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...

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...

4 Exterior Renovations That Increase Your Home's Value If you're considering selling your home, you're likely looking into improvements that bring the highest return on your investment. Should you revamp the kitchen or the bathroom? Finally finish the flooring in the basement? According to a new study from the Appraisal Institute, the home improvement that offers the greatest bump in home value is actually the exterior. "The latest research shows that home renovations focused on the exterior of a property are most likely to generate a positive cost-to-value ratio," says Appraisal Institute President Stephen S. Wagner, MAI, SRA, AI-GRS. "However, not all home improvement projects offer a full return on investment – cost doesn't necessarily equal value." According to Remodeling magazine's most recent Cost vs. Value report, the projects with the highest expected return on investment are: Garage door replacements.  Garage door looking sh...

Kitchen Upgrades Worth Their Weight in Resale Value If a kitchen renovation is on your radar screen, and you plan to stay in your home long-term, you can figure on spending $20,000 or more – especially if you plan to rip out counters and re-configure your space. But if you’re thinking of upgrades that increase your home’s resale value, as well as your own enjoyment, there’s a lot you can do at minimal cost to bring your kitchen up to date. Designers advise putting your money into six specific areas to get the most bang for your update buck: Appliances  – Replace basic white or black appliances with stainless steel, which will not only update the look of your kitchen but will likely be more energy efficient. Cabinets  – It’s amazing what a coat of white paint will do to make your kitchen pop. But if tired, old cabinets are beyond painting, re-facing them will save you big bucks over replacing them. Hardware  – Replacing standard cabinet hardware with fres...

What Is a Negotiated Debt Settlement? If you’re buried by credit card debt, a negotiated debt settlement with your creditor may be worth checking into. Negotiated debt settlement is a general term for discharging debt in a way that appeals to the credit card holder and the card’s issuer. It’s best to negotiate from a position of strength by not having submitted late payments or having missed them, which can cause a credit score to fall. If that happens, cardholders will likely have a harder time getting concessions in a negotiated debt settlement. Instead, they should start talking to their creditor soon after realizing they’re having trouble repaying their debts. -Forbearance There are a few types of negotiated debt settlements, and the simplest one is called forbearance. Banks offer these programs to reduce interest rates, waive late fees and extend repayment terms. Forbearance doesn’t forgive any debt, but offers better terms for repayment. Unemployed cardholders ty...

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...

First Time Home Buyers Guide... Adulting is hard…but it’s a lot of fun! One of the most fun yet stressful things you’ll do in life is buy your first home. It’s a very exciting time in life that brings promise of what the future holds. The way to have the BEST possible experience is to be sure you’re well educated on the process so you can avoid pitfalls that are often very costly. Here’s a guide to help you along the way. Are You Read To Buy? The very first step is to be sure you’re ready to buy a house. Buying a house brings a lot of responsibility that includes, at the least, being able to pay the mortgage and bills as well as the maintenance and upkeep. Have you been saving for the down payment? Since the 2008-2009 market crash, many lenders now want buyers to have 20% of the purchase price for a down payment. There are still plenty of 95% loans available, but you need to be sure if that’s the most suitable finance plan for your situation. Regardless, you’re going to b...

5 Painless Ways to Save Money Everyone wants to save money—to put funds aside in case of emergency, put a down payment on a house, or take a fun vacation. But for many people, saving isn’t easy. One sensible way, say financial advisors, is simply to pay yourself first; put 10 percent of every paycheck in a savings account before you do anything else. Proponents say you’ll hardly miss the money you skimmed off the top—and the joy of watching your savings mount up will be more than worth the sacrifice. The penny-pinchers at PennyHoarder.com suggest five more (relatively) painless ways to build up your savings: Get a piggy bank.  Empty your pocket change into a piggy bank every night and count it whenever it’s full. You’ll be amazed at how much you save. Join an online focus group.  Taking polls and answering surveys can pay off in bankable funds. Check out sites like MyPoints, Opinion Outpost and Inbox Dollars, which may pay you more than $700 a year for taking s...

Eric Mitchell Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices C. Dan Joyner, REALTORS 5 Tips for Staging Your Home A few small changes can go a long way when it comes to selling your home and staging is one of the most effective ways to help speed up the process. If you want to maximize the charm for prospective buyers, here are five easy tips to get your home ready for the market. Clean the Inside and Out It should go without saying, but a top-to-bottom cleaning is in full order. If that means hiring the pros to power wash the exterior and make the windows shine, it’s money well spent. The kitchen and bathrooms should be sparkling clean whenever there’s a showing scheduled. Bring in the Painters The power of a fresh coat of paint cannot be overstated. If your walls are looking dated, light gray and classic white are easy choices to give each room a clean and modern feel while getting rid of normal wear and tear. Sense of Balance This one is a challenge, but you want your h...

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...