Why Does Location Matter In Real Estate?

Does location really matter when it comes to buying or selling a house? Actually, yes it does, it is very important. According to foxbusiness.com, any real estate agent will tell you that location is the biggest thing. It will be your best bet for a long term investment and getting in a good neighborhood will be safer for your family. What is a good location? Also according to foxbusiness.com, the first thing is a safe neighborhood followed by good schools. The third thing is convenient access to public places like restaurants and things like that. Next is water access and views, which is never a bad thing to have. The last thing is access to public transportation just in case you don't have transportation or if you have car troubles. These are all great tips and can be very useful for a family that is searching for a house.

Why Use A Real Estate Agent?

This is a very good question, why should you use a real estate agent to buy or sell a home? According to Realtor.com the first and most important to many people is that a real estate agent is there to do what is best for your financial interests. It is basically their goal to protect you financially and find a house that fits your budget. Also, the laws change very often and a real estate agent is going to know all about these laws. Real estate agents know all the good and bad things about properties that most people will not know or find out about without them. These are a few things but there are many more reasons that are vital.

Oldest Real Estate Agent...

How old is the oldest real estate agent that currently is still working? After doing some research on this, I found an article from MSN.com that tells of a 97 year old man that is still currently in the business. There is a broker that has been found out that is 99 years old but brokers are not the same as an agent therefore putting him at the oldest actual agent. I thought it was interesting that he is still in the business at that age. Most people are retired for a long time by that time. It is a great article. http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=25369084 and if you have time you should read it.

How Do They Get Paid?

This is a question that I use to be curious about but finally figured out. How do real estate agents get paid? Basically this is how it works, the agent works for the broker who sets the commission percentage for the agent. When the agent sells the house the broker and agent get a total commission of the sales price somewhere around 6 percent or so. The broker then pays the agent from that money that was earned from selling the house. This is basically how it works.

Most Expensive Home For Sale...

My guess is that I am not the only person that is wondering what the most expensive house for sale as of right now is. So I took the liberty to check it out and see what the price is and where it is at on the map. According to Forbes Magazine at Forbes.com, the house that is going for the most money right now is in Greenwich, Connecticut. The property is Copper Beech Farm and it is 13,519 square feet on 50 acres of land that has a view of about a mile of water. Apparently this is a beautiful piece of land considering the asking price is......$190 million! In fact, it is a beautiful piece of land and you can see it here : http://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbrennan/2013/05/19/asking-190-million-this-is-americas-new-most-expensive-home-for-sale/ . Hope you enjoyed the post.

Haunted House...

What are the rules of selling a house that has a history of being haunted or if there has been a death in the house? Most people don't know that it is sometimes illegal to keep the information of a death within 3 years of owning the house, that is information that you must give out. Some states do not enforce this law and let it be sold as common knowledge that the house is haunted. This kind of property is called, "stigmatized property" and it must be known before the owner can sell the house. This particular section of the real estate class I took last semester was very interesting and it was stressed that it is a good idea to tell the potential buyers of anything that may be happening because chances are they are going to find out somehow. Definitely an interesting thing to talk about and I hope it caught your attention at least a little bit. 

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What Interests Me About Real Estate...

The reason I am writing about what made me interested in real estate is because I believe it is an important thing for people to know. Basically what made me interested is when my family and I were looking for a new house when we were going to move. I thought that our agent had the coolest job in the world. She was always very happy and always knew everything about the houses and other houses around the area we wanted to be in. She told us that anytime we needed her to open a house so we could look at it to just let her know and she would be there. I thought it was awesome that she was able to see so many properties and know everything about them. It also didn't hurt anything that she had plenty of money because she was so good at selling houses. All of this is what inspires me to become a real estate agent in a few years.

How To Find A Real Estate Agent...

When you are interested in buying a house and you really need a real estate agent, what should you be looking for to be able to tell if your agent is the one you really want or need? Well, there are a couple things you should do according to bankrate.com and those things are as follows. The first thing you should do is talk to the recent clients of the agent which they should have the contact information available for you. Secondly, you should make sure that the agent actually has a license and doesn't have any complaints or any kind of record against them. Basically make sure that they know what they are doing and that they have a license. The third thing is to pick an agent that has awards given to them for the job they do. If they have awards, they are probably a pretty reliable person. A final thing is to ask the agent about other properties for sale nearby. If the agent is any good at all they will know of other places for sale around the area. These are a few tips I hope you can use because I know they are quality tips for finding a good agent.

What To Look For When Buying A Home...

When you decide that you want a new house there are a few things you should be looking for in order to find a good home. According to, homeinsight.com, there are 9 specific things to be aware of. The first thing is the kitchen. You want to make sure the kitchen is in good shape because it is the most expensive to remodel. So it is a good thing to make sure that the cabinets and counters are all at least in decent shape. Second on the list is the bathroom, it can also be very expensive to repair, making it vital to check for leaks and cracks in any appliance. The third thing is the heating system as it can easily mean a few thousand dollars to replace if it is in poor shape. Fourth is air conditioning which is similar to the same reasons as the heating system. Fifth is the roofing. It is a good thing to make sure that it is done correctly and make sure it is safe and not collapsing. The sixth thing is the windows and making sure that they actually work and also being sure that they lock to ensure safety. Seven and eight are the basement and insulation. Lastly is the driveway and sidewalk. These can get expensive if you want one that will last you a lifetime. I have learned so many things about this that I need to know in the future for selling houses and it is going to make a big impact on how much houses are worth and how easily it will be to sell a house.

Do Professional Athletes Need Real Estate Agents?

As I am a big fan of Professional sports, mostly baseball, and basketball, and having the dream of selling real estate, it has always been a question of mine what the athletes do if they are traded or just feel like moving somewhere different? So I began to research it a little bit when I ran into a blog by Diane Tuman, who happened to have the answer as she has a Q&A from a real estate group who actually work with the athletes. Here is a link to the blog, http://www.zillow.com/blog/2010-09-08/how-do-pro-athletes-handle-their-real-estate-needs/ . I find it very interesting that they find different homes and neighborhood's for these athletes that meet their wants and needs. I think this is great that athletes use real estate agents because that just goes to show that agents are always going to be needed. So if you have the time, I would recommend reading Diane's blog. It will answer many questions that you may have about the athletes and what they do to move into a different home.

Good Investment...

There are several good investments out there now that can be made and one of them is a rental home. The market is so good because the cost to rent is low right now. One of my good friends found a great deal on a rental home and is continuing to save more money because of the extra money that he doesn't have to spend on the little things at the house. He says it was easily his best investment at the moment because it could cause him to have very little money problems in life just because he is saving so much by renting when the cost is low. So having a rental home would be a great option to go for right now.

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Bad Investment...

If you are wondering what some bad investments in the real estate world, you are in the right place as I am going to inform you of a few things that are not worth investing in. Some people think that buying a house and letting it sit thinking it will go up in value is a good investment and that they will eventually sell the house for more than they purchased it for. However, this is not a good investment as they are not making any money anywhere for what they bought it for. That is unless they are renting it out but in this case lets say they aren't. Therefore, it is not a good idea to just buy a house and do nothing with it unless you have a lot of money that you are willing to let go and set for several years before it makes any profit, if any. This would be qualified as a bad investment.

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Are Real Estate Agents In High Demand?

It is a question that is often asked yet it seems to be answered in the same context every time that I have heard the question. Are real estate agents in high demand? I believe the answer to be yes. As there are always people looking for new houses and there are always houses being built and someone has to sell them as most states make it mandatory for a real estate agent to be involved in the transaction of the selling. So yes there are always going to need to be agents out there selling. Also, there are going to be older agents that move into a different section of the agency maybe to be an appraiser or something else other than the agent itself therefore they are going to need to be replaced. These are reasons why I would say that real estate agents are in high demand. 

Is It Worth It??

Everyone in the world wants to have a job that makes at least $50,000 a year, with any money management skills at all a person could live a comfortable life. The question is, "Does a Real Estate Agent make that much money, or are they capable of making that much money?" The answer is, "YES!" According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, real estate agents make an average income of $52,870 a year and have an average hourly wage of $25.42 which is a wage most people would be happy with. People also ask how much a real estate agent makes when they first get into the business. An agent that I know personally has told me, "If a person puts the work in and isn't lazy that they could be making six figures within a year." However, you have to be willing to put forth the effort, which a lot of times is a tough task for some. This is a task I am willing to put everything I have into.

A Little Fun...

So as I am going through YouTube the other day I stumble upon a video that I can only imagine wanting to do when I get into the Real Estate business. I understand that people are hard to deal with sometimes and most real estate agents would probably agree with that statement. I am sure that selling houses doesn't always go as smooth as they would like for it to but there can be a little comedy with it as well, which is why I am going to post this video that I watched and was laughing through the entire thing... Enjoy!

This video was uploaded by: TheResourceTVShow

Real Estate Market Direction...

Let's say that you are interested in becoming a real estate agent and really want to start selling houses right away. Is now a good time to get into the business? That is a very good question because just listening to the general population talk about the market you may think that it is heading in the wrong direction. Well, let me throw some statistics your way... According to kansasrealtor.com the number of homes sold in the month of August 2012 was 3,235 homes. If the market was declining you might say that the number from that point up until now would be fewer. However, the number of houses sold in August 2013 actually increased to 3,469 homes. Another statistic that is very important to a real estate agent that may interest people is that the average sale price of houses has also increased from $163,883 to $176,350. These stats are important and prove that the market is actually increasing and if interested it is not a bad time to be getting into this field of work.

Going Green...

There are many cool and interesting things that a person can do to their house to make it...let's say "Different." One of those things is a, "Green Roof." Not just any kind of green roof though, this roof is made with plants. Instead of the everyday tin roof or something like that, the roof actually has plants on it. I find it very interesting because I can only imagine getting the call from the homeowner and driving to the house to see its condition and actually seeing a roof made of plants. I would have a million questions about how efficient it is and if they ever have any problems, it would be interesting to see. However, the roof is said to have an effective draining system, a high-quality waterproofing and root-repellent system and a filter cloth. The roof can be seen at http://realestate.msn.com/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=25424791. This roof will definitely be an option in my future home.