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Why Should You Get Pre-approved for a Mortgage?
Getting pre-approved is the first step you should take when starting your search for a new home. Why is it so important? My first reason it’s so important is because it will help breakdown the numbers. Not only will you see how much your monthly payment will be, but you’ll also see if it’s actually reasonable. You don’t want to fall in love with a home that you can’t afford. Lenders review your finances and provide a realistic estimate. They’ll have the most up-to-date information such as current interest rates. Once you’re pre-approved, sellers know you’re serious about buying a home. With a pre-approval letter, you can show that a…
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Local Business Spotlight: Floating Feather Farm
Black Pine Real Estate at Q5 Brokers would like to introduce you to Kathryn, the owner of Floating Feather Farm in Eagle, ID 🌻Take a moment to learn how she started her business and the amazing things she has to offer the Treasure Valley. Video credit: Marc Young Photography How did you get the idea or concept for your business? I have always wanted a garden but never had the space for it. When we moved to Idaho 2.5 we wanted land. We moved into our current property, which is almost 2 acres, in the fall of 2018. Funny, at the time I absolutely didn’t want more than 2 acres…
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What Happens After Your Offer is Accepted?
You’ve been searching for homes for possibly just days or maybe even months, and you finally have an accepted offer! Congratulations, but this is just the beginning. There are several things that happen after the time your purchase and sales agreement is accepted and a few people involved. So what exactly happens? In the contract, it states how long a buyer has to get the property inspected. If the purchase of the home is contingent upon inspection, this is one of the first things that needs to be completed. After the inspection is done, the buyer will receive a copy of the inspection report. It’s a great idea for the…
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Where Will I Move If I Sell My House?
If I sell my house where am I going to go? I have been hearing this question quite a lot recently, so I wanted to dive into it a bit today. It’s definitely a seller’s market right now across the United States, but especially here in the Treasure Valley. If you’re considering selling your home, but you’re worried about finding another home before your closing date, then listen up. I want to suggest a few solutions to this problem. When you’re selling your home for a higher price, then you can buy a higher priced home for the same/similar mortgage. We’ve hit historic lows with the current interest rates which really…
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4 Tips to Quickly Sell Your Home
If you’re considering selling your home in the near future you may want to consider these four tips to quickly sell. My first recommendation is to depersonalize your home. Take down any family photos and decorations you may have. Not only is this going to help clear any clutter, but it’s also going to help buyers imagine themselves living there. It’s difficult to envision yourself in a new home when someone else’s family is looking back at you from the wall. My second tip is price it correctly. If you price your home too high then it will sit on the market for too long and people will assume something…
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4 Tips to Buying a Home in a Competitive Market
It can be difficult to purchase a home in a super competitive market like we have in the Treasure Valley right now. Anything under $300,000 is going super quick and first time home buyers are definitely running into this problem. Here are four pieces of advice to get the home you want: Make sure you are pre-approved before you start looking at houses. This way you already know what your monthly payment will be and what price you feel comfortable with. If you do find the home that you’re in love with, you’ll already be prepared to put in an offer. Be ready to go look at houses! You can’t…
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Why Do Mortgage Interest Rates Really Matter?
Interest rates are at historical lows right now. People within the real estate industry are mentioning how it’s a great time to buy a home because of this. Everyone assumes low interest rates obviously save you money on your monthly payment and how much you pay in the long run, but do you know how significant it really is? I’m going to breakdown some examples on how much interest rates really affect your mortgage. I must first bring up the difference between interest rates and annual percentage rate (APR). The interest rate is the annual cost of a loan for a borrower. The APR the annual cost of a loan…
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What is a 1031 Exchange?
If you are a real estate investor or plan on becoming an investor, then you’ll want to understand the benefits of a tax-deferred 1031 exchange. When selling an investment property, you must pay capital gain taxes on the profit made. The term 1031 exchange refers to the Internal Revenue Code Section 1031. It states that when selling an investment property, an investor is not required to recognize a gain or loss if they purchase another like-kind property with the profit gained from the sale of the first property. To qualify as a 1031 exchange, the property being sold and the property being acquired must be like-kind. What does this mean?…
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Getting a Home Ready to Sell
There are a million lists out there that tell sellers what to do in order to get their home ready to sell. It’s important to not get overwhelmed and focus on things that will really get the job done. Different markets help determine what a lot of people are willing to do. If it’s a hot market for sellers then they are less likely to spend much to get their home staged. Here are a few tips that are inexpensive and effective: Take down personal items. We all love to have family portraits and pictures hanging in our homes, but during this time it’s not ideal. You want the new…
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How to Create an Industrial Design in Your Home
There are so many ways to style your home, but a personal favorite of mine is the industrial look. It’s clean, moody, edgy, dark, neutral….. pretty much everything I love in a design. Most of my family members know to never buy me anything with color in it because odds are I won’t ever display it in the house. I decided to make a list of a few ways to bring this design theme into your home. Keep it neutral. Stick with white, tan, browns as a base palette and then bring in darker colors throughout the design. I suggest this because industrial style tends to have a lot of…
