With the tax credit about to expire at the end of the month, I have been getting lots and lots of calls from first time homebuyers who want to be able to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit! So I thought this would be a great time to list what I consider to be my Top 10 List of Mistakes that many first time homebuyers make. I welcome any comments you may have and any additional ones you ...

I have been working with many buyers & many of the homes they are looking at in the Richmond area are either foreclosures or short sales, and as everyone knows, these types of purchases are "as is", meaning that there will be no repairs by the seller! This means that the buyer of the home will need to do those repairs after closing. Of course, with many of these homes, not only do you ...

I recently began working with a buyer who is considering building a home and wants to incorporate as many green features as possible! I think this is a great idea and one that I am all for and think that we should do as much as we can to be as green as possible! But today, I came across this article that made me stop & think about some of the things that I had not taken into conside ...

As a Buyer Agent working with many different buyers over the past years, I have often wondered what makes a good, or even a great, Buyer Agent! Since I work full time as a Realtor, I am constantly trying to improve myself and trying to always find ways to make myself a better Realtor for both my buyers & sellers! So this weekend, I made a list of what I think are the top 10 areas of knowle ...

Yesterday, I attended a forum on grant programs that are available in the area. It was a very interesting forum, because it made me aware of some of the grant programs that are available for first time homebuyers. Although I have worked with a number of homebuyers who have utilized the grant funds over the years to get into their first home and I have advised many of my homesellers whose ho ...

With the $8,000 tax credit (and the $6,500 tax credit) as well as the continued low interest rates, I find myself working with more and more buyers, especially first time homebuyers who have never gone through this process before. Most of them are very overwhelmed by not only the vast amount of paperwork they have to sign & fill out, but also by the process itself. My philosophy has always ...

In today's market, there are lots and lots of homes for buyers to choose from - everyone is pretty much aware of that - buyers are delighted to have so many homes to choose from; sellers may not be so happy about it because it means their homes are competing against lots of other homes! And many of these homes the buyers have to choose from are homes being sold "as is". So, of course, the ...

In working with homebuyers, invariably the buyers begin to look at foreclosures, hoping that the house can be purchased at a great price and that, after doing all the work, will have a lot of equity into the home! And this thought is not a bad thought. But, as I have advised my buyers, not all foreclosures are great buys, no matter how low the asking price is or how low you think you ...

Recently, I met with a buyer in my office, as I normally do. I generally like to have this first meeting with the buyers to answer any questions they may have on the homebuying process, the contract, the lending process and to get a better idea of just what they may be looking for in a home. One of the questions they asked was: should I use a buyer agent to help me if I decide that I want ...

Recently, I read a blog post from a Realtor whose premise was that there are very good reasons why a buyer or seller should choose to work with a Part Time Realtor! As a full time Realtor, my first reaction was that the reasons she gave were garbage!!! But then I calmed down and began to think about the reasons this agent put forward as to why there are some good reasons to use a Part Time ...