February 2019 Real Estate Roundup

Spring starts the real estate season in full in many markets around the world.  With the warm up in weather more buyers and sellers are getting ready to transact in real estate.  Homebuyers need to get prepared by making sure their finances and financing is in order.  Without a pre-approval any offer made on a home is meaningless.  For sellers getting their home in tip top shape so that it is move in ready puts their home on the top of the list for buyers as opposed to a home that is a fixer upper or needs some TLC.  The articles in this month’s Roundup include some great advice for buyers, sellers and more.

Great Resource For Real Estate

Whether you are buying or selling a home or are a real estate agent, mortgage lender, or home inspector this great Reddit Real Estate Board is for you as Luke Skar points out.  Connect with other real estate professionals or learn about what is trending in real estate. This will be a great one stop location to catch up on your favorite real estate bloggers and learn more about real estate. 

6 Tips For Selling Your Home During Winter

Like it or not winter is still here, but that does not stop real estate sales.  People want to buy and sell homes all times of the year and the weather usually does not stop that.  In this article by Sharon Paxson she provides six smart tips for getting your house sold in the winter.  Just because it is wintertime does not mean curb appeal and other key features of your home should be ignored.  By emphasizing the aspects that can be highlighted in the winter time (heating, fireplace etc) you can successfully sell your home.

What You Should Be Checking When Buying A Home

Whether you are a first time home buyer or have bought homes in the past knowing what to look for during the due diligence period can help prevent you from buying a money pit of a home as Bill Gassett points out. By doing full research on the home you are making sure what you are buying is a quality product that will last you the lifetime of your ownership of the property.  In his article Bill gives thirteen great tips that homebuyers can use to make sure the home they buy is a great purchase for a long time to come.

When Should You Raise Rents On Your Tenant?

Or should you even raise rents on your tenants?  That is a great question that Michelle Gibson provides some insights on in her article about considerations to take when looking to raise tenant rents.  Just because you can raise rents does not mean you should and just because you haven’t raised rents in a while does not mean you should not.  The raising of rent depends on many factors including the location of your real estate investment property, current market rent rates, condition of the rental unit and more.

Should You Self Manager Your Rental Property

Continuing on with the rental real estate theme comes this article from Paul Sian about whether it makes sense to self-manage your rental property.  If you live close by to the rental property you own, it may make sense to self-manage it in order to increase the cash flow.  On the other hand if you make decisions based on kindness rather than based on the requirements of running a business you may find self-managing to end up costing your more money.  One bad tenant can quickly cause your cash flows to turn negative turning your rental investment property into a loser.

Tips For Using Gift Funds For Buying A Home

Some homebuyers may not know they can use gift money to help them make the down payment on a home.  There are certain rules and requirements with regards to that gift money and this article from Kevin Vitali about using gift money to buy a homeprovides some excellent insight on what can be a confusing topic at times.  Gift money can only come from certain sources and needs to be properly traced in the chain of transfer of those funds in order for the money to be used to buy a home with.  This article from Kevin provides a great guide for those who will be using gift money to buy a home.

How Mortgage Rates Affect Home Buying Now and in the Future

Interest rates charged on mortgage loans can have a big impact on the buying and selling of real estate as Petra Norris points out. When rates are high that has a tendency to keep prices lower as in order to afford the same home at a higher interest rate the price must be lower in order to make sure the payment fits a particular budget.  Lower interest rates mean homebuyers can take out a bigger loan and have a lower payment than if the rates were higher.  The current interest rate environment and its impact on the today’s real estate market is explored further in Petra’s article.

Understanding The Timeline For Buying A Home

The process of buying a home can be a long journey and one that involves more than just looking for homes, picking out the right one and making an offer as Danny Margagliano points out.  The home buying timeline can be more than one year depending on what the homebuyer has to do in order to get everything ready to go.  The process of buying a home means saving up for a down payment, getting financing in order, researching neighborhoods and more.

We hope you enjoyed this month’s collection of Real Estate Roundup articles.  If you know of any other noteworthy real estate articles or real estate blog authors feel free to mention them in the comments below. 

The Real Estate Roundup For February 2019 was provided by Greater Cincinnati Area Luxury Realtor Paul Sian of United Real Estate Home Connections. Paul is a licensed real estate agent in the states of Ohio and Kentucky and has over 11 years of experience. Feel free to contact Paul for all your Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky real estate needs.