First Time Buyers: The Three Home Types

Congratulations on deciding to buy a home! It is an exciting time filled with so many choices. One of those very basic choices is figuring out exactly which one of the three types of homes to buy. Here is a quick easy guide to those types. Single Family Home Most people first think of a single family house when buying a home. The designation of a single family home means a house that sits on its own piece of land and is detached from any other home. The land is sold together with the house. With a single family home, … Continue reading →

How Much House Does Your Family Need?

Without even taking into account how much stuff each family member has, determining square footage needs may seem like a mathematical formula that doesn’t exist. It can become more confusing when one also considers that sometimes it’s not just the square footage that you get in a house, but the way that it’s divvied out that really matters. Giant master bedrooms and tiny living rooms seem to be the norms for creating unused or over used areas. You can also find families trying their best to fill up a house that has much more space than they could ever use. … Continue reading →

Buying a Cul-de-sac House

We’re on our third house in four years. Luckily, we have been able to make some upgrades along the way. Our first one didn’t have a fence and was on a very busy road, near a stoplight. The second one was a step up because our neighborhood was a small ‘p’ shape without an outlet, but unfortunately, it still had enough teenage drivers coming through it to make me think about rallying for speed bumps. Now, we finally have it – the cul-de-sac house. Although it is perhaps the biggest indicator that one is far gone into the suburban realms, … Continue reading →

New Year’s Resolutions to Get You Ready for a Real Estate Investment

For many, 2007 will be the year to buy a new home. As we get ready to enjoy the holidays, it will also be time to think of our real estate investment resolutions. Outside of actually buying the house itself, there are some goals to set along the way: 1. Get a detailed credit history report. Although it may take a while to have corrections on your credit report (if needed) show up, at least you can have a letter in your hand from the credit bureaus noting that the change was made. This will also give you a better … Continue reading →

House Hunting Like a Pro

After more than a few house hunting trips, my husband and I have gotten to the point where we can almost tell whether or not we would ever buy a house just by looking at the outside. In fact, on our last house hunt, I’m sure that we frustrated our realtor. Almost every house we saw had been prescreened with descriptions and photos on the real estate office’s web site, yet we wouldn’t even give them a chance once we stood in front of it in person. But let’s face it, how can an internet photo really show just how … Continue reading →

Shopping for Real Estate? Don’t Fall in Love

The title may give a different impression than what is intended. It’s not suggesting that you avoid falling in love with another person, rather that you avoid falling in love with a piece of real estate. It may sound silly, but it happens every day. Buying real estate can be a great investment both financially and emotionally, but that doesn’t mean making an emotional decision will be beneficial. Try to keep an open mind, even if the home or property you’re viewing seems perfect. It may look like your dream home, white picket fence and all, but don’t let that … Continue reading →

Considering Buying a Condo?

When searching all over the region for a home, we found buying a condo to be the best way to get a home in a nice area and decent square footage for the money at the time. There can be benefits to condo living. • Community is one. Many people like the thought that there are neighbors close around them that have a general interest in the security of the community. • Outside maintenance is typically taken care of though your homeowners association dues, also referred to as HOA dues. Typically this covers yard maintenance outside of private fenced areas, … Continue reading →

Moving Up

If you followed our money pit condo story, you’ll know we had quite a rough time with home problems. Our condo was fixed and finally completely livable. I suppose we could have just settled down to enjoy it, but we thought it would be fun looking at new construction one Sunday afternoon. We found the home we wanted! It was beautiful with 1700 square feet of living space, a two story vaulted family room, 3 bedrooms and 2 ½ bathrooms. We thought it would be the perfect home to invest in. So a week shy of 2 years in our … Continue reading →

Our Condo Story Part 1… New Home Owners

Like many others, my husband and I desired to be home owners. We were not sure what kind of home we could afford or how we would come up with money for closing costs and the down payment. We were in our young twenties and my husband was the provider for our then family of two. We found a mortgage broker who we trusted and were pre-qualified for a home around $100K. We searched the Portland metropolitan area for something that would be habitable (and believe me, not all homes we saw were!) and in a neighborhood that didn’t require … Continue reading →

Contract Disclosures

In addition to the real estate contract setting out information pertaining to the price, financial contingencies, terms, and so on, it is also used for disclosures. For instance, let us say you were interested in buying a house. However, as you walk through, you notice a crack in the basement. Although after having the home inspected by a professional you find the crack is insignificant, the seller would likely want this listed in the contract so after the purchase, the buyer could not come back demanding it be fixed. Another important type of disclosure is the one pertaining to lead … Continue reading →