Top Real Estate Articles December 2020 to Help Buyers and Sellers
The crazy 2020 year is coming to an end. This has been a challenging year for many people all across this great country, and we have learned to adapt to multiple changes.
As demand for homes increases in multiple markets, many experts expect a noticeable rise in home prices.
The rise in prices, and continued demand, is great news for real estate agents and the overall real estate industry. To assist those in the real estate industry, we have compiled some of the top articles to help both buyers and sellers.
Understanding Price to Rent a Moving Truck
Although there are more services to help people move their belongings once they buy or sell a home, the time-old tradition of renting a moving truck and doing the work yourself is still a popular option.
Bill Gassett from Maximum Exposure Real Estate dove into this topic with his recent article about prices for U-Haul trucks. Bill covers some of the basic information about determining the price to rent a truck based on the distance of the move, how much stuff you are moving, as well as how long you will need to use the truck. You will get a ton out of this U-Haul pricing guide as it is one of the most detailed you will find.
There is also some discussion about the various sizes of trucks.
Bill provides details about other options that are not advertised as heavily as the actual trucks. These options include various sized utility trailers and vehicle trailers. A utility trailer is designed to be loaded down with items and connected to a vehicle like a truck or SUV. The vehicle trailer is specifically made to load a car, truck, or SUV and then connect to another vehicle strong enough to pull it.
This is a very comprehensive piece that should answer most questions about renting from U-Haul.
What to Do Before Moving
While renting a moving truck could be in your plans, other pressing things come first. In the article at Realty Times, you will see eight things you should do before moving. Some of the more critical things include changing your address, get all of your necessary moving boxes, take pictures of things that need assembly, and a whole lot more.
Part of making moving less stressful is planning in advance. The article provides some helpful tips to increase the odds your move will happen more smoothly.
Types of Property for Real Estate Investing
With the housing market trending so well, some people have considered either expanding their real estate investments or starting their real estate portfolio.
This guest post by Alex Capozzolo that appeared on MadisonMortgageGuys covers the different types of real estate property.
The article does a wonderful job of explaining the characteristics of each property type. Basic definitions of a single-family home versus a multi-family home are beneficial to someone new to the real estate game.
There are also discussions of items like apartment buildings and condos. Getting a good understanding of each property class and what makes each one attractive to different investors is a good educational piece. Alex also did another terrific holiday real estate article worth a read as well.
What to Know About Buying a Real Estate Foreclosure
One of the topics that lots of buyers talk about is buying a foreclosure. The reason why there is a lot of discussions centered around foreclosures is the opinion that they can be purchased for wild bargains. Unfortunately, that just isn’t true. The vast majority of the time, the bank is looking to recover as much money as they can in a foreclosure sale.
As a buyer who intends to pursue a foreclosure purchase, there are some vital things to know. The article at Point2 News points you in the right direction with sound foreclosure advice.
Ways to Remove Private Mortgage Insurance
Most people agree that buying a home is the largest purchase of a lifetime for the average person. With this purchase comes an attention to detail to try and save money on items like utilities, maintenance, and other items.
Since many people buy with a small down payment, or possibly no down payment, they are tasked with paying for Private Mortgage Insurance. This insurance protects the lender in the case of a default, and it is one of the reasons that so many people have been able to become homeowners over the last 60 years.
However, nobody wants to pay more than they have to. That is why Michelle Gibson from the Wellington Home Team has put together this informative blog post about ways to remove Private Mortgage Insurance.
Michelle discusses the two most common ways of removing PMI that will likely be the cheapest options as well. Some other methods may cost a bit of money upfront but can ultimately save you a bundle of cash over time.
Using a Virtual Tour to Sell a Home
With the changes in our lives caused by Covid-19, we are all learning how to do more things remotely. This is even true with real estate sales.
Kyle Hiscock has a new article about using a Virtual Tour to sell a home.
While virtual tours have been around for some time, they have mostly been used to showcase a home and entice potential buyers to visit the home in-person. But Kyle sees a rise in people reviewing a potential home and making an offer completely from a virtual tour.
Check out his article to understand the pros and cons of viewing a home with online technology and tips on how to use the technology to get a good offer.
Determining Home’s Value with a CMA
When it is time to sell a home, sellers usually want to get the best price possible. However, just WHAT IS the best price?
This is where a real estate agent develops a Comparative Market Analysis or CMA for short.
In this blog post from Kevin Vitali, the CMA is discussed in great detail.
Kevin discusses the information that is used to create the CMA report, as well as what limitations are imposed on the data. He mentions how similar homes are used in the report and how adjustments are made for multiple reasons such as square footage, amenities, and location.
The article also explains how a home is NOT valued in the analysis. All in all, this is a great article that explains how real estate agents use a wealth of data to calculate a home’s selling price.
How is A Realtor Different From a Real Estate Agent?
If you ask most people, they would probably not even realize there is a difference between being a real estate agent or a Realtor. Well, there definitely is a difference. The words real estate agent, Realtor, and even broker get thrown around like they have the same meaning. Lots of agents do this as well. In fact, I admit to being guilty as well.
It would help if you understood that being a Realtor comes with a higher sense of duty to follow a code of ethics. Putting your clients ahead of your own interests is always paramount. Have a look at the article to find out how Realtors are different from real estate agents.
Trends for Decorating Kitchens
Trends and styles change as time marches on. It is common to watch a TV show or a movie and immediately recognize the time period based on the clothes or the décor of a home.
With that point in mind, many home sellers wish to appear that their home is modern and new when they are placing the property on the market.
To help sellers understand the latest trends in kitchen design, Chris Highland has provided some insight into the latest kitchen fashion.
This article discusses the latest trends with the use of the kitchen in the overall layout, as well as specific trends with cabinets, countertops, and appliances.
Chris also points out how there is more specialization available in kitchens as well as the growth of smart technology used across the entire kitchen.
However, a home that is too trendy will likely be out of style in a short period of time. That is why Chris adds a few points about items that seem to be timeless and work well in any home.
Helping Sellers Avoid Mistakes
Ask any real estate agent to share a story about a transaction that did not go so well, and they will likely relate a time where a seller tried to offload a home without following a few tried and true protocols.
When people are ready to sell their home, they assume that others will view the home with the same love and admiration. However, sellers can avoid a few pitfalls, and that will speed up the process of selling the home.
Luke Skar has put together a list of some of the common mistakes made by home sellers across multiple markets. Things that seem obvious, like wrong pricing and a cluttered home, are included in the list.
But there are some other not-so-obvious things like lighting, photos, and the timing of the sale.
Final Thoughts on The Best Articles For December
That is this month’s roundup of top articles. We hope you will gain some help from this information, and we look forward to assisting you with more. Every month you will find a compilation of some of the best real estate content found online.
Check back each month for the latest real estate roundup.
Previous Months Best of Real Estate Articles
Take a look at more terrific real estate guidance in these previously published articles at Massachusetts Real Estate News.
- Best Real Estate Articles, November 2020 – see last month’s real estate roundup to help buyers and sellers make sound decisions.
- Best Real Estate Articles, October 2020 – get more exceptional advice from real estate agents around the country.
About the author: This real estate roundup for December 2020 was written by Luke Skar, an 18+ year veteran of the mortgage industry. He strives to stay up to date with the latest changes and trends in mortgage lending as well as real estate.
Through his mortgage blog, websites, and social media accounts, his goal is to help the community with as much factual knowledge as possible that helps all parties in real estate transactions.
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