12
Jan
By Jim Hasek
Real Estate Tips, ,

Real Estate Terms: The ‘Debt to Income’ Ratio and How It Affects Your Home Purchase

The real estate market is rife with terminology that can make a home purchase seem more than a little complicated. If you're currently looking for a home and are considering your loan options, you may have even heard the term 'Debt to Income' ratio. In the interest of simplifying things, here are some insights on what this term means and how it can impact your home investment. Determining Your 'Debt to Income' Ratio It's important to consider what exactly your DTI ratio is before your home purchase as this will quickly determine how much home you can actually afford. To…
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16
Dec
By Jim Hasek
Real Estate Tips,

Buying or Selling a Home This Winter? Keep These Tax Tips in Mind!

With all of the expense that can go into buying and selling a home, it's good to be aware of what you can claim and how a home can benefit you come tax time. When the New Year rolls around and you're sitting down to the task of completing your taxes, here are a few things that you'll want to keep in mind. Gaining from Capital Gains In the event that you've made money off the sale of your home through a capital gain, it's possible that you may be able to exclude this amount from your tax filing. If…
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04
Sep
By Jim Hasek
Real Estate Tips, ,

From Big to Small: How to Downsize from a Large House to a Smaller, More Efficient Home

If you're moving from a large home into a smaller house or condo, you're probably looking forward to enjoying a lower utility bill and not having to do as much cleaning. But before you move, you'll want to take certain precautions to ensure that you're not overwhelmed. A smaller home won't have as much room for your belongings, which means you may need to get creative. Here's how you can downsize without losing your mind. Decide What You're Going To Keep Before you do anything else, choose which of your belongings are coming with you. Unless you've habitually been getting…
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04
Sep
By Jim Hasek
Real Estate Tips, ,

From Big to Small: How to Downsize from a Large House to a Smaller, More Efficient Home

If you're moving from a large home into a smaller house or condo, you're probably looking forward to enjoying lower mortgage payments, a lower utility bill and not having to do as much cleaning. But before you move, you'll want to take certain precautions to ensure that you're not overwhelmed. A smaller home won't have as much room for your belongings, which means you may need to get creative. Here's how you can downsize without losing your mind. Decide What You're Going To Keep Before you do anything else, choose which of your belongings are coming with you. Unless you've…
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21
Aug
By Jim Hasek
Real Estate Tips, ,

3 Handy Tips That Will Prevent Serious Stress when Buying and Selling a Home at the Same Time

If you're in the process of simultaneously buying and selling a home, you may be in for the most stressful experience of your life. One UK-based real estate survey of over two thousand people found that buying and selling a house is more stressful than divorce, bankruptcy, a death in the family, becoming a parent for the first time, and even planning a wedding! It's not easy, but staying calm will help you to plan for your upcoming home purchase and sale and make the process easier. So how can you avoid the stress? Here are three strategies that will…
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12
Aug
By Jim Hasek
Real Estate Tips, ,

Real Estate Terminology 101: What Exactly Is A “Buyer’s Market”?

If you've been following the real estate and mortgage industry for any length of time, you've probably heard the phrase "buyer's market" at some point. And although the meaning may seem apparent, it takes some study to understand what actually constitutes a buyer's market. Who decides whether it's a buyer's or seller's market? What's the threshold for deciding between the two? Here's what you need to know. Supply And Demand: Economic Factors That Govern...Everything If you studied economics in school, you'll probably remember an early lesson on supply and demand. Essentially, supply and demand are the two factors that influence…
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