Tag: real estate

Advantages of Buying Vs. Renting A Lake Home

Posted on Glenn S. Phillips

Living in a waterfront home is a dream for many Americans, and it’s easy to understand why.

The water is enchanting, peaceful, and seems to offer a different view every time you gaze upon it. Shoreline homes offer great places to escape the noise and stress of the city as well as entertain friends and family.

Owning a lakefront home is a sweet reward reflecting success for many Americans. There are, however, several pros and cons to consider when buying or renting.

We’ve listed several advantages of buying vs. renting a lake home below:

When Owning a Lake Home is Better than Renting

  1. Building equity – The chief reason to buy a waterfront home as opposed to renting one is that you can build equity in your new home each time you make a mortgage payment. Since waterfront property is highly prized in most parts of the United States, there is less downside equity risk involved with owning shoreline property.
  2. You know where you’ll be staying – When you rent a waterfront house for the summer season, you usually have to start looking the day after New Year’s to secure a place for the coming season. Even when you’re a long-time renter, there’s no guarantee that the place you’ve grown to love will be available for the coming summer. The owner may run into financial difficulties and decide to sell the home or may choose to stay there for the summer. When you own the lake house, you will know exactly where and when you will enjoy lake season, year after year.
  3. You can pass it down – When you buy a waterfront home, it becomes part of your estate, and you can enjoy the thought of your children and grandchildren spending their summers at the house long after you’re gone, ensuring many more fond family memories will be made.
  4. You have an any-time retreat – No one says you can only use your lake home in the summer. When you own a lake home, you have a place to which you can retreat for the weekend or gather for holiday celebrations.

Sometimes Renting a Lake Home Makes More Sense

As intriguing as owning a lakefront property may be, there are some scenarios where renting a lakefront home might make more sense.

  1. You’re simply unsure about owning waterfront property – One very good reason to opt to rent rather than buy a lakefront house, at least for a few years, is to see if owning–and maintaining–a waterfront house is right for you and your family. It’s much easier to change your mind if you rent.
  2. The size of your family may change – alt=””>Another good reason to consider renting instead of buying is if you think your family size may change. For instance, if you have a house full of teenagers today, in a decade they will all likely be at college, married, and have families of their own. That five-bedroom home that is just perfect for your family today will be way too much house for you in a few years.
  3. It’s easier to forecast expenses – Shoreline homes have different maintenance needs than homes in the city. When you rent, painting, maintaining the waterfront, and taking care of the dock are the landlord’s responsibility. Not having these added, unfamiliar expenses makes it easier to stick to your summer budget.
  4. You don’t have to spend money on furnishings – Many seasonal rental homes are offered furnished, saving you from furnishing a home you might only use part of the year.

Spending the summer in a lake home can create memories that your family will enjoy for the rest of their lives. While buying such a property is certainly intriguing, it’s wise to weigh the pros and cons of owning versus renting.

Understanding Endangered Species Along Your Shoreline

Posted on Glenn S. Phillips

As a homeowner, one of the best real estate investments you can make is in waterfront property. Homes on the water make excellent retirement or vacation homes because of their location and natural beauty. They also present special challenges though when it comes to endangered or protected animal species.

Here’s what you need to know about how the Endangered Species Act could affect your own private shoreline.

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Questions to Ask About Your Local HOA Before Buying

Posted on Glenn S. Phillips

Before deciding to purchase a home (lakefront or not), one of the most important things you must do – one that buyers often forget – is to speak to the homeowner’s association (HOA) before buying.

The homeowner’s association is the organization that sets the regulations and rules for the community. Regulations and rules that often affect what you can and can’t do with your property.

Because of this, the following are a few questions that you should be sure to ask the local homeowner’s association before deciding to purchase any new house:

1. What are the rules?

You won’t want to break any rules simply because you don’t know what they are. Not to mention, it’s good to know what the rules are up front in case they end up restricting you from doing something that you wanted to do.

For example, some homeowner’s associations won’t allow you to build any additional structures onto your property. Such a restriction would be problematic if you were looking to add a deck, patio, or porch area.

There are smaller rules to be on the lookout for as well, such as whether you’re allowed to have pets. What a disaster it would be if you bought a home only to find out you’re not allowed to keep your dog there! Be sure to take a look at the list of restrictions that the homeowner’s association has put into place.

Some commonly covered guidelines in homeowner’s association rules and regulations include:

  • The home paint color
  • The ownership of pets
  • Where you are allowed to park
  • Whether you can build decks or patios
  • Whether you can run an at-home business
  • What type of landscaping you’re allowed to do
  • Whether you can have satellite dishes
  • How high your fence can be
  • Whether you can have a fence on your property
  • Whether you can put up mailboxes, flags and other items in your yard

2. How much are the dues?

If you live in a neighborhood that has a homeowner’s association, then you’ll have to pay dues. These dues vary from one homeowner’s association to another in both cost and how often payment is due. Typically, dues are paid monthly, quarterly, or yearly. As soon as you become a homeowner within the community, you’ll be legally obligated to pay these dues. It’s important to figure out what the dues are ahead of time so that you can better plan out your financial arrangements.

3. How often are the dues increased?

Find out how often HOA dues are increased and by how much. If dues don’t change often – and when they do they are by a small amount – then you won’t have to worry much. However, if the dues regularly increase and by a large amount, then this is a factor you need to take into account when deciding on the purchase of the home.

4. How much are the assessments?

You’ll also have to pay for assessments that cover work such as snow removal or trash collection as well as for maintenance for community areas, such as playgrounds or pools. Just like knowing what your association dues will be, knowing how much the assessments will cost is integral to figuring out your finances and whether or not you can afford to live within a specific community.

5. What is the current state of the homeowners association?

Find out if there are any issues between the HOA and any of the homeowners. Are there a lot of ongoing issues between them? Has there been a history of litigation or other issues? You may not want to deal with an HOA that has a bad reputation amongst residents in the community. Ask the homeowner’s association if you can see notes on a previous meeting. You can often tell by the notes whether they are picky about the rules or lenient. Be sure to walk around the neighborhood and ask some of the homeowners for their opinion on the homeowner’s association as well.

6. What do their reserves look like?

Ask to see financial statements for the last few years as well as the current and future budgets. You should look at the reserves for things such as sidewalk repair as well as at the maintenance contracts to make sure that they are reasonable. You’ll want to make sure that the dues and assessments that you will pay will be put to good use, after all.

These are some of the things that you’ll want to ask the homeowner’s association before you make the final decision to purchase a new home. Neglect speaking with them and you could end up having some real issues in the future as a homeowner within the community.

5 Things Buyers Do That Drive Real Estate Agents Nuts

Posted on Glenn S. Phillips

Buying a home can be exciting. It can also turn normally sane people just a little nuts. Ask any real estate agent.

While the average real estate professional may handle several home sales each and every month, the average consumer only buys a few homes in his or her lifetime.

It’s understandable that the process can be unfamiliar and thus, stressful. However, there are a few things you’ll want to avoid doing if you want to stay on the good side of your real estate agent.

Here are 5 things that real estate buyers do that drive real estate agents nuts:

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Top 10 Real Estate Investor Mistakes

Posted on Glenn S. Phillips

Investing in real estate property can be a career, or it can be a valuable sideline. Either way, it is not at all the same as buying a home for your family to live in. It’s a business. If you don’t treat it that way, you won’t make money. You could easily lose your investment, and more.

The purpose of any investment goal is to grow your capital. Avoiding these 10 real estate investor mistakes will keep your ROI trending in the right direction.

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Top 10 Turn-Offs for Potential Home Buyers

Posted on Glenn S. Phillips

If deciding to sell your home, there are a number of things that you need to do before listing it to potential home buyers.

You need to make your home as attractive as possible to potential buyers. Part of this is making sure that there’s nothing about your home that will turn off potential buyers.

The following are ten of the top turn-offs for home buyers you should avoid when putting your home up for sale:

  1. Unpleasant odors – A house filled with unpleasant odors will turn the buyer off immediately. This can be anything from the smell of cigarette smoke to the smell of your pets. If there are unpleasant smells present in your home, you need to get rid of them before you begin showing your home. Open up the windows to get some air-flow and have a professional cleaner come to your house to help get rid of the smell. An unpleasant smell will rush the buyer. His or her mind will be fixed on leaving as soon as possible instead of looking at the rest of your home.
  2. A converted garage – If you’ve converted your garage to a home office, an extra bedroom, a personal gym, or anything else, then convert it back to a garage. Do this before you begin showing your house. There’s a good chance most buyers will want the garage to be a garage. Especially if street parking is at a premium.
  3. Pools – Don’t be mistaken into thinking that your outdoor pool is a feature that will attract all buyers. Most buyers will consider a pool to be a major eyesore. This is especially true for above-ground pools which tend to leave dead spots in the grass. Even an in-ground pool is a huge turn-off due to the high maintenance required to care for a pool. Not to mention the liability involved with owning a pool. Having a pool can even increase the homeowner’s insurance premiums that the next homeowner will have to pay.
  4. Outrageous color design – You may have a unique taste in interior design which you may have celebrated by choosing some bold colors or patterns for your home. Though, this doesn’t mean that everyone else will share your tastes. Re-paint those lime green walls using a neutral color scheme instead.
  5. Wallpaper – Wallpaper almost always looks tacky. Especially if it’s been up there for the better part of the decade or if you have specially designed “fun” wallpaper in your child’s bedroom. Not only is wallpaper extremely personalized, it’s also quite hard to remove. This adds to the “things to do” list that a homebuyer will have if he or she decides to purchase your home.
  6. Personal décor –You may think that the family portraits in the living room or the kids’ drawings tacked up on the fridge help to add a homely and inviting feeling to the atmosphere of your house. Though, all they’re doing is making buyers feel like they are walking in someone else’s home. You need to decorate the home so that buyers can pretend like it is theirs. This will give them a better sense of what it would be like to live there. Having pictures of someone else’s kids all over the place won’t help to achieve this.
  7. Meddlesome sellers – There’s nothing more annoying than having a seller lurking around during a showing.  Many sellers that do this will try to walk around the house with potential buyers in order to provide their thoughts and feelings about the house. Most buyers want to be able to privately tour the home without the added pressure from the seller. Having the seller around makes it difficult for potential buyers to talk privately. Let the realtor do his or her job and stay away from your home showings.
  8. Dirty homes – Nobody wants to walk into a home that has clutter everywhere, or even worse, that’s dirty. Make your home presentable by getting rid of clutter and doing a whole-house cleaning. Place special emphasis on the bathrooms and the kitchen. Hire a cleaning service if you have to.
  9. Misrepresented homes – Nothing angers buyers more than showing up to a home that was misrepresented in ads.  Whether because the house is located in the middle of a trailer park, or because that third bedroom is a glorified closet space. You’re not doing yourself any favors by tricking buyers to try and get them to come to your showings.
  10. Pets – If you’re planning a showing, remove your pets from your home. Buyers don’t want to have to deal with dogs or cats chasing them around. Too, some buyers could potentially be afraid of animals or have allergies.

How To Find A Lake Home For A Bargain

Posted on Glenn S. Phillips

Finding a lake home for a bargain can take time, a reasonable budget, and the ability to go outside of your original expectations in both location and layout.

Though you might not think that getting a lake house at a fairly low price is attainable, people do it all the time. Taking a deeper look at each of these factors can help you in your journey to finding a lake home for a great bargain.

Shopping for a Bargain May Take a Lot of Time

Being able to wait until the perfect opportunity comes along is probably the most important aspect of getting a lake home for a bargain. In places where there is a “seller’s market” this can be especially true.

When the right house does come up, time again plays a factor as you need to be able to get on it right away.

There may be times when there are hardly any homes on the market. Other times, there may be lots of them.

If you have the discipline to wait until the right home comes along at the right price, you can get a second home at a very large bargain.

Understand Your Lake Home Budget

Your budget is going to have a lot of influence on how good of a bargain you can get for a lake house. For smaller houses that more people can afford, you are less likely to be looking at a bargain. You will be more likely be looking at the seller getting pretty close to fair market value for their house.

Where budget does come into play is when there are very large or relatively expensive houses on the market compared to other homes nearby.

When there isn’t a very large pool of buyers for a home because of the price, you can sometimes score a good deal. This is because the sellers know that someone else may not come along for a very long time.

In these cases, you are getting a relative bargain not because you got it for such a low price compared to all the other houses in the area, but because you got it for far less than it’s fair market price.

Home Location Impacts Price

Where a home is located plays a sizable role in getting a bargain. If it is in a neighborhood that is highly sought after, there probably won’t be too many opportunities to get a home at a bargain. What you need to do is start looking away from the beaten path.

Homes in areas that aren’t as popular can often have excellent deals available. This is due to houses tending to languish on the market and a seller may be more willing to come down a lot more on the price.

The region of the country the house is in can determine what kind of price point it will be offered at. Too, whether or not you are going to be able to score a good deal on it. Places that are seeing an influx of buyers will have far fewer good deals than places where there seems to be a lot of inventory on the market.

Knowing the general market in your region of the country can help you make a decision on whether to look earnestly for a lake house now, or to wait it out until prices, or the number of buyers, come down.

You May Have to Compromise in Home Layout

Understanding what is popular with buyers in your area in terms of the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and square footage, can help you find hidden bargains that you might not have otherwise known about. A place that is popular with families will result in prices close to fair market value for houses with lots of bedrooms.

On the other hand, that same area will see sellers with smaller homes have a much harder time trying to sell their house for close to their asking price.

Upgrades on the inside and house layout can play a part in whether or not you can get a deal on a lake house.

Most people go for open floor plans these days, while some older houses have much more compartmentalized layouts. If you don’t mind a few extra walls, you can get a good house for a very good price.

The great thing about looking for a lake house as either a second home or an investment property is that you are going to be able to negotiate from a position of strength.

Any house that has been on the market for more than a couple of weeks means that you likely won’t have much competition bidding for the house, and if the current owners need to get out quickly, you can have it for an even lower price.

Solving the Lake Real Estate Challenges (in 76 seconds)

Posted on Glenn S. Phillips

Buying and selling lake real estate can be a challenge. Buyers are often far away from the lake homes for sale. Existing websites make finding only lake property difficult. Too, lake home sellers are not sure how to be found by these interested buyers.

A New Approach to Lake Real Estate

Lake Homes Realty is not just a high tech company (though LakeHomes.com does rock!) and not an army of real estate agents (we have only a select agent team).

We are a unique blend, with only expert lake agents and one-stop website of lake homes and land for sale across multiple states!

Want to know more? Our video will explain our new approach to lake real estate, in only 76 seconds!

Top 7 Questions To Ask When Choosing A Real Estate Agent

Posted on Glenn S. Phillips

Since the market collapse in 2008, home ownership may have seemed like a pipe dream for many Americans in today’s economic climate.

However, the signs indicate that the real estate industry is starting to bounce back following 6 years of depreciation and inability for many to obtain a mortgage. As such, the market is beginning to move from a seller dominated environment towards a more buyer dominated industry.

Buying a first home, or a vacation home, should not be treated lightly. Capital investment aside, it is a trying time viewing different properties and competing against other buyers. This is where choosing a fully qualified, experienced real estate agent can help.

With a wealth of knowledge in helping buyers find the house of their dreams, they are invaluable asset in the hunt for new properties. Note however, that not all real estate agents are equal. Some have their merits in different areas from others.

In order to separate the great from the good, below are a list of questions to consider when choosing a real estate agent:

1) What is Your Experience in the Neighborhood?
First and foremost, you want to establish your realtor’s experience within your neighborhood. This is key in order to establish your realtor’s knowledge of fair asking prices and the exclusivity of certain areas. If your agent is not experienced in your area, find out what regions they are experienced in and see how this compares with your own.

2) Full Time or Part Time?
This is an important point to establish. Ideally, you want to choose a real estate agent who has worked in the industry for a significant amount of time. This way you know they have a wealth of experience in buying new properties. There are many part-time realtors who juggle their full-time career with managing real estate. Not to discount there merits; there are like some very qualified part-time real estate agents out there.

However, you want to be sure that your property manager is committing themselves 100%. The last thing you want, whilst going through the stress that buying a property entails, is to call your agent and find out that they are unavailable due to other commitments.

3) Is Your Realtor’s License in Good Standing?
This is critical when hiring not only a real estate agent, but any outside contractor. An agent’s real estate license is the bread and butter of their job. Without it, they cannot present themselves as a fully qualified, professional realtor.

When faced with this question, a good real estate agent will jump at the chance to show you their certifications. If they act slightly skeptically, then you should be concerned.

4) How Many Buyers Do You Currently Represent?
Finding out how many buyers your potential realtor currently represents is a good gauge of their standing in the local area. As a rule of thumb, bigger client bases correlates with a better real estate agent. Word of mouth is a realtor’s best friend, and this is how most buyers discover their agent.

If an agent has a sizable client base then, this is likely through referrals. With this, you can be fairly confident that their promises are delivered.

 This is a double-edged sword however. A sizable client base can significantly reduce the one-to-one time you will have with your agent. New agents managing smaller portfolios will be able to offer far more interaction. If transparency is something you rate highly, then it may be worth considering a new client with a smaller pool of buyers.

5) Do You Offer a Guarantee?
You’ll understandably be wary about signing documents for your real estate agent without knowing the details of their guarantee. Do they offer an opt out period? If so, how do you go about it? Find out if there has been past clients who have chosen this option, and what the process entails.

6) What Is Your Main Selling Point Compared to Other Agents?
Any reputable realtor will jump at the chance to answer this. Typically, they will have a stock answer ready to list the main points which set them apart – and this is not a bad thing! You should be looking for an agent who is honest, has time for their clients and is a great negotiator. Be careful though, a shrewd negotiator may save you some money on the asking price however, they’re unlikely to budge on agent’s fees!

7) Can You Give Me a List of Referrals?
The best real estate agents will have an extensive list of past clients who are ready to vouch for their services. A good degree of transparency shows that their claims are always backed up and their services have been recommended by others. Ask for a list of clients in order to assess the agent’s suitability from a verified third party.