Pete Doty & Company, Inc

If you have sufficient equity, you may be able to pull part of it out for your down payment and closing costs and still have equity available for other needs.

Keep Your Current Home as a Rental If you are moving up, instead of selling your current home, an alternative is to convert it to a rental.

This could be just what you needed to buy now.

Want to Raise Your Credit Score Becoming an authorized user can be one of the quickest ways to improve your credit score which can help you qualify for a mortgage at the lowest rate.

Not only will it save time and money, give you confidence but help you win the home if there are multiple offers.

Being Pre-Approved Before Finding the Right Home Being pre-approved before you find the "right" home can give you time to correct unknown credit problems, eliminate disappointment, give you a negotiating advantage and help you close sooner.

Homeowners are sleeping well with their investment.

Home Equity Increases U.S. homeowners with mortgages have seen their equity increase by a total of $2.9 trillion or 29.3% since the 2nd quarter of 2020.

Don't waste the excitement of a new listing hitting the market by overpricing initially.

The first few weeks of market time are critical! The highest activity during a listing period happens in the first weeks it comes on the market because of the surge of buyers wanting to see the "new" listing. After that, it only new buyers to the market who will look at it.

Most homeowners have seen their equity increase in the past few years and are pulling part of that money out to invest in rental homes.

Cash-Out Refinance A common way to release part of the equity is to cash-out refinance but some homeowners may not be eligible currently.

The value of handling hundreds of transactions over the years has the distinct advantage.

Why you need a real estate professional A real estate professional brings a lot of things to the table that will ultimately produce a successful sale.

The previously purchased Forever Stamps can still be used without adding the additional postage.

Postal Rate Increase The U.S. Postal Service raised rates on First-Class mail by 6.8% and package services by 8.8% starting August 29, 2021.

This same advice especially applies to your phone charger cords.

Handling Cords Safely Handling cords safely is about firmly gripping the plug, not the cord when plugging into a socket and never pulling a plug out of an outlet by the cord.

These are considerations that are probably not included in automated value models, like Zestimates, but experienced individuals can.

Amenities Affect Value Amenities like schools, parks and neighborhoods affect the value of a home even if they are not individually important to the buyer.

Keep this in mind. Sometimes, the highest offer is not the best offer.

Encouraging Multiple Offers Based on the current competition from similar homes to yours, it is possible to find yourself on the beneficiary side of a multiple offers.

An ARM Comparison can estimate when the breakeven point occurs that the fixed rate would have been a lower way to finance.

Adjustable Rate Comparison The ARM may be the better choice for a homeowner who knows they are going to stay in the home less time than the breakeven point.

Pre-approval is equally important for the repeat buyers.

Pre-Approval and the Process Pre-approval is a fundamental step in the home buying process especially in today's competitive market to give you an advantage to get the home you want.

If there is a doubt, include or exclude the item in the sales contract.

Real or Personal Property The answers to these questions could help you determine what property can be removed or if it needs to stay.

Making minor repairs is part of the responsibility of owning a home that will save both time and money.

Homeowners Need to Know In the Boy Scouts, a certification, called a Totin' Chip, is required for scouts to carry, and use woods tools; no such certification is required for homeowners but there are a lot of good reasons why it should be self-imposed.

Setting the price is the last step after you've determined which agent can represent your interests best.

Steps in the Listing Process Understanding the process of selling a home can ensure that you take all the necessary steps for a successful sale.

We need to make sure that all the members of our family make the move well.

Lower Your Pet's Stress for the Move Lower your pet's stress for the move to a new home by following these suggestions.

Inspections protect the buyer from unexpected expenditures.

Home Inspections Home inspections are intended to identify non-working items or issues in a home for sale; not meant to be a list of repairs expecting the seller to satisfy.

Your real estate professional uses this information to position your home in the market to maximize your proceeds.

Market Analysis A market analysis looks at comparable properties in location, size and condition to assess a probable price and value for a subject property.

Your agent is a valuable part of selling a home who can offer advice, bring perspective to the transaction, and suggest different ways to help you achieve your goals.

No Need to Make Common Mistakes Just because it is a seller's market doesn't mean that homeowners can shortcut some of the steps and they certainly need to avoid commonly made mistakes.

We help homeowners when they buy, sell and all the years in between.

Real Estate Review Like your annual visits with your physician, accountant, and insurance agent, a regular meeting with your real estate professional is a good idea.

The first step is to get the information you need and we're ready to do that for you.

Need More Room? Need more room? Let us help with a proven way to lower stress, feel confident and make the move with ease.

They absolutely cannot hear this enough and of course, as adults, we must watch for them.

Back to School - Bus Safety It is always good to teach and remind children who ride the bus these safety tips.

In most cases, it is significantly, cheaper to own than to rent and a real estate professional can give you the facts.

Renters' Credit Confusion Significantly more than half did not know that bank/debit card usage, current and past income, rent payments, utility, cellphone or streaming services, and how much you have in bank accounts would affect their personal credit.

The lesson to be learned is that even if a home is in good condition, taking the time to go through the steps to make it look its best will generate the kind of results that every seller hopes for when selling their home.

A Lesson from a Pro Take a lesson from a professional home stager of what to do to your home even in a sellers' market.

A simple way to create an inventory would be to make a video by walking through each room of the house narrating the different items along the tour.

Better Way to Prove a Loss When facing a loss, due to burglary, fire or natural disaster, an inventory of your personal belongings is essential in filing a claim.

Positioning your home properly in the market can be challenging in an appreciating market but your real estate professional can help you.

Pricing Properly Even in a sellers' market with low inventory, over-pricing can result in a lower ultimate sales price.

A quick calculation to see if you can recapture the cost of refinancing while you intend to own the home ia good exercise.

Reasons to Refinance Refinancing your home at today's low rates could help you accomplish what you would like to do.

Even in a sellers' market, preparation and good marketing efforts are needed to maximize the owner's proceeds.

Supply & Demand Moves Price When demand is high and supply is low, prices are likely to rise. Prices are likely to fall when demand is low and supply is high.

Selling a home, as in business, the goal is to maximize revenue, or sales price, and minimize expenses to recognize your potential equity.

Equity, Price and the Agent You Select A Seller's equity in their home is the difference between what the home is worth and what they owe. At any point in time, it is an estimation because value is a very subjective term.