Real Estate Articles

1. Oregon Real Estate – Going Hip and Green

By Raynor James Located in the Pacific Northwest, Oregon is hip state that gets a lot of rain. This rain results in a beautiful green state, but doesn’t put a damper on the real estate market. Oregon From the stunning Crater Lake to Pioneer Square in Portland, Oregon is a diverse state. The population ranges from hippies to the very conservative depending upon where you happen to be standing. There are for... read more

2. Home Buying – What Is That Noise!?!

By Raynor James You’ve found the perfect home, closed escrow and just finished moving in. As you happily fall asleep, all seems well in the world. An hour later, you bolt up in bed to an ear splitting sound. All is no longer well in the world. An Unholy Racket If you saw the movie “My Cousin Vinny”, you know what I’m talking about. For those that haven’t, the movie centers on a lawyer, Vinny, who comes to ... read more

3. Selling Your Home on Your Own – Examples of Problems and Solutions

By Raynor James What can go wrong? About a gazillion things, but this is true if you’re working with a broker, too. A broker is probably more experienced than you, and may well have confronted and solved your problem on a previous home sale. If you can stay calm and think under stressful conditions, you can be your own problem solver without the need for a broker. Plus, there is no guarantee the broker will get i... read more

4. 3 Top Real Estate Investing Methods for Maximum Wealth

By Steve Majors 3 Top Real Estate Investing Methods for Maximum Wealth (by Steve Majors - The Lazy Investor) ------------------------------------------------------------- Real Estate investing can be used to gain wealth in three major ways – 1. Long-term Real Estate investing is most often utilized using appreciation as a planning tool. Historically, Real Estate has doubled in value every 11 year... read more

5. Ohio Real Estate – Large Cities and Little Farms

By Raynor James Ohio is a unique state where large cities like Cleveland and Cincinnati sit next to rural farms. Ohio real estate prices mirror this diversity. Ohio Ohio was a mainstay in the industrial revolution in the United States. Cities such as Cleveland and Cincinnati spawned industrial might to such a degree that Cleveland is still the home of the most millionaires per person in the United States. ... read more

6. Maximize Profits By Pricing Your Home Right!

By Neeraj Varma By: Neeraj Varma Setting a price is probably THE most important decision you will make when selling your house. A solid pricing strategy will sell your house quickly and for the most money possible. The following will help you get set the RIGHT price: 1. Know the market: First go through the Internet or the local newspaper and find out how much houses are selling for in your area. ... read more

7. The Importance Of Internet For Real Estate Professionals

By Amanda Smith It is important for any real estate professional to understand why the internet is so vital to today's business climate, and why choosing not to get involved would diminish their profits and reduce their competitive edge. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) and The California Association ... read more

8. Real Estate Terms – From Pre-Approval Letter to Townhouse

By Raynor James When buying or selling a property, it always helps to have a basic understanding of real estate terms. In this on going series of articles, we take a look at definitions starting with “Pre-Approval Letter.” 1) Pre-Approval Lender Letter – a writing from a lender stating that a potential buyer has approval to borrow a stated amount of money from his firm based on having documented all the person... read more

9. Title Insurance – Examples of Problems and Advice

By Raynor James What is title insurance and why should any buyer get it when purchasing a home (single family, townhouse, condo, apartment, or whatever format your home purchase takes)? Doesn’t the attorney or settlement company handling the closing see to it that you have a clear title? Isn’t this just another way for someone to siphon a few coins off a real estate transaction? Title Insurance Title insu... read more

10. FREE Tenancy Agreements

By Jennifer Tweed Are you looking to download a FREE tenancy agreement? Finding a free tenancy agreement that you can download is fairly easy. But what you need to check is exactly what level of protection it would provide you and your tenants with. It is also worth considering what level of value there is in a product that is being readily available without a cost? Besides, this legally binding document is to ... read more

11. Golf and Waterfront Living: Live, Play, Relax

By Robert Flournoy In the past, golf and waterfront master planned communities catered to distinct segments of the housing market, namely middle to upper income empty nesters and retirees. Things have changed. Today, golf course and waterfront developments are designed to accommodate budgets of all levels and generally fall into one of two categories: multi-generational and age restricted. The construct... read more

12. How To Change Auto Insurance Companies

By Matt McWilliams Changing Auto Insurance Companies May be Easier Than you Think! There are many reasons why you may choose to change your auto insurance coverage to another company. Perhaps you’ve found another company that offers you the same amount of coverage for considerably less money. You might have changed jobs and are eligible for a group discount through another insurer, or maybe you’re unhappy with th... read more

13. How To Negotiate A Higher Price For Your House

By Neeraj Varma By: Neeraj Varma Negotiation is where many FSBO home sellers really have problems. The wrong attitude or a slip of the tongue could cost you thousands. Here are a few pointers to keep you on the right path: 1. Show interest in selling the house. In an effort to project a sense of strength many people either take an aggressive "take it or leave it" attitude, or they appear to b... read more

14. Real Estate Terms – From Condominiums to Deeds of Trust

By Raynor James When buying or selling a property, it always helps to have a basic understanding of real estate terms. In this on going series of articles, we take a look at definitions starting with “condominium.” 1) Condominium - A type of ownership in real property where all of the owners in a collection of properties jointly own everything except the interior of each property. Accordingly, the jointly are... read more

15. Replacement Window Installer Offers Advice

By Robert Clarke Are you thinking about taking on a good do-it-yourself home improvement project? With some simple tools and a few tips from a professional installer, you can take on the job of installing your own vinyl replacement windows. Advantages The newer vinyl replacement windows have many benefits to offer owners of older homes. First of all, it’s all but impossible to find stock windows at your ... read more

16. Buying a Home -- Is a Home Inspection a Good Idea?

By Raynor James To avoid “buying a pig in a poke,” buyers have long demanded the closing on a home purchase be contingent upon a satisfactory inspection by a home inspection firm. In many parts of our country, we’re now experiencing a strong sellers’ real estate market and sellers often receive more than one purchase offer on the same day for their home. In this environment, buyers are rethinking the home inspec... read more

17. The Pros of Purchasing Off Plan

By Rhiannon Williamson The general lack of stability or guarantee of returns available from the stock market coupled with a global housing boom have resulted in many more investors putting their hard earned sums of cash into real estate around the world over the past year or so. Some of these investors have simply purchased second homes, some have developed and flipped houses while others have bought into real esta... read more

18. How to Buy to Let

By Jennifer Tweed Find out everything you need to know about buy to let. Learn what to buy, where to buy and what not to buy. All this information about buy to let won’t cost you a penny. buying • If the area is full of buy to let property investors the supply of property to let might outweigh tenant demand and create pressure to reduce rents. • Consider established areas with good communications links •... read more

19. Michigan Real Estate – A Little of Everything

By Raynor James With lakes, forest, farmland, college towns and big cities, Michigan has a little of everything. Fortunately, Michigan real estate prices are on the low end. Michigan Michigan is a state of great beauty if the outdoors is your thing. The state borders no less than four of the Great Lakes and has thousands of smaller lakes within its border. Yes, thousands. With all this water come forest an... read more

20. Home Improvement – Don’t Exceed Comps In Your Area

By Raynor James For most homeowners, the pride of ownership includes a consistent home improvement effort. While this makes sense, be careful you don’t improve the property so much that you can’t recover the costs when it is sold. Home Improvement You’ve picked up a heck of a deal on a home in a nice neighborhood. The purchase price was $200,000 and you put twenty five percent down [$50,000]. The comparab... read more

21. Colorado Real Estate – The Rocky Mountains

By Raynor James Colorado is the land of the Rocky Mountains and all that comes with it. Located in the foothills, Denver is the central location for Colorado real estate. Colorado A state dominated by mountains, Colorado is a popular relocation spot for outdoors enthusiasts. The state offers skiing, hiking, rock climbing, fishing, camping and other activities in the mountains in combination with big city s... read more

22. Avoid Problems Painting Aluminum and Vinyl Siding

By Robert Clarke Anyone with older aluminum siding is well aware of the paint chalking problem. Just rub your hand along the old siding and the chalky old paint will be all over your palm. Trying to get paint to stick to this could be a real problem. This is due to oxidation of the paint. Siding manufacturers originally referred to this problem as a “benefit”. They called it, “self cleaning”, as the paint literall... read more

23. Real Estate Terms – From Appraisals to Comps

By Raynor James When you’re selling your home or other real property on your own, you don’t have to know everything about the process. It does help to have a practical knowledge of the terms that come up during the process. Keep in mind, these aren’t intended as “be all, end all, penultimate” definitions. They’re working definitions for pragmatic folks. Let’s go… 1) Acceptance - A legal term referring to ... read more

24. Arizona Real Estate – A Good Buying Opportunity?

By Raynor James If you’re looking to move to a new state, Arizona real estate is definitely worth a look. Following is a primer of the state and the FSBO Arizona real estate market. Phoenix Phoenix is by far the largest city in Arizona and it is growing fast. The sixth largest city in the United States, Phoenix is the official and economic capital of Arizona. The city is growing at such a high rate that it... read more