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 ...

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 ...

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 ...