Why You Really Need a Home Inspection

Buying a house is probably the single largest investment you’ll ever make – learn how getting a home inspection can help you get the most value for your home.
Buying a house is probably the single largest investment you’ll ever make, and you want to ensure you get the best value for your hard-earned dollar. That’s why more and more home buyers today are turning to professional Home Inspection experts. A professional Home Inspector takes a close look beneath a house’s surface, and then prepares a detailed written report for the prospective buyer on such things as the condition of the foundation, electrical service, roof, insulation, and other critical structural factors. Your Coldwell Banker sales professional can help you connect with an experienced trusted Home Inspection service in your community.
Although costs will vary, you can probably expect to spend two to three hundred dollars for an inspection of a single family home. And who pays for it? Well, since the benefit is almost entirely that of the home buyer, it’s usually the buyer who pays the cost of the home inspection …particularly in a “hot” real estate market, where the home sellers have more leverage. All things considered, it’s a small price to pay for the peace of mind it provides, and the negotiating power it can give you — especially if it indicates that there are major repairs required, but you decide to make an offer anyway.
When it comes to making your offer to purchase, your Coldwell Banker professional can provide you with good advice on how to allow for a home inspection as a part of this process. Subject to the homeowner’s permission, you can commission a Home Inspection before or even after submitting your offer to purchase. This is done by having your Coldwell Banker salesperson prepare a conditional offer that’s contingent on a Home Inspection report that’s acceptable to you. This approach gives you some distinct advantages: if the conditional offer is accepted, the property is temporarily held against other offers, yet you still have a legal escape route if the report turns up some major negative surprises, such as a bad roof or a crumbling foundation. On the other hand, if the conditional offer isn’t accepted, then the need to pay for a home inspection may never arise. Your Coldwell Banker professional can counsel you on the best approach to suit your market and your individual situation.
For more information about inspections click here.
How to Choose the Most Important Features in a Home

Determining exactly what to look for is often the most difficult part of the home search. Learn how to focus on the most important features and ignore the rest.
Buying a home can be a long process. Approaching it correctly from the beginning can save a great deal of time and effort later and help improve your chances of finding the right home for you.
Make a List of the Most Important Aspects You Want in a Home
Determining exactly what to look for is often the most difficult part of the home search. Homes come in varying shapes and sizes, with different colors and characteristics. Paying attention to all of these details can become problematic, causing you to lose focus.
The best way to avoid this is to sit down ahead of time and make a list of the most important aspects of the home you want to buy. For example, you likely have a certain number of bedrooms in mind. Maybe you want to be in a certain school district, or perhaps you want a larger kitchen.
Some experts recommend making a secondary list of desirable characteristics that you can do without, but would prefer to have, if possible. This list can be longer and used to narrow down choices or decide between homes if more than one is appealing.
Know How to Identify Cost-Efficient Fixer-Upper Homes
When evaluating potential homes to buy, experts note that you shouldn’t put too much emphasis on easily altered cosmetic details like the color of the walls. Repainting may not be convenient, but it is one of the cheapest and easiest changes to make to a home.
Attention might be better focused on aspects that cannot be altered without extensive and expensive work, such as the floor plan. It may also be difficult to ignore the furniture and belongings of the home’s current occupants, but you should remember those items will not be there if and when you move in and make it your own.
Is It Time to Rightsize Your Home?

Whether you’re an empty nester with unused rooms or need more space to raise your growing family, finding a home that fits your current lifestyle may be the best option.
Does your home still fit your needs or is it time to think about the benefits of buying a new one as you enter the next phase of your life? Whether you’re an empty nester with rooms that are no longer used or need more space to raise your growing family, rightsizing – finding a home that’s the ideal size for your current lifestyle – may be the best option.
Assess Your Living Space. Before deciding whether to right-size, take stock of your everyday life and ask yourself a few questions, including:
- Are some areas of the house, like formal living and dining rooms, rarely used?
- Is a dedicated office a must?
- Do you want a hobby area or kids’ playroom?
- Is your kitchen too big or too small?
- Is the garage the right size?
- Do you prefer a large yard or a cozier outdoor living space?
Look to the Future. If you decide it’s time to make a move, consider your current lifestyle as well as potential changes in circumstances that could occur in the next few years to determine what size home is best. Maybe you’re planning to have more children, retire in a few years or anticipate an aging parent moving in with you. While you might not need extra space right away, you could in the near future.
Great Layout vs. Square Footage. Getting hung up on a property’s square footage could mean missing out on your dream home, especially in today’s highly competitive market. If a house or condo has the number of bedrooms, baths, kitchen and amenities you want, but its square footage is somewhat less than you envisioned, it still may be worth considering if it has a well-designed layout that uses space efficiently.
Review Your Finances.
Whether you’re looking to downsize or up-size, how much you can afford extends beyond monthly mortgage, tax and insurance payments. Relocating from a sizable residence to a condo or townhome – perhaps in a maintenance-free community with amenities – could mean significantly higher HOA fees and require you to buy new furniture that fits smaller spaces, while a bigger house will have higher utility costs and need additional furnishings to fill extra rooms.
Regardless of your reason for wanting to move, Ian Campbell has the tools and resources to help you sell your current home and find a new one that’s right for you.
Two-Month Moving Checklist

Follow this two-month checklist to keep your move on track.
The pandemic stay-at-home protocols forced us to reevaluate our homes and where we live. Questions about our home size, needing a home office long term and thoughts of relocation to more affordable cities or closer to family were on the minds of many during the last year. Whether due to a life change or a change brought about by the pandemic, millions of people are moving and creating the “Great Reshuffling.”
This record rise in Americans moving, coupled with the typical busy moving season in the summer and a shortage of workers, has created the perfect storm. Moving companies are incredibly busy and are working hard to hire the qualified help they need. Moving is challenging enough without scrambling to find a reputable moving company.
So what does this mean for those planning to move this summer? Plan ahead! Make your moving reservations as early as possible to beat the surge and put your organizational skills in overdrive.
If possible, give yourself eight weeks to handle the moving to-dos in an orderly, low-stress manner. Use the steps below in this two-month moving calendar to keep you calm and prepared. Simply follow these steps and check them off one-by-one:
EIGHT WEEKS TO GO:
- Start the process of selecting a mover
- Check a mover’s record with the Better Business Bureau in your state and social review sites. A great reputation is the best way to choose a mover
- Book your mover
- Start to inventory and divide up your belongings: Decide who gets what, which items to donate, recycle, to take and which items (if any) need to go into short-term or long-term storage
FOUR WEEKS TO GO:
- Mail change of address cards or change your information online at the following:
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- Post office
- Local Department of Motor Vehicles for License & Registration
- Social security
- Insurance companies
- Credit card companies
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- Credit bureau and/or other creditors
- Employer (to forward W2s)
- Broker
- Mail order accounts
- Magazines
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- Friends and relatives
- Gather personal records (medical, dental, etc.)
- Arrange to transfer children’s school records
- Gather all pet’s vet records and make sure all pets are microchipped and chip corresponds to a cell number that goes with you on your move. Order new tags and licenses with new address and your cell phone number
- Check homeowner’s insurance policies to see if moving is covered. Be sure your new home is protected by transferring fire, theft and other personal-property insurance
- START TO PACK
THREE WEEKS TO GO:
- Make arrangements to discontinue current utilities and schedule the start-up of new utilities:
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- Landline telephone service
- Cable TV
- Internet
- Electricity (check for refund)
- Gas (check for refund)
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- Fuel oil
- House cleaners
- Babysitters
- Dog walkers
- Gardeners
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- Pool Service
- Diaper service
- Water
- Water softener
- Parking
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- Other: ________________________
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- Have appliances serviced for shipment
TWO WEEKS TO GO:
- Arrange to transfer local bank accounts
- Ask doctors, dentists and veterinarians for medical records
- Cancel newspaper delivery
- Refill all prescriptions. Get prescriptions transferred to a new pharmacy closer to the new home
- Make arrangements to move children and pets. Do you need a babysitter for a day or two? A pet sitter?
- Confirm that the mover will move houseplants; if not, make arrangements. Houseplants, usually, cannot be moved by a mover, especially on long distance or out of state moves
- Start to disassemble any shelving, closet systems, etc. that you plan to take or arrange with the mover that they will be doing this on the day of the move
- If you need one, hire a cleaning crew to come clean your empty place to get your deposit back. Will your new place need a cleaning crew before you move in too?
ONE WEEK TO GO:
- Pack in separate boxes the items necessary for first days in the new home: Label “LOAD LAST.” And label where to put each of those boxes in your new home:
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- Medicine (always keep prescriptions on you)
- Comfortable clothes
- Linens and towels
- Toothbrushes and toiletries
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- Paper goods
- Disposable plates and silverware
- Foil and wax paper
- Plastic containers
- Microwave
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- Vacuum cleaner
- Garbage bags
- Tool kit
- Step ladder
- Extension cords
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- Light bulbs
- Cleaning items (mop and pail, broom and dust pan, etc.)
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- Each member of the family should also pack a suitcase with what they need for a few days while you’re getting settled into your new place. Don’t forget cell phone chargers, medications and favorite teddy bears
- If the movers are packing all or part of your belongings, call to schedule and confirm the details. Make sure your mover knows how much packing you expect to do yourself and how much you expect them to do
- Plan to use up most food items before the move. If you have any leftover food on moving day, donate it to local Food Bank.
- Register to vote
TWO DAYS TO GO:
- Defrost and dry refrigerators/freezers to be moved
- Gather valuables and important documents from jewelry cases, safe deposit box, etc. to take with you in the car. Do not pack these items with your other belongings
MOVING DAY! YOU MADE IT!
Congratulations, you conquered “The Great Reshuffling!” Not only did you move during a very unique time, you stayed organized and, hopefully, the entire process was much more stress-free. As the winner of this moving marathon, you now get to slowly unpack and peacefully settle into your new and improved lifestyle.
Insider Tips to Buying a Home in Today’s Market

Tips for Buyers
It’s always hard to predict the future, especially with the housing market. But one thing is for sure – real estate remains a sound investment. If you’re looking for your dream home, here are some tips to help set you up for success and guide you through this buying season.
Assess Your Financial Health
Before you fall in love with your dream home, make sure you’re prepared to purchase it. Take a look at your bank accounts along with your monthly spending, so you have a clear and realistic picture of your finances. This will also help you figure out how much you can afford to put toward a down payment. It’s also a good time to check your credit score. Most importantly, you’ll want to meet with a loan officer to get pre-approved, so sellers take you seriously and you’re in a better position to make a strong offer.
Tip: A pre-approval gives you more negotiating power because it tells the seller and real estate agent that your funding is in place and ready to go.
Stay Flexible
Whether it’s time or money, be prepared to give a little more. Say for instance, there’s competition on a house and you’ve been outbid, but you have the flexibility to give the seller the extra time they need to close and move out. That can make a huge difference and could even put you ahead of the competition. Showing the seller that you’re willing to go the extra mile to purchase their home could earn your offer a second glance, especially if it helps make their life easier.
Tip: Try to refrain from asking for favors. This is not the time to ask the seller to give you the refrigerator or washer and dryer, part with playset or paint the front door.
You Found the One
You found a home that meets all or most of your wish list, it’s within your price range and you’ve stalked the neighborhood to make sure it’s right for you. Now’s the time to make an offer. Keep in mind that your opening offer should be based on two things: what you can afford and what you really believe the property is worth. Sure, there’s always a possibility that there will be other offers, regardless of the time of year and the market, but try not to let that influence you to pay more than you should.
Tip: Offer more earnest money. While it’s not always required, it could help you stand out in this competitive housing market. Sellers like buyers that make these good faith deposits because they want assurance that the sale won’t fall through.
Buying a new home is an exciting time and can also be a stressful time, but if you’re prepared and keep these tips in mind, you should find it a much smoother process. And finally getting the keys to your new home makes it all worth it!
If you have any questions regarding the Purchase of a home or any other Real Estate replated questions do not hesitate to reach out Contact Ian Campbell