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Residential Real Estate and Interior Design Content

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This page features stories I've written about all aspects of residential real estate from building, investing in, purchasing as a primary home, and interior design. If your brand or blog wants stories about luxury real estate investing, buying, and maintenance that resonate well with readers and keeps them returning for more of your editorial content, contact me today. Let's talk about how my stories can fit seamlessly into your strategic content plan or about how we can collaborate to implement one that meets your objectives. 

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The Mortgage Reports

Can I get cash-out without refinancing?

If you need a large sum of money — maybe to renovate your home or consolidate high-interest debt — you may get tempted by a cash-out refinance. A cash-out refi replaces your existing mortgage loan with a larger loan. The new loan is large enough to pay off your current loan and pay you cash at closing. This type of refinance loan might be your best way to borrow the money you need, but it’s not always the right option. Here’s what you should know before applying.
HomeLight Blog

How to Protect Your Earnest Money When Buying a House

You’ve finally found your dream home, and you’re getting ready to make an offer. It’s an exciting time! But there’s also a lot at stake. The financial decisions you make while buying your home can affect your long-term net worth. After all, your home is likely to be one of your most valuable assets. Before you submit your bid, it’s important to understand what an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) is, how you can use one to strengthen your offer, and how to protect your money should anything come up during your home-buying process. Here’s what you need to know.
Trusted Choice

e-book—Buying Like a Real Estate Investor: 15 Secrets for Buying Your Next Home

Your home is among your biggest lifetime purchases, so you’ll want to make it right. Like most Americans, you have most of your net worth tied up in your real estate. As an appreciating asset that typically accrues significant equity in the long term, you can use real estate equity for multiple purposes. It also can get passed down to your children. If you learn how to buy yours like an investor, you'll always get the best deals and generate the most equity from the outset. Let these investors tell you how they win in real estate transactions.
The Mortgage Reports

Home Buying Checklist for First-Time Home Buyers

Buying a home is probably the biggest purchase most of us will make in our lifetimes. It’s perfectly natural to have questions and experience every known emotion during the home buying process. There’s a lot of work to do, but don’t worry — this home buying checklist will help you roll up your sleeves and get you ready for your closing date in 10 easy steps. Use this home buying checklist as a cheat sheet for your entire home buying process: from gathering your do
The Mortgage Reports

Housing Grants for People With Disabilities | 2024

Getting a mortgage with a disability may be easier than you think. Yet, some people mistakenly believe they can’t own a home or get a mortgage because of a disability. That’s an understandable misconception. Fortunately, it’s wrong. Qualifying for these mortgages can be easier than for traditional home loans, and they offer some of the lowest interest rates available. That empowers disabled persons to achieve homeownership or get into a better home loan than they are in now. Here's how.
The Mortgage Reports

Financial steps to building a house | Complete guide

Today’s tight housing markets and low interest rates have raised home prices in many areas. Instead of competing to buy an existing house, you might consider building a new home. There are great perks to building your own home: you have control over the layout and materials, you can choose the location, and there’s no competition from other buyers. However, financing a home construction project is more complicated than buying an existing home. So it’s important to understand the process and costs involved before jumping in.
Figure

A guide to AVMs (Ghostwritten)

Whether you are considering buying, refinancing, or taking a loan on your home, the first step is to determine its value. And the faster you and the lender agree on that value, the quicker you can move forward. This is where AVMs can help. An AVM or automated valuation model is an approach used by real estate agents, mortgage companies and well-known companies, like Zillow, to quickly appraise a home’s value. Here's how they work and how they benefit you in real estate transactions.
The Mortgage Reports

How much should I sell my home for?

In this article: How much should I sell my home for? Everyone contemplating a home sale asks this question. Because the money is often the whole point. You must know how much you can get for your house realistically and there are a number of considerations that go into calculating the ideal number. One of those is how fast do you need to sell? If you can wait out selling for a while, you could get more money—though not whatever you want. But, if you have to sell quick, you may get less cash at closing. Here's how to determine your home's sale price.
The Mortgage Reports

What's the best time of year to sell a home?

In this article: What is the best time of year to sell a home? While in many markets that time is spring, this is not always true. The best month to sell depends on the market where you’re selling. There are pros to selling in each season. Winter buyers tend to be more serious and up against deadlines. Fall sellers have less competition, and prices for repairs tend to be lower. Summer brings lots of competition, but also families who need to move before school starts. But there are cons, too.
The Mortgage Reports

Moving to your new home: When should you schedule the move?

Your escrow is proceeding nicely, your mortgage is in order, and moving day looms. But when should you schedule moving to your new home?
How much preparation is involved? How sure is your closing date (Are there contingencies?) Will there be potential problems, and how bad could they be?
Moving a carload across town differs from taking a household complete with kids and pets across the country. With these other questions in mind, here’s what you need to consider.
The Mortgage Reports

Guide—Types of home loans: How do I choose the right home loan?

In this guide: When shopping for a mortgage, you’ll be able to choose among several types of home loans. They can have fixed or adjustable interest rates, terms can range from 5 to over 30 years and loans can be conventional or government-backed. Each has advantages and drawbacks and is good for some borrowers and a poor fit for others. This comprehensive guide helps you decide among products and choose the right loan for your circumstances. It's a long read but a worthwhile one.
The Mortgage Reports

Best app-driven house cleaning services

If you want house cleaning services only intermittently, don’t know anyone with a referral, or want a different service every time, there's an app for that. Apps are readily accessible for your use only when you need them, which is convenient if your lifestyle is “busy all the time.” But, you’ll want to do a few things to make house cleaning easier, in the long run, to save money on the services. Here's how to use your mobile device to choose the right services to get it all done.
The Mortgage Reports

Smart homes: What you need to know about I.o.T. devices

You can make yours into a smart home like George and Judy Jetson’s while keeping you safe using these gadgets. But, it helps to understand what IoT and smart devices are. Today, IoT and smart devices get used for creating smart home environments once only possible on television or in movies. Smart homes might be worth more or sell faster, too, as they become increasingly popular. Here's how to make your home smart while keeping it safe from hackers.
The Mortgage Reports

Plain English guide to terms you'll hear from your loan officer

There are dozens of acronyms and abbreviations your loan officer may use that are unfamiliar to you. Below we’ve defined the most common ones for reference, but remember: Don’t feel intimidated and don’t be afraid to ask the meaning of any term you don’t know. Asking for clarification will help you feel confident that you are making the right decisions about your home loan. Familiarizing yourself with these basics will help you communicate better with any loan professional.
Trulia

8 Home Repairs That Are Not a Landlord’s Job

While your landlord is expected to handle many fixes, there are others that are on you. Your lease will often define exactly when and how you should make any repairs. When in doubt, pull out the paperwork. The general rule of thumb is that renters are responsible for repairing any damage that they cause themselves. So if you want to remain on peaceful terms with your landlord, don’t be the renter who calls about changing a lightbulb. Here are eight more repairs that you'll make yourself.
Trulia

Smart Tips for Decorating Your Apartment on a Budget

Decorating a new apartment can quickly go from exciting to overwhelming, especially if you’re on a tight budget. As a renter moving into a new apartment, you want to make your place feel like your own home, but without spending a ton of money every time you move. Herein lies the eternal rental decorating dilemma: Which items should be higher quality, and where can you get away with more frugal options? Follow this set of savvy furnishing guidelines to know.
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