Are you looking for homes for sale in Fort Collins or elsewhere in Northern Colorado? Here’s a tip you won’t want to neglect.

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While you can get a general idea of what you’ll pay on a home loan using a mortgage calculator, there are still other costs to consider. Buyers often ask me how much they can expect to pay in loan closing costs. I’ve heard Realtors use a rule of thumb of 1%-2% of the loan amount but that is not helpful because loan costs vary so much between different banks, loan products, and buyer situations. The fact is, you can structure a loan in a myriad of ways. If you want to pay ZERO loan closing costs and get a rate that is a bit higher than the market, you can do that. If you want to pay all of your closing costs plus points to get a below-market interest rate, you can do that as well. Or, you can opt for an option somewhere in between, and that’s what most of my clients end up doing. To give you a concrete example, on a recent transaction where our client got a loan of $352,000, they paid $4,596 in closing costs. There was no lender credit involved so they paid all their closing costs out of pocket, got the market interest rate, and did not pay extra to buy down the rate.

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A survey is a professional drawing of a property that shows the lot lines as well as improvements on the property. Improvements are things like structures, fences, driveways, sidewalks, wells, ponds, decks and any other permanent feature. A survey will also show easements that run with the land. The most common easements are for utilities such as power, gas, or water companies that have been granted rights to access and maintain their lines that run through, along, or near a property. If a city or county road runs along a property, there may also be a right of way that could allow future road expansion, a survey will locate and describe these features.

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One of our Fort Collins home buyer tips is for buyers to know what they need to know concerning Radon and their homes. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that exists in Colorado and naturally emanates from the ground. While radon exists in very low levels even outside. It becomes a concern when it collects indoors, increasing concentrations. This occurs especially in crawl spaces and basements, and subsequently, the gas ends up in living areas of a home. According to the EPA, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer behind cigarette smoking and is the leading cause of lung cancer for nonsmokers.

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Today’s Fort Collins home buying tip involves your potential new home inspection. When considering which home inspector to use, ask for inspection reports from a few different inspectors. An actual report the inspector has performed in the past is a great way to evaluate the inspector’s proficiency. In our experience, inspection reports vary greatly from one inspector to another because of the quality and number of photos and the depth of the explanations. Looking at a couple reports side by side will give you a good feel for the type of analysis you’ll receive.

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You’ve probably already spent time calculating your mortgage to try to figure out the costs of a new home. When shopping for new construction, you’ll often see the builder offering incentives if you use their preferred mortgage provider. They may offer $5,000 towards upgrades and options, which sounds great, and, in some cases, it is a good deal. But you won’t know for sure until you compare the Loan Estimate they provide with a competing lender’s loan estimate. Loan Estimate is a technical term for a government form that the lender must provide when you’re applying for a mortgage. It’s especially important to request these estimates from both lenders on the same day. Because rates are always changing, same day quotes are the only way to ensure an apples to apples comparison. Loan closing costs and interest rates can vary significantly between lenders; that $5,000 credit may not be worth it if you’re paying a few thousand dollars more in closing costs combined with a higher interest rate.

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When our clients are searching for homes for sale in Northern Colorado, replacing flooring is often something they have to consider.

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If you have begun your search for a home in Northern Colorado, whether you dream of finding the perfect house for sale in Berthoud or in another nearby city, you may need the help of a realtor.

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Here’s a valuable home buyer tip for you: talking to the neighbors can help you uncover things the seller may not tell you. You wouldn’t believe some of the things I’ve uncovered just talking to neighbors! Once we’ve found a home you like, I’ll walk the neighborhood and chat up the locals. I’ll ask questions about build quality, the health of the homeowner’s association and any development projects in the area.  One of two things will happen: we’ll get some juicy gossip the seller may not have shared, or, we’ll hear that it’s the greatest neighborhood on earth 🙂

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From searching for new Fort Collins homes on the market to new builds in Longmont, please bring us along when looking at a Northern Colorado new construction! Buyers sometimes wonder if they really need an agent when buying new construction. Here’s the truth:  Buyers without a Realtor pay the same price as they would if they used a Realtor, but, they miss out on our extended warranty and often fail to inspect and request repairs and negotiate upgrades and options. As for the warranty, most builders offer a 1-year limited warranty on new construction. But, when you work with us, we extend that warranty for 12 months past the builder standard! We also negotiate upgrades, assist with inspection, repairs, and appraisal, and help you evaluate whether the financing incentives offered by the builder are competitive.

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