How to make your offer for a home stand out from everyone else's

Buyer Guide

How to make your offer for a home stand out from everyone else's

A nationwide shortage of listings has created intense competition among buyers — many of whom will be submitting offers to purchase the same small pool of properties in a given community. It's commonplace for homebuyers to see their offers rejected a dozen times because someone else has put forth a stronger purchase package. But amid such high competition, there are ways homebuyers can bring their offers to the front of the line — without having to waive critical contingencies, like the home i

  • Khristopher J. Brooks
  • May 15, 2025

Buyer Guide

How to find a home for sale before anyone else does

How to find a home for sale before anyone else does

The United States has a significant housing shortage that, for now, shows little end in sight, creating intense competition among buyers looking for the perfect property. For some buyers, the only real shot at finding a home to purchase means striking before it hits the market. Experienced real estate agents are trained to find homes that will be listed soon. But for the layperson, here are some ways to find a home for sale before anyone else does, according to real estate professionals: Becom

  • Khristopher J. Brooks
  • May 16, 2025
How to make your offer for a home stand out from everyone else's

How to make your offer for a home stand out from everyone else's

A nationwide shortage of listings has created intense competition among buyers — many of whom will be submitting offers to purchase the same small pool of properties in a given community. It's commonplace for homebuyers to see their offers rejected a dozen times because someone else has put forth a stronger purchase package. But amid such high competition, there are ways homebuyers can bring their offers to the front of the line — without having to waive critical contingencies, like the home i

  • Khristopher J. Brooks
  • May 15, 2025
How big should your down payment be? Hint: It doesn't have to be 20%.

How big should your down payment be? Hint: It doesn't have to be 20%.

A down payment is when you pay a fraction of the cost of a home upfront and take out a loan to cover the rest. You don’t have to put 20% down on a house A common misconception is that 20% is the standard down payment on a house. That’s not the case, according to Melissa Cohn, regional vice president at William Raveis Mortgage.Instead, depending on what kind of mortgage you take out and what kind of homebuyer you are, you can pay as little as 3.5% down. And if you’re taking a mortgage from the

  • Moira Ritter
  • May 16, 2025
Can you buy a house if you have a lot of personal debt?

Can you buy a house if you have a lot of personal debt?

If you plan to buy a home with a mortgage, your lender will want to know what kind of debt you have. But some things are more important than others, experts say, and even if you have debt, you can still buy a house.Here's how: Lenders look at your credit report Mortgage lenders care most about what's in your credit report, according to Nicole Rueth, a residential lender in Denver."We're hyper-focusing on that credit that's on the credit report," Rueth said.That report includes breakdowns of y

  • Moira Ritter
  • May 15, 2025
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Seller Guide

When is the best time to sell your home? It’s not necessarily the spring.

When is the best time to sell your home? It’s not necessarily the spring.

It’s often thought that the best time of year to put a house on the market is in the spring, because people are more in the mood to be out shopping once the unpleasant winter weather is over. But there are other factors at play.One way to measure how much better the spring season — specifically, April through June — is for sellers is the median number of days a house is on the market. In 2024, it dropped from 38 days in February to 22 days in June before starting to rise again, according to Na

  • David Holtzman
  • May 15, 2025
How to make the best use of drones to sell your home

How to make the best use of drones to sell your home

Video taken by a drone is increasingly common on websites selling homes, as the technology allows sellers to market distinctive features and gives buyers a better feel for what the property will be like.“Using drones in real estate marketing allows you to show the property from many unique angles, allowing the prospective buyer to view not only the house, the roof and yard, but also the surrounding neighborhood and views,” the National Association of Realtors said on its website.Views of the s

  • David Holtzman
  • May 15, 2025
12 questions sellers can ask prospective agents

12 questions sellers can ask prospective agents

Interviewing several real estate agents to find the one best suited to sell your property is a standard, welcome practice that can often make or break the experience.Agents offer different personalities, backgrounds and approaches that can work well for some clients but fall flat for others. Many real estate professionals suggest interviewing a few candidates about your goals for the transaction; whether you want to sell quickly or are willing to wait to make the most money, for instance.“Once

  • Caroline Broderick
  • May 15, 2025
How to negotiate the commission you pay

How to negotiate the commission you pay

A commission is the fee homeowners pay a real estate agent for helping them sell their property, typically a percentage of the sale price. A seller's agent commission could be 3%, for example. If the sales price is $500,000, the agent would receive $15,000. In some cases, the homeowner will also pay the buyer’s agent. If you want to negotiate a lower commission, there are a few tricks sellers should be aware of: Understand your rights as a seller Melvin A. Vieira Jr., who represents buyers an

  • David Holtzman
  • May 01, 2025
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Local Insights

10 ways to fit in like a true Denverite

10 ways to fit in like a true Denverite

Denver is an attractive move for out-of-staters who want to be closer to the great outdoors while maintaining an urban lifestyle. Just don’t think it’s a mountain town.Like any city, there are misconceptions about Denver. One of them, many say, is that Denver is in the mountains. It may be the "Mile High City" because of its elevation of 5,280 feet, but it's actually in the high plains.“It’s not like we’re right in the mountains, and people think everybody skis, and that is not true,” said Den

  • Caroline Broderick
  • May 14, 2025
Tips for finding the right schools

Tips for finding the right schools

Public boards of education in Atlanta, New York City, Chicago and other large markets tend to assign school districts by home address, putting the onus on prospective buyers to select the right neighborhoods to set their children up for academic and social success.Complicating the situation: There are limited numbers of homes for sale in certain areas, especially in low- to mid-price points."If you get a good house in a good school district, bang, it's going to be gone," Douglas Rill, broker o

  • Paul Owers
  • May 15, 2025
10 ways to fit in like a true Charlottean in North Carolina

10 ways to fit in like a true Charlottean in North Carolina

Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country — but it hasn't always been like that."For the longest time, Charlotte was known sort of as a banking city, and it didn't have that entertainment value," according to Abigail Hines Miller, a real estate agent and managing partner at The Agency Charlotte. "But it's becoming much more family oriented ... they're really trying to revamp the uptown area to entice younger people to come back."Here's how to fit in like a

  • Moira Ritter
  • May 14, 2025
The cost of living from state to state

The cost of living from state to state

A buyer looking to move to a new state needs to consider costs beyond the mortgage payment, costs that can vary greatly.Property taxes are climbing with home values in many cities, and so is the cost of insurance, as natural disasters mount. What will it cost you to gas up for your commute to work? Factor in the cost of childcare, if that is a concern, and the state sales and income taxes before you decide whether the move is in your best interest economically.Major cities in California and pa

  • David Holtzman
  • May 16, 2025
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