Eric Mitchell Real Estate

  Ending Small Talk: Tips for More Meaningful Conversations Having more meaningful relationships with friends both new and old is a great goal, and it can start with your conversations. Below are five tips for those of us frustrated with small talk. Skip the weather.  As tempting as it may be to springboard off the weather, this can lead you down the empty-conversation rabbit hole and into a twenty-minute dialogue about rain. Asking about almost anything else should yield more interesting results. Think of base questions.  So, what should you talk about, if not the weather? Come up with a short list of base questions you can turn to in a flash. If you’re talking to a stranger or new acquaintance, try “have you done any traveling lately?” or “are you reading any good books?” These more personal questions show genuine interest and will actually reveal something about your conversation partner. Make eye contact.  Regardless of what you’re discussing, work to maintain or...

Steps to Take After Identity Theft Reacting quickly is essential after you’ve been the victim of identity theft. It can lessen the damage by thieves and lower the stress of having your credit card lost or stolen. You may notice when you get home that your credit card is missing. Or you may get an email from your credit card company that there is some suspicious activity on your account. Whatever alerts you to identity theft, here are some steps to take immediately after realizing it: Get on the phone Depending on the circumstances, you may want to first call the police to report a crime. If someone just grabbed your purse and ran away, the police are obviously the first agency to contact. Next, call your credit card company and ask that it cancel your credit card and send you a new one immediately. If any charges were made by the thieves, the credit card company should remove them. With anyone you contact about this theft, be sure to take notes of the names, dates, ...

Figuring Out How Much Monthly Mortgage You Can Afford When applying for a home loan, it’s important to keep in mind how much monthly mortgage you can afford. Through the approval process, lenders will factor in your credit score, income and other financial data to determine the maximum loan amount you’re eligible for, and you may qualify for more than you can afford. Consider how much you should borrow to keep your monthly expenses and family budget manageable. To start that calculation, find an online mortgage calculator. It should show you the total costs of owning a home beyond the principal and interest of a mortgage. Other expenses can include private mortgage insurance, home insurance, property taxes and HOA fees. Once you have that total number, you can determine if it fits within your monthly budget. If not, then you may have to find a lower-priced house to buy. 28 percent, a good start The Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending  Act  requires mortg...

How to Save Big on Mortgage Costs While a myriad of expenses go into buying and owning a home, the biggest nut for most is the mortgage payment. Here are five great tips from Bankrate for reducing mortgage costs—both before and after you purchase a home. First, get pre-approved for your mortgage, not just pre-qualified. Preapproval involves the lender doing their due diligence by pulling your credit report, verifying your income and taking other steps to determine your maximum loan amount. For a preapproval, the lender also commits to making the loan if you buy the home within a set amount of time. The lender doesn’t review your information for a prequalification and, therefore, there’s no guarantee the loan will be approved. If you’re looking to buy a newly built home, ask about builder incentives, such as discounted upgrades or reduced closing costs when you use an affiliated lender. According to Bankrate, instead of cutting the price of a new home, the homebuilder will som...

Buying Your First Home? Simple Tips to Keep the Process Running Smoothly While buying your first home can be nerve-racking, paying attention to the following items will go a long way toward putting your mind at ease as you make your way through the process.   Get your finances in check.  Just because you have money in the bank doesn’t mean you will qualify for a mortgage. Meet with a financial advisor and get a handle on what you can truly afford. If you want to do the numbers yourself, make sure to create a comprehensive list of every possible expense—loans, student debt, monthly expenses, etc.—and don’t rely on your lender to figure out a total for you. Lenders look at your debt-to-income ratio and not necessarily your day-to-day spending habits. Choose an agent.  Buying a new home will likely be one of the biggest decisions of your life, therefore, it’s important to take your time when choosing an agent. Not only do you want someone who is willing to c...

6 Myths of Selling a Home As soon as you start to think about selling your house you probably feel pretty confident that you’ve figured it all out…right? Just call your realtor, put it in the MLS system, and put up a sign. Simple. Or, maybe you’re the daring type that wants to save all those selling fees and sell the house yourself. You, my friend, are exactly who I need to clarify a few things for before you begin the process. Selling a home takes science in the form of researching the market to determine pricing, developing a pricing strategy based on comparable homes on the market, and putting together the marketing plan. Yes, marketing is the second most important aspect of selling a home…second to pricing…but arguably, is more important because the right marketing plan can bring a higher selling price. So, before you list your house, check out this list. Myth 1. You Can Sell It Yourself The first thing sellers think about is the cost to sell. Realtor commissions, c...