3 bedroom home for sale in Harrisburg,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Harrisburg,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in New Cumberland,Pa

4 bedroom home for sale in Carlisle,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Newport,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Millerstown,Pa

4 bedroom home for sale in Gettysburg,Pa

2 bedroom home for sale in Gettysburg,Pa

4 bedroom home for sale in Aspers,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in New Oxford,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in MARIETTA,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Marietta,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Elizabethtown,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Lancaster,Pa

2 bedroom home for sale in Lancaster,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Bushkill,Pa

4 bedroom home for sale in Bushkill,Pa

4 bedroom home for sale in Bushkill,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Lakeville,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Pocono Pines,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Pocono Summit,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in East Stroudsburg,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Albrightsville,PA

3 bedroom home for sale in Lehighton,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Pine Grove,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Branchdale,Pa

9 bedroom home for sale in New Philadelphia,Pa

5 bedroom home for sale in York,PA

4 bedroom home for sale in Spring Grove,PA

6 bedroom home for sale in New Cumberland,PA

3 bedroom home for sale in Duncannon,PA

4 bedroom home for sale in Harrisburg,PA

Buying a home with a partner

 There are many reasons why you may desire to purchase a home with someone that you are not legally bound to.

GOOD NEWS FOR BUYERS! Falling prices!!

 It’s always nice to hear that the price of something is supposed to drop but it’s also rare you hear those words in today’s world.

Read more at http://www.JohnRainville.com

Buying a home with a mortgage assumption

 Did you know that there is the ability to assume a seller’s current mortgage in order to get an extremely low interest rate on your new home?

While there have been new laws and stipulations made that limit this ability to assume a conventional mortgage; any FHA or VA mortgage can be assumed by the buyer if the seller agrees.

4 bedroom home for sale in Lemoyne,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in New Cumberland,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Carlisle,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Liverpool,Pa

What to look for in a good listing agent

 It’s important to have a good rapport with your listing agent and feel good about how they direct you.

You need to know, before you hire them as your agent, whether they truly fit your needs and will be the best fit for you.

All too often people will call out numerous agents to give them an estimated value on what they should sell their home at and instantly go with the one that gives you the highest number. Why? Most people choose the agent with the highest asking price because they think that’s what the agent is going to give you; the reality is it’s just taking the highest possible price that you could put on the house realistically and in some cases not even realistically. You need to know their record, their history, and have proof that what they’re telling you is truly what they’re going to do before you sign on the dotted line making them your listing agent.

• What certifications they hold and look up what each means?
• What education background they come from and how can their education help you sell your home?
• What kind of networking do they utilize?
• How long have they been working in the business and what experience do they have?
• What “team” do they work with and do they have access to everything you would need; from home staging to lenders, lawyers and more?
• Marketing techniques – are they going to simply have an open house and list your home or do they utilize other avenues; especially in today’s technology and social media?
• Trust your intuition the gut feelings you get when you speak with the potential agent – if you don’t have a good feeling or they don’t seem to be speaking from their heart take notice. Go with your gut feeling at all times. You may not even have a real reason that you can target for this gut feeling but go with it anyways.
• How well does the realtor communicate with you? When they say they will call you right back with some numbers, do they? When they say they’ll get back to you on a question they aren’t sure about, do they? Communication is key and you should never wait more than 24 hours for a return call from your listing realtor.
• Ask for a listing of their successes and homes they are currently listing.
• Ask where they are from and what they know about your particular area. If you get a realtor that’s from an area that’s 45 minutes away and they have no clue about a single thing about your particular area they’re not going to be able to sell the home AND the area, which are both important factors. Ask they what they think is in the area that will help with the sale of your home.

In the end you decide the final asking price for your home but if a realtor comes in and suggests a price that hasn’t been in line with the other realtors you’ve talked with and you’re lured to go with them because they say you can get a good $50,000 more, you’re probably wrong. The fact is, many realtors will overprice the listing for the seller just to get the listing and then your home will sit on the market because it’s so overpriced. Ask to see the CMA, which tells you what other homes similar to yours have recently sold for in your area. This alone will give you an idea as to how much you should expect others to expect; because if they have a decent Buyer’s Agent they will provide this information to their buyers. While you may think your home is so much more wonderful and worth the price because you put a sentimental value on your house also.

Go by the facts and not the feelings when it comes time to sell. If you go for the realtor who simply gives you the highest asking price you may end up with your home sitting on the market for months without even a single walk-through. This tells you that eventually you will have to lower the price and then when buyers see “Price Reduced” they often ask why and wonder what’s wrong with the house. If you go with the realtor who is more realistic in pricing then you will probably end up selling your home faster and with less frustration.

3 bedroom home for sale in Harrisbuirg,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Harrisburg,PA

2 bedroom home for sale in Luzerne,Pa

4 bedroom home for sale in Exeter,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Kingston,Pa

Is it time to Downsize?

In a country that seems to be enthralled with “bigger is better” and “super-sizing” everything you would think that we would be leaning in the same direction when it comes to homes.While we most people are buying bigger TVs, they’re putting them in smaller homes more and more often.

Many of the baby-boomers are finding that less is best and double income families are finding that being closer isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But in a world where most trends are to get bigger and better why would we start downsizing when it comes to our homes? It all comes down to common sense and economy.

Who’s Downsizing?

For baby boomers they’re finding that, like most retirees, the homes they once felt they needed to hold three kids and family gatherings are now just too big to take care of. As our population ages their needs are changing and they find that spending less on housing is a positive thing; especially when on fixed incomes. They’d rather be out golfing or vacationing instead of worrying about keeping up an oversized house that no longer serves their purpose.

While you would think most families would be moving into bigger places, often the exact opposite is true. Many families are finding that kids can live just fine sharing bedrooms and not having huge family rooms to be entertained in. Instead, with both parents working and kids running after school & weekends families are finding that they really want less to take care of when it comes to being at home. Other times families decide to downsize their home to make life more affordable on one income; allowing one spouse to stay home and raise the children.

Why Downsize?

While there will always be a need for big houses, many are downsizing for different reasons. Some downsize for cost efficiencies while other for ease of care. So what are the pros of downsizing your home?

• Less cleaning and maintenance is needed with smaller homes and smaller rooms. Having fewer rooms to keep clean and maintained means giving families more free time to do things they enjoy doing; especially when both partners are working while kids are involved in various social and sporting events. Huge homes can overwhelm a family when they’re spending less and less time at home and more time out having fun and enjoying extracurricular activities. Coming home to a house that needs vacuumed, dusted, and picked up isn’t fun for anyone but it’s a lot less fun if you have a huge house to contend with.
• Smaller homes generally mean smaller mortgages. If you’re trying to pinch pennies and stay afloat in today’s economy a smaller mortgage is definitely a positive thing. You seem to miss that extra “sitting room” and spare bedroom a whole lot less when you sit down each month and write out that mortgage payment. With aging baby boomers they are finding they need to free more money up for necessities in life such as medications and medical bills. They want to have access to more funds to enjoy life and not to be stuck inside the walls of a huge showcase home. Vacations are more appealing than a huge home filled with empty rooms of furniture that go unused.
• Utility bills are often reduced when you downsize your home. Common sense tells us it’s generally less expensive to air condition and heat a smaller house than a big oversized home. In today’s economy everybody is trying to save money and smaller utility bills make everyone happier.
• Less money spent on decorating and collecting. When people live in smaller areas they tend to buy less “stuff” to collect and decorate with. With fewer spaces to store things it becomes easier to stop buying more Christmas decorations because you have less space to store it out of season.
• Less clutter is a definite benefit of a smaller home. When you’re packing to move from a larger home to a smaller one you’re going to find yourself de-cluttering almost every room. That huge ceiling to floor bookcase you had filled with books won’t have a place in your smaller home so you will most likely start giving them away or donating them or finding a way to store them in basements or attics. Soon you’ll realize that those can be removed from there and are serving no real purpose and next thing you know you’ll end up with less and less clutter.

Other Benefits of Downsizing

• Many who choose to downsize also choose which one or two rooms they are willing to spend more on; for example a gourmet kitchen. When you have less room to work with you find that the rooms you do have are given more attention and are created to serve the purpose of your entire household in a more streamlined and better way.
• Often those who downsize and already have a home are going to make a substantial amount of money if they’ve lived in their home for a lengthy period of time. The equity they’ve made or perhaps even paid off a mortgage will be money in their pocket when they have to use a portion of the funds to buy their new smaller, cozier house.

So should you downsize by buying a home and then selling yours or should you sell your home first and then downsize? Be informed. The best person to answer that question is your agent. Your agent knows the market, especially for your particular area, and can advise you which direction you should go when downsizing. They can guide you so your move goes smoothly and as perfect as possible. Each locale and each situation is different; so what may be a good time for one person or family to sell may be a “not so good” time for someone else. Talk it out and make that decision as a well-informed consumer.

Selling Your Home in a Market Filled with Short Sales and Foreclosures

 In many areas the housing market is inundated with homes in foreclosure and short sales. How can your home stand out and be noticed when buyers look everywhere and see homes selling for much less than their value, simply because of the situation the home owner is in?

2 bedroom home for sale in Lansford,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Harrisburg,Pa

3 bedroom home for sale in Harrisburg,Pa

4 bedroom home for sale in Hanover,Pa

2 bedroom home for sale in New Cumberland,Pa

2 bedroom home for sale in New Cumberland

2 bedroom home for sale in Harrisburg

3 bedroom home for sale in Steelton

Option Arms and Interest Only Mortgages

It’s the epitome of the American Dream to own your own home but often the dream can run away quickly with the onslaught of being caught up in a situation where you’re struggling to make mortgage payments.

There are some options out there to help you make your mortgage payments and they may or may not be for you.

Let’s discuss some of the mortgage options out there when you’re worried about starting out making mortgage payments that may overwhelm you. There are options that can help you slide into making larger, “real” mortgage payments but these come with a cost.

Two Options

There are some lenders out there that help you make it through the first few years of your mortgage by offering two different options.

Option A – is allowing you to make only a specified minimum payment that could be less than the monthly interest on your loan. Option A is referred to as a payment-option ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage).

Option B – allows you to pay the interest only on the mortgage for a set number of years at the beginning of the loan term. Option B is referred to as an I-O Mortgage (Interest Only).While both sound attractive, especially if you’ve used everything in your savings to get a down payment for a house you may want to be certain you can handle the consequences of these options also. These periods where you pay interest only can generally run between three and ten years, depending upon the lender and situation.

Different lenders may have different names for these types of loans but the general idea is the same in either case. There are pluses and minuses to each and you want to be sure you understand the rules, regulations and possibilities involved with each.

What To Beware Of

In the case of payment-option ARMs you have to realize that if you’re not making your full payments you may be leaving behind a substantial amount of unpaid interest that will be added onto the balance of your mortgage. In the end you will be paying more than you originally borrowed or the original disclosed total borrowed. Most likely your mortgage payment will increase and can increase in regular increments or at a whim, depending upon the agreement and lender.

You want to be sure that at that point of increased payments you can handle the increase without issue; however you don’t always know how large those payments will be since the interest rate is adjustable. You don’t want to put off paying in the beginning of your loan only to make yourself even tighter budgeted with a larger mortgage payment later unless you absolutely must. In the end you could have a mortgage type of “sticker shock” when you get that first larger mortgage payment due.

Generally ARMs with payment-option plans have three types of plans:

• Limited Payment Plans – (sometimes referred to as minimum payment plans) – these are less than the normal amount due each month and usually you pay little to nothing on the principal and either part or all of the interest due for those payments included in the plan. In this case any interest you do not pay will be added to the principal increasing both the interest and the total amount owed to the lender.
• Traditional Interest & Principal Payment Plans – this is where your loan is set for a specific amount of time such as a 15 year, 30 year, or 40 year term. In this case you pay your normal payments on both the principal and the interest; however the interest can go up at any point in time according to the market or go down if the market decreases. It is usually rare however that you will see your interest decrease but it can happen.
• Interest Only ARM Plan – this is often very much like and sometimes even identical to an I-O Mortgage where you pay the interest for a set term of years and nothing on the principal. The interest rates are normally very low for the first few months and then increases slowly after that to the normal range of what rates are at the current time. This may seem appealing but in the end you may be making payments that won’t even cover the total interest due plus still owe your entire principal. Adding the unpaid interest to the principal is termed negative amortization. This can lead to huge mortgage payments when the term is over.

  With an I-O Mortgage you may end up with payments that are double or even triple of what you originally expected once you’ve completed your interest only payments. This can be a real burden, especially if you’ve been experiencing small mortgage payments with interest only payments. While those small payments may be a necessity for some unforeseen reason in the beginning, those huge payments can put you under quickly if you’re not ready for it.

  In essence you end up paying off a 30 year mortgage plus interest in 25 years or less; thus making those payments increase immensely. Most lenders who offer an I-O Mortgage only offer it with an adjustable rate mortgage attached meaning that your interest rates and payments can change as often as monthly or every few months to every few years.

There are Some Limitations To Keep You “Safe”

Although it may sound like it’s all negative if you take one of the options offered that’s not necessarily true. There are many reasons to opt for one of these types of loans; including a recent loss of job right in the middle of the home buying process, a major change in income for any reason from a death in the family to a sudden illness, and more. They aren’t for everyone and they aren’t an easy way out of paying for a mortgage but they provide an option if needed.

Most ARMs do have limits that kind of act as a safety net as to how much a loan can increase and how high your total balance owed can reach. Some have ceilings or payment caps on the total monthly payment that can be reached while others may not. These are things you have to ask the lenders if you are shopping for these types of loans. Be sure you know all there is to know about the loans before you sign.

It’s never a bad idea to have a Buyer’s Agent working with you who is experienced with these different types of loans also. Many Buyers’ Agents feel comfortable guiding you with loan information due to their experience while others may not feel as comfortable. Know ahead of time where your agent stands when it comes to assisting you with guidance and knowledge about different types of loans.

In the end it’s your decision as to what type of loan you choose and why but like with anything you buy you should go into it knowing the details and pros and cons of the loan. In any case, you can never have enough professional guidance to help you along.