Banks and mortgage brokers use several different ways to decide how much home loan you can qualify for.

The first step is to declare your income and any other assets you have. Then they'll want to know about debts and obligations and the size of the down payment you hope to make on your new home.

Given all this information, there are two ratios used to determine your loan limits. The first number is 28%. This means that your total projected housing costs (mortgage payment, taxes, and insurance) should be no more than 28% of your gross monthly income. As an example, a family with an income of $10,000 per month could afford a monthly housing cost of about $2,800.

The good news is that there's a certain amount of flexibility allowed. A lender might make a larger loan if you make a larger down payment since it means that you are putting more of your own money into your investment and are less likely to default. There are also special programs available to first-time buyers and several ways to structure loans that make them easier for buyers who are just starting out and expect their incomes to increase. Adjustable rate mortgages can also make sense for some buyers, depending on how long you intend to stay in your home, whether rates are going up or down, and a variety of other factors.

Reduce Your Debt

The other number is your total debt (student loans, car loans, credit cards, etc.). Lenders analyze the ratio between your total monthly obligations and your income to help them decide how much money you should allow for monthly housing expenses.

Pre-qualifying for a home loan is an important first step in the home-buying process since it means that any purchase offers you and your realtor present will be taken seriously. Ask your real estate agent for a list of recommended lenders in your area.

For anyone with a website or blog, ranking within the first few pages of Google and other search engines can seem like an arduous and sometimes impossible task. Yet it's just what you need to be seen and heard. Lucky for us there are hoards of search engine specialists out there working to crack the secret code of ranking. Here are a few FREE sites designed to evaluate and help you improve your ranking while also improving the overall quality of your site.

VRank.org - A very simple one-page website where you type in your URL and up pops valuable information about your site like coding and structural data, identifying any errors and providing Google rank, load time and link popularity. http://www.vrank.org/

SearchEngineGenie.com - Truly a one-stop shop for information about your site. Just click on "100 Web Tools" at the top of the page and you will be provided with instant access to numerous data-generating programs that will allow you to check your Google rank, create social bookmark links, check the age of your domain, check for broken links and identify your competition, among many other things. http://www.searchenginegenie.com/

Host-Tracker.com - Tells you the load time of your site based on any location you specify, which helps you to quickly identify any glitch in your site. http://www.host-tracker.com/

SpeedTest.net - Similar to Host-Tracker.com but with cooler graphics, this site also tests the load time of your page by location going a step further to also test the quality of your bandwidth, gather broadband statistics and saves the data it collects so you can compare it to future performance. http://www.speedtest.net/

BrowsherShots.org - Shows you how your site looks from different browsers (i.e. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.) so you can be sure that anyone viewing it is getting  the best picture and performance possible. http://browsershots.org/

 

 

In this thrift-driven economy, we all want to get something for nothing, or at least for very little. Sometimes this results in lower quality services, products and results.

So when it comes to selling your home, does it really pay to forego the usual 6% fee (3% to the seller's agent and 3% to the buyer's agent) and make the sale on your own?

Just the Facts

Let's start by stating the fact that overall, homes listed for sale by owner simply sell for less than similar homes listed through an agent. When it comes to maneuvering through the deal making process, even confidence is no match for tried and true experience.

 

 

But let's say you have exceptional skills in negotiation. Statistics show that the most successful FSBO sellers are those who offer to pay the buyer's broker commission, which will constitute around 3% of the sale, cutting into that money you're supposed to be saving.

Costs of Competing

A savvy FSBO seller may be able to avoid this concession but there are other costs to consider. In order to compete with the Realtor-listed properties, you may want to pay a limited service broker to list your property in MLS. You may also want to pay for a professional stager. Then you will definitely need to pay an attorney to assist with the necessary disclosures and contracts, something that a broker would do for a represented seller.

What a Realtor Offers

Besides this there are lots of other services a Realtor can provide that can help your home sell faster and at the optimal price. For one, a Realtor offers a connection to a vast network of other professionals and buyers. This connection can allow them to bring your property to the attention of someone who may not have been directly looking for it but for whom it may still be a good fit.

A Realtor can also save you a lot of time and effort. Choosing one with a sophisticated marketing plan that employs internet, social media, and print media gets more eyes on your

 

 

property with no effort on your part. They can also provide staging, photography and concierge services that could prove invaluable to selling your property. In addition, they can keep track of the people viewing your property and get the inside story on what they're looking for and also what you can improve so that it will sell faster.

Perhaps the most valuable service a Realtor offers is providing educated guidance through what can often be a complex and emotionally charged process. They will handle the negotiating, paperwork and other transaction details for you while representing your best interests.

Employing a Realtor to help you sell your property takes out any guess work and toil that selling your home by yourself can cause and best of all, it ensures that you're not alone!

 

 

Nervous about choosing the wrong agent? Meet with local agents and ask for information about the marketing services they provide. Don't be afraid to ask tough, direct questions and most importantly make sure you like them and feel comfortable with their personality and expertise.

 

And if you're looking for representation in Chittenden County be sure to contact Geri Reilly Real Estate. With over 31 years of local experience in the real estate industry, Geri has been a top agent in Vermont since 1983. Geri is a native Vermonter and a UVM graduate ('79) bringing lots of knowledge of the local area. She is well known for her personalized service and attention to detail. It is her consistent, professional service that allows Geri to be one of the few in Vermont who is able to make the statement, "Thousands of Vermont Homes Sold".