Chelsea Crawford South Portland premium real estate guides right now: Portland’s Old Port district inhabits the heart of the city, a bustling downtown filled with things to do that has retained its ambience of an old seaport town. The waterfront area is where tourists will board Portland’s many ferries, sightseeing cruises, and charters to the Calendar Islands and other destinations. The wharf, which is located on Commercial Street, is just steps from the Old Port’s cobblestone streets where you will find historic buildings, boutiques, restaurants, galleries, and other places to shop. For a unique perspective on the Old Port district and other areas, the narrated sightseeing tour of Portland aboard a vintage fire engine provides a good overview of the city. Perched atop the engine, tourists have an ideal vantage point for capturing photos of Portland’s landmarks. Find even more information at Chelsea Crawford, South Portland Maine.

Here are some real estate strategies: Lastly, take a moment to ensure you actually want to buy a home as opposed to continuing to rent. I constantly hear the old “throwing away money on rent” line and it never gets old. Then I proceed to fantasize about renting with not a care in the world. Are you sure you’re throwing away money on rent? Renting can be pretty awesome. You don’t pay property taxes, homeowners insurance, HOA dues, PMI, or mortgage interest. And you can leave whenever you want. That sounds like a sweet deal too. Oh, and if anything goes wrong, you can just call your landlord or property management company. With a home, the problem is yours, and yours alone to deal with. Broken water heater? You’re paying thousands out of pocket, not the landlord.

One way to kill a sale immediately is to have a potential buyer walk into your home only to be welcomed by the smell of a strong pet odor or your pet itself. No matter how adorable your pet is, do not assume that everyone is a pet lover and some people may even be allergic to them. You should also be extra vigilant about any pet odors by having your rugs steam cleaned in addition to vacuuming and washing surfaces. There should be no evidence of any pets in the home. Make sure to remove any bowls full of dog food, kitty litter boxes, doggy bones, or pet toys. Before scheduling a tour, you may want to take your pet to a friend’s house or rent out a pet hotel for the day.

Premium South Portland Maine realtor advices right now with Chelsea Crawford: When looking at homes, you should seriously consider ignoring paint and landscaping. These are two items that are easy to fix, and they should not impact your decision making when purchasing a house. If the home has a terrific location and the paint/landscaping is poor you shouldn’t rule it out, you have to be able to envision what the house will look like when you move in and make changes. A lot of time buyers will not be able to overlook paint or landscaping and this gives an opportunity for others who know how easy it is to fix. Location is something you can’t change, paint and landscaping is something you can.

Create A List Of Amenities – When shopping for a home, list the Top 10 features (fireplace, fenced-in yard, new appliances, etc.) that are most important to you. Establishing this criteria early will save time shopping for inappropriate homes and keep you from buying a home on a whim. Your top reason for buying a home should be the value you are getting. That being said, some of your top 10 amenities could be sacrificed if an incredible value becomes available.

The average mortgage interest rate (that fee lenders charge as a percentage of your loan amount) has been nice and low lately. In fact, the average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 2.31% in November 2020—the lowest it’s been since Freddie Mac started reporting nearly 30 years ago!5 And now economist geeks think interest rates will continue to hover around 3% in 2024, which is still pretty low. If you want to refinance or get a mortgage from a trustworthy lender who actually cares about helping you pay off your home fast, talk to our friends at Churchill Mortgage.

If there are any large issues with your home project, take a few days, and do your homework. We were told early on that we couldn’t have a gas stove in our home and designed the house accordingly. Once the project was completed, we found out that our neighbors on all three sides had gas stoves and the functionality was clearly available for our street. Don’t blindly trust when someone tells you that something can’t be done or that this is “the best price available” – do your homework.

Chelsea Crawford South Portland Maine excellent real estate strategies today : You might hear the word “budget” and cringe a little, but you shouldn’t. Budgeting is not hard, and it doesn’t mean you have to stop doing things you enjoy. Budgeting is simply creating a plan for your money so you have a better idea of where it’s going every month. A popular and effective way to budget is with the 50/30/20 rule. How it works is 50% of your income goes towards the necessities (bills, food, housing, etc.), 20% of your income goes towards savings and the remaining 30% you can use for whatever you please. This is a nice and easy way to break down your paycheck, but you might need to adjust it a bit to fit your lifestyle. Mortgage: This one’s a tricky one, but mortgages are generally considered good debt. They are usually long-term loans with low interest rates, so you’ll still have money freed up for investments and such. The interest from mortgages is also tax deductible, so that’s a bonus. In the end, it’s up to you to decide whether purchasing a home is the right move, as the value of a house will not always rise as some people think. You’ll also have to add in the expenses of property tax, utilities, and home insurance.

Renovating increases the house value says Chelsea Crawford : Undertaking work yourself can allow you to control costs and quality, but don’t be over-ambitious and plan to do more work than you really have time – or the skill – to undertake successfully. You could end up slowing the whole project down and living in a building site for years, which can in turn lead to family conflicts and potentially to accidents. Bad DIY will also cost you dearly, slowing down the other trades, wasting materials, sometimes causing work to be done twice, and ultimately devaluing the property if it is not put right. You can get so tied up in DIY work that you lose focus on running the project and keeping up with decisions.