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Did you know it’s more beneficial for you to take on a mortgage payment than it is a rental payment? It’s true, and today I’ll explain how by using an example from my own life and adjusting the numbers for an interest rate you can secure today.

0:52—The numbers at a glance: $1,300 per month in rent versus $1,929 per month for the mortgage (at today’s interest rate)

1:36—The drawbacks of the rental payment and the benefits of the mortgage payment

1:57—How the mortgage numbers are divided up  

4:07—How your tax credit reduces your overall payment

5:22—When factoring in your increasing principal and decreasing interest, in less than a year, your original $1,929 monthly payment will be less than $1,300

6:36—Why your rental payment will only go up 

7:10—Wrapping things up 

As always, if you have any more questions about this or any other real estate topic or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.

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Let’s say you have your home on the market for $300,000 and an offer comes in at $250,000. You’re hoping to get at least $280,000, so you have every right to decline the offer right then and there.

However, you can also counter this lowball offer. I would typically advise at least trying to counter in this kind of situation. Here’s why. A lot of buyers, especially first-time buyers, have the mentality of “let’s see what can happen” when they’re making a lowball offer. Someone with that mentality will typically bring their price up more than you think after negotiation. They may come up to $260,000 or $275,000 quicker than you think. 

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This happens pretty frequently. A lowball offer gets countered, then the buyer comes up to an area where the seller would accept it.

If you have any questions for me about this specific situation or about anything else related to selling your home, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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How can you reduce your property taxes? There are a couple of easy ways to do this. 

The first way is to make sure you are receiving all the exemptions you qualify for. There are many that could apply to you.

The second way is to speak to an attorney about appealing your taxes. If you look around your neighborhood and think “I may be paying too much,” ask your Realtor about this. A Realtor will take a look, and if we get the idea that you may be overpaying on your taxes, then we’ll take that to an attorney who specializes in appealing taxes and ask them to take a look at your case.

The attorney will usually do an initial evaluation and determine whether you’re paying too much. If you are overpaying, then ordinarily that attorney will handle all the paperwork and processes for you. They will take it to the county assessor, and they should get your property taxes reduced. Often, you won’t owe them anything unless it’s a successful appeal. But how you pay will depend on that specific attorney. 

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So if you think you’re paying too much in property taxes and would like to look into that, give me a call. I can get you on the right path. If you have any other real estate questions, you can also give me a call or send me an email, I would love to help you.

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After you decide to buy a house, your first step should be to talk to a mortgage lender. Knowing what you can afford, how you can improve your credit, and the state of your financial situation overall is crucial in getting the home you want. 

With that in mind, I’ve invited mortgage expert Eric Marcotte of Peoples Bank to join me today to answer a few mortgage FAQs and talk about each step of the mortgage process. 

I hope this conversation gives you the guidance you need to become the best buyer you can be. If you’d like to reach out to Eric, you can give him a call at (219) 838-9101. If you have any questions for me, feel free to email me or give me a call. I’d love to help you.

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There are a number of reasons a buyer might ask for a seller to cover the closing costs, but is this arrangement really as common as HGTV makes it seem? Yes and no. 

When a seller does cover a buyer’s closing costs, these funds are usually taken out of the total list price rather than paid out directly. 

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Also, it’s important to realize that down payments aren’t included in these “closing costs.” Instead, closing costs in this case refer to additional expenses like title fees, escrow fees, insurance, and more. 

The reason this distinction matters is that sellers cannot contribute to the buyer’s down payment. The buyer must provide these funds themselves. 

So when a buyer asks for closing costs, they aren’t actually asking that every bit of their closing-related expenses be paid by the seller. 

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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What happens when your appraisal comes in low?  

Let’s consider this question through the eyes of a buyer. Once the inspections and repair requests are squared away, the bank will order an appraisal, which serves as a professional opinion of the home’s market value. 

The bank will send an appraiser out to the property, and that person’s job is to certify that the price in the purchase contract and the home’s actual value are in line with one another. If the appraiser can’t justify the price, it’ll either be too high or too low. 

If the appraisal ends up being higher than the offer price, there’s no issue. The buyer will receive greater equity than originally expected, and the parties can move through closing without a hitch. An appraisal that comes in low, on the other hand, can be problematic. 

One of three things will happen following a low appraisal: 

If no agreement is reached, the contract will be rendered null and void because the buyer won’t be able to obtain the loan they made arrangements for. 

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I’ve seen it play out in different ways: I recently saw a seller take a $13,000 price cut for the sake of saving the deal. I appreciated it because I was representing the buyer in this particular transaction. In another scenario, one of my buyers made an offer on a home that appraised low. They felt that the home warranted a higher appraisal, and together we fought the appraiser on it. Despite our best efforts, the buyer ultimately chose to bring more money to the table to secure the home.   

If you’re getting ready to purchase a home and you have any questions about appraisals and how they work, please give me a call at 815-931-2279 or send me an email at [email protected]. I’d be happy to hear from you!

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Welcome to a beautiful piece of real estate. This new construction Manhattan home has it all. If you’re a fan of a crisp, clean aesthetic, hardwood floors, and modern amenities, this home is for you. Here, you can enjoy the sights and sounds from nature from your walk-out deck, make a home-cooked meal for family and friends using the stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, or unwind next to the fireplace after a long day at work. Listed at $417,000, this property is a fantastic value. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. This is just one example of the kind of home you can call yours in the Manhattan area.

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I recently took a trip out to a gorgeous, 6,000-square-foot home out in Homer Glen, and today I’m going to bring you along for a video tour of this fantastic property. 

As you’ll see in today’s message, this spacious home comes with plenty of unique features, like its lovely three-season room and massive two-island kitchen. And this only scratches the surface of what this incredible home has to offer.

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If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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Many real estate agents will tell you why any time is a good time to buy or sell, without really distinguishing any advantages. Actually, each season has its advantages and disadvantages. 

Today, I want to specifically focus on what advantages there are to buying or selling in the autumn versus other times of the year.

In the spring, buyers and sellers come out of the woodwork, and there’s a lot more inventory on the market. Spring has the advantage of more choices, but the disadvantage is that sellers are looking for premium prices.

In the fall, the inverse is true. Prices start to dip as winter approaches, but there are fewer houses on the market to choose from.

Also, sellers sometimes return to the market during the fall after pricing themselves out of it during the spring. Since they’ve reduced the price to a point where it’s reasonable, their listing is essentially available for the first time.

Each season has its own advantages and disadvantages, but fall has some great benefits.

It’s also important to consider the strong level of motivation that buyers and sellers have during later months of the year. The spring is a very popular time to be on the market, so those who are buying or selling during the autumn instead are usually doing so for good reason.

Another advantage that I was personally unaware of until recently is that fewer burglaries occur in the fall. This puts buyers in a good position, since they will have more time to install a security system following their move.

Finally, there’s the matter of the “center of attention” phenomenon. Real estate agents tend to be most busy during the spring. So when you work with an agent during the fall, they’ll be able to provide you with more personalized attention. You may get a degree of service that isn’t available in the spring.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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Today I just wanted to give you a quick tip if you are selling a house in the current market.

In fact, this just happened today. I was showing a house that sold for about $185,000 just three years ago. The current listing price for this home is $212,000.

I didn’t see the home three years ago but it was pretty clear to me that nothing had been done to the house, which is a bad sign. If you are selling a house, you have to be ready to list the improvements to justify an increased price.

The market and inflation will increase the price in certain circumstances, but this house was in a very steady neighborhood that didn’t see a lot of price appreciation. This seller was looking to make a cool $27,000 after just three years without doing any significant work on the house.

Thanks to sites like Zillow and Trulia, buyers can often tell when a home is overpriced. If they can’t, then their agent certainly can tell them, “Don’t pay $212,000 for this house. If someone else wants to, let them, because that is too much money.”

You can shoot for the moon, but you won’t get it.

I like to visit the neighbors when I look at listings, so I went to the neighbor and asked her, “What do you think of this price?” She gave me a look that clearly said, “That is not the right price.” Her house was meticulously taken care of and beautiful.

If it’s clear to the neighbors and strangers seeing your home for the first time that nothing’s been done to the house, then you need to price it appropriately. You can shoot for the moon, but you’re not going to get it.

You need to be realistic about the price of your home. Understand that today’s consumer is very intelligent and well-informed on price these days. Price your home accordingly. If that home had started at $205,000, I bet it would have sold before I had the chance to show it today.

If you have any questions about selling your home or what your home is worth in today’s market, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!