How to Spend Wisely in Wilmington

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The value of credit goes a long way. By now, most people understand how your spending habits affect your credit and your overall financial standing. This deeply affects people wanting to buy a home!
 
You should always be careful with your spending habits. Credit report agencies pay close attention to your habits, which affects how lenders analyze these reports.

To approve a loan, a bank will review your payment history in addition to debt and income ratios. Lenders will go way back in your history to approve a loan, including any major or minor spots on your credit report. That’s why you should be extra cautious during the holiday season; it’s easy to get into new debt while shopping.
 

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YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR SPENDING HABITS.

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Mortgage lenders will examine your eligibility based upon 10% new debt, 10% types of credit you have, 35% payment history, 15% length of credit history, and 30% debt-to-income ratio. It’s important to look ahead and stay conscious of your spending, you never know when you will want to invest or buy a home. Set a solid ground for strong credit for the future.

The bottom line: pay close attention to your spending this holiday season and keep a close eye on your payments being on time.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home this holiday season, give me a call or email today. I’d be happy to serve your real estate needs in the Wilmington area!

Is It Too Late to Sell Your Wilmington Home?

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As we start heading into late fall and early winter, many sellers ask, "Is this a good time to sell? Or should we wait until January?" Actually, now is a great time to sell.

First, there is less competition this time of year. The common idea is that it's better to sell during the spring. While there are many buyers out in the spring, there are also more homes on the market. With less competition, you can usually hold your sales price higher than you could in the spring.

Secondly, prospective buyers in the spring are seriously motivated. They don't have as much time to wait and think about things. These highly-motivated buyers lead to more successful sales in the fall and winter.

Don't believe the people who say that the market stops during colder months. We sell homes all year. If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

How Can You Stage on a Budget?

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If you are looking to sell your home, your goal is to get the most money possible in the shortest amount of time. One of the best ways to add value and appeal to your home is through home staging. There are a lot of options for how you want to go about it. You could hire a professional staging company, but that comes with a hefty price tag. Most of the time, a few simple fixes is all it takes to transform a living room.

Today, I want to share a video from HGTV that can help you stage your home when you go to sell. Tiffany Brooks recommends her favorite inexpensive home staging tips for you. We hope these will help you save both time and money when it comes time to sell your home.

A fresh coat of paint is always a good idea. Neutral, warm colors work best for highlighting the natural light in your home. This will make it easier to punch up the room with some colorful accessories and pull everything together.

A common design problem facing many homeowners is that they have no real entry way, as their front door opens up to the living room. To fix this, you can add a table, some lighting, and a rug to "fake a foyer" and make it feel like the living room and entryway are two different spaces.

A patterned rug, some pillows, or bright curtains add a ton of texture and an eclectic layer to the space, which is essential to a well-designed room.

In some cases, a "make-under" is just what you need. In the case of most fireplaces, taking some accessories and clutter away enhances the look and feel of the room greatly.

You could spend well over a few thousand dollars with a staging company, or you could do these fixes yourself for around $500. That's a small investment considering the value that you add to your home by adding those pieces.

If you have any questions for us about staging your home or anything else real estate related, give me a call or send over a quick email. I'm always here to help, and would love to hear from you!

The Most Important Part of Renovating Your Wilmington Home

Plan Ahead When Renovating

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Today, I want to share a video from HGTV to discuss how you can plan ahead when it comes to home renovations. Renovating your home can be an exciting process, but it's important that you don't get ahead of yourself. You can't just go willy-nilly into a major project and expect it to go perfectly. Planning properly for these types of projects can assure a smooth project, and one that may even cost less!

HGTV’s Amy Matthews recommends making a very detailed timeline of your project, including potential things that could go awry and making backup plans in order to prevent these things from happening. Putting your plan onto paper is a good way to start this process.

Another major step is choosing a good team of contractors that you can communicate with. If they don't know what you want done, they can't do it. 

Just remember, there is no such thing as too much planning! If you plan on renovating your Wilmington home, please contact us. We know great contractors and could also give you advice on what projects will bring you the highest return on your investment. 

We look forward to hearing from you!

How we helped Richard transition into his new home by going above and beyond

 
“Oh man, I could talk for hours on this! This guy is fully focused on serving people, and way beyond anything I’ve ever experienced before. I would never think of using any other realtor besides him.”

How we helped Barry purchase a home by listening to his needs

 
“I have to put Henry as the #1 agent I’ve ever worked with. If you’re trying to sell a property, he wants to make sure he’s getting you the best possible value he can. If you’re looking to buy a property, he’s your staunchest ally in helping you negotiate the best deal on your behalf. I can’t say enough good things about him.”

How we helped Lance with his real estate transactions during a difficult time

 
“Henry has helped us in real estate transactions from the sale of my mother’s property after she passed, to a rental property most recently. He’s helped us several times over the past few years, and he’s been absolutely excellent to work with. He’s the first person I think of before I’m going to look at any real estate.”

Update on Interest Rates for Home Buyers in Wilmington

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Today I'm with Lourdes Best of Gateway Bank Mortgage and she is here to educate us on what is happening in the mortgage market. She's handled quite a few loans for our clients and she really has a good idea of what is happening with interest rates.

Overall, interest rates are still very low, so now is still a good time to purchase a home. However, documentation for loans has changed a little bit. In today's market, we need more information in order for you to get your loan. We're talking about pay stubs, tax forms, credit history, etc. After the market crashed, most lenders require more information before they approve your loan. 

For people borrowing over $417,000 you will need a jumbo loan, and interest rates for these kinds of loans are just about the same as regular loans. Loan requirements for these types of loans are pretty stringent, and they will likely require 20% down. 

Another thing to know is that it is much more ideal to be pre-approved, rather than pre-qualified. A pre-approval is more extensive and this is really what lenders and sellers would like to see when you put an offer down on a home. Also, when you're pre-approved for a mortgage loan, you know what kind of properties you can afford and you won't waste any time when you're searching for a good home.

The first thing to do if you're trying to get approved for a loan is to call Gateway Bank Mortgage, and after setting up a consultation they will have a discussion regarding your assets. Depending on your qualifications, they can either set you up for a pre-approval or they can put you on their Authorized Buyer program.

Lastly, any buyers with credit scores above 740 are considered to have extremely good credit and your interest rate should be as low as possible. When you drop below 720 or 700, that is when your interest rate will begin to be negatively affected. The minimum credit score to get a loan is right around 620 for Gateway Bank Mortgage.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm always happy to help you with real estate in Wilmington!