Lighthouse Realty

Simple Steps to Improving Your Credit So You Can Buy a Home

2011-08-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone and welcome back to our blog. While celebrating the Fourth this year, we got to thinking: Independence Day is a lot like home ownership. What is the connection? One word: sovereignty.

Buying your own house undoubtedly comes with a lot of stresses, but we do it because the sheer joy and benefits of home ownership are worth it. Owning a home is like establishing your own sovereign nation where you can do anything you want: paint every wall pink, swing from the chandelier or have a room dedicated solely to your stamp collection (though we don’t recommend any of the above…well, the stamp thing is an interesting idea).

But what if your independence is restricted by bad credit? Unfortunately, while your intentions for a home purchase may be good, if you have credit that is bad, it almost always trumps those intentions. That is why it’s important to understand how you can remanufacture your credit score.

You probably know the importance of repairing your credit, but you may not know how. Oddly, getting your credit score back up involves what may have gotten it in a lower position to begin with. You have to start using your credit again in order to build it back up.

We are going to keep it simple and stick to the main points, so you can get start rebuilding your credit and start celebrating your independence. Remember, new credit will replace bad credit. So, what should you do to repair your credit?

Get a credit card.

Consider a department store credit card. Department store cards are easier to receive, but usually have high interest rates.

Stay below your credit limit.

Just because you have it does not mean you need to spend it. Make sure you’re buying what you actually need and don’t buy on impulse.

Make more than the minimum payment, and pay in full if you can.

Basically, just make sure you are making the monthly payments on time and never less than what is required. Improving your credit score means staying well below your credit limit and paying your credit card bills on time, preferably in full.

With credit, it’s really a use it, don’t abuse it policy. Remember, it won’t happen overnight. Patience is required in this process. The longer you do it, the more rewarding the process will be.

If you have bad credit and you want to buy a home, maybe it’s time you work on establishing your own independence. Once you start to see your score rise and realize you are in a better position to buy a home, you can have your own fireworks show to celebrate your own independence.

The Benefits of the Short Sale Purchase

2011-08-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

The landscape of buying real estate over the past few years has completely changed. In the past, a buyer would find an agent, find a house, lock in a mortgage and live happily ever after. Now, today’s environment – combined with public perception of the mortgage industry - has created a much different atmosphere, both for buyers and sellers.

A perfect example of this is short sale housing market.

This week, Fox Business wrote a very interesting piece describing the pros and cons of a short sale purchase, specifically in comparison to a foreclosure property purchase. As we know, the primary difference between the two is that instead of being sold by the bank, a short sale property is still owned by the homeowner (who owes more on the mortgage than the home is currently worth and therefore is trying to sell).

In general, for home buyers that are exploring the short sale vs. foreclosure option, the short sale home purchase is a far better investment than a foreclosure home purchase. Short sale homes tend to maintained very well by the homeowner because they are still living in the house (as opposed to being completely abandoned, like many foreclosure situations). Therefore, it is a higher quality purchase. However, with quality comes a price (the average short sale property price is about double the average foreclosure property price). Additionally, short sales can come with a lengthy process. For example, sellers first have to qualify to be short sale sellers, and then the process of determining lien holders has to be verified.

Despite the potential red tape though, at the end of the day, patience and flexibility working on a short sale purchase can reward a buyer with an amazing new home at a fraction of the price it cost 5 year ago.

Featured Listing on Rounding Run Rd in Charlotte

2011-07-27T07:45:00.000-07:00

Featured Listing: 4609 Rounding Run RD

Some properties make selling real estate easy, and this is one of them!

DealSniffer Market Check Neighborhood Analyzer Recent neighborhood market trends

Year Built: 1972
Type: 1.5 Story/Basement
Square Feet: 2900 - 3500 sqft.
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 3 Full, 1 Half
Subdivision: Raintree
Parking: 2 Car Garage

This beautiful Raintree home located on the golf course w/amazing lake views features a spacacious Master Suite on Main-Level with his & her walk-in closets, a spa-like bath with double vanities, and a soaking tub.

With neutral-colored fresh paint & carpet thru-out, the home can be customized to fit your eye and style.

To start off each morning, you’ll enjoy a HUGE kitchen with breakfast, or sitting area.

The fireplace and 20ft vaulted ceilings in greatroom provide for quiet times with family, or room for entertaining friends. The home office with custom shelving is perfect for today’s busy executive. And the bonus room features several built-ins as well.

You’ll also enjoy an expansive deck, and plenty of storage room in the garage!

Get a better feel for this terrific home on our web site at: http://bit.ly/m4SZdF

Lighthouse Realty Goes Green!

2011-07-13T08:35:00.000-07:00

All sorts of information goes into buying a home these days. We're a diverse group of people, and we all want different things. Depending on your lifestyle and background, you may want completely different than your neighbor.

Have kids? School rankings are a top priority.

Have pets? Conveniences such as a dog parks, walking trails, or proximity to a veterinarian might be important.

And what about travel time?

A new feature of our listings provides Lighthouse Realty customers with the option to see how much they might spend on fuel driving to and from popular parts of the Charlotte area.

With an uncertain oil market and the rise in fuel prices, we think going green is a great idea!

Click here for an example of how we help you go green!

Reaching Milestones

2011-06-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

We grow up with lots of milestones to reach.

Graduate high school, maybe go to college, perhaps get married and even buy a house.

There seems to be a plan set in place for us, but regardless of whether you graduate high school, go to college and get married, buying a home is still one of those things we all strive to reach.

But have you ever stopped and wondered why?

You shouldn’t just buy a home because you think it’s expected of you. Buying a home serves a lot of very practical purposes. For one, we’re currently living in a buyer’s market. It’s hard to say for sure how much longer it will remain this way, but the market should remain in the buyer’s favor for quite some time.

That being said, buying a home at a low cost can prove a very worthwhile investment in years to come. Furthermore, there’s a high supply of new and old homes for sale, especially in the Charlotte, NC area. Mortgage rates are at all-time lows and tax credits exist for first time home buyers.

Lighthouse Realty believes there is a home for every buyer and a buyer for every home.

Visit our web site, or give us a call and we’ll help you navigate the market to reach the milestone of owning a home, or a second home in the Charlotte

How to Set Prices and Expectations In a Challenging Market

2011-06-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

One key to understanding how to help move properties in a challenging economy is to have a handle on how the overall area market is doing. One of the places I use to keep that up-to-update is Trulia.

The site helps keep me ‘on course’ when providing realistic and aggressive values for my customers when pricing their home. It also provides great insights when negotiating a new home.

For example, homes in Myers Park have held their average list price, or increased. And homes in the Dilworth neighborhood have experienced a slight decrease.

Trulia also connects me to additional market data such as the total inventory in the market, average listing prices and it’s sortable by number of bedrooms, or square footage. All of which is important when making decisions such as the asking price and establishing a realistic bottom line with clients.

For more on Trulia, you can visit their website at www.trulia.com. To help understand how to make it work for you, contact us at www.lightmyway.com.

One Man's Bad Economy is Another Man's Good Economy

2011-04-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

The old saying “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure” can be rephrased to fit a more modern day experience: one man’s bad economy is another man’s good economy.

Now the question begs, how can one man’s bad economy be good for me? Well, the best answer might be a foreclosed home. A foreclosed home is an excellent opportunity for someone who does not want or cannot spend a lot of money to purchase a home. The idea of saving money should be appealing to just about everyone out there, but what is the best way to pick up on a foreclosed home? Well there are three general possibilities:

Pre-foreclosures. Purchasing a pre-foreclosure almost has a double effect by helping out the man who is in the “bad economy” section of our new adage. In this case, the home is purchased before the lender forecloses on the property.

Auction. Make the highest bid and you’re the proud new owner of the property.

Direct transaction. Work directly with the real estate company in order to purchase the foreclosed upon property.

It seems no matter where you look in our country, many places will have a substantial amount of foreclosed properties for you to choose from. So, if you’re looking to purchase your first home, scoop up some investment property or simply move to a new location, there are four main practices to keep in mind when purchasing a foreclosed home.

Understand your budget.

There’s a reason this tops our list. There’s no point in buying something you can’t afford. We see lots of buyers and would-be buyers who think they can afford the home they want, but really can’t.

See the property for yourself.

There’s almost nothing I would buy that I hadn’t seen before and what tops that list is a house. Still, what we see so often, are investors who purchase homes without having previously seen the properties. Also, look at the property outside of the house – deep into the neighborhood to make sure you’re not buying into foreclosure-ville. After all, there is always the chance that the area you’re buying into an area that has seen a lot of recently foreclosed properties.

Know how long the house has been vacant.

The longer a home has been vacant, the greater the chances the home has damage. Pipes go bad, neglected landscaping can take over the property and cause structural damage and worst of all, someone may have broken in and stolen appliances, cabinets or something else.

Get a private inspection.

It’s smart to believe that if you want something done right you should do it yourself, but in this circumstance, hiring someone yourself to inspect the property is smarter than taking the seller’s word. The cost of a good home inspection is well worth the satisfaction in knowing the true condition of the house.

Don’t go it alone.

This is the final and perhaps most important point. Don’t do any of this without the help and assistance of a real estate professional who has experience in the process of buying and selling of foreclosed properties.

6 Creative Ways to Afford a Home

2011-03-18T06:22:00.000-07:00

If your income and savings are making homebuying a challenge, consider these options: 1. Investigate local, state, and national downpayment assistance programs. These programs give loans or grants to cover all or part of your required downpayment. National programs include the Nehemiah program, http://www.getdownpayment.com, and the American Dream downpayment fund from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr02-014.cfm 2. Get the seller to provide financing. In some cases, sellers may be willing to finance all or part of the purchase price of the home and let you repay them gradually, just as you do with a mortgage. 3. Consider a shared-appreciation, or shared equity, arrangement. Under this arrangement, your family, friends, or even an third-party may buy a portion of the home and thus share in any appreciation when the home is sold. The owner/occupant usually pays the mortgage, property taxes, and maintenance costs, but all the investors' names are usually on the mortgage. There are companies that can help you find such an investor if your family can’t participate. 4. Get help from your family. Perhaps a family member will loan you money for the downpayment and/or act as a cosigner for the mortgage. Lenders often like to have a cosigner if you have little credit history. 5. Lease with the option to buy. Renting the home for a year or more will give you the chance to save more toward your downpayment. And in many cases, owners will apply some of the rental amount toward the purchase price. You usually have to pay a small, nonrefundable option fee to the owner. 6. See if you can qualify for a short-term second mortgage to give you the money to make a higher downpayment. This may be possible if you have a good income and little other debt.

Field Guide to Buying vs. Renting

2011-03-04T05:50:00.000-08:00

Is it better to Buy or Rent? Whether renting is better than buying depends on many factors. The information listed here will assist you in helping answer this question. Included are statistics and studies on homeowners and renters as well as financing options and tips. (M. Glick, Senior Information Specialist) Rent-to-Own Deals: Smart Questions to Ask...

For Sellers:

• Who will tend to the property and pay for routine maintenance? • Who pays for major repairs? • What are the costs of setting up and managing an escrow account for the portion of rent allotted to the down payment? • Will you manage the property yourself, or hire an agent? • What if the renters change their minds? Who keeps the money in the escrow account? • If the buyers change their minds, what will be required to put the property back on the market?

For Buyers:

• How much of the rent is going to the down payment? • How locked in are you if you change your mind? • What will it cost you to get out of the deal? • How long will it take to accumulate enough of a down payment that you are likely to qualify for a mortgage?

Source: REALTOR® Magazine Online.