Posts by Erich Ziebaarth

Some people consider a house payment as basic as monthly utilities but with a plan and some discipline, you can be mortgage free. Consider a person borrowed $300,000 at 3% for 30 years, the principal and interest payment would be $1,264.81 and at the end of 12 years, the unpaid balance on the mortgage would…

Homeowners know the need to periodically check certain things around the home to ensure that things operate properly and efficiently. If maintenance is required, it may be less expensive to take care of it early rather than waiting until it is not working at all. Checklists are helpful because it requires little effort to know…

You don’t have to have an Uncle IRRRL but you must be a veteran with a current VA-backed home loan. IRRRL is an acronym for Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan. To refinance with this program, also called the VA Streamline, the loan must provide a net tangible benefit (NTB) which would be in the financial…

The decision to buy first or sell first, has always been a little of the “Which came first: the chicken or the egg?” type of question. Is it better to buy another home before you sell your current one or sell the current one before you buy the replacement? Some buyers don’t have a choice…

In divorce situations, it is common, for the spouse who keeps the home to refinance to remove the other spouse from the loan. Equally as common, first-time buyers who don’t have enough income to qualify may ask a parent to co-sign and must add their name to the mortgage. Another situation that requires removing or…

Let’s assume that you have owned your home for several years. It has increased in value and the unpaid balance considerably less than you originally borrowed. In short, you have equity in the home. You’re thinking about buying another home and one of the questions going through your mind is “should we find a replacement…

With the rapid appreciation that homes have had in the last two years, most homeowners have equity. A common way to release part of the equity is to cash-out refinance but some homeowners may not be eligible currently. This type of loan replaces the current mortgage by paying it off and an additional amount of…

Based on the current competition due to lower than normal inventories, it is possible for a seller to find themselves on the beneficiary side of a multiple offers. Two or more parties may be trying to buy your home at the same time and because of the competition, they increase the purchase price, possibly, remove…

In the Boy Scouts, a certification, called a Totin’ Chip, is required for scouts to carry, and use woods tools like a knife, axe and a saw. They must read and understand the use and safety rules from the scout handbooks and demonstrate the proper handling, care, and use of each. No such certification is…

A successful home sale, considered by many owners, is to maximize their proceeds in the shortest time with the least inconveniences. Just because it is a seller’s market doesn’t mean that homeowners can shortcut some of the steps that make it happen and they certainly need to avoid commonly made mistakes. Pricing too high Low…

A well-known professional home stager, recently, decided to sell the 4,000+ square foot home which she lived in with her husband. It was certainly well maintained and by most standards, could have gone on the market immediately. However, she still went through a full staging effort before she listed the home. The work included painting…

A Seller’s equity in their home is the difference between what the home is worth and what they owe. At any point in time, it is an estimation because value is a very subjective term. If the seller thinks the home is worth more than an actual buyer will pay for it, the estimated equity…