4 Renovation Tips that Will Help You Maximize Your Home’s Value

If you’re looking to make some renovations and improvements to your home, here are four tips you can follow to maximize its value.

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Which improvements and renovations can you do to your home to maximize its value?

First, keep your renovations moderate. When you’re attempting to do a renovation or an upgrade, ask yourself one question: Will the majority of buyers coming through this home appreciate this renovation, or will I have to do it again if I decide to sell this home at a later date? 

Second, pay attention to curb appeal. Your curb appeal creates the first impression of your home. In our office, we abide by something we call the three second rule. This means whenever we bring a buyer to a property, they will determine whether they want to seriously consider purchasing that property or not within the first three seconds of pulling in the driveway. Spend some money on landscaping and other areas out front to make your home more inviting for any prospective buyers.

Spend the majority of your money in kitchens and bathrooms.

Third, have as much hardwood flooring in your home as you can. Buyers love neutral, hardwood floors. If you can’t afford to install hardwood floors, make your current flooring as clean and neat as possible. 

Lastly, spend the majority of your money in kitchens and bathrooms. These are the places in the home where you’ll get your best return on investment. You can typically achieve a two-to-one return on investment, meaning you’ll get $2 in return on the sale of your home for every $1 you spend. 

If you have any questions about how to maximize your home’s value or you’re thinking about buying or selling a house, feel free to reach out to us. We’d love to help you.

How Do You Finance a Tiny Home?

If you want to buy a tiny home, can you finance the purchase? Chris Gonzalez from Tabor Mortgage is here to tell you how.

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A lot of people are downsizing and moving into tiny homes. Chris Gonzalez from Tabor Mortgage is here to answer the question, “Can you finance a tiny home?” 

The answer is yes, but it may not be the traditional mortgage that you’re thinking of.

There are only two ways to finance a tiny house.

First, you should know that there are a few different types of tiny homes out there:

1. A trailer you can move. 
2. A tiny home on land you can own. 
3. A tiny home on land you rent from a development. 

That said, there are only two ways to finance a tiny home. One option is to apply for a personal loan from a local bank. The other is to get an actual RV loan from your local bank.

If you have any other questions about financing a tiny home, you can reach Chris at (843) 840-4821 or Chris@TaborMortgage.com. As always, if you have any real estate questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would be happy to help you!

How to Knock 8 Years off of Your Mortgage

I wanted to share one of my favorite tips for homeowners with you today. There are a couple really simple and easy ways you can shave eight full years off of the life of a 30-year mortgage at a fairly minimal cost.

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There's a really simple and effective trick for paying off your 30-year mortgage in just 22 years that I wanted to share with you. In fact, there are two ways.

Say it's tax refund time or Christmas, and you've come across a little extra money. Did you know that if you make a 13th mortgage payment each year, you'll knock eight years off of the life of your 30-year mortgage?

The second strategy is especially helpful for those who get paid on a bi-weekly basis. Instead of making a monthly mortgage payment, talk to your mortgage company about setting up bi-weekly payments on your mortgage. Since there are 52 weeks in a year, making half of your mortgage payment every two weeks rather than a full payment every month equates to making 26 half payments over the course of the year. Of course, that equates to 13 full payments a year instead of 12, which you would get by making one full payment per month.

Both options will save you thousands in interest!

Just like in the first scenario, you would knock eight years off of your 30-year mortgage. Think of the savings in interest!

If you have any more questions about this topic or you're thinking about buying or selling a home, give me a call or send me an email. I'd love to hear from you!