Buying | Page #5

Buying

If you are currently in the market for your first home, you probably have lots of questions. This is a major investment of both your money and time, so you're likely feeling the weight of this as you begin your search. Ken Richter has a wealth of experience in helping first time home buyers, and he is here to help you make the most out of this moment!

Here are some tips that will make your home buying process successful: 

Tip #1: Do Your Homework: The perfect home won’t find you by itself. A key step in buying a home is doing the proper research. Educate yourself on local schools, neighborhoods, and the kinds of homes available. By reading available materials and talking with experts, you can start to put together what the perfect home looks…

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Moving homes can be a complicated process. This is why you need Ken Richter, your trusted real estate professional. With Ken's 30+ years of expertise, he'll make sure the process goes as smoothly as possible from start to finish. Another way we can help? Check out our buyers guide by clicking here, and helpful blogs like this one to give you all the tips and tricks you need along the way!

Here are 5 Common Moving Mistakes, and how you can avoid them:

1. The Forced Move: You may be surprised to learn that many people sell their homes without any plan of where they will reside next. Especially in such a hot real estate market, people are listing their homes before they’ve gotten their bearings, and selling before they come up with step 2. Make…

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Congratulations, you have decided to purchase a home! Whether you are planning on purchasing the property for personal use or as a rental/investment property, there is a lot to consider. You may feel overwhelmed as you begin to consider all that goes into purchasing a home: finding a real estate agent, getting a mortgage pre-approved, dealing with your existing property (or properties), etc. Take a deep breath.

The first thing you need to figure out is what your wants are, versus what are you needs when it comes to your new property. Here is what to do:

Make a list with two columns. One column will be for your wants, the other for your needs. 

Address the wants column first. After all, this is where you get to have fun! Your wants list may…

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In today's blog we have two items of note we are excited to share!

The first comes from Ken Richter, who writes, "I would like to personally Thank my Team, Family and all of my Valued Clients for their continued support contributing to my success as a "2021" Year-End "TOP 4" Individual Real Estate Agent at RE/MAX Real Estate (Central), the #1 Selling RE/MAX Office Worldwide for 22 Years!" This is a major accomplishment and great news to kick off the 2022 New Year! 

Second, the Calgary Real Estate Board has released their 2022 Calgary Real Estate Market Forecast Report. This is a valuable report for buyers, sellers and investors to read and understand, as it gives insight into the market that will help you strategically make decisions for the…

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In this day and age people have access to information that makes it easier for them to act as their own realtor. However, here are the top 3 reasons why having a real estate agent is so useful:

1). Experience: Here at Team Ken Richter we like to make sure our clients know that our experience is their advantage. With over 30 years of experience, we have truly seen it all. We have weathered many different market conditions, helped all different types of buyers and sellers, and have watched the City of Calgary grow and change. We apply our years of experience to every aspect of our business. When you partner with Team Ken Richter, our experience will help guide you in ways that no google search can. 

2). Knowledge: The knowledge we have gained from…

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When people start to think about buying a home, they normally opt for the springtime to be their point of entry. After all, everyone knows that the spring and summer are the busiest times of the year for the real estate market. Everyone wants to move during their summer holiday, when the weather is warm, and the market is booming. However, these people are overlooking the value of waiting for winter. More specifically, for right before the end of the year...

Buying a home now, at year's end, comes with many benefits. Here are some top ones, according to Realtor.com:

  • Builder Upgrades: "If you’re buying a house that is brand new, there’s a good chance builders may push to close the books on their year—and meet quotas. They may offer upgrades or…

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When preparing to buy a home, most people can not make the purchase outright in cash. It is totally normally and acceptable to use a mortgage. As you go through the process of getting pre-approved for a mortgage so that you know what your home budget is, the bank is going to do something very important: a credit check. If you're thinking about buying a home but know your credit score won't be good enough, here are some ways you can improve it:

  • Monitor your monthly payments closely! Make sure you are always paying your bills on time, that you are meeting your minimum payments and that you don't skip paying a bill even if it's in dispute. There are helpful apps out there, such as Mint, that can help you keep track of payment deadlines, goals,…

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The journey towards owning a home is filled with hight hopes and hard work. While many find it daunting, working towards owning a home incredibly important. For most people their home will become their largest financial asset. They may cost a significant amount of money, but that doesn't mean people should put off this milestone. Here are some of the financial benefits of owning a home: 

Forbes writes, "your equity in your home is the amount of money you can sell it for minus what you still owe on it. Every month you make a mortgage payment, and every month a portion of what you pay reduces the amount you owe. That reduction of your mortgage every month increases your equity." This equity can be leveraged to help finance and back other endeavours.…

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Most people do not buy their homes outright. If you can, you should. After all, who wouldn’t want to live rent and mortgage free? But when the average home price in Calgary sits at around $488,000, most people are putting a 10-20% down payment on a house and mortgaging the rest.

What is a mortgage? A mortgage is money a lender provides you for the sake of purchasing a home. You pay this off over time, typically within a 15-30 year range, and pay interest on the loan. Mortgages not only help you get into a home, but help build your credit history and enable you to slowly build equity in your property.

There are many different kinds of mortgages available, but before you can even begin to assess which is best for you, you need to find a mortgage…

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Nothing says summer quite like sitting by the lake with a cold drink in one hand and a good book in the other. The air that sweeps over the water is cool and refreshing, the sound of the shore summer's best symphony. Dig your toes into the sand and wade through the water. If summer was something tangible, this would be it.    Does this all sound like a beautiful dream from a faraway place? A little too exotic for dry Alberta? For a long time it was nothing more than a pipedream. The only solution was to buy a vacation home someplace like Arizona or Radium. However, innovators quickly found a sweet solution: lakefront living.    One of the most popular trends in real estate  is crafting communities around man-made lakes to provide family's…

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