The Brainerd Lakes Real Estate Blog

Helping make real estate dreams come true Via J. Philip Faranda Here are a few things home buyers can do to ensure that they get the most from an agent. Get pre-approved . I shouldn't have to explain this. The housing industry has been bent like a pipe cleaner the past 18 months. A pre approval older than 90 days is worthless, and no pre-approval disqualifies you from being taken seriously by a seller. . It takes 10 minutes to speak with a lender and get a free updated pre-approval that shows you are ready, willing and able buyers. Practice monogamy . Often in New York, some buyers think that they can get a batter deal if they work with more than 1 agent or deal directly with listing agents. Both of these notions are not only false, they can be expensive mistakes. If your agent catches on to the fact that you are playing the field, he'll start hedging his bets also, because nobody wants to devote time to a buyer file that might not close because you are looking in anothe...

Helping make real estate dreams come true!      Attention firefighter, teachers, police and other essential workers, you may qualify for special terms to buy a home with FHA funds.  Call for more information and to see homes that will qualify for the FHA program. $6500 and $8000 tax credit possible as well. Kathleen Lordbock REALTOR/Staging & Short Sale Specialist 218-831-8001 KLordbock@kw.com

The deadline to qualify for the $800 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit is fast approaching. There are about 4 weeks left to beat the clock by finding and closing on a property before the Nov. 30 deadline. The key is that the property needs to be closed by November 30 th . The $8,000 tax credit has proven to be extremely popular. Indeed, a total of 10.8 percent of buyer’s today say that this and relevant state incentives is the most important reason motivating them to buy, according to REALTOR.com®’s July Homeownership Survey . Already, about 1.14 million buyers have filed for the $8,000 first-time tax credit. A host of additional buyers will likely file paperwork to qualify for the credit come tax time in 2010 as well. A key driver for first-time home buyers today is the high affordability of properties throughout the country. In July, the National Association of REALTOR®’s (NAR’s) affordability index was 36 percent higher than in July 2008. The typical median-income family ca...