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5 Things to Consider When Pricing a Home

UncategorizedChrysti Tovani
When you put your home up for sale, one of the best ways to determine the asking price is to look at comparable sales. There’s rarely a perfect apples-to-apples comparison, so a pricing decision often relies on comparisons to several recent sales in the area. Here are five criteria to look for in a sales comparison. Location: Homes in the same neighborhood typically follow the same market trends. Comparing your home to another in the same neighborhood is a good start, but comparing it to homes on the same street or block is even better. Date of sale: It varies…

Dealing with Scratched Hardwood Floors

Decor, Fixes, MaintenanceChrysti Tovani
Hardwood floors are highly desirable for most homeowners, but they come with their share of challenges when it comes to cleaning, maintenance, and repairs. After a few months or years of heavy use from kids playing with toys and chairs being shuffled around, it may be time for some DIY fixes. Hiding scratches: If you’ve got a good eye for matching colors, you can actually use crayons or markers or purchase wax sticks from the hardware store to fill-in scratches. Try to match the stain color on your floors, but don’t worry if it’s a little off. If the color…

Why A Normal Market is Just What We Need

First Time Buyers, For Buyers, Housing Market Updates, Move Up Buyers, Rent vs BuyChrysti Tovani
The housing market has been hot for a while now. Homes have been flying off the shelves as fast as they have been listed. Buyers have been competing in bidding wars just to find a home to buy, let alone find their dream home. This ‘seller’s market’ has driven home prices to new heights. Home price appreciation averaged over 6% across the country. However, home price growth has recently started to cool down. The latest report from CoreLogic shows that home prices have only risen by 4.7% over the last 12 months. Many buyers and sellers planning to enter the…

Create an Evacuation Plan for Your Pets

Pets, Prepare for EmergenciesChrysti Tovani
An evacuation plan is a necessity for every home, especially if you live in an area where fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, and other disasters are a possibility. Many homeowners create evacuation plans for their homes and practice them with their kids, but far fewer have considered one for their pets. Take these steps to add your pets to your evacuation plan. Assign pet evacuation to an adult. Everyone should know how to act during an evacuation, and that includes assigning one parent or adult to the pets. This allows the other parent and the children to focus on their part…

Is Student Loan Debt A Threat to Homeownership? No!

Down Payments, First Time Buyers, For Buyers, MillennialsChrysti Tovani
Over the course of the last thirty years, a shift has happened. An entire generation has been raised to believe that a college education is their key to unlocking opportunities that were not available to their parent’s or grandparent’s generations. Due to this, student loan debt has soared to $1.5 trillion and represents the largest category of debt, surpassing credit card and auto loan debt in 2010 and never looking back. As more and more Americans continue their education amongst rising tuition costs, this number will no doubt increase. Many housing experts have blamed student loans for a drop in…

Will Your Side Hustle Buy You a House This Year?

Buying Myths, Down Payments, First Time Buyers, For Buyers, MillennialsChrysti Tovani
The top concern for most first-time home buyers is their ability to save for a down payment. According to a new survey, 36% of millennials took on a second job to make their dreams of homeownership a reality in 2017.  Among millennials with incomes over $100,000 a year, the top ways to come up with the necessary funds were to sell stocks (20%) or to sell cryptocurrency (16%). The most popular method of savings was the most traditional; 60% of those saving for a down payment used a percentage of their paychecks to achieve their goal, while 75% of those…

Females Are Making It a Priority to Invest in Real Estate!

First Time Buyers, For Buyers, Housing Market Updates, MillennialsChrysti Tovani
Everyone wants a place to call home; a place that gives them a sense of security. We are currently seeing major interest from females who want to achieve this dream, and the numbers are proving it! In 2018, for the second year in a row, single female buyers accounted for 18% of all buyers. In 2017, 60% of millennial women listed as the primary borrowers on mortgages were single. According to the 2018 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends Report by the National Association of Realtors, one in five homebuyers in the U.S. were single females (most of them part…

7 Reasons to List Your House For Sale This Holiday Season

For Sellers, Move Up BuyersChrysti Tovani
Every year at this time there are many homeowners who decide to wait until after the holidays to list their homes for the first time, while others who already have their homes on the market decide to take them off until after the holidays. Here are seven great reasons not to wait: Relocation buyers are out there. Many companies are still hiring throughout the holidays and need their new employees in their new positions as soon as possible. Purchasers who are looking for homes during the holidays are serious buyers and are ready to buy now. You can restrict the showings…

Merry and Bright

UncategorizedChrysti Tovani
I love love love taking portaits of people. I have some beautiful images of people I don’t know. It’s sad to have captured moments that I know they would enjoy. I wish I could hand a business card to everyone I take a photo of on the street or at events. They would probably think I’m a weirdo. Just like the image above, there were two girls celebrating the lighting of the Christmas tree in Fair Oaks Village a few years ago. The lighting was gorgeous! There was confetti or fake snow in the air. I was in the middle…

The Cost of Renting vs. Buying a Home [INFOGRAPHIC]

Buying Myths, First Time Buyers, For Buyers, Infographics, Rent vs BuyChrysti Tovani
Some Highlights: Historically, the choice between renting or buying a home has been a tough decision. Looking at the percentage of income needed to rent a median-priced home today (28.4%) vs. the percentage needed to buy a median-priced home (17.5%), the choice becomes obvious. Every market is different. Before you renew your lease again, find out if you can put your housing costs to work by buying this year! Source: Keeping Current Matters
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