Best of May 2022 For Real Estate Articles

We have gathered some valuable content from our network of agents, lenders, and other associates in the real estate industry. Our goal is to arm our readers with reliable information that can assist them in making a solid decision for their real estate needs. Listed below are our best of May 2022 articles.

How Do You Know What a Home Sold For?

Whether you are buying or selling a home, it is essential to know what particular properties in your neighborhood have sold for.

Buyers and sellers often ask real estate agents how to find out the sales prices of properties. There are quite a few avenues for finding out how much a home is sold for. The most obvious way is to ask a real estate agent but there are numerous other methods that buyers and sellers can do on their own.

Maximum Real Estate Exposure has done an exceptional job explaining the most straightforward ways to get sales prices.

Take a look and see what you need to do for easy research methods.

Problem with Appraisal Value

Most of the time, a home is worth the asking price, or maybe a little more. But what happens if the house is worth less than the amount listed on the sales contract?

Brian Menert has tackled what happens if the appraisal comes back low in his recent blog post. Brian explains what can typically happen in this scenario, as well as some alternatives if you find yourself with a low appraisal amount.

Best Real Estate May 2022

Necessary Tips AFTER Buying a Home

There is a ton of information available on the internet about things to do if you are a first-time homebuyer. Articles about understanding and improving credit scores, saving for a down payment, and comparing different mortgage programs are scattered across the internet.

But there is a new article from Luke Skar at Madison Mortgage Guys that has a new twist on buying a home. This article focuses on what to do AFTER you sign the loan documents and you get the keys to your new place.

This article has many good tips that will help the new homeowner get their place set up correctly and help them in the future if they choose to sell the place.

How to Write a Real Estate Resume?

Are you interested in getting into the real estate industry? If you are nodding yes, you’re not alone. With real estate booming across the country, quite a few folks are interested in becoming real estate agents.

You may be wondering how you go about doing that? Of course, you will need to interview with real estate brokers who are hiring. It will be vital to put together an excellent real estate resume.

Without one, your chances of being hired will be lower. Have a look at the terrific advice from Chrissie McClatchie at Business Insider. She provides the advice you need to get the ball rolling.

Attracting Prospects to Your Listing

If you are a real estate agent, you understand that a real estate listing’s main job is to attract the attention of serious buyers. Good negotiations and acceptable terms will not gather any eyeballs to your client’s home.

In her new article, Sharon Paxson explores different ways to make a real estate listing stand out from the general crowd. The blog post mentions things like having many well-lit photos as well as giving ample space to the home’s desirable qualities.

There is also a tip about the surrounding competition and using that to your advantage.

Tips Before Buying Land

Many people dream of buying a quiet piece of land to call their own, away from the big cities and closer to nature. However, there are a few things to understand before those starry-eyed dreams become a reality.

This article about tips for buying land from Kyle Hiscock will help answer some basic questions about acquiring land to build that dream home. There are also sections about what kind of loan to use in certain situations, along with potential costs for buying and prepping the land for construction.

Getting A Good Credit Score is Crucial

For many things in life, your credit score is vital. Whether you are buying a car, home, or even your credit cards, your credit score comes into play. Those who have excellent credit scores will get better terms and conditions.

When you are making a purchase as significant as a home, it is financially prudent to get your house in order. Ownerly has done a terrific job of explaining what is needed to tune up your credit before buying a house. Take a look at their terrific tips.

Dangers of Omitting a Home Inspection

When people are trying to buy a home, most folks look for a way to shave a few dollars in whatever area possible. It could be 0.25% of a point on the interest rate, or maybe a negotiation with the real estate agent about their commission, or even with the mortgage lender about their fees.

However, most professionals will agree that it is extremely wise to order a home inspection on a place before signing the loan documents.

Sharon Paxson points out some of the significant pitfalls if a buyer chooses to waive the inspection and buys the home anyways. The problems with a property can come in various forms. And it can impact the homeowner immediately as well as in the future if there is a need to sell the home.

Understanding Property Lines and Encroachments

There have been many storylines in movies, tv shows, and books involving a dispute between neighbors over a property line. These stories are so prevalent because these kinds of events happen regularly in real life.

Tackling the subject of property encroachment, Kevin Vitali does an excellent job laying out the basics in his recent article. First, there is a brief explanation of real estate encroachment.

Second, Kevin gives real-world examples that cover a wide range of encroachments, some considered trivial, with others that are more impactful. Finally, a section dives into why encroachments are a problem and how they can affect the purchase of a home.

What To Know About Existing Mortgages When Buying or Selling a Home

Mortgages have their own language and their own rules. That is why a whole industry is devoted to educating its lenders and making sure they are licensed to practice in their various states.

This is why it is crucial to deal with an experienced mortgage lender when buying or selling a home. They should be able to answer most of the questions that arise when people are buying a house that has a current mortgage.

Conor Macevilly wrote a beneficial article about existing mortgages. He discusses various scenarios, things to be aware of, as well as how to handle different situations. This information is vital for people that have an equity line of credit, tax liens, or any pending judgments in their name.

Keeping Up with Home Trends

Trends seem to go in cycles. If you are looking at either buying or selling a home, you want to be at least aware of the latest trends to see if the house is more modern or if it will need some work to catch up to the current times.

Vicki Moore has provided an excellent summary of the current trends involved in real estate, especially for renovations or upgrades. These tips include things outside the home, such as an outdoor kitchen, trendy landscape ideas, innovative home technology, and home offices.

Ideas for Do-It-Yourself Projects

If you are the type of person that likes to get their hands involved with a DIY project around the home, Kristen Herhold has an excellent article for you. Kristen’s article covers many topics, such as some light renovation to a bathroom or creating a new office at your home.

Another point that she makes is understanding your limits and when it is time to get the help of a professional for those more complex projects.

Guide to Buying Real Estate

There are many pieces of information about buying a home on the internet. Sometimes it can be overwhelming trying to comb through the various articles and blog posts that seem to give one or two pieces but not the whole pie.

This article from Spring Homes is an excellent piece covering the entire home buying process from start to finish. The article is laid out in steps so the reader can understand what to expect during the home buying journey.

It also hits on every central section of buying a home without overloading the reader with too much information. This is an excellent read for anyone that has never purchased a home and would like to get a good understanding of the process.

Final Thoughts

That is this month’s edition of the Best of Real Estate articles. We hope this information helps you with your home buying or home selling, and we look forward to bringing more good content to you next month.

Previous Best of Real Estate Articles

See some previous months of the real estate roundups.

Luke Skar About the author: This real estate roundup for May 2022 was written by Luke Skar, a 19+ year veteran of the mortgage industry. He strives to stay updated with the latest changes and trends in mortgage lending and 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 benefits all parties in real estate transactions.