Home and Real Estate

Buying a home is a stressful and emotional affair. You can avoid the home buying blues by keeping your cool at closing.

I’ve just come from a settlement table at which a friend bought a new condo. It’s beautiful, convenient and just what she wanted. However, at the settlement table she and a relative whom she clearly loves got into a tiff with each other. What should have been a happy occasion was almost spoiled. Thank heavens they got themselves together and the situation was saved, but arguments and hurt feelings are frequent at settlement tables and on moving day. It doesn’t have to be that way.

The Trauma of Change

Changing one’s home is right up there with the big changes in life – birth, death, divorce, and retirement. Most of us recognize the trauma of the first three. Many of us recognize the need to prepare mentally and emotionally for retirement. Few of us realize how badly buying and moving into a new home frays our nerves and shortens our tempers. It can have serious consequences. I’ve seen deals blow up, and almost blow up, because of it. (Sometimes the protagonists are the buyer and seller.) Read more… »

Building your Dream Home?

Maybe it’s a Low-country beauty overlooking a sun-kissed green or a contemporary A-frame along the fairway.  Whatever and wherever your imagination goes, the dream homes provided by Golf Magazine, The Progressive Farmer and HGTV demonstrate the latest trends in laying a solid foundation for your dream home.

When plans go from daydream to drafting board to job site, it’s important to involve skilled professionals who share your vision and enthusiasm.  Choosing a qualified architect to map out your dream home is a necessity.  In the case of Golf Magazine’s Dream Home at Reynolds Plantation on Georgia’s Lake Oconee. Cincinnati architect Don Beck created plans for a lavish 4,500-square foot home with four master bedrooms and a locker room. Getting a feeling for how willing the architect is to work within your design requests is also essential.  Emphasizing country living at its best, The Progressive Farmer dream house is designed for people with a penchant for rural life. Read more… »

Buying a home is a stressful and emotional affair. You can avoid the home buying blues by keeping your cool at closing.

I’ve just come from a settlement table at which a friend bought a new condo. It’s beautiful, convenient and just what she wanted. However, at the settlement table she and a relative whom she clearly loves got into a tiff with each other. What should have been a happy occasion was almost spoiled. Thank heavens they got themselves together and the situation was saved, but arguments and hurt feelings are frequent at settlement tables and on moving day. It doesn’t have to be that way.

The Trauma of Change

Changing one’s home is right up there with the big changes in life – birth, death, divorce, and retirement. Most of us recognize the trauma of the first three. Many of us recognize the need to prepare mentally and emotionally for retirement. Few of us realize how badly buying and moving into a new home frays our nerves and shortens our tempers. It can have serious consequences. I’ve seen deals blow up, and almost blow up, because of it. (Sometimes the protagonists are the buyer and seller.) Read more… »

To avoid “buying a pig in a poke,” buyers have long demanded the closing on a home purchase be contingent upon a satisfactory inspection by a home inspection firm. In many parts of our country, we’re now experiencing a strong sellers’ real estate market and sellers often receive more than one purchase offer on the same day for their home. In this environment, buyers are rethinking the home inspection requirement. Is this a good idea?

To Inspect or Not To Inspect

Clearly, if a seller got two offers and one requires a home inspection be done, most sellers will choose the non-inspection offer with all other things being equal. So, a home inspection requirement can put you at a competitive disadvantage. Still, are you willing to risk purchasing a home that has some fundamental, expensive problems? What if you purchase the home and subsequently learn plumbing under the floors must replaced? What if the repair costs $10,0000? Read more… »

Most people who set out to buy a home, be it house, townhouse, condo, apartment, or mansion on a hill, know they need to have a lender letter in hand saying they are qualified for a loan. What most “civilians” (people not in the real estate business) don’t realize is how much the value of a lender letter varies.

Let’s look at some of the general ways a lender letter varies, which sort you want, and how to present it to a seller to put you in the best possible position to buy that seller’s property. If you’re working with a broker, he or she will coach you in these matters. If you’re shopping on your own, and especially if you’re looking at FSBOs (for sale by owner properties), you need to know this stuff. Read more… »