Finding the Estate Agent for Your Property

Whether you are buying or selling a property, it is important that the agent you will work with is the the most ideal you can ever find out there. While the terms 'best' and 'ideal' are highly subjective, it would not hurt to take these standards consciously as you set yourself out in the market looking for an agent to help you purchase or sell a property.

The top priority you should consider when finding an agent for your property is his or her location. If you are selling a property in Melbourne or in any part in Victoria for that matter, it follows that you need to look for an agent who is working directly with real estate properties in Victoria. They know what properties are available for sale in the area, the buying and selling procedures specific to real estate in Victoria and more.

If you find yourself having a considerably hard time contacting the estate agent you want to hire from his office, consider that a good thing. An agent who is always out in the field and hosting open houses rather than confined in his desk means he has a lot of properties to sell, buy or auction off on behalf of his client. Make sure that you know and have other ways of contacting the agent you want to hire aside from his office number. Know his mobile phone or email address. Or better yet, join an open house that he is hosting. You will most likely see him there.

If you are buying a property, always aim for the top realtor you can find. Why is that? 

1. Top realtors are well-connected. They have their way of knowing properties for sale not advertised and even properties that you do not know are for sale unless you personally know who the owner is. 
2. A top realtor is also great at making negotiations. If you are new to buying a property, you need an experienced negotiator who can give you the most favourable price.  Your realtor can look into the many angles of  the property to haggle the price such as the condition of the home, the neighbourhood, the proximity to commercial areas and other angles that you are most likely to be blind to. 
3. And with the experience a top realtor has, he will be your voice of reason whenever you find yourself falling in love so easily with a property you saw for the first time. They will stay objective for you once you find the property that suits you – appearance-wise and financially-wise.

Take your time in looking for the estate agent who will best represent you when you sell, buy or auction of a property. Get referrals from friends or family members and do your share of interviewing the agent you want to hire. Check the agent's references by calling at least  3 of their most recent clients and check if the agent has indeed been truthful with his credentials and past works. 

If you are buying, work with a buyer's agent who is not the same as the seller's agent. The danger of working with an agent who is representing both the buyer and the seller is whose best interest has the bigger weight. Working with an agent who is exclusively working on your side means all negotiations will be directed towards your favour.

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Common Home Buyer Regrets You Should Avoid

Buying a home is a milestone for anybody. It is not an overnight decision and every move entailed in the process is well-calculated. However, it is surprising that there are still those who commit the most basic real estate mistakes that make them regret the home they recently purchased.

In the business of real estate, it is important to buy without regret. If there’s anything you missed during the pre-buying stage, you will be constrained to live with it and make amends.

A good number of new home owners regret not paying enough attention to the maintenance and repair costs of the home they are excited to buy. After all, when you like what is standing in front of you, it can easily eclipse the so-called bumps and bruises you should be paying attention to.

When one views a potential home as perfect, leaks in the roof, the poor plumbing system, the defective indoor heating system and the poorly maintained front and back yard, for instance, are easily ignored. When buying a home, the maintenance and repair costs must be well-accounted for in the bid or else you will be constrained to shoulder all the expenses to make it perfect.

Some new home owners also regret ignoring second (or third) inspections of the home they want to buy. Findings from a general home inspection should not be considered absolute. Inspections done may not be extensive, thus leaving a lot of oversight, which the rushed home buyer will manage on his own later on. Instead of paying for new living room furniture or new appliances in the kitchen, money would instead be directed to expensive home repairs. That can be frustrating for a new home owner.

A regret some new home owners feel is the neighborhood they are now a part of. A beautiful home is not entirely beautiful if the residents are not truly desirable. The kind of neighborhood you have can spell a big difference whether you will like the new house you live in or not. Seemingly small details such as a barking dog can be just as big a concern as disrespectful neighbors and high crime rates in your new locality.

Avoid buyer's remorse by asking around. Ask your real estate agent what is the social climate in the area and the general demographic of the residents in the particular neighborhood. Find time in inspecting the neighborhood prior to your purchase by knocking on some doors and asking the residents what made them interested to buy a property in that neighborhood.

At the end of the day, buying a home should not be rushed. Even when you already found the home you like, have gotten pre-approved and the bid appeals to your financial capacities, there is still a lot of homework that needs to be done. The best way to avoid regrets is to take your time. That way, you do not have to keep looking back on the steps you missed. It is all matter of moving forward

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Buying or Renting a Home: The 2 Sides of the Coin

The question of whether to buy or to rent applies to all sorts of things such as cars, electronics, DVDs, and even athletic equipment. However, the question is most strongly seen and applied in real estate.

“Should I buy a home? A big chunk of my paycheck goes to my rent anyway!”

“If I’ll go on buying a home, is my job stable enough to allow me to do so?”

These are just some of the many questions that baffle people these days. They find themselves at a loss which side to be on – to be a buyer or a renter – and when they go to one side, they suddenly think of more reasons why it is greener on the other side. 

The advantages of buying your own property are:

1. It is yours!  You can do whatever you want with it. You can extend your kitchen, add a garden, put up a fence, remodel your garage area and more. You can even paint your house blue if you want to. More than the creative freedom, having your own home is personally gratifying. 
2. Property buyers are eligible for tax deductions and other benefits. As a property owner, there are aspects of your sale that are tax deductible. The advertisement you create to entice buyers, land taxes, water and sewage charges and council rates to name a few have their respective tax deductions. 
3. Having your own home can improve your credit rating significantly. Owning a property naturally makes you look good on paper. As you improve your credit rating, you are also building your equity, which is good since you increase your ownership of your property in every payment you make towards your mortgage.

Renting also has its advantages. 

1. Homes for rent will not put a dent in your wallet, especially if you are just living on every paycheck  you receive. You get to live peacefully and comfortably in a home that does not dry out your pocket. Compared to a house you want to buy and a home you want to rent, you will be shelling out less money up front. For instance, between a 2-months rent plus security deposit and a hefty 50% down payment of the selling price of the home, the first is more manageable on your part. With most of your money intact, you can invest your money elsewhere. You can use it for a new car, a new kitchen appliance - whatever you choose.
2. If you have plans of relocating soon enough, renting as opposed to buying can work to your advantage most. Renting is most helpful if there are several uncertainties in your life. Uncertainties in income and what the future can bring are 2 most popular. 
3. If you are renting, you won’t be required to fix the home for damages. You don’t have to channel your handyman instincts. All you need to do is to call your landlord and have him inspect the damage. Your landlord will be in charge of your rented home's maintenance.

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Why You Should Buy an Existing Business: Advantages of Buying Businesses For Sale

Setting up your own business can be tedious that no amount of pep talk can prepare you. Hence, if there are listings about businesses for sale, a lot of people jump at the idea and make amends to meet the selling price. 

What are the advantages of buying a business for sale? Below are several reasons.

1. Less risk. Especially in a place where the commercial landscape is competitive, buying a business for sale can save you from the risks of actually starting one on your own.  What are examples of these risks? 
• Losing your own money – Every business, whether it is small always requires a significant amount of money. You empty your savings account or borrow money from the bank. As you invest it in your business’ capital, there is always that risk of not seeing that money again. Make sure that the kind of business you are investing in is not risky either. It is important to ask yourself: am I willing to gamble all this money on this particular business idea?
• Sacrificing your personal life – Starting your business from scratch is best managed following a hands-on approach. As you clock in more hours towards your business, you will naturally lose time to spend with your family, your friends or even just to enjoy the weekend in front of the TV on your own. Starting your business from scratch comes with a high personal cost. You have to be willing to make sacrifices on your personal relationships.
2. You save a lot of time. The majority of the time that you need to invest when starting your own business is in the beginning. The beginning is where you plan, set up your goals and objectives, devise your own logistics and hire people among many other things. When you buy an established business, the difficult start-up process is already done; you just need to continue it so initial efforts and investments won’t go to waste. Along with the purchase of the business is acquiring the existing customers, staff, contacts and equipment – all equally time-consuming as those mentioned previously. The beauty of buying an existing business is you can already measure what your potential gains are and how you can improve the entire structure. The cash flow is your immediate priority once you step in.
3. Opportunity for creativity. Starting your own business does not provide you with this opportunity. The decisions you need to make must be calculated and scientific; creativity and innovation should follow later. If the business that you plan to buy is aligned with your specialty, it will be easy for you to personalize  it for the better. If you have extensive experience working as a chef, it is likely that you will become very successful with the cafe or restaurant that you will buy. 

Your creativity and innovative juices can focus on improving the business and expanding it. Hence, if you are looking at a list of businesses for sale, focus on businesses that you are familiar with and businesses that you already have experience managing.

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3 Must-Do's When Buying a Property

Whether it is residential or commercial, buying a property should be a well-calculated endeavor on your end. There are several must-do's you need to prioritize and it starts by preparing yourself in a lot of aspects – financially-wise and knowledge-wise.

A first must-do when buying a property is to find out how much you can afford in the first place. Buying a home should make you financially comfortable and not miserable. There is no point in finding a property that costs twice compared to what you can actually pay for. There are several ways to know how much you can afford when buying a property. 

1. You can use a mortgage calculator. A mortgage calculator lets you know how much you can borrow from the bank based on the annual income that you are getting, the interest rate that applies currently and the length of the loan that you can work out. Second, identify your debt-to-income ratio. This basically shows you the part of your income that you can direct towards the settlement of your loan should you be approved for that loan. Ultimately, the amount you can loan should be commensurate for you to borrow in the first place based on what you can generate on a per annum basis. Third, know your loan eligibility. Know what your credit score is as this indicates how much you can borrow. A high credit score will allow you to borrow more than if you have a low credit score.
2. Get pre-approved. Have all the necessary documents ready such as payslips, a letter from your employer, bank records, list of assets and credit card statements, etc. You have to show to the bank or your lender of choice how much you earn, what you currently own and what you owe. Have your IDs prepared too for validation. Why should you get pre-approved even before you start looking for properties to purchase? First, you need to get pre-approved anyway, so why delay this important step in the procedure? Second, getting pre-approved can be a long, tedious and sometimes frustrating process that you need to go through. You can meet disappointments along the way as there could be instances when your application will not be approved and you need to look for other means to do so. Third, it can save your time as well as your real estate agent's. If you find the perfect home, but you are unable to buy it primarily because the bank denied you of your loan application, you need to channel your attention towards cheaper properties that you can afford. Your pre-approval will allow your real estate agent to filter properties for sale that you have the capacity to buy. 
3. Find a real estate agent that you can trust. The real estate agent you will hire will be your representative as you make your way into buying a property. Aside from being your representative in the industry, this person will be responsible in giving you the current market prices available, the homes for sale that you can buy based on your capacity and other valuable information that will make it easy for you to purchase a home. Take your time when choosing a real estate agent. Research well, ask friends and family about agents that they can recommend to you. Look for their credentials and affiliations for your peace of mind.

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