Real Estate Information

Finding a new home can be exciting. But deciding what you truly want and need-and can afford- can be challenging. Making these decisions begin with setting priorities among many different preferences. Most homebuyers invariably face trade-offs. Your buyer's representative can play a key role in helping you sort out your options. He or she can also offer important insights specific to your local market. 

Here are many of the considerations you will want to discuss:

BASIC HOME FEATURES
*Do you prefer a single-family detached home, townhome, condominium, or other type of property?
*Desired number of bedroom and bathrooms
*Preferences regarding kitchen, dining, family rooms, etc. and preferred home layout
*High priority home features, such as kitchen appliances, fireplace, etc. 
*Other types of rooms needed(e.g., a home office or hobby space)
*Storage spaces(closets, basement, an outdoor shed, etc.)
*Need for a garage or parking space

OTHER HOME PREFERENCES
*Ranch, two story, split level, etc.
*Age and style of home
*How important is energy efficiency or other green home features?

NEIGHBORHOODS/LOCATION
*Commuting considerations
*Proximity to desirable features(such as school, hospital, exercise facility, etc.)
*Views-how important is it to find your ideal view(overlooking a park) or avoid a bad one(a busy highway)?

LOT CHARACTERISTICS
*Size and shape including back, front and side yards
*Landscaping considerations- need for play areas, privacy, patio space, decking, etc.
*Home orientation- is it important for your home to face a particular direction?

LIFE AT HOME
*If you will be sharing your home with children, pets, live-in parents or others, how does this impact your house preferences? Both now and in the future?
*Proximity to neighbors

RELATED COSTS
*Homeowners association fees?
*Property taxes

TRADE-OFFS
*How much do you want to invest in a home beyond the purchase price, either financially or in terms of sweat equity, if you can't find exactly what you want?
*Are you willing to consider other neighborhoods that provide better affordability?

RESALE
*How long do you plan to live in this home? How does this impact the type of home you will buy, how much you will spend, and your choice of location?

http://MovementMortgage.com/

Money paid for rent is money you will never see again, but mortgage payments let you build equity in your home. Building equity in your home is a ready made savings plan. Unlike rent, your fixed-rate mortgage payments don't go up over the year. However, property tax and insurance will rise. Once you buy the home is yours. You are able to benefit from your investment for as long as you own the home. Owning your own home is the number one way to build financial security.The federal reserve reports homeowners have on average $184,000 in household wealth vs renters whose net wealth on average is $4,000. Owning a home creates stability. Remaining in one area for several years lets you and your family establish lasting relationship and offers your children the benefit of educational continuity. Home ownership also gives children a better start. Studies show that children of home owners have higher education levels, a lower rate of teen pregnancy and higher test scores. Mortgage interest and private mortgage insurance are tax deductible. For the first few years, its typical that the majority of your payments are made up of interest and for many that can mean significant tax savings. You no longer need a big down payment either. Today there are affordable loan products that require little or nothing down. Its a Great Time to BUY! Today's market offers affordable housing prices, large inventories or homes available and low mortgage rates provide a great opportunity for many home buyers.

As William E Wood At The Mall and The Kevin Monette Real Estate Team

We Have Two Dozen Reasons Why You Should List With Us.

We have Proven Results. Our position as one of the number one real estate networks in Hampton Roads, earned by successfully marketing homes such as yours.

We have a Reputation and a name recognition synonymous to professionalism.

Our team has Years of Experience in real estate service to home buyers and sellers. We generate many repeat purchasers.

Our Convenient Locations in major malls throughout Hampton Roads to serve your needs wherever you may be.

We are Full-Time REALTORS. Our career agents adhere to firm standards of production.

Our Knowledgable Sales Force hone their skills utilizing in-house training, enabling them to offer creative financial solutions, eliminate problems, and negotiate higher sales prices.

Multiple Listing Service provides information about your property to over 7,000 area real estate professionals across Hampton Roads.

We belong to the Association of REALTORS. A membership that promotes professionalism and strict adherence to the REALTOR code of ethics.

Marketing Through Technology immediately distributes information to all cooperating agents and potential buyers via internet and a data base of registered buyers.

National Relocation Services generate highly motivated corpoerate transferees. Military Teams target incoming personnel.

Maximum Exposure for your home means it will be seen inside area mall by 100,000's of potential buyers, seven days a week to reduce market time.

We Pre-qualify Buyers carefully to determine that they are financially capable and ready to buy.

More Listings than any other area network indicates the high level of owner confidence in our ability to get your home sold.

We Care about our friends, neighbors,communities, schools, and churches as evidence by our contributions.

24-Hour Service to immediately assist our clients and sales force with any real estate needs.

Sales Incentives provide a bonus to our sales force as an incentive to work harder to sell your home.

We have a Proven Marketing Plan which provides a comprehensive marketing strategy to get the highest possible price in the shortest time period with the least amount of inconveniences.  

For Sale Signs that feature our award winning highly recognizable logo and our most effective marketing tool, they catch the eye of many potential buyers.

Feature Sheets are available for prospective purchasers, provide a descriptive narrative that calls their attention to your homes amenities.

We provide Constant Communication, gives you up-to-date input about the competition, interested buyers, marketing programs, problems, and comments from other agents. We Will Not List You and Leave You!

Paperwork, it is unavoidable in real estate sales. We complete all forms and take care of details to ensure a smooth transaction.

We Manage the Details. We follow up with attorneys, brokers,engineers, termite and home inspectors, appraisers, lenders as well as a dozen others essential to closing.

Our Objective is to represent You, our most important asset, to the best of our ability.

Satisfaction through quality service, is our goal.

As a 12 year Army vet, I realize the stress of picking up a family and relocating to an area, where you know noone and nothing about the area.  Can anyone express any concerns about getting ready to relocate and what your fears are?

  With today's internet and search engines, there are many resources out there, for information.  Does anyone have any useful links, which I can use to assist our military famlies?  I have links for schools and things to do, but maybe you can provide something that would be more useful to our military Families.  Thanks for helping!!!

I'm often asked if this is a good time to buy a home. Some clients are concerned that home prices may fall further than they have already. They are assuming that the best course of action is to wait for the bottom in the market and then buy. The problem with this approach is that you don't know where the bottom is until you see it in the rear view mirror, meaning until you've missed it!

Home prices are one factor in determining your cost of ownership, but so are interest rates and financing availability. Even though interest rates have gone up in the last six months, they are still near historic lows. Since your monthly mortgage payment is a combination of paying down your principal and paying the interest owed, if home prices come down a little further but interest rates up, it could cost you even more to service a mortgage on an identical home!

While a home is a major investment, it is also the center of your personal life. It's important to live in a home that reflects your taste and values, yet is within your financial "comfort zone." To that end, it may be more important to lock in today's relatively low interest rates and low home prices, rather than to hope for a further break in prices in the future.

Please give me a call if I can be of any assistance in determining how much home you can afford in today's market.