Increase Your Down Payment for a Home in Carlsbad with These 20 Tips

Increase Your Down Payment for a Home in Carlsbad with These 20 Tips

Getting your dream single story home for sale in Carlsbad CA could be easier if you have enough down payment readily available. However, it’s not that easy to come up with 20% or even 5% of the selling price of a home. 

One of the advantages of putting a bigger down payment is having a greater chance at getting a home loan and better terms. Lenders offer better interest rates and incentives to home buyers who are able to pay a bigger down payment. 

Another advantage of a higher down payment is lower monthly mortgage payments, especially if you can put down 20% of the home’s selling price. 

It could be hard to imagine where you can get enough cash for a 20% down payment for a single story Carlsbad CA home, but there are actually more sources you could get cash from than just your own bank account. 

Here are a few tips how you can increase your down payment:

1. Ask for a gift from any family member. Most lenders accept gift letters for your down payment.

2. Ask for part of your inheritance early.

3. Ask help from a family member. Many lenders accept family loans.

4. Ask help from someone outside your family like an employer, friend, Non Profit Group or Government.

5. Borrow from your insurance policy.

6. Borrow from your stock account.

7. Borrow from your retirement account. Your home is a great retirement asset. Why not own one as soon as you can.

8. Borrow from your credit cards. Take note that it must be seasoned in your account for 3+ months. Most lenders do not approve of unseasoned money unless your down payment is over 20%. Always check with your lender to see if there is seasoning required and/or how it will affect your pre-approval.

9. Get one or more unsecured loans from your bank or credit union.

10. Find a partner to buy with you: friend, relative or investor.

11. Find a co-signer. You and cosigner must both qualify.

12. Finance or refinance another asset you have: House, lot, boat, car, jewelry, etc. You may be able to use that asset as collateral.

13. Sell an asset: Anything of value! Many people are getting great prices on Internet auction sites.

14. Trade something of value with the seller. One of your assets or your skills. (What do you do for a vocation or hobby that may be of value to the seller)

15. Get a second job. There can be significant tax benefits to an “in home” business, even if you live in a rental.

16. Ask the seller to pay for your down payment, closing costs or even pay off your debts. The presentation of this type of request is critical. You must show why it is in the seller’s best interest to do so.

17. Increase the price so the seller feels comfortable paying your costs or debts.

18. Ask the seller to carry some or all of the financing.

19. Spend Less! Do you really need a cup of Starbucks 1-2 times a day when regular coffee will work. Slim down those TV & Cell Phone packages for awhile.

20. Get a free financial review including Auto, Life & Health Insurance. Call Katherine Zacharias with Five Rings Financial at 619-208-7717. It might save you $100’s.

It’s all about determining what is REALLY important. What are you willing to do to own a home and reap the tax, lifestyle, appreciation & equity benefits you will get.

For even more helpful tips for buying or selling a Carlsbad CA home for sale, visit http://SanDiegoHomes4u.com. 

Find your dream home today. Partner with a knowledgeable and experienced local REALTOR® who can help you buy or sell Carlsbad CA homes at the right price and the right time. Call or text Dennis Smith at 760-212-8225, or email at dennis@sandiegohomes4u.com for all your real estate needs. 

Top Ways to Minimize Stress When Moving to Single Story Homes for Sale

Top Ways to Minimize Stress When Moving to Single Story Homes for Sale

Moving to a new home can become a challenging experience for homeowners, most especially for those downsizing to single story homes for sale in Carlsbad CA. It can be pretty hard trying to fit all your belongings and big furniture pieces from your old home to a smaller-sized one. 

However, the entire home moving process doesn’t have to be such a stressful event. There are plenty of ways to help minimize your stress and here are some of the top ways you can do so:

Plan your schedule for the move accordingly.

The key to any successful task is to ensure that you know what you’re doing before you even do it. So if you’ll be moving house, a key factor in minimizing stress is by creating a plan on how you’ll tackle every aspect of the move. From organizing all your belongings into different piles of Keep, Throw, Donate to knowing which items go into what box and when, having a plan will definitely help. If you’ll be downsizing to a one story home for sale in Carlsbad CA with a family member, delegate the tasks accordingly. This way, you don’t have to keep worrying about every single thing all at once. You can call or e-mail me for a complete moving guide.

De-clutter and purge.

Moving to a new home is a great opportunity to let go of all the junk that you have accumulated throughout the years that’s now taking up way too much space in your home. Organize all the things you no longer need and donate or sell these items. If there’s no way to be able to restore a broken item into a usable version of it, then don’t be afraid to throw it out. Avoid getting too attached to all the things in your home. It can become quite an emotional experience having to purge items from your home but it’s a necessary exercise to help you get settled in quickly into your new home by having a smooth move.

Start collecting boxes.

A couple of months before your move in date, start collecting boxes which you can use as storage for all the items you’ll be bringing to your new home. Ask friends for any leftover boxes from any of their previous moves. Head to Costco or Trader Joe’s or you can even go to your local grocery store and ask any of the employees if you can take stacks of boxes off their hands. They usually have these used boxes from unpacking the inventory in the back of the store so don’t forget to ask. Apart from boxes, you can also start accumulating newspapers or any scratch papers which you can use to wrap glasses and other valuable items in.

Don’t let the stress of moving into a new home get the best of you. All you need is careful planning and you’ll soon find yourself enjoying the comforts of your new home. For even more helpful tips for savvy homeowners, visit our blog at http://SanDiegoHomes4u.com. If you’re thinking of buying or selling homes in Carlsbad CA, feel free to check out all the available homes for sale in the area, too!

Find your dream home today. Partner with a knowledgeable and experienced local REALTOR® who can help you buy or sell Carlsbad CA homes at the right price and the right time. Call or text Dennis Smith at 760-212-8225, or email at dennis@sandiegohomes4u.com for all your real estate needs.

3 Expert Tips for Selling a Home in the Spring Season

3 Expert Tips for Selling a Home in the Spring Season

Putting your single story home for sale in Carlsbad CA on the market this spring season? While the spring season can bring an influx of potential buyers for you, this can also mean that in your neighborhood, you might have plenty of competition. It’s no secret that spring is still the best time to sell your home but before you even get started, here are some trusted tips for success from your local real estate industry expert, Dennis Smith.

Work with a local real estate agent you trust.

It doesn’t really matter what kind of preparation you make for selling and marketing your home if you don’t have the right kind of people on your team to help you. One of these professionals is an experienced local real estate agent who can help you in understanding how the real estate industry works. He can explain to you the industry jargon, help you market your home, go to open houses and private showings for you, and assist you in coming up with a fair price for your one story home for sale in Carlsbad CA. As an experienced real estate agent, he can also help you get in touch with the other different professionals you need to get top dollar sale for your home, such as a home inspector, termite inspector, home stager, cleaners and more.

Address all the necessary repairs your home needs.

Before you start working on the repairs, you need to work with a home inspector who can check your home inside out. He or she will completely and thoroughly review every structure of your home, all the rooms, your electric and plumbing systems, and more. Once done, he can provide you a comprehensive list of things you need to focus on. He can also provide you a cost estimate so you wouldn’t be surprised at exactly how much you’ll need to shell out for each repair. Keep in mind that a potential buyer needs to be able to see your home in tip top shape, with every lighting fixture and faucet working, with no cracked ceilings or windows, and not even chipped paint on your walls.

Spring clean your home.

When one says spring clean, this means you need to declutter, organize, and accessorize. Your target buyer needs to be able to see him or herself the potential of the space and they need to be able to picture themselves living in it. To do so, you need to clear your home of any dirt and distractions. Declutter your space and if you find that you have too much stuff, you can might even want to consider temporary storage. Apart from decluttering, you need to organize your home. Make sure that everything is in the right place, with all the items you can find in a room having a specific function in that particular room. Also, accessorize and depersonalize. Remove all family photos or mementos and add a vase of freshly-cut flowers or a bath of freshly-baked cookies from the oven, instead.

Selling your home this spring shouldn’t be too stressful on your part. For even more helpful tips for buying or selling a Carlsbad CA home for sale, visit http://SanDiegoHomes4u.com. 

Find your dream home today. Partner with a knowledgeable and experienced local REALTOR® who can help you buy or sell Carlsbad CA homes at the right price and the right time. Call or text Dennis Smith at 760-212-8225, or email at dennis@sandiegohomes4u.com for all your real estate needs. 

3 Clever Spring Cleaning Tips for Every Homeowner in Carlsbad CA

3 Clever Spring Cleaning Tips for Every Homeowner in Carlsbad CA

Ring in the beautiful spring season with a clean single story home for sale in Carlsbad CA. Still the liveliest selling season in real estate, spring is a time to ensure that your home for sale is in tip top shape.

Don’t miss out on potential buyers just because your home doesn’t match the gorgeous season filled with sun shining and flowers blooming. Check out these 3 clever tips to help you spring clean your one story home:

Invest in quality cleaning tools.

As a soldier can’t go to war with their pockets empty of bullets for their weapons, a homeowner cannot start spring cleaning if he or she does not have the right tools. So first things first - invest in the proper cleaning tools. Not all cleaning supplies are created equally so make sure to have the right ones for each room. For instance, for the bedroom or the living room, you’ll be needing a quality vacuum, microfiber cloths, handheld broom and dustpan set, hand duster, and squeegee (for your windows). Meanwhile, for the bath, you’ll be needing a sponge, a scrub brush, a bucket, and a used toothbrush. Apart from these you’ll also need an all-purpose cleaner, a glass and surface cleaner, baking soda, vinegar, and some essential oils. These last items you can use to create a mix of cleansers that can accommodate your cleaning needs.

Plan which area of the home you need to clean first.

You don’t want to get stuck with all the rooms of your home in a mess just because you attempted to get everything cleaned in one go and you weren’t even able to get through cleaning even just one room, right? So plan your cleaning schedule accordingly. Decide which rooms are the most important to get cleaned as soon as possible - these are the rooms that you and your family uses the most frequently, such as kitchen, dining room, living room, etc. After which, sync and mark your calendars: Will you need a whole weekend just for the bedroom alone? Do you need an entire afternoon to clean the living room? How about the bath? Will the backyard take an entire day to clean? Plan your cleaning schedule with family so you can all designate tasks and it’ll all get done faster.

Start cleaning from top to bottom.

One of the most important tips you should never forget when cleaning your one story home for sale in Carlsbad CA is to always clean the floors last. Keep in mind that when you clean the tops of your shelves of your lighting or ceiling fixtures, all of the dirt and dust falls down on your floors. If you clean your floors first, you’ll have to sweep and vacuum again right after cleaning your walls or windows or ceiling. 

For even more helpful tips for cleaning, organizing, or decorating your homes for sale in Carlsbad CA, visit our blog at http://SanDiegoHomes4u.com. If you’re thinking of buying or selling homes in Carlsbad CA, feel free to check out all the available homes for sale in the area, too!

Find your dream home today. Partner with a knowledgeable and experienced local REALTOR® who can help you buy or sell Carlsbad CA homes at the right price and the right time. Call or text Dennis Smith at 760-212-8225, or email at dennis@sandiegohomes4u.com for all your real estate needs.