Should You Wait for Winter to Buy a Home?

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 Thinking of selling? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 
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Today, I'd like to address one of the questions from our clients. A lot of people have been asking, "Should I wait until winter to buy a home?" Many people think buying in the winter will save them money, but my answer may surprise you.

Of course, real estate is supply and demand. When supply is higher and demand is lower, then prices will come down. When supply is lower and demand is higher, prices will rise. Right now, we're seeing low supply and high demand.

With our current market, I don't believe that home prices are going to come down during the fall. I don't see any point in waiting until winter in order to save more money. Prices may stabilize in the fall, but it doesn't look like they are going to drop. In fact, if you wait, you may do yourself a disservice, especially if interest rates rise. Higher rates means less buying power.

If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

What You Don't Know About Pre-Approvals Could Hurt You

Looking to buy? Click here to perform a full home search
 Thinking of selling? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 
Call us at (864) 527-7685 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

Today I want to speak about something that's not often talked about in the real estate and lending industries. I'll discuss whether or not a pre-approval will hurt your credit score.

The truth is that inquiries into your credit can cause your score to drop a few points. However, having it checked by multiple lenders will not cause it to drop multiple times.

The thing to keep in mind is the difference between a soft and hard credit inquiry. When your credit is being checked for a mortgage loan, auto loan, or a retail account, those all act as hard inquiries. These sort of checks will have an impact on your credit score, but only slightly so.

It is important to know your credit score before you go through the process of getting a loan. Know if you're on the fence and whether or not you need to take care of any issue before you get a credit loan.

We have a great list of mortgage professionals that we can recommend to you if you need assistance with a loan. We would love to put you in touch with them!

How We Helped Rose Find Her Income Property

"We found the house we wanted. We actually bought two houses with Hamilton and Company. The first one was a residential home, and the second an income property. We found the income property at the last minute and Nathan managed to show it to us within a few hours. He made sure that we saw what we wanted to see!"

-Rose Danning, Home Buyer

The Top 10 Renovations that Are Sure to Save You Money

Looking to buy? Click here to perform a full home search
 Thinking of selling? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 
Call us at (864) 527-7685 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

Today I'd like to share an interesting video I found on HGTV. It documents the ten best renovations that you can make on your home that won't cause you to go broke! Renovations can get expensive, but here are some ideas to help you get more bang for your buck.

10. Using subway tiles is an inexpensive way to redo your kitchen and add a retro feel to it.

9. Speaking of a retro feel, using vintage furniture and fixtures can look and feel great on your wallet. 

8. You can create an 'art wall' by collecting used wood. This hand-crafted, old-school look is sure to impress your guests.

7. Instead of ripping out your hardwood floors entirely, just replace the ones that cannot be used anymore. Lacing new boards in with old ones has an eye-catching look.

6. Changing the knobs on your cabinets and doors can create a whole different feel in a kitchen.

5. Instead of updating your entire bathroom, just refinish your tub. It makes everything else look new again.

4. Painting your home by yourself can be a huge money-saver.

3. Hiring a good Realtor can save you money as well. They know how to negotiate deals and get you the best price on a home that you're buying or selling. Talk to me about this!

2. Waterproofing your roof can save you tons and tons of money down the road. Being proactive about major structural issues in your home is always a good idea.

1. The last couple saved nearly $20,000 renovating their home because they knew a good mill-worker. While I can't promise that you'll save that much, I do know good contractors that can offer you discounts on their services!

So, there you have it. Ten easy ways to save money while renovating your home. While these are all great ideas, I'd prefer if you spoke with me before you went about ripping up your house.

Not all renovations are necessary if you're trying to get top dollar before a sale. Often times the most expensive renovations will not make you the most money back - if you get any money back at all.

Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions about this video, or if you have any Greenville real estate needs!

Why Won't Low-ball Offers Work in Greenville?

Looking to buy? Click here to perform a full home search
 Thinking of selling? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 
Call us at (864) 527-7685 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

Hey everyone, we are coming to you today from a very hot market here in Greenville. We are almost to the summer selling season, but this has already been one of the hottest markets I've seen in my 13 years in the business. I've seen the market go up and go down, but this is pretty hot. There are still buyers out there, however, who want to make low-ball offers. Today I want to give you some tips on why that might not be such a good idea. 

First off, you are risking your opportunity to get the home you want. When a good home comes on the market in Greenville, there are usually multiple showings within the first 24 hours, and a lot of times we're seeing multiple offers as well. If there are multiple offers on a home, they aren't even going to consider a low-ball offer for one second. 

Here in Greenville, homes are selling for an average of 96% of their list price. This means that any offer under 5% of list price probably won't get accepted. The average days on market is dipping as well, and is down around 80 days right now. 

There's a really good chance your offer will not even be considered if you make a low-ball offer. This could sabotage your opportunity to get a home and lock in a low interest rate. A few thousand dollars over the 30-year period you're paying for the loan doesn't amount for that much. Putting together a strong offer is not always about price. A lot of times it has more to do with the right terms and conditions.

If you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to speaking with you soon!

What 3 Traits Do Successful People Share?

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 Thinking of selling? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 
Call us at (864) 527-7685 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

For those of you like myself that are fans of the ABC show "Shark Tank," you are going to love today's topic. I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with Kevin O'Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful. He gave a talk to some Realtors like myself and talked about the three common traits he found among people who were successful on the show. I would like to share those with you today because they have an interesting connection to real estate. Here are the 3 traits of Shark Tank successes:

1. They are able to articulate the value of their proposition in 90 seconds or less. 
2. They were able to convince others and investors that they were the right team to carry out the plan.
3. They know their numbers backwards and forwards, and also have a tight grasp on their business model.

These 3 keys have an interesting correlation to real estate. When you are thinking about putting your home on the market, it's a good idea for you to interview a few different Realtors. You want them to be able to state their value proposition right away and you want to know their numbers. We tell you all the answers to these questions up front, and we think that is what separates us as the best. We can actually show you, with physical proof, how we can sell your home faster and for more money. 

If you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

How we helped Tammy buy a home by returning communication promptly

"The results that we got when we worked with Hamilton & Company were really great! We ended up getting a house that we love! Our Realtor helped us through the negotiations between us and the seller and he hung in there when we were getting discouraged. Any email or phone call was always returned promptly and with the answer we needed. Hamilton & Company was really exceptional the whole time!"

-Tammy Hendrix, Home Buyer

Why You May Not Want to Hire Your Neighborhood Expert

Looking to buy or sell a home in Greenville, South Carolina? Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home,click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (864) 527-7685 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.
It may be a little counter-intuitive to decide on who you want to hire to sell your home in this market. It's tempting to hire a family member, friend, or neighbor who is in real estate for many reasons. However, in our experience, that's not the best idea. 

You need maximum exposure for your listing and while it may be fun to work with a friend or neighbor, when it comes to getting your home sold, you want someone who is going to expose your property to the broadest audience possible. That's where we at Hamilton & Co. come in. 

We are able to accomplish all of this through our marketing channels on TV, radio, and the internet. Right now, we have over 16,000 unique visitors looking for properties on our site. We can instantly put your listing in front of all of them and expose it to our large pool of active buyers. 

It may not always be in your best interest to hire the local neighborhood expert.You want to hire someone who is going to give you broad, global exposure for your property and that's why you need to hire Hamilton & Co. real estate services. If you have any questions for us, don't hesitate to ask!

How we helped Ernie with his real estate needs by seeing everything through

"Angie Bowbliss was the agent that we worked with and she gave me a lot of ideas and was very professional. She’d always call me and let me know how things were going. If I called her and didn’t reach her, she’d call me right back as soon as she was able. Angie just did a great job of going through the negotiations and seeing everything through."

How we helped Teresa sell her home by listening to her needs

"We knew our house would be a hard sell because it was a custom built home. When you build something to suit yourself, it doesn’t necessarily suit someone else but Hamilton & Company was really good at advertising, showing the house, and ultimately selling it. All the men and women that we talked to and dealt with were very receptive to what I had to say and they sold my house!"