The 5 Things You Need to Buy a Home

If you’re looking to buy a home, these are five things that you will need.

Looking to sell your home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool.

Looking to buy a home? Click here to search all local homes for sale.

If you’re looking to buy a home, these are five things that you will need: 

1. A mortgage pre-approval: You should rely on your real estate professional to give you some advice on who might be a good lender to use, but most Realtors like myself won’t show buyers homes until we have a pre-approval from a good lender.

2. Earnest money: This will sit in an escrow account to be applied to a down payment. Typical earnest money will run between 1% to 2% of the purchase price of the home you’re looking at.

3. Money for a down payment: Unless you’re a qualified veteran, down payments will range anywhere from 3.5% to 20% of the sale price of the home you’re looking at.

Most Realtors won’t show buyers homes until we have a pre-approval from a good lender.

4. Money for closing costs: In some situations, we’re able to get the seller to pick up the closing costs for the buyer, but that will also increase the price you pay for the home. Typical closing costs for a mortgage will be about 3% of the purchase price. 

5. Money for the home inspection: Typical home inspections today will cost between $350 to $500, depending on whether or not you choose to have a radon inspection. The inspector will expect to get paid at the time he does the home inspection.

If you have any questions about what you need to buy a house, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to assist you.

Our Newest Buyer’s Agent Walks You Through the Home Buying Process

Our newest team member has some important advice on the home buying process and how you can move into your dream home.

Looking to sell your home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool.

Looking to buy a home? Click here to search all local homes for sale.

Today I’m joined by JJ, one of our buyer’s agents and our newest team member, so he can introduce himself and tell you what you need to know about the home buying process.

As a buyer’s agent, JJ meets with clients who are seeking their dream home and consults with them to understand all their expectations and desires so they can hit the ground running to start their home search.

Once you’ve found a home you like, your first step is to present a strong offer. According to JJ, a strong offer starts with being pre-approved. If you don’t have a pre-approval in place or a pre-approval letter ready to present, your offer won’t be seriously considered. Make sure you’re working with a lender and you have a pre-approval letter that you can attach to any offer you make.

We’ll help walk you through the process.

After your offer is accepted, next comes the home inspection process. This will give you a feel for the home, from the foundation to the roof to everything in between. Keep in mind that you have to have your inspection completed within a certain amount of days, though. In a typical contract JJ writes up, his clients’ inspections happen within 10 to 14 days.

In addition to the inspection, you must also present amendments to the sellers if there are things about the home you need to have fixed. To that point, JJ has many people at his disposal that will work on your behalf to ensure your new home is deemed safe and healthy. Lastly, you need to beware of radon. Radon is a colorless, odorless gas that emanates from the soil and has been proven to cause cancer. If the house you want to buy has high radon readings, you want to properly address that with an amendment to the seller after the inspection process. In this situation, JJ will fight for his buyers to make sure a mitigation system is installed properly. We want you to be a client not just for this home, but for future homes as well. If you have any other questions about the home buying process, feel free to give us a call. We’d be happy to help you. 

Staging Your Home on a Budget

Looking to buy or sell a home in the Twin Cities? Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (651) 481-6711 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.
Staging your home is one of the most important parts of the selling process. Most people think you need to spend the money to have your home professionally staged by a staging company. The truth is, you can stage your home much more inexpensively by following these 5 tips I have for you:

1. Declutter and depersonalize
You want to clean and organize your closets, so that the space looks bigger. An organized, clean home is crucial in showings. Your buyers have to be able to see themselves in your home, and this is the first step to accomplishing that

2. Fresh paint and carpet
These are two of the best investments you can make when selling your home. Updating the carpet and putting a fresh coat of neutral-colored paint on the walls is a great way to broaden your home's appeal.

3. Clean, clean, clean
Of course your whole home will require a deep clean prior to its showings, but you need to pay special attention to the kitchen and bathrooms. Clear out cabinets, purchase new bath towels, and swap out your old hardware and faucets for new ones. These are all inexpensive fixes that bring a significant return.

4. Modernize
Swap those old brass light fixtures out for some oil-rubbed bronze or nicke. Remember, all buyers want stainless steel appliances, too.

5. Neutralize
You don't have to paint all the walls and ceilings eggshell white, but bold and bright colors are not going to help you sell your home in today's market. Don't be afraid to use some color, but keep it in a neutral pallet. 

Thanks for taking the time out of your day to check out our blog. If you have any questions, be sure to give us a call or send us an email. We'd be glad to help!

Secure Your Online Credit Information to Ensure a Smooth Real Estate Transaction

Looking to buy or sell a home in Twin Cities, MN? Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (651) 481-6711 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Watch Out for Credit Card Fraud / Security Breaches
In light of recent security breaches at major retail stores throughout the country, I wanted to speak about how you can remain vigilant to protect yourself from credit card fraud. 

• Check Your Online Statements: Make sure your online bank statements are correct, and be sure to check up on the last few months of activity on your card.
• Check Your Credit Report: You can check your credit for free once a year from one of the major credit reporting companies.
• You can also add a fraud alert to your credit report. This will make them follow certain protocols before releasing any credit information under your name.
• You can also go one step further by calling a credit agency to freeze your credit information to stop any fraudulent activity. You only need to contact one credit agency to do this, because they will contact the other ones for you.
• Watch Your Bills: If you don't receive a bill for a while, that may be a sign that someone has changed your billing address and is trying to view your information.
• Shred All Statements: Don't put these statements in the garbage can or the recycling, shred them and get rid of them.

These are just a few ways to protect your finances, because it would be terrible to have your home purchase ruined by a hacker getting into your account and destroying your credit.

Also, with the new HeartBleed virus that was just discovered a few days ago, it is always a good idea to regularly change your passwords for email accounts and other accounts that are used for Amazon or Ebay.

As always, if you need any assistance with real estate in the Twin Cities, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Call Us For Any Assistance in Contesting Your Proposed Property Taxes

Looking to buy or sell a home in Twin Cities, MN? Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (651) 481-6711 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Let Us Help you with your Property Taxes

A lot of clients here in St. Paul have been asking about taxes, so I'm going to briefly explain them to you. By now you should have received a copy of your proposed property tax statement in the mail. 

On this statement, you can look to the backside and use it as a roadmap if you feel that your evaluation is out of line. If you need any help protesting your property taxes, then please give us a call and we would be happy to help you out. 

The county assessor will probably need you to give them a market analysis from a Realtor in order to contest your home's market valuation. 

So, if you feel like your property is out of line from what today's values are, then give us a call and we would be very happy to help you out in this situation. It can be confusing and seem rather daunting, but we can help clear things up for you.

Just be sure to contact us soon because these tax deadlines are coming up soon. Also, if you want to discuss real estate in St. Paul, then please contact us because the market is warming up rapidly as we head in to summer here in the Twin Cities.

Give us a call at (651) 481-6711 or email us at TheVannesteGroup@gmail.com

Real Estate App Makes Home Buying Ultra-Simple

Looking to buy or sell a home in Twin Cities, MN? Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (651) 481-6711 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Download your free home search app today!

With our new application for smart phones, you can drive through a neighborhood and literally point at homes with your phone, and then get information about the property such as price, square footage, and pictures.

There is also a cool feature within the app that will let you know about open houses going on in your area, and will provide you with information regarding the listings such as price and square footage.

The application uses GPS location to update you on what properties in your area are selling for. For example, if your neighbor's home down the street just sold, you can check the app and get this information quickly and easily.

This app is free, and will surely save you lots of time in your search for real estate. To download, simply click on the link below the blog, and start searching for homes.

Once again, this is only one of many ways we can assist you with your real estate endeavors. If you need any help buying or selling real estate in the Twin Cities area, then please contact us.