Fidelity National Title - The Baker Firm, Ennis

Happy 4th from our Ellis County Team!

Do you know how to use the calculators on our app?! Reach out to your marketing rep for a tutorial!📲

https://www.fidelityagent.com/JillOtt

You’re ready to sell your house. You’ve done all the prep work, and now you need to find the right real estate agent who will help you get top dollar for your property. But where do you start? How do you know who will be the best fit for your needs? And what questions should you be asking?

Here are some questions to ask when interviewing a potential agent:

-How many years have you been in business?
-Are you a full-time Realtor?
-What is your average listing price?
-How do you market properties? (online, social media, print ads)
-What types of homes have you specialized in selling? (condos, townhouses, single-family homes)
-How many homes have you sold in the last year, and what was your average selling time?
-What do your past clients say about you? What are some of the challenges they've faced selling their homes, and how did you help them overcome those challenges?
-Do you have any advice for me as I prepare my house for sale? If so, what is it?

It's a huge decision when deciding to hire a real estate agent, and above all else, you need to feel comfortable with them.

Thinking about making the jump from your 9-5 and starting your own business? Here is what you need to know about mortgages and qualifying for a loan about consecutive income before you quit your job.

1) The first thing lenders look at when considering whether or not someone qualifies for a loan is their income history over the past two years. If it looks like there has been too much fluctuation in income, or if there are gaps where no paychecks were received at all, then chances are good that they won't be approved by most banks.

2) Most lenders require that you have a minimum of two years' worth of consecutive income before they will consider giving you a mortgage. This means that if you've had one year without a paycheck and then another year where you made $30k (which would be considered high), then those two years would need to be combined together as one uninterrupted period of time in order for them to consider approving your loan request.

3) The third thing they look at is whether or not you have enough money saved up to make your down payment AND pay back the mortgage each month once everything settles into place (aka rent money).

4) The fourth thing they look at is how much debt YOU carry compared with how much YOU make every month after taxes are taken out (credit card debt in particular). If there's more than 10% of your gross monthly income being used up by interest payments on credit cards then banks typically won't approve any loans because it means you won't be able to afford them!

5) Lastly comes credit score requirements: most lenders require that borrowers have good credit scores (typically between 680-720) before they will even consider approving any loans on their books.

So before you take the leap make sure that you consider all of these factors if you are thinking about purchasing a home in the next 2 years.

Don’t forget to join us today at 2pm on Zoom!!

What are some of the perks and benefits of homeownership? Homeowners get to do so much that apartment renters don’t. Here are a few benefits of homeownership you should know about.

- Homeowners have a place to call their own. This is the biggest perk of homeownership. You get to choose the layout, decor, and style of your home. If you want to paint your kitchen purple, go for it! If you want to put a pool in the living room, it's possible!

- Homeowners can make improvements and updates to their homes. You won't have to wait for your landlord to approve any changes or repairs—you'll be able to make them as soon as you want.

- Homeowners can deduct the cost of their mortgage interest and property taxes from their taxes each year. This means that if you're paying $10,000 per year in mortgage interest and property taxes, those costs will reduce your tax liability by $10,000 annually.

-Homeowners also have access to amenities that renters don’t get to enjoy. For example, homeowners have access to laundry facilities and storage rooms—things that are often hard or impossible to find in an apartment building. They also have control over who comes into their property and what goes on there (like parties or large gatherings).

-Finally, homeowners get more space for less money than renters do!

You have two chances to hear about the NAR Update this week! Our in person class is on Wednesday and the Zoom class is on Thursday. Which one will you be at?

These are just a few of the Continuing Education Classes we offer. Reach out to your business development rep if you are interested in any of these classes💻📱

4th of July is around the corner, where do you plan to celebrate?🇺🇸🎇

We have 4 dates for you to join us for the NAR Update. 2 in person and 2 on Zoom!

NAR Settlement Schedule:
Wednesday, June 26th | 9-10AM @ Greater Metro Fort Worth (In Person)
Thursday, June 27th | 2-3PM @ ZOOM (Zoom)
Tuesday, July 9th | 9-10AM @ Greater Metro Fort Worth (In Person)
Friday, July 19th | 9-10AM @ Zoom Partnered with Greater Metro Fort Worth (Zoom)

What is on your home improvement bucket list this summer!?

Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing Dads and Father figures!

We are grateful for the Dads on our Baker Firm Team💙

Did you know we have Baker Firm offices scattered throughout DFW?

If you have a property closing near one of our other locations let us know and you can close at that office📍🗺️

If you haven’t checked these off your list yet, time to do so🧹🛠️

Unfortunately, email fraud is on the rise. Here are a few red flags to watch out for when it comes to email fraud🚩

Contact us immediately if you think an email from one of our team members is fraudulent!

NAR Code of Ethics CE Class-✅ 🏡📚

Thanks to all of you who joined us today and a special thanks to Stephen Etzel for a very informative class.

Be on the lookout for a Short Sales CE Class coming up soon.

Take a look at the May market reports for surrounding counties🏡📈

School is out!! Enjoy some fun activities around DFW with the kiddos🐠🎭🦍🪴🛝

What is on your summer bucket list?!

Do your clients qualify as a “First-Time Homebuyer”?

🏡Partial Reconveyance🏡

Our offices are closed today in observance of Memorial Day🇺🇸

Check out the benefits of owning a home!

Our title term this week is ‘metes and bounds’

Sometimes running into obstacles is what motivates us most🏆💙

💰Seller Concessions💰

Are you familiar with a lien waiver?

Get a move on winning business this Monday🤩👍🏼