Deciding to Wait Out the Market and Rent Your House?
Be careful – The rules have changed! Previously, if you decided to keep your current home and rent it out, you could offset your mortgage debt by obtaining a lease on your property. The mortgage company would give you credit for 75% of your rental income. For example: Your tenant pays you $1500/mo 75% of [...]
What Improvements Should I Make to Increase the Value of My House?
How Much Are Your Home Improvements Really Worth?* Improvement               Cost                ^ in Sales Price           % Return Home Staging           $403-$584             $1938-$2431          343% Clean/Declutter        $190-$318            $1505-$1937          578% Landscape                 $378-$546             $1718-$2158          319% Plumbing/Elect         $436-$621             $1205-$1590          164% Repair Flooring         $628-$878             $1633-$2061          145% Update Kitch/Bath     $1404-$1828          $3216-$3934          121% Replace Carpet          $562-$808             $1532-$1950          154% Paint Exterior            $663-$938             $1757-$2205          147% Paint Interior             $651-$920             $1741-$2179          150% *According to 2007 HomeGain [...]
Foreclosures – Don’t let history repeat itself!
What happened? Why are we seeing so many short sales and foreclosures everywhere? Who is responsible for this? How can I avoid this from happening to me? Are all “specialty” mortgages bad? Let’s look at the big picture. We had a great real estate run for many years. Here in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, we [...]
