Author: Phyllis Cronbaugh

You want to buy your first home, but you’re not sure what to do. I’ll introduce the seven most common fears home buyers have, and give you information you need to base your decision on facts and not fears. 1 – I can’t afford to buy a home. If you are paying rent, you probably can afford to buy. In my previous article, I mentioned that one of the benefits of homeownership was tax savings on mortgage interest. This alone usually makes up the difference between rent and a mortgage payment. The way to find out is to contact...

If you are considering buying, you can’t help but be influenced by what was called the 2001-2006 housing bubble and its 2007-2010 collapse. Wikipedia says, “Observers and analysts have attributed the crisis to everyone from home buyers to Wall Street, mortgage brokers to Alan Greenspan. Other factors named include mortgage underwriters, investment banks, rating agencies, investors, low mortgage interest rates, low short-term interest rates, relaxed standards for mortgage loans, and irrational exuberance. Politicians in both the Democratic and Republican political parties were cited for ‘pushing to keep derivatives unregulated’ and ‘with rare exceptions’ giving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...

I received a frantic call from an inexperienced agent that I mentor on Thursday evening, June 29th. I will call her Nancy. Nancy’s client was an inexperienced buyer, Joe, who had dreams of becoming a real estate investor and was trying to buy his first property. Before every closing, the buyer’s agent should do a final walk-thru with their client, which means one last check on the house before the final signing to ensure the seller has left the property in the condition agreed to in the contract. Their closing was to take place at 9:00 am Friday morning....

Many different types of individuals and families buy homes every year from college graduates acting on a dream, growing families needing to find more living space, to those who have owned multiple homes over the years and are now considering a maintenance-free senior community. Where do you fit into the larger scheme of things? Where do you fit in? The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) says that 2016 marked the best year for existing home sales in a decade with over 5.45 million existing single-family homes, townhomes, condos and co-ops sold, surpassing 2015’s sales of 5.25 million.[1] Additionally, over...