Many first time homebuyers have in mind that they need at least a 20% down payment and a monthly check for the mortgage. But that’s not the entire story when it comes to buying a home. There are a mountain of “hidden” costs — from closing fees to taxes — that can add up to […]
Buyer Beware: Red Flags when Purchasing a Home
Top Things to Watch For When Buying a Home Virginia is a “Buyer Beware” state when it comes to purchasing a home. While there are lead based paint and the standard seller disclosures included in most active area listings, Sellers don’t always disclose the whole truth to potential Buyers, especially if they’re motivated to sell. […]
Questions to Ask A Mortgage Lender Before Writing an Offer
Questions to Ask A Mortgage Lender Before Writing an Offer You’ve chosen your dream house, gotten pre-qualified and are about to write your offer – so now what? At Solutions, we recommend finding out as much as possible about your mortgage before you make the next big leap. In fact it is a good idea […]
Homeownership Based on Age
Does Your Age Make a Difference When It Comes To Owning a Home? When it comes time to make the leap from renting to owning, many people wonder if it makes a difference depending on their age. We all know about the Baby Boomers – those born from 1946-1964 – the Gen X-ers – those […]
Questions Buyers should be asking their Agents
Here at Solutions, we get asked lots of questions by clients in their search for their dream home. Because of Equal Housing Laws, there are some we’re prevented by law from answering, but there are a number of answers we can find out or sources we can point you towards to look up the info […]
Costs To Add Into Your Budget When Buying a Home
Ever wonder how much a house truly costs? You can crunch the latest mortgage rates, estimate your tax & insurance payments, and take a realistic look at how much house you can afford after getting pre-qualified with a lender, but there are more expenses involved in home buying than just the property costs. And those additional […]
How to Avoid a Refinance Nightmare
Recent historically low rates created quite a rush on refinancing activity, making brokers and lenders quite happy with the increased business. Refinancing your home can be a great way to lower your monthly payments, but not all refinance deals are good ones.Sometimes a refinance loan might seem like a money-saver at first, but you could […]
Give a Neighborhood a “Test Drive”
While your Solutions agent is going to provide you with all the available details on the home you are purchasing, there are a few items that cannot be shared as there are Fair Housing laws that any agent must respect. We talked about checking out a neighborhood in a previous blog, but now is the time […]
Tips for a Successful “Walk-Through”
You’ve made it through the home inspection process, have your loan commit letter and approval in hand, placed your calls to the utility companies to transfer the accounts into your name, so, what’s left to do now before you close?One of the most important steps – the “walk-through” – is the next to last thing […]
First-time Homebuyers
What do you think of when you hear the phrase “first-time homebuyer?” Chances are you think of a couple fresh out of college and starting new jobs. Did you know that a first-time homebuyer means anyone who has not bought a home in three years? Yes, you heard that right. This can apply to anyone, whether […]
Can I Cancel a Real Estate Contract?
Even though this isn’t an ideal situation, every Purchaser and Seller in the Charlottesville area has to be prepared for a contract being released, or cancelled, at any stage of the process. It’s important for either side to go over the contract with their Solutions agent to understand the details before it’s signed and, in particular, […]
What is a Kick-out clause
You may have seen the phrase “kick-out clause” and wondered what it meant. As used in a real estate contract, it allows a Seller to accept a Purchaser’s contingent offer to purchase his/her property, while allowing the Seller to continue to market the property. The length of time can be for 24-, 48- or 72 […]
Is Homeownership for me?
Renting Vs. Owning – How to Choose Homeownership Many potential buyers in our local market have already made their first steps towards homeownership – they’ve saved for a down payment, pored over the local listings for months, attended endless amounts of open houses, but time has passed them by and months, maybe even years, have […]
Always Check out the Neighborhood Before You Decide to Buy
Imagine shopping for your dream home in the Charlottesville area market in the springtime. It’s easy to get in an expectant frame of mind when all of the flowering dogwoods and azaleas are in full bloom and it appears that Open House signs are dotting every street on the weekends. You know that inventory is […]
The Perks of Being a Cash Buyer
Many Buyers these days want to find out how best to have an edge in the home buying process, especially during the hot spring market. Research by the National Association of Realtors on cash sales shows that about 30% of residential sales, in fact, are cash transactions, and, especially among investors and international buyers, more […]
How to Juggle Selling Your Home & Buying Another in the Same Time Frame
This situation happens more often than anyone realizes – and, especially, if you are selling a house in one city and buying in another, it can get even trickier trying to make sure everyone who needs the proper paperwork and funds does, in fact, receive everything in a timely fashion. Although lenders are hard at […]
Things to Avoid Before You Close on Your New Home
Now that the contract has been ratified, the home inspection period has passed and everything agreed to, buyers may think that everything is smooth sailing until they close on their new home. Right? Not quite. There are a number of other things buyers must NOT do before the final settlement date. If they’ve been approved […]
What is an “Escalation Clause” and when would a Buyer want to use it?
Here at Solutions, we recommend that our Buyers get pre-qualified with a local Charlottesville lender so they can be ready to move quickly as soon as that “just right” house hits the market. What is an Escalation Clause? This leads us to the question of the escalation clause, which is defined as “a real estate contract, […]
