Excellent New Zealand real estate tricks and tips from Kelly Vienna Smith? Sure, interest rates are low right now—which can help with affordability. Just be careful not to let that pressure you into buying a house when you aren’t really ready. A super low interest rate on a house you can’t afford is still a bad deal. So remember to stick to our advice on monthly payment limit, down payment amount and mortgage type (see Trend #2) and you’ll be in great shape! If interest rates stay low, buyers will be more motivated to buy your home sooner than later. But if interest rates do start to increase later in the year, just plan for your house to be on the market a little longer. If you don’t plan on moving anytime soon, you might still be able to take advantage of these super low interest rates and shorten your payment schedule by refinancing your mortgage. Find more info on Kelly Smith New Zealand.
Renovating increases the house value says Kelly Vienna Smith : Renovating involves making countless decisions, from which improvements to make and the choice of fixtures and fittings, down to the route for new services such as plumbing, or how details should be finished off. Many of these decisions need to be made quickly if they are not to hold up work, and so you need to allow time for this, based on what will be the most practical and aesthetically pleasing solution. If you leave such decisions to builders, they will invariably do whatever is easiest and quickest for them, and this can look awful. The trouble is, once the work is done, you have to pay twice if you later want to make changes and the builders will hate you for it too. A good builder should warn you well in advance of the decisions that they need you to make. Listen to them, spend time on site visits, and keep up to speed.
Kelly Vienna Smith Dunedin New Zealand real estate tip for today: Once you select a lender, you should speak with a loan officer as quickly as possible. At this point, there is one thing you should know. Pre-qualifying means absolutely nothing. All pre-qualifying does is determine the amount of the loan you could qualify for based on factors such as your credit, salary, etc. It does not guarantee that a lender will actually loan you the money. It’s more important to get PRE-APPROVED. Pre-approval means that your application has been submitted to a lender who is willing to extend you a specific loan amount, pending a property and appraisal. Being pre-approved lets you know that you won’t be denied for a loan, and it also provides you with leverage to negotiate the purchase price of a home with the seller.
I highly recommend sketching and planning every inch of your project before you begin. Every time you change your mind it will cost you time and ultimately money. We only have one significant change throughout our entire home renovation process and while I knew it was the best decision, it still cost us. Make up your mind and don’t change it. While I didn’t want to deal with sourcing materials on my own, I do understand why so many people pay contractors for labor only and take care of materials themselves. Contractors often have a premium that they add on top of certain items when they purchase them and you can end up paying upwards of 30% more for certain materials. It’s best to hire for labor only.
Just because 2021 will be a seller’s market once again, at least in popular markets, doesn’t mean you can’t negotiate. You can still get into a bidding war, win the thing, and then inspect the heck out of the house. Inspections are key to determining what will need to be addressed once the home changes hands, and what the seller will need to do to compensate you for those issues. If you don’t get a quality inspection (or two), you will have a difficult time asking for credits for closing costs or even a lower purchase price. Take it very seriously, the return on investment can be staggering. Also know that in some markets, buyers may have the upper hand in 2021. Not all real estate markets are red-hot anymore, so you might be able to bid below asking and still get money for repairs.