Hot South Portland real estate advices today by Chelsea Crawford: The collection at the Portland Museum of Art features fine and decorative arts dating from the 1700s onward. The museum’s collections focus on American and European paintings, and also include a variety of other media like sculpture, pottery, furniture, and other creations, housing more than 18,000 works. This includes 650-plus works by Winslow Homer, including oil paintings, etchings, and watercolor. Those interested in visiting the nearby Winslow Homer House can purchase tickets at the museum. The museum is also home to the works of major artists including Cassat, Renoir, Monet, Degas, Picasso, and O’Keefe. It also hosts special exhibits, rotates its expansive collection regularly, and features spotlight exhibitions of Maine artists. The museum also offers family events and activities, as well as lectures and curator talks. Discover more info on Chelsea Crawford.
Here are a few real estate advices: While you might have your hands full with an overzealous real estate agent, it’s important not to neglect your mortgage homework. Mortgages are often just mailed in, with little attention given to where they are originated. Your real estate agent will have their preferred lender that you “really should consider using because they’re the best,” but you don’t have to use them or even speak to them. I’ll typically say get a quote from them as a courtesy to keep things amicable, and to appease your agent, but also shop around with other banks, credit unions, lenders, and mortgage brokers. At the same time, think about how you want to structure the mortgage, including down payment, loan type (FHA or conventional), and loan program. The 30-year fixed isn’t always a no-brainer, though right now it’s a tough argument to go against it.
Light is something people often take for granted but this is something you should maximize in your home. Lighting comes second to location and this is something every buyer wants in a home. When preparing your home for sale, do everything you can to let the sunshine in. You want to make the interior of your house as bright and cheerful as possible. Increase the wattage of your light bulbs, take down the drapes, change the lampshades, clean the windows, and cut down the bushes outside that block any sunlight from coming in the windows. More light makes your home more sellable.
Chelsea Crawford South Portland premium real estate market opportunities right now: This should be a necessity for anyone who is buying real estate. You don’t want to buy a home that has a crack in the foundation or needs a new roof. A home inspection can spot these and other things that are wrong with the house, which gives you far more negotiating power, and it gives you a reasonable idea of what to expect in terms of expenses for the future. What type of storage space does the estate have? Is it a luxury home with plenty of space, or is it going to be a tight squeeze when you move all of your stuff in? This is important as you begin your home search, you want to set proper expectations for how much room you’ll really need.
This is where the groundwork is laid for the search for your new home. There are several points you should cover in your initial consultation. For example: Define your needs; the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, size of the kitchen, where you want to live, your price range, timeline, etc. Determine when and how often you can look at prospective homes. Verify your contact information and how you want to be contacted (email, phone, etc.) Ask your agent about financing. They can explain the different types of available loan programs, and refer you to lenders that can answer specific questions. Review the paperwork. While not necessary at this point, reviewing paperwork will allow you the advantage to ask questions about documents before it’s time to sign them.
No doubt you’ve heard of real estate services like Zillow that allow you to browse or list homes for sale online with the click of a button. But did you know that online services are now offering to buy and sell your house for you? Here’s how it works: You tell companies like Zillow or Opendoor about the house you want to sell. They buy it from you, pump some money into it to resell at a higher price, handle all the home processing stuff like inspections, repairs, and home showings, and then charge you pretty much the same as an agent commission for selling costs—plus, some of these companies include an additional service fee (icing on their cake). They promise less hassle, but it may mean less profit for you than working with a top-notch agent who could sell your home for more money.
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 premium realtor tips in 2024 : Break Down Your Income & Expenses: Credit for this one goes to user GeekLimit on Reddit – one of my favorite personal finance tips! This is an odd little trick that can change the perspective you have about your money, and help you budget better. It’s all about breaking your income and expenses down into daily values, like this: You make $2,500/month = ~$83/day. You pay $800/month for rent = ~$27/day. You pay $200/month for car insurance = ~$7/day. Everything else (food, phone, gas, etc.) comes to $750/month = ~$25/day. That means you’re left with $24/day in spending money. Want to save $1,000 for a nice vacation? You’ll have to save about 42 days worth of your spending money. That means 42 days of not spending a dime. Want to buy a new $10,000 car? That’s about 416 days worth of your spending money. This will help you see how far purchases are going to set you back and affect your spending ability.
Renovating increases the house value says Chelsea Crawford : If you fail to get planning permission, you can apply retrospectively, but if this fails you may have to undo alterations or extensions. Altering a listed building without consent is a criminal offence. If you fail to get Building Regulations approval, you will have to prove compliance. This may mean undoing completed work. If you fail to observe the Party Wall Act, it can lead to an injunction and delay your project whilst you get an agreement in place. Breaching a restrictive covenant or the terms of a lease can lead to an injunction, and you may have to make a financial settlement or remove your alterations or extensions.