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Buying your first home is one of the most important and exciting financial milestones of your life. But before you hit the streets with a realtor, you need to have a good sense of a realistic budget. Just how much house can you afford? You can determine how much house you can afford by following three […]

1. School Quality The quality of schools zoned to the property was the primary deciding factor for over 85 percent of great tenants we interviewed. Schools are extremely important to families and single parents with school-aged children, and those tenants use this factor as an acid test. To these prospective tenants, if schools aren’t good, […]

In the best circumstances, selling your home isn’t something you do in a rush. It calls for planning and preparation. But if you’re like most homeowners, you probably aren’t sure exactly where to start. Try following these steps: Now 1: Pick a dateAssuming you don’t have to get across country for a new job next […]

Mortgage recasting is one way to reduce your monthly mortgage payments. It’s less common than refinancing or modifying a loan, and it’s rarely advertised, but it decreases mortgage payments for those who can apply a lump sum toward their loan’s principal. What is recasting your mortgage? When you recast your mortgage, you pay your lender […]

Now hiding stuff may seem like your best option, right? You just sweep the dirt under the rug and move your stuff in the garage. Easy. But that theory may also backfire. According to Galindo, the places you might hide all your junk —the garage, the basement, the closets —are often the areas you want […]

Get this: Nearly 1 in 10 American households rents a storage facility, and there are 4 times more storage facilities in the country than Starbucks. Statistics show that most people who pay to rent a storage unit already have a garage, attic, or basement. So what does that tell us? We have too much stuff. Friel […]

As we said in the previous week’s article, not every item in your house will be right for resale. But you will likely have several pieces in your home that can be resold. The key is finding the right stuff. Consider the items in your home that are rare or vintage or in perfect condition […]

Get in the giving spirit and donate what you can (you can’t sell everything!) Selling stuff sounds great in theory—get rid of all the things you currently don’t need, want, or use, and make a buck (or several hundred). What could be better? But the reality is that all that pricing, mailing, tagging, and organizing […]

Between the collectibles or keepsakes, treasures from your travels, garage sale finds or those 15,000 pieces of junk mail you’ll receive in a lifetime, you no longer know for certain who is in charge—you or your stuff. You’re not alone. Americans spend $1.2 trillion every year on items they don’t need, while 1 in every 11 U.S. households rents […]

The holiday season from November through January is often considered the worst time to put a home on the market. While the thought of selling your home during the winter months may dampen your holiday spirit, the season does have its advantages: holiday buyers tend to be more serious and competition is less fierce with […]