Michelle Peacock, Realtor®

Let's face it, I'm a REALTOR ®  so I always think it's a great time to buy. But really, NOW might be the right time for you. Let's talk about why... 1. Interest Rates are still super low! Interest Rates are very low & that gives the buyer several benefits! Rates right now are still coming in at or below the 3% mark, that's 1.5% or more lower than some I saw just a year ago! That's is HUGE! Not only does a lower interest rate save the buyer some money each month, but it saves them a far larger amount over years. Even if you don't plan on staying in the house for the full 30 years; a savings in interest rate of just .25% can save you almost $2,000 on a $200,000 loan in just about 5 years! Imagine how much you could save if you owned the property longer! 2. Time of year. If you start your home search process right now it might seem inconvenient with the holidays but there are MANY benefits (which is why this category gets weighted twice).  First for the act

  Prequalification vs. Preapproval: The first steps to getting you into the home of your dreams! Purchasing your own home is a goal for many people. But if you haven't purchased a home before, or maybe haven't purchased a home in a long while, it's important to keep the first thing the first thing and understand HOW you will be purchasing your home. For the vast majority of people, they will be purchasing their home with a home loan or mortgage. Yes, I know all about those online calculators that tell you how much home you can afford, but I am here to tell you - it's so important to speak with a good lender. The information you can gain from them is more valuable than most people realize.  When you start the home searching process you will often hear about preapproval or prequalification or you may here both terms used interchangeably. These words mean very different things when it comes to your ability to actually purchase a home. So understanding the difference is imp

Creating your Home Office In recent months many (if not most) of us have found ourselves working much more from home. The fact is that none of us really knows if we might need to be able to work from home again in the future (ie. the Fall), but there are a host of reasons why anyone could need to work from home. There are definitely some pros and cons to working from home. There are also things that we can do to make the most of the pros & minimize the cons to make for an effective work day at home. Of course, having the office to actually GO to is nice. I don't even use a dedicated "office" at my office. I use the open spaces and love interacting with my coworkers. But just being there gives me more energy and more focus. Some will say that working from home is better for them; they struggle with distractions at the office and may be more creative at home. Neither is wrong but let's look at some ways to make the home office really work for us. What kind of space

The benefits of new construction are undeniable.  ~ The first to live there; untouched by others. ~ New appliances and warranties. ~ Finishes and treatments you may have gotten to choose.  Buying new construction is ideal for many people and stopping in to visit a sales office can make the process seem like a breeze; but there are plenty of good reasons to make sure to bring your own Realtor ® with you on that visit. The Builder's Agent is who will greet you when you stop by a builder's sales office. When you purchase new construction you are purchasing from the builder and the builder will have an agent. When you purchase an existing construction you would want to have your own agent right? So why wouldn't you want to have your own agent when you purchase new construction? When you are purchasing new construction, the seller (in this case the builder) is still responsible for the commission for both agents so there is no additional responsibility for the buyer. Remember to

HOA or No? The Pros & Cons of having one We get this questions a lot when working with buyers. Some buyers have very strong opinions one way or another; HOAs will either be a requirement or a deal breaker. Other buyers don't really have a good idea of what an HOA really is or what they do. And sometimes peoples' strong opinions about an HOA can be formed by a bad experience with one, so they feel like they are all bad. Well, I am hoping to just educate so you will understand in order to make an educated decision when it comes time to decide if a property is right for you. First off... What is an HOA? A Homeowners Association or Property Owners Association is a legal entity that must be established. It works as a nonprofit that is set up like a business or corporation. The job of the HOA or POA is to manage and maintain the community or neighborhood. It is kind of like a mini government and if you live in the Bryan ~ College Station area most HOAs are heavily backed by the c

Have you filled out your 2020 Census yet? If you haven't don't worry ~ there is still time! Why fill it out? ~ It's the law Completing the Census is in our Constitution! Article 1, Section 2 mandates that the country count it's population every 10 years. ~ It's funding Census results affect planning & funding for highways, first responders, health and education programs. Billions of dollars are distributed to states and communities based on the results of the Census! ~ It's your voice State Congressional Representative numbers are determined based on Census numbers. Can I still respond to the 2020 Census? ~ YES! Originally Census takers were going to go door-to-door through AUGUST 14th to try to ensure everyone would be counted. With the Coronavirus these plans may have to change but that means that everyone STILL HAS TIME to get their household Census completed for 2020! At the time of this blog, Texas i