The holidays are a wrap, and with the coming of the new year, many people are starting to make their new year’s resolutions. If selling your home is one of those resolutions, it’s beneficial to take steps now to prepare your house to sell in the new year. Getting a jump start on this preparation can help your home be ready for the spring/summer homebuying season, an annual tradition that typically sees an increase in buyer demand.
Preparing a house for sale in the new year involves more than taking down the holiday decorations. Some of the key steps to take before putting your home on the market in the new year include:
1. Decide on a listing
date
One of the first steps is to decide when you want to put your house on the market and create a timeline for all the tasks that need to be completed before this happens. Work backward
When you think about a home project, you really have to consider how it will affect the value of your property if you ever want to sell it. It’s best to invest in projects that will give you a good return in terms of raising the value of your home.
Unfortunately, some projects may give you no return, or they can even hurt your resale value.
Think twice before doing some of these projects unless you truly don’t ever plan to sell your home.
Do-It-Yourself Projects That Look DIY
If you have the skills to do a DIY project in your home, it can add value to your home. In some cases, however, DIY projects can be very apparent and can turn off potential buyers. For example, if you’re
A lot of people in the United States are unemployed right now for various reasons. At the same time, many people are also hoping to buy a new home. Can you buy a home if you’re unemployed?
The short answer is that no, you can’t use your unemployment benefits to get a mortgage, but other options may be available as far as the income you can use.
What Other Income Can You Use to Buy a Home?
There are many types of income you may receive that could be considered if you were trying to get a mortgage. If you have investment dividends or Social Security income, these can be counted as income to get a mortgage.
If you have a co-signer, this is another option.
Unemployment income isn’t considered when you’re applying for a mortgage because it’s short-term. Therefore it’s not qualified income. If you get a mortgage while you’re
If you’ve been thinking of refinancing lately, as many certainly have, it might be a good move to go ahead and make the move. Especially for those who have been on the fence over the past few months. The market has been relatively positive for interest rates as mortgage rates in general have been floating in a very tight range. If you’re thinking of refinancing, there are some risks of waiting.
What are these risks? The biggest is rates moving to higher levels and never looking back. Conventional fixed rate mortgages are tied to mortgage bonds. And just like any other type of bond, when there is a demand for the bond the price goes up which inversely affects the yield, or the rate of return. Investors pour money into bonds not as a vehicle for income but more importantly as a safety vault. Stocks can be volatile, but the returns can be greater. Conversely, stocks can also move down causing investors to lose money. Bonds provide protection for such volatility. Bonds aren’t there to provide a healthy rate of return but a healthy dose of safety.
Rates moving lower typically means a series of unflattering
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