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1st Time Home Buyer ATL

Milla Murad | Realtor® | Real Estate | Atlanta | Georgia

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Renting vs. buying: Where do you land?

Renting vs. buying: Where do you land?

You’ve always been told that owning a home is the ultimate American dream. 

Imagine renovating your master bath into a mini spa or choosing your favorite appliances for your dream kitchen. Or just getting to repaint whatever room you want. Plus, there’s the potential for financial gain when you own.

But renting has its own advantages: flexibility, a smaller financial commitment and the chance to try before you buy.

So when do you know it’s time to take the plunge on a purchase? Answer these questions to see which side of the rent vs. buy debate you might land on:

Why do you want to buy?
Sure, owning a home might be the great American dream — but is it your dream?

For some, the idea of a home where you can raise a family, be close to schools and build a community is enticing. For others, buying is a great investment. But for many, it’s about freedom: the ability to keep pets, renovate and be independent.

Will you stay in the area?
No one has a crystal ball — but knowing how long you plan to live in an area can help as you consider the pros and cons of buying. Generally, longer stays align with purchasing. 

If the thought of travel fills you with more passion than the idea of settling down in your dream property, you may not be ready for your forever home. But there’s always the possibility of turning your house into an investment property. 

What can you afford?
While renting usually costs less in the short term than purchasing property, owning a home can build long-term net worth. A rent vs. buy calculator can help you understand the costs of each option.

Don’t have the deposit for your dream home now? That doesn’t mean you can’t buy. We can work together to find affordable homes, and there are plenty of low or no down payment mortgage options.

Have questions about buying or financing your purchase? Let’s discuss your next steps. 

Posted in: Blog, Real Estate Tagged: atlanta, Real Estate, rent, sell

What incentive is better than money?

Are you wondering how to avoid getting into a fast and furious bidding war once you find your dream home? Even if you can afford to pay more, it’s not always the best move. 

Money is one thing that turns sellers’ heads, but it’s far from the only incentive when you’re competing with other buyers. So why raise the ante with more money? 

If you want to offer your seller something they can’t refuse, try offering a flexible closing date.

Why is the closing date important?
On closing day, the home’s sales documents are signed and ownership changes hands. In most cases, that’s about 30 to 60 days from when your offer is accepted. 

But what if that doesn’t work with the seller’s timeline? 

How can a flexible closing help you? 
Some sellers need to get out fast. They could be relocating and need to move immediately. Maybe they already bought a new home. By offering a fast closing, you can help them to avoid paying two mortgages. 

Other sellers need more time. Maybe they’re building their dream home and hit an unexpected construction delay. Your flexibility with a delayed possession date offers them the security of having their new home lined up before they have to move. 

How else can we sweeten the deal?
Let’s say the best bid you can make is a bit lower than the listing price. Offering a seller rent-back might encourage them to choose your offer over others that are less accommodating. This lets the seller rent the space from you for a set amount of time until they’re ready to move.

To make a flexible closing date work for you, remember to go on a month-to-month lease or have alternative housing options ready. 

When you’re ready to make an offer on a home, keep in mind that understanding what motivates the seller is how we’ll get your offer accepted. 

Ready to start your search? Reach out today.

Posted in: Blog, Real Estate

Home Financing is Easier Than You Think

You saw an online ad for low mortgage rates and decided to apply — just to see if you qualify. Now your phone is buzzing nonstop, and lenders are emailing you about “DTIs” and W-2s. 

The onslaught of financing questions can be baffling when you’re tackling them alone. But it doesn’t have to be that way. 

Looking for some insight to make financing more straightforward? These four tips will get you started:

1. It’s okay to play the field.
Don’t be afraid to apply for several loans with different lenders to compare the terms and rates. You can — and should —  shop around. 

Just be sure to do so within a set time period to avoid multiple credit inquiries. 

2. Manual underwriting can help you qualify.
Most lenders automate their approval process to speed up transactions. However, if you fall outside conventional requirements, they can’t see your full financial picture. That’s where manual underwriting comes in.

Buyers with concerns about their income or credit should verify that their lender will manually underwrite the loan if needed. 

3. Broaden your prospects with a fixer-upper mortgage. 
Buying a fixer-upper can give you more home at a lower price. Did you know that the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and Fannie Mae offer loans that will cover the mortgage and necessary home repairs?

4. You don’t need 20% down.
Perhaps the biggest homebuying myth is that you can’t buy without 20% down. But you can. Here’s how:

  • Low Down Payment Options: FHA loans only require 3.5% down with a FICO score of 580 or higher, or 10% down with a score of 500 to 579. 
  • 0% Down Options: Buyers shopping in rural areas may be eligible for a USDA loan with 0% down. For qualified veterans and active-duty military members, VA loans often have no down payment requirement.
  • Buyer Assistance Programs: There are down payment and closing cost assistance programs available to first-time homebuyers. Not a first-timer? Some are also available to those who haven’t owned a home in the past three years.    

Mortgage financing can feel overwhelming. But you’re not in it alone.

Reach out today for a referral to a trusted lender to get preapproved for your next home.

Posted in: Blog, Real Estate

5 Tips to Maximize Your Home’s Level of Security

When purchasing a home, safety is high on the list of criteria. With the great schools,  a great neighborhood, and an overall great price on the home you’re purchasing, safety is something you’re thinking about. Once you get the “Does my neighborhood have a Neighborhood Watch plan in place?” and “Which smart home doorbell should I purchase?” questions answered, check out these tips that go the extra mile to ensure your home meets the highest level of safety. 

1. Lay Household expectations. Gather all family members and go over the expectations when it comes to the security of the household. Get into the habit of closing the garage door, locking the doors (even when in the home), and making sure gates and windows remain locked. In addition to getting into the habit of locking doors, ensure that everyone agrees on when to and when not to open the front door when someone is knocking. 

2. Store an extra key at your neighbor’s house. Burglars look for hidden keys hoping to gain access. Ditch the classic extra key under the mat option and ask a responsible neighbor if you can keep an extra key in their home. 

3. Install timers in your home. One of the easiest ways to eliminate a possible burglary is to simply make it seem that you’re home. Most people assume that when a home is lit it means people are there. While no one want’s to keep their home lit all the time, this is where timers come into play. Choose to set your tv and lights on timers so at certain times of the day it looks like you’re home. This will especially come in handy when on vacation. 

4. Remove any and all hiding spots. Tall shrubbery in your yard? Any ditches that haven’t been filled? These make great hiding spots for burglars. Make a habit to tend to your yard by trimming and pruning your yard as well as filling any holes/ditches. Whether done by you or a lawn service, this simple task will add protection to your home. 

5. Light up the yard. As well as eliminating various hiding spots, simply adding lights outside can make a huge difference. Go one step further than the classic porch lights and corner spotlight by adding spotlights in the yard. By illuminating parts of the yard such as trees and plant beds, as well as the facade of the home, the chances of catching someone sneaking around are greater.

Utilize these tips and know that you have gone that extra mile to provide security for your home.

For more information on home security, Money.com has recently published an article on The Best Home Security System for 2020.

Posted in: Blog, Real Estate

Appraisal vs. Assessment: What’s the Difference?

Buying a home can be a bewildering process, and mastering the finer points of homeownership takes time. Becoming familiar with the related terminology can be like learning a foreign language. Among the most frequently confused terms are appraisal and assessment. What’s the difference?

Appraisals usually take place when a hired appraiser calculates the fair market value of a home for lending purposes. Because banks typically won’t lend you more than a home is worth, the amount of your mortgage may be determined based on the amount for which the home appraises. Fair market value (FMV) refers to the estimated price for which the house would likely sell under current market conditions. This figure is most easily determined by the sales price (if the home recently changed hands), but in the absence of a recent sale, FMV can be calculated through other means including an analysis of recently sold comparable properties.

Assessments occur in a taxation context and are undertaken by your county’s tax assessor board in order to determine how much you owe in property taxes. Theoretically, homes are assessed annually. In reality, reassessment is formulaic and generally occurs only every few years to account for a standard estimated rate of appreciation or whenever there’s some noteworthy event such as a sale or inheritance. Assessments usually amount to approximately 40% of a given property’s appraised value (which is based on FMV), but other factors can figure into the equation as well (e.g., the size, age, condition, and location of the property).

Knowing the difference between these two terms will help make the home buying process a bit easier!

Posted in: Blog, Real Estate

Don’t Pay More Than What It’s Worth

It’s finally happened — after months of searching, you’ve found your dream home. It’s the perfect size for your growing family, the kitchen was just remodeled and there’s a huge deck for entertaining. And best of all, the seller accepted your offer! 

As we near your closing date, your lender will want to verify the home’s value with an appraisal. This might sound nerve-wracking, but don’t worry: Appraisals protect you from overpaying.

Let’s dive into appraisals to demystify the process: 

When do you need an appraisal?

If you’re taking out a mortgage to buy a new home, the lender will require an appraisal. The appraiser gives an independent estimate of the property based on recent sales data of similar homes. 

When your mortgage amount matches the appraised price of the home, you know that you have a good loan-to-value ratio — and aren’t paying more than you should be.

What does an appraiser look for?

An appraiser will physically measure the home’s square footage and visually inspect the entire property. They’ll note things like:

  • Floor plan functionality and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms
  • Age of the house and its overall appearance
  • Value of any recent updates or remodeling
  • Size of the lot
  • Desirability of the surrounding neighborhood

Comparing all of that against similar nearby homes sold within the last 90 days, the appraiser arrives at your home’s value.

What if it’s valued for less than you expected?

Let’s say you agreed to buy the property for $250,000 but the appraisal came in at $225,000. Your lender won’t approve a loan for more than the appraised price. 

If you still want to buy the home, we can negotiate a lower price with the seller or challenge the appraisal and pay for a second opinion. 

Another option is to walk away. This may not sound ideal, and it will probably be hard to do. But our goal is to get you the right home at the best price. 

If an appraisal comes in low, we’ll discuss all the options available to make sure you don’t overpay.

Are you ready to find your dream home? Reach out today to get started. 

Posted in: Blog, Real Estate

5 Tips When it Comes to Furnishing Small Spaces

When it comes to furnishing a space, don’t let the size of the space determine how much thought and effort goes into maximizing the space’s potential. Though it may be a small space, the functionality of the space isn’t necessarily less than that of a bigger one.

Here are some tips to ensure that you are maximizing the potential of any room you furnish: 

1. Choose Visually Lightweight Furniture

Think along the lines of slender furniture. When furnishing your room, choose pieces that have slender legs as they take up less visual space. Allowing for visual space will make a small space appear larger. 

2. Keep larger items on the perimeter of the room

Place items such as couches and hutches against the wall to maintain the feeling of depth in the space. 

3. Utilize Mirrors 

Mirrors offer a lot, especially in smaller rooms. While they’re a great decorative piece within themselves, they do so much more. If the room doesn’t get much natural light, mirrors can reflect what amount of natural light you do have around the room. Mirrors also help make spaces feel bigger by giving the illusion of more square feet. 

4. Experiment with Scale

Just because the room is small doesn’t necessarily mean the furniture has to be small. Choose large statement pieces wisely, and then go back in and focus on the smaller decor pieces. 

5. Keep Everything Cohesive 

Since the space is already on the smaller side, ensuring that the room is cohesive is important. Stick to a color palette and make sure all items in the room fit well in the space.

Posted in: Blog, Real Estate Tagged: color palette, decor, diy, do it yourself, furnishing, furniture, natural light

Why Photos are an Essential Part of Selling your Home

So you’re ready to put your home for sale…There’s so much to do to get ready that taking pictures is usually forgotten or pushed to the side. I’m here to say that not considering the picture-taking process as important is misguided. Here are 4 good reasons why good pictures are important when selling your home. 

  1. No photos mean no traffic The biggest sin on the photo-front is having no pictures of your home. The first thing that buyer’s agents and buyers do when filtering through home search results is cross off any homes without any pictures. If you don’t have any photos up to show your home then you are immediately eliminating your home from being an option. This is for a number of reasons, but mostly because home buyers think that there are no photos because there is something wrong with the house that the listing agent or owner doesn’t want them to see. Not exactly the impression you want to send when selling your home!
  2. If you don’t care, they won’t either Another drawback to having a few pictures or less is that buyers think that if you didn’t care enough about your home to take quality pictures, then why should they care about your home? Buyers may even take it to mean that if the owner didn’t take care of this easy step, what easy home maintenance issues weren’t taken care of either. It’s a stretch, but buyers are looking for any reason to back out. Don’t give them a chance!
  3. Make the Short List With so much inventory available in the Atlanta real estate market, buyers and agents don’t have time to waste searching out the homes that don’t supply good pictures. This is a way (along with price) that buyers are filtering their search results to end up with a more palatable list of homes to go out and visit.
  4. Wine and Dine Online Almost 9 out of 10 home buyers start the home buying process online searching for their new home. If you don’t have any pictures of your home, your home is not getting their attention. Good photos grab buyers by the throat and politely insist that they come check it out in person. This is even more important in the Atlanta real estate market vs other real estate markets because in Atlanta over 97% of residents have access to a high-speed internet connection. This means that buyers are doing their legwork online and doing their initial viewings virtually. If you don’t have photos readily accessible, buyers don’t have the time or desire to seek them out and you better believe that they have plenty of other homes for sale to choose from…

Good photos make rooms seem bigger and more open, they make “life” at your home seem better. Great pictures are an underrated selling tool in your home selling toolbox. Take full advantage of them and show off your home to the people that want to see it! 

Posted in: Blog, Real Estate Tagged: atlanta, atlanta real estate, home for sale, home search, listing, listing agent, listing photo, selling your home

What to Expect From a Home Inspection

While scheduling a home inspection can sound daunting, it is a very important step when purchasing a home. As a first time homebuyer, you may not know what to expect. 

Here are some tips for first-time homebuyers about to embark on their first-ever home inspection:

Show up. You need to be present for the entire inspection, as do any co-buyers (e.g., spouse) and your real estate agent if possible. Being present allows the inspector to point out in person any specific flaws or issues with the property and explain what steps must be taken to correct the problem. You can also ask questions about items while the inspection’s in progress. For example, if the inspector finds an aging hot water heater, you can then ask how many years it has left and what it’s going to cost you to replace it. These kinds of tidbits are invaluable, especially for first-time homebuyers.

Know what’s included. Take an inspection checklist with you to ensure that all items are assessed or addressed. Specialized inspections for things like mold and carbon monoxide are considered to fall outside the scope of a standard home inspection, so if you think stuff like this could be an issue for your property, definitely arrange for these additional inspections.

Come prepared. I brought my camera, a tape measure, and a pen and notebook along with me to my inspection, and I’m really glad I did. I was able to sketch out the floor plan, take measurements of various rooms and spaces, make additional notes, and take photos of everything to tie it all together.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Ask as many questions as you want during the inspection–after all, you’re paying for the inspector’s time! A good inspector should welcome questions and will be happy to give you the details you need. Remember that they’re the expert and you’re the novice and that it’s OK if you don’t understand their terminology or know what they’re talking about; this is one time when pretending you’re an expert can actually hurt you in the end. If you have any specific questions or concerns about the property or particular items on the checklist, come up with a list of those beforehand and bring it along with you to the inspection.

Read the fine print. That long, boring report that the inspector sends you after the fact? It’s not a souvenir to remember him by. Set aside some time with no distractions to go through the report from start to finish. Make whatever notes you need to, and feel free to call the inspector to follow-up on items that need clarification.

Posted in: Blog, Real Estate Tagged: carbon monoxide, first time homebuyer, Home Inspection, home purchase, inspection, inspector, mold, realtor

SHOULD YOU GET A PRE-LISTING INSPECTION?

3 Ways an Inspection Helps You Sell

Like many homeowners, you might be hoping to capitalize on the hot summer homebuying season to sell your house for a pretty penny. Who knows, maybe you’ll even make enough for the beach house you’ve been eyeing or for a long summer getaway.

But first, you’ll need to get your home ready to sell. And getting a home inspection may be one of the best ways to do that.

Inspections can shed light on potential issues and help you make necessary repairs before listing your home. It might even help you fetch a higher asking price if the inspection shows that your home is in better condition than others in the area. 

All in all, an inspection can:

1. Alert You to Issues Before Going Under Contract
A home inspection can highlight issues that might concern potential buyers. 

Pro tip: You should fix any issues that pose a safety hazard. And your inspection report can serve as a repair guide before listing.

2. Gauge Your Pricing Expectations
Inspections help you get a handle on what condition your home is in and what price it might fetch. 

Pro tip: A clean inspection report, or proof of recent repairs, can help buyers feel more confident in making an offer.

3. Prevent Closing Delays
If issues crop up during the buyer’s inspection, it could delay closing due to repairs or prolonged negotiations. The buyer could even pull their offer altogether.

Pro tip: Fixing issues before listing the home can improve the outcome of your buyer’s inspection. And that could mean less negotiation on the whole.

Keep in mind that inspections come with an upfront fee, and you’ll be legally required to disclose any issues the inspector finds. However, we can discuss the inspection report to see how repairs could affect your home’s market value. 

Are you considering selling your home this year? Want to know what it’s worth or what you can expect in today’s market? Reach out today for a free local market report and see how your house measures up.

Posted in: Blog, Real Estate Tagged: closing, home selling, homeowners, inspection, listing, market value, offer, pricing, repairs, safety hazard, under contract

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4 Tips for Decorating a Small Space

4 Tips for Decorating a Small Space

Whether it’s a cramped bedroom or an office nook, many homes have a small room that’s difficult to decorate.  Do you wish you could add more charm without forgoing square footage? Well, just because your space is limited, it doesn’t mean your style has to be.  Make your tiny area more usable and trendy with […]

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Milla Murad, Realtor® Village Realty 3423 Piedmont RD NE ATL,GA 30305
O: 404-965-4080
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