meat and a lot of beans.â
Those extra ingredients also add fiber â something every American needs more of, she said.
Adding a grain â like rice, quinoa or barley â to a meal can also help make a dish stretch. Wesley likes cooking a bunch of one grain over the weekend so she has it ready to add to meals throughout the week.
Preparing servings in advance can also save you time on busy weekdays â and saving time can be so valuable. No more grabbing fast food on those days when you have no energy to cook. The food is already ready.
Nicole Dow is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
Source: thepennyhoarder.com
When we bought our first home in 2013 we thought it would be our forever home. We planned on renovating once we were in a better place financially, but 6 years later we found ourselves struggling with the decision to renovate or sell.Â
The post Renovate or Sell? Why We Bought a New Home appeared first on Homes.com.
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