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The seller wants the most for their home and the buyer wants to pay the least possible. From the very beginning of the homebuying process, there are adversarial positions between the principals. If you happen to be in a multi-offer situation, it just complicates things further. ...CONTINUE READING

As the expression goes, "if I could turn back time", maybe you'd would do some things differently. If you're wanting to buy a home, the regret may come from not getting a mortgage when rates were half of what they are today. There may not be a way to literally "turn back time" but you may still be able to get a mortgage with last years' rates. ...CONTINUE READING

The dilemma facing would-be buyers today is to wait until things settle down or move ahead in this unsettling economic environment. More specifically, the question should be, what are you waiting to settle down: mortgage rates, or prices or both? ...CONTINUE READING

Inflation devalues the purchasing power of money and the interest earned on savings is almost always less than inflation. Tangible assets like your home consistently become more valuable over time. In inflationary periods, a home is a good investment and a hedge against inflation. ...CONTINUE READING

Credit scores are used to assess risk and determine whether a borrower is approved or declined for a mortgage, credit card or some other type of credit. The score is a numerical value ranging from a low of zero to a high of 850 or 900 depending on the credit bureau. ...CONTINUE READING

Waiting for the mortgage rates to come down before you buy a home may not be a good decision. ...CONTINUE READING

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 are keeping younger owners in their homes due to the substantial increase in mortgage rates in the past year. ...CONTINUE READING

Sellers offer concessions as an incentive to encourage buyers to purchase their home. The concessions, paid for by the seller, benefit the buyer in ways that may be more appealing than possibly, being able to purchase the home for a lower price. ...CONTINUE READING

There are a lot of professionals involved in the homebuying process. And when these people can function as a team, the buyer is much more likely to end up where they want to be...in their new home. ...CONTINUE READING

Social Security was established, on August 14, 1935, to take care of the country's elderly in their retirement years. Today, about 65 million or 1/6 of Americans collect benefits and the average monthly retirement amount received in January 2022 was $1,614 per month or about $19,370 per year. ...CONTINUE READING