Real Estate
Home Staging Strategies Staging your home is all about putting the best foot forward for potential buyers. By highlighting its most desirable features, you can draw more interest for your home and leave a lasting impression that is sure to help you sell it more quickly. Here’s what you should keep in mind as you…
When you put your home up for sale, one of the best ways to determine the asking price is to look at comparable sales. There’s rarely a perfect apples-to-apples comparison, so a pricing decision often relies on comparisons to several recent sales in the area. Here are 5 criteria for pricing a home to look…
An evacuation plan is a necessity for every home, especially if you live in an area where fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, and other disasters are a possibility. Many homeowners create evacuation plans for their homes and practice them with their kids, but far fewer have considered one for their pets. Take these steps to add…
Discover What Buyers Will Pay in Today’s Market It’s easy to look up how much money you have in your savings account or the real-time value of your stock investments. But determining the dollar value of a home is trickier. As a seller, knowing your home’s worth helps you price it correctly when you put…
For most of us, our bedroom is little more than a place to sleep and relax. However, just because it’s always been that way doesn’t mean that we have to settle for drab and dreary. One trend that’s gaining steam these days is converting your current bedroom into a luxury suite (or something comparable). If…
A recent survey from the National Association of Realtors® revealed that 77 percent of buyers’ agents said staging a home makes it easier for potential buyers to visual it as their own. That’s why here at Breakthrough Broker, we believe staging is not to be overlooked! Here are our top tips. Dress up your yard….
VA Loans … Since the creation of the Veterans Affairs the VA Loans Program has helped over 22 million veterans achieved the American Dream of home ownership. Many veterans do not know the details of the program and therefore do not take advantage of the benefits available to them. If you are a veteran or…
Using a Professional to sell your home… When homeowners decide to sell their houses, they obviously want to get the best possible price for their home with the least amount of hassles along the way. However, for the vast majority of sellers, the most important result is actually getting their homes sold. However, in order to…
Disclaimer: This Real Estate Tax Reform Reference Guide is not meant to be a resource for tax advice but instead a resource for basic information concerning only certain aspects of the new tax code and how they may impact the real estate market. You should get tax advice from your accountant or tax preparer who…
As housing prices continue to increase at levels greater than historic norms, some are concerned that we are heading for another crash like the one we experienced ten years ago. We recently explained that the lenient lending standards of the previous decade (which created false demand) no longer exist. But what about prices? Are prices…
Thinking of Buying a Home? Everyone wants to save money. Did you know buying a home is cheaper than renting. Here’s why…… In the latest Rent vs. Buy Report from Trulia, they explained that buying a home remains cheaper than renting with a traditional 30-year fixed rate mortgage in the 100 largest metro areas in the…
Net Worth = Rent vs. Buy… Every three years, the Federal Reserve conducts their Survey of Consumer Finances in which they collect net worth data across all economic and social groups. The latest survey data, covering 2013-2016 was released two weeks ago. The study revealed that the 2016 median net worth of homeowners was $231,400 – a 15% increase since…
Thinking of Selling Your Home? That headline might be a little aggressive; however, as August 2017’s housing market data begins to roll in, we can definitely say one thing: If you are considering selling, IT IS TIME TO LIST YOUR HOME TODAY! In a recent article by CBS News, they explained that the number of…
Millennials to Millionaire… In a CNBC article, self-made millionaire David Bach explained that “the single biggest mistake millennials are making” is not purchasing a home because buying real estate is “an escalator to wealth.” Bach went on to explain: “If millennials don’t buy a home, their chances of actually having any wealth in this country are little to none. The…
Down Payment… The Aspiring Home Buyers Profile from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that the American public is still somewhat confused about what down payment is required to qualify for a home mortgage loan in today’s housing market. The results of the survey show that non-homeowners cite the main reason for not currently owning…
Two Real Estate Markets… Six months ago, we reported that the mismatch between the type of inventory of homes for sale and the demand of buyers in the US was causing the formation of two real estate markets. In the starter and trade-up home categories, there were significantly more buyers than there were homes for…
Homeownership The American Dream… Hearth just released their 2017 State of the American Dream report which showed that Americans still see homeownership as an integral piece of the American Dream. The report confirmed that “all generations–including millennials – agree homeownership is very important to achieving the American Dream.” Americans ranked “owning a home I love”…
Supply and Demand housing inventory… There is no doubt that the largest challenge in today’s housing market is a lack of housing inventory for sale. This challenge has been defined as an “overwhelming lack of supply,” and even a “straight up inventory crisis.” First American just released the results of a survey which sheds light…
Did Your Home Sell? There are some homeowners who are patiently waiting to get the price they hoped for when they originally listed their houses for sale. Something these homeowners might want to take into consideration is the fact that if their homes haven’t sold yet, maybe they’re not priced properly. If your home is…
What You Want vs. What You Need – Dream Home… In this day and age of being able to shop for anything anywhere, it is really important to know what you’re looking for when you start your dream home search. If you’ve been thinking about buying a home of your own for some time now,…
Down Payment Under 10%… According to Black Knight Financial Service’s Mortgage Monitor Report, 1.5 million Americans have purchased a home with a down payment under than 10% over the last 12 months. This is great news for buyers as this marks a 7-year high. Many mortgage programs offered by agencies like Freddie Mac and Fannie…
What’s Your Home’s Value? The latest edition of CoreLogic’s Home Price Index shows that nationally, home prices have appreciated 6.7% over the last year and 0.9% month-over-month. The release of the report included this headline, “National Home Prices Now 50% Above March 2011 Bottom” The real estate market has come a long way since 2011,…
Here are four great reasons to consider buying a home today, instead of waiting. 1. Prices Will Continue to Rise CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index reports that home prices have appreciated by 6.7% over the last 12 months. The same report predicts that prices will continue to increase at a rate of 5.0% over the next year. The…
Think about Your Home Value… Over the next five years, home prices are expected to appreciate 3.64% per year on average and to grow by 18.4% cumulatively, according to Pulsenomics’ most recent Home Price Expectation Survey. So, what does this mean for homeowners and their equity position? As an example, let’s assume a young couple purchased and closed on…
Housing Shortage… The biggest challenge in today’s real estate market is a lack of housing inventory. How big of a challenge is the housing shortage? Here are what four industry economists are saying on the issue (emphases added): Mark Fleming, First American’s Chief Economist “The underlying fundamental issue is an overwhelming lack of supply… The…