Houlton and Aroostook County Real Estate

10 Tips for First-Time Homebuyers  Be picky, but don’t be unrealistic. There is no perfect home. Do your homework before you start looking. Decide specifically what features you want in a home and which are most important to you. Get your finances in order. Review your credit report and be sure you have enough money to ...

5 Common First-Time Homebuyer Mistakes 1. They don’t ask enough questions of their lender and miss out on the best deal. 2. They don’t act quickly enough to make a decision and someone else buys the house. 3. They don’t find the right real estate professional who is willing to help you through the homebuying process. 4. They ...

7 Reasons to Own Your Own Home Tax breaks. The U.S. Tax Code lets you deduct the interest you pay on your mortgage, property taxes you pay, and some of the costs involved in buying your home. Gains. Between 1998 and 2002, national home prices increased at an average of 5.4 percent annually. And while there’s no guarantee of ...

   10 Steps to Prepare for Homeownership 1.      Decide how much home you can afford. Generally, you can afford a home equal in value to between two and three times your gross income. 2.      Develop a wish list of what you’d like your home to have. Then prioritize the ...

Tips on Buying in a Tight Market Increase your chances of getting your dream house instead of losing it to another buyer, with these easy steps. Get prequalified for a mortgage. You’ll be able to make a firm commitment to buy and make your offer more desirable to the seller. Stay in close touch with your real estate sales ...

Your Property Wish List While your opinions on the type of home you want to own may change during the homebuying process, use this easy checklist to help you prioritize and make the shopping process less time consuming. How close do you need to be to: (a) public transportation _______ (b) schools _______ (c) airport _______ (d) ...

8 Ways to Improve Your Credit Credit scores, along with your overall income and debt, are a big factor in determining if you’ll qualify for a loan and what loan terms you’ll be able to qualify for. 1.      Check for and correct errors in your credit report. Mistakes happen, and you could be paying for ...

8 Steps to Getting Your Finances in Order  Develop a family budget. Instead of budgeting what you’d like to spend, use receipts to create a budget for what you actually spent over the last six months. One advantage of this approach is that it factors in unexpected expenses, such as car repairs, illnesses, etc., as well as ...