Finding a rental property in Houston, Texas shouldn’t be difficult if you know where to begin. You need to have some knowledge of the Houston Texas real estate to do this. The first step for you should be to choose the appropriate rental service company who can make the procedure a perfect cakewalk for you. Choose a rental service company that gives you affordable rates and who has good knowledge of the neighborhood about online mortgage calculator. There are a lot of groceries and newspaper racks as well that stock free rental listing booklets. Also, run an online search for potential rental service companies.

Houston, being the largest city in the state of Texas, has huge demand for houses. You should thus research the Houston Texas real estate market first. Different neighbourhoods will demand different rates, so you will have to decide which part of the town you want to settle in. You will have to choose the area according to your budget. Decide upon the number of bedrooms, bathrooms and community amenities that you want in your home. Make a list of areas that are close to your workplace/university.

The next step should be to scan for properties in the area of your choice. Ask you real estate agent to show you around few properties. Contact the house owners and make an appointment with them to visit their houses. Look for every available property listed with your agent and start zeroing down on the one that has the maximum features that you require. Make detailed notes of every property that you visit. This will help you in reviewing each property at the end of your survey. You can also use a digital camera to take pictures of the property to document your visits.

Compare each property at the end of your survey and eventually settle down with the one that fulfils most of your requirements. Review the best options and make your final decision. The Houston Texas real estate market will give you plenty of options to fall back on.

Now is probably a pretty good time to be a home buyer. No one can tell you for sure if the real estate market has bottomed out but prices are much lower now than they were in 2005. Real estate has gone back to be a long term investment. The days are over where you can buy a house and flip it for a huge profit within a short period of time. The primary purpose of buying a home now is to have a place of your own to create memories, enjoy life, raise a family etc. The main motivation to buy should not be to get rich. Unless you like sleeping on park benches you have to live somewhere. It is just a question of whether you want to rent or own.

Here are 5 tips to finding a great home

1)      Manage your expectations – We all want that $500,000 home for $300,000 but a discount like that just won’t happen (aside from the rare exception). As a Sarasota real estate agent I get those sorts of requests all of the time. Don’t expect to find it. A friend of mine scours my area for great deals. In the last 12 months he has purchased 2 homes. Both for around $50,000 and he flipped them for just over $100,000 each. Keep in mind though that he looks for deals all day long every day of the week. He has to sniff them out and it requires a lot of work.  The real estate market is pretty efficient so properties sell for about what they are worth.

2)      Be Prepared – The first thing you need to do is get prepared. Let’s say a smoking hot deal comes up and you have not been pre-approved for a mortgage and  buyer #2 has arranged financing. With all else equal who do you think the seller wants to work with? Most likely buyer #2. Get pre-approved for financing or be prepared to show proof of funds.

3)      Work with a great Realtor – The home buying process can be much easier if you are working with an experienced, professional Realtor. New agents that are hard working can be great to work with as well.  In a nutshell don’t work with a lazy, unknowledgeable agent.

4)      Learn the real estate market – When a great home at a great price comes on the market how will you know it is a great price if you do not know the market? You most likely won’t. Sit down with your Realtor, establish a budget and make a list of the neighborhoods and areas that you like best.  Take a look at what is for sale in those areas as well as what has recently sold. This will give a good understand of the market. When a good deal comes on the market you can now identify that it is a good deal.

5)      Be quick – Don’t assume because you read in the newspaper that the real estate market is bad that you can take your time in viewing new listings. When something comes on the market get over to look at it as fast as you can. Most sellers overprice their homes from day one but occasionally a seller is smart and prices it right on the first day. Be sure to find that seller before anyone else.

Follow these 5 home buying tips and you stand a better chance of a finding a great home at a great price.

When it comes to improving your credit rating you will need to take some simple steps in order to get the best benefit of improving your credit rating. Here are some tips to improve your credit rating without having to go crazy in the process.

1. Take The Time To Pay Off All Credit Cards.

The first thing you should do on the list of tips to improve your credit rating would be to take the time to pay off all credit cards, since they are the main reason why your credit score has gone sour in the first place and it takes a long time to pay those credit cards off in the long run. If you have more than one credit card it would be best if to pay of the largest amount before paying off the smaller amount on other credit cards.

2. Always Pay The Credit Card Company On Time.

The second thing you should do in order to follow the list of tips to improve you credit rating would be to always pay the credit card company on time, otherwise you may find that a collection agency will be on the case and later a lawyer done the road if you fail to make payments. If you can’t make a payment for a month let the credit card company know why you can’t make the payment that month and be sure to keep in mind that some companies will let it slide only once.

3. Pay Off Medical Bills.

The third thing you would need to do to follow the list of tips to improve your credit rating would be to always pay off medical bills, since they are another reason why credit rating scores turn out to be awful in the long run. When you take the step to pay off medical bills you should always take the time to pay them on time, otherwise it could hurt your credit score more. Also keep in mind that if you have more than one medical bills you will need to start with the largest bill to get it paid off and then work on smaller bills.

4. Visit A Credit Repair Agency.

The fourth thing you should do to follow the list of tips to improve your credit rating would be to visit a credit repair agency to see if you have any other long standing debts that were never paid off or for whatever reason forgot about the other debts. Also keep in mind that a credit repair agency can be your greatest strength in helping you improve your credit rating.

Low interest rate refinancing can be a great investment tool for homeowners. People choose to refinance their existing mortgages for many reasons, sometimes to shorten the term of the loan, and sometimes to lower the interest rate for better monthly payments.

What is Low Rate Refinancing?
Low rate refinancing simply means refinancing a loan so that the interest rate is lower, meaning you’ll pay less interest on each payment. An added benefit of lower payments is that it frees up cash for other expenses, and could even free you up to pay off your mortgage early.

Unlike cash out refinancing, a low rate refinance isn’t done to get money from your home’s equity. The purpose of this kind of refinancing is to put money into your home more quickly and get more value for each payment as you do so.

How Does Low Rate Mortgage Refinancing Work?
By refinancing your mortgage, you’ll be essentially paying off your present mortgage by taking out a new one. What sounds simple in theory, though, can actually be complicated in action, since the amount of your monthly payments, amortization time, and the amount you’ll pay in total can vary widely from mortgage to mortgage.

In essence, it’s possible to use a new, lower interest mortgage to pay off an old, higher interest one. Whether or not it’s worth refinancing to make this switch will depend on the amount of money you’ll save in lower monthly payments (or a shorter amortization time) versus the amount you’ll have to spend in closing fees to refinance.

If you’re shopping for a low-rate mortgage to refinance your home, you’ll want to make sure you get the lowest interest rate available for your credit type and terms that you are comfortable with. Mortgage brokers may appear to offer a wide array of options for refinancing, but each will be biased toward certain lenders, so it is a good idea to check with more than one broker or bank. Online services like Lending Tree and Lower My Bills can be a good way to compare available mortgages until you’re satisfied you’ve found the best deals available.

When is the Right Time to Refinance a Mortgage?
The best time to refinance a mortgage is when interest rates are at their lowest, but there are other factors to consider as well. Low mortgage rates usually correspond to high property values, so it may be possible to refinance and get cash out of your home based on its total equity, in addition to securing a lower interest rate.

Whether or not you choose to seek low rate refinance, you should also consider the amount of time left on your current mortgage. If you’re in the final five or 10 years of a 30-year mortgage, the majority of your payments will go toward the principal, rather than the interest. It doesn’t make much sense to refinance, even at a better rate, if it means paying more interest in the early months of your new mortgage, on top of closing fees. If refinancing your mortgage will cost you more in closing fees than you’ll save in interest, it’s generally better to stay with the mortgage you have.

Keep in mind, however, that there are several ways to use a lower interest mortgage to your advantage. You can keep the amortization time the same and owe smaller monthly payments – much smaller in some cases – or you can continue paying the same amount each month and save even more in the long run when your mortgage ends two, or three, or even ten years earlier. Either way, you can potentially save thousands of dollars – well worth the effort of looking into refinancing when mortgage rates are low.

ConsumerFinanceReport.com features its own proprietary and original content that covers a wide range of personal finance issues and topics, an example of which is the article on low rate mortgage refinancing. Additional mortgage related sections focus on loan modification and home equity loans, and home purchasing topics.

Do you want to get rich owning real estate? There are several ways to do it. You can be a ‘flipper’ and look for properties that can be bought at below market value. This can be fun but it is also a lot of work. There are plenty of investors running around town looking for these types of properties so they can be snapped up quickly. With this whole foreclosure mess that we are going through there are a bunch of investors going to the Sarasota county foreclosure auctions looking for homes that can be purchased at wholesale prices. The word I hear from investors lately is that the foreclosing banks are bidding the home prices up so high that they become unattractive to investors. People need to have access to cash in order to do buy from the courthouse steps. You need enough the day of the auction.

Flipping is attractive to many people because the limited market risk exposure. The idea of only owning a property for a short time is very appealing. The only trouble with flipping is that if it is your main source of income then you have to keep flipping. You have to continue finding houses at wholesale prices. Which is tough. It is a lot of work to find homes that are selling far enough below market value to make any money. You can never really cruise or have your income on auto pilot. Would you rather keep flipping homes for the rest of your life or would you like to own a bunch of paid off houses earning you income every month?

Time Value of Money

If you have ever taken any kind of finance courses you have heard of ‘time value of money’. The time value of money is the value of money figuring in a given amount of earned over a given amount of time. For example, if you invested $5,000 today and earned 8% a year for 10 years then your money would grow to $10,794. If you invested $5,000 today, added $2,000 a year at 8% appreciation after 10 years you would have $39,767.

Now imagine buying a home for $100,000. You put 20% down and obtained an $80,000, 15 year mortgage at 5%. Let’s assume the Sarasota FL real estate market is at the bottom, prices are not falling anymore and home prices start appreciating at 4% a year. After 15 years your $100,000 home would be worth just over $180,000.  Below are values based on appreciation rates:

• 1% – $116,096
• 2% – $134,586
• 3% – $155,796
• 4% – $180,094
• 5% – $207,892
• 6% – $239,655
• 7% – $275,903
• 8% – $317,216

8% appreciation every year seems unrealistic but 3-4% might happen. Of course, it is usually not a smooth rate of appreciation. You might get 10%, then 2%, then 6% and so on.

So after 15 years your mortgage is paid off and the home appreciated. Now imagine, if you bought more than 1 of these homes. Imagine buying one home every year for the next five years. After 20 years when all homes were paid off you would have a nice little portfolio earning you rents every single month. Imagine owning 15 paid off homes renting for $1, 300 a month. That is $19,500 a month. Not a bad monthly income and unlike a flipper you don’t have to continue to find properties that can be purchased at whole sale prices. You can become wealthy taking this turtle approach to real estate.

Thinking about buying a home or condo on Longboat Key? If you have never been to this island paradise you should consider visiting for a vacation. Longboat Key is an 11 mile long barrier island off the coast of Sarasota and Bradenton. The south end is very convenient to Sarasota, Lido Key and Siesta Key. The south end of the island has a more pristine feeling to it. As you drive north the character of the island gradually changes. You start to get  more of that “Old Florida” feel to it. If you are thinking about buying a vacation home or condo then take a trip to Longboat Key. Many people have done this and have ended up moving there or a neighboring island full time. Give us a call at 941.812.6272 if we can help you buy Longboat Key real estate.

Longboat Key Video

Longboat Key Real Estate Update May 2010

• 24 properties sold
• 4 single family homes
• 20 condominiums
• Highest sales price – $1,700,000
• Lowest sales price – $120,000 (mobile home)
• Average sales price – $677, 145
• Median sales price – $617,500
• Average days to contract – 263
• Average days to close – 314

Longboat Key Real Estate Update May 2009

• 23 properties sold
• 4 single family homes
• 19 condominiums
• Highest sales price - $1,500,000 
• Lowest sales price – $280,000
• Average sales price – $656,065
• Median sales price – $640,000
• Average days to contract – 208
• Average days to close – 253

Most real estate contract have inspection contingencies to protect the buyer. A buyer has to decide which inspectors he/she wants to hire. Most people just hire a general inspector to run through the home or condo and give it a thorough inspection. If there are signs of a problem the general inspector will recommend hiring a specialist. For example, if there are signs of a roof leak the general inspector will recommend you hire a roofing contractor to come over and give an inspect the roof. Some buyers send a whole team out to inspect. I have had buyers bring out a roofer, pool contractor, general inspector, plumber, mold specialist and electrician for inspections. He spent a fortune to do it but at least he had a good idea of what was wrong with the home. You can do this but it generally costs quite a bit of money. Some may think it is over kill. I do not what it cost him to have all of the inspectors come out to the house but I am pretty sure it was in excess of a $1,000. If you do not feel like spending that much then just hire a general inspector and if they show any problems you can always hire a specialist to come in and inspect it as well.

Do You Need a Mold Inspection?

Many buyers and real estate agents overlook mold inspections. This is Florida, we have mold. It is a fact. However, you have to be careful of toxic or too much mold. Visit www.eblackmoldremoval.com for an explanation of nlack mold and what it can do to you. It is very harmful and could cause serious health problems. Symptoms include:

• Difficulty breathing
• Coughing
• Itchy or red eyes
• Headache
• Rashes or hives on skin
• Prolonged exposure to mold can lead to infertility
• Nausea
• Memory loss
• Bleeding in lungs
• Lethargy
• Dizziness
• Lack in concentration
• Vertigo
• Asthma
• Allergic reactions (such as itching of nose, runny nose etc.) of respiratory and/or nervous system etc
• Irregularity in blood pressure
• Damaged digestion and respiratory system
• Infections of urinary track, problems in urination etc.
• Pain in liver or other internal organs

A mold inspection is going to run your about $250. A general home inspector can usually handle it for you. What they do is take air samples outside of the home and compare to air samples within the home. The air outside of the home should have hire levels of mold than inside the home. If there are higher levels inside then further investigation is needed.

Recently, I have had two transactions where the home had mold and needed remediation. One of these properties was a beachfront condo on Longboat Key. The previous owners had not used it for 18 months and they had the hurricane shutters down and the were not running the air conditioner like they should have been. Subsequently, mold grew in the condo because it likes dark, humid locations. It was not toxic mold but it was everywhere. It was hard to see form the naked eye but if you shined a flashlight on various places within the condo you could spot it. It was on the stove, microwave, books, furniture, artwork, clothes etc. It required a complete cleaning which took about a week. The entire process costs roughly $6,000. Fortunately, my buyer decided to spend the $250 and get a mold inspection. She would have been stuck with that expense had she not done the mold test prior to the closing. The seller ended up paying for the mold remediation.

Another transaction I just had involved mold. You would not have known it or suspected it with this home. It was extremely clean and very bright with plenty of light (mold does not like light). There was a slight leak through some french doors. The leak had been fixed. However, there was some water intrusion into the office. Eventually, the moisture created a small amount of mold in the carpet tack strips. This was easily fixed and did not cost much. The seller ended up having to pay for the repair which was roughly $500. Again, it was a good thing that the buyers decided to get the mold inspection.

If you suspect mold then you should definitely test for it. If you are buying a home that has been closed up with little or no air conditioning for a long time then there is a strong chance for mold. A lot of vacant foreclosures have this problem. People generally are not living in the property and the air conditioning is not running. This promotes mold growth. Getting a mold test is worth the expense.

Below are May 2010 statistics for the Sarasota FL real estate market. These stats are pulled from the Mid Florida MLS system and are for the entire Sarasota county. This includes sales are far south as North Port. Unfortunately, we do not have an easy way to exclude those sales. Sales in that area drag the average and median prices down as well as the total sales numbers up. If you want specific market stats you can email me at marc(at)luxurysarasotarealestate.com. Please only ask me for help if you are not represented by a Realtor and plan on retaining my services. No one likes to work for free .

• 892 properties sold
• 592 – single family homes
• 280 – condos, villas, townhouses
• 20 – mobile homes etc.
• Highest sales price – $6,425,000
• Lowest sales price – $5,000
• Average sales price – $264,326
• Median sales price – $143,049
• Average sales price/list price – 94%
• Average days to contract – 129
• Average days to closing – 182

Below is a chart from Trulia. It shows the Median Sales Price for the last year in Sarasota. Honestly, I am a little cynical with these types of charts. I have not checked it for accuracy. However, it does appear to look fairly accurate.

The chart below shows the median home and condo price. Again, I don’t know how accurate it is. This must be for the city of Sarasota and not the county. The chart shows a median price of somewhere around $285,000. However, if you look above you will see it around $143,000 for the county.

Are you thinking about buying a home? The days of buying real estate in Sarasota with a hand shake are long gone. I hear stories from some of the old time Realtors about how they used to do that.

The first thing to remember about making an offer is that the offer is a legally binding contract. Make sure you read and understand what you are signing and not include anything in the offer that you are not totally comfortable doing. If you are uneasy with writing an offer make sure you have help. You can hire a real estate attorney, title company or Sarasota Realtor represent you and write the offer for you.

As far as real estate goes everything has to be in writing. If you or the seller said something verbally about buying the property it is not binding. Offer usually includes:

• Purchase price – This is price you are offering to buy the property. Remember, that the seller can counter offer with a higher purchase price.
• Concessions – This includes things that you are asking the seller to pay for. Examples, would be various closing costs like title insurance, attorney fees, bank fees etc.
• Conveyances – What personal property goes with the sale? Do all of the appliances stay? How about the washer and dryer? If you like the patio set on the pool deck you can ask to have that thrown in with the sale of the house.
• Escrow deposits – You need to put money into an escrow account to make sure you hold up your end of the bargain. Can you imagine if the seller hired a mover, pack up their home on a truck and moved to their next location and you just decided not to buy the house? If you don’t follow through with your end of the contract the seller needs to be compensated. That is what the escrow deposit is for. Some buyers want to tie up a property for a small amount of money. Frankly, I think sellers are crazy to accept an offer with something like $500 or a $1,000 in escrow. Hiring a moving truck alone is probably several thousand dollars.
• Home inspections – If you buy a home then you should have it inspected. Most real estate contract include a contingency that allow the buyer a certain amount of time to inspect the property. The Florida Association of Realtors contract that is widely used gives buyers 10 business days from the effective date.
• Mortgage contingency – This is the period of time where the buyer has to obtain mortgage financing. If the contract states that the buyer has 30 days to secure financing then they need to arrange financing within that 30 day window and they can only cancel the contract within that 30 day period if they cannot obtain financing. If you make an offer to buy a  home in 60 days with a 30 day financing contingency then you cannot cancel the purchase agreement on day 59 when your lender rejects your financing.
• Acceptance – This covers how long the seller has to respond to your offer before the offer is no longer binding.
• Closing date and location – This is when and where the transaction will close/finalize. This is when the seller receives their money and turns over ownership of the home to the buyers. Most contracts don’t have the exact location of the closing, only the county. For example, in the FAR contract widely used it states that the closing will be held in the county where the property resides.
• Title Insurance – The contract usually stipulates who is going to pay for title insurance. Different locations within Florida have different customs. In Sarasota it is customary for buyers to pay for title insurance. However, this is still negotiable.

These are the highlights of a purchase offer when buying a property. You will find different types of agreements with different stipulations. Some agents like to use one type of offer while another agent will use a different type of agreement.

Are you looking to buy a home? Don’t get about it alone and hire yourself a great Realtor. Here are five tips to help you choose a great real estate agent.

1. Make it a business decision

If you are looking to buy a home then you might be working with this person closely for several months. Hire a professional that is knowledgeable, hard working, ethical and experienced. Buying a home is a large undertaking. This may be the largest transaction in your life so hire someone that knows what they are doing. Your niece may have her real estate license but that does not mean she is your best option. Poke around the internet and do checking on various Realtors.

2. Ask for a referral

You probably have a friend or relative that can recommend a good Realtor. Ask around for names. Chances are you can find the name of someone good to use or even someone not to use.

3. Interview

Most real estate agents hate this tip. Call up a few Realtors and tell them that you are looking to buy a home. Either interview them on the telephone or go meet them in their office. Tell them your goals and expectations. Ask about their background and how much experience they have with buyers.

4. Is the biggest producer the best?

Rock star agents are good agents for a reason. They run a good real estate business. Just because they sell the most real estate does not mean that they provide the best service. Interview a rock star agent and Joe/Jane average and compare them.

5. Should you hire a specialist?

Some agents only work certain segments of the market or geographic locations. For example, there are several Realtors that only work Longboat Key and never go off the island. If you are looking to buy a home in Lakewood Ranch you may not want to work with one of these agents. They are fantastic agents that provide great service but they just don’t work certain areas or neighborhoods. I get calls for people wanting to buy in North Port periodically however I do not know that market well and will recommend another agent that does work that market.

Hopefully, you will find these five tips helpful. Buying a home is usually a pretty big deal. You can run with a novice Realtor and that is fine. However, there might be situations or problems that arise where working with an experienced agent pays off.