Real Estate Tips

Find a need and fill it. I have heard that expression for years. In most cases, it applies to business. People have a need to eat so you open a restaurant. Sometimes it can apply to life. Like when my friend didn’t have a boyfriend and an acquaintance didn’t have a girlfriend so I saw…

Building a house is something that Andy and I had talked about off and on for years. From everything to building a home in our school district to building a hunting cabin on some recreational land. We haven’t done that yet. We chose to build an addition instead. Here is our story. When we bought…

Real estate columnist Esta Ryder continues a series focused on the option of building a residence. Here are some things to consider when deciding to build or not to build: * Budget: We talked about this already so I won’t go into too much detail other than to say that budget does play into what you…

Many people want to build out in the country, but that is the most expensive place to build. Because of the expense of building in the country – at least in our area – it causes some people to have to think or perhaps reprioritize. What is their end goal? To build a house no…

Over the 15 years I have been selling real estate, if I had $1 for every time someone told me that they would like to build a house and then never did, Andy and I would have enough money to spend a week in Jamaica this fall for free. For some reason, the idea of building…

One of the fun things about helping people find a new home is to check in on them later and see what they think of their neighborhood. I get the pleasure of helping them find the home that they love but the rest they discover on their own. For example, their new neighbor makes the…

I color code my calendar. My family thinks that is extreme. But with a quick glance, by the color of pen used in each 30-minute segment of the day, I can make sure that I am not neglecting any areas – from work to family to mundane tasks like getting groceries. While most things are…

Recently, we talked about inexpensive improvements to make to your home if you are considering selling to increase value. This week, we are going to talk about improvements you make simply because you want to make them. Picture yourself as a new buyer settling into your new house and probably not thinking whatsoever about moving…

OK friends, let’s have some fun this week and talk about predictions. I say “fun” because while I can base some of what I say on past experiences, a lot of it is also a guess. A year from now I could find that I was wrong. So let’s have some fun with this and…

Getting preapproved for a loan before starting the home buying process is very important for two reasons. The first is so that you can confirm to the seller that you are able to buy. The second is so that you know how much you qualify for. That is where things get a little tricky. Often…