High quality South Portland Maine real estate opportunities today from Chelsea Crawford: A beautiful spot for watching the passing boats, the 10-acre Fort Allen Park stands high above Casco Bay. It was originally built as a fort guarding the harbor during the Revolution in 1775, and was rebuilt in the War of 1812. Today it is a favorite for walking, picnics, and listening to the summer concerts in the bandstand. For early risers, it’s a beautiful spot to watch the sunrise. Several monuments are worth looking for in the park. Along with a Civil War monument, there is a cannon recovered from the USS Maine after it sank in the Havana harbor in 1898, and the restored main mast from the World War II cruiser USS Portland. A memorial in remembrance of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attack is inscribed with the names of the seven Maine victims. Read even more info on https://www.instagram.com/chelseacleans2.
Here are some real estate market opportunities: If you’ve yet to enter the housing market, but are thinking of buying a home in 2024, there’s a lot you need to know. As I once pointed out, this isn’t your older sibling’s housing market. Not just anyone can get a mortgage these days. You actually have to qualify. But we’ll get to that in a minute. Let’s start by talking about home prices, which have soared in recent years. The good news is mortgage rates remain very low, and may even break new record lows this year, which can keep affordability within reach.
There are endless benefits to remodeling your kitchen and any real estate agent will probably tell you that the kitchen plays a big role in making a sale. Although it may cost a few thousand dollars to replace or remodel your kitchen, it is proven that you will probably get 85% of your money back. If your kitchen looks dated or worn out, buyers may try to knock off $10,000 or more off your asking price when it would have only taken you a few thousand dollars to upgrade the kitchen. The fastest and cheapest way to make a kitchen upgrade is to include new cabinet hardware and add a fresh coat of neutral color paint. By making this upgrade, buyers will be able to envision their own style using a blank canvas.
Best South Portland Maine real estate opportunities right now with Chelsea Crawford: Buying real estate in a good school district makes it a lot easier when it comes time to sell your house in the future. Whether you’re looking to downgrade as an empty nester or upgrade into a larger house to support your family, a top school district is a big-time selling point in real estate. If you buy in a bad school district you run a greater risk of your home depreciating because you are appealing to a much smaller buyer pool. We recommend our buyers focus on specific neighborhoods vs. focusing on cities or larger areas. The neighborhood you live in is going to have a direct impact on you. What are you looking for in a neighborhood? Address this question early on in the home buying process because buying in the wrong neighborhood is a surefire way to be remorseful about buying a house.
After narrowing the search to 2 or 3 homes, your agent will do whatever research is necessary to aid you in making your decision. Ultimately, however, it is your decision. Some tools that can help you make that final decision include school reports (if you have or are planning on having children), statistical information from the local chamber of commerce, future zoning or road expansion from local planning offices, etc. Whatever the factors of importance are to you, have your agent help locate that information. Once you have selected a single home to focus on, your agent will conduct a comparative market analysis on that property. This involves determining “fair market value” by looking at what other buyers were willing to pay for properties similar to yours in the same neighborhood or area.
Wow, 2020 was a challenging year. With so much that happened across the country, you might be wondering how it’ll impact real estate trends in 2024. While the pandemic did disrupt home sales in the spring of 2020 (which is usually considered the hottest season for real estate), the market quickly made an impressive rebound. Real estate experts have reported that the surge in home sales toward the end of 2020 actually made up for the spring market losses.1 Will we see more of the same results in 2024? How will the housing market shake out in our current economic climate? Whether you’re selling, buying or staying put, here are the 2024 real estate trends you need to know!
The most important of my home renovation tips is this: your contract should outline the schedule of which the project will be completed and at what point draws will be made. ‘Draws’ is the term for financial payments that the homeowner makes to the contractor usually in percentage form. So for example: weeks 2 & 3 will be for demolition, installation of the framing, base work for the hardwood floors, and wiring for the electrician. 10% draw. From the very beginning, you need to stick to the draw schedule to the T. Let the contractor know that any single delay any of the line items means a delay of payment. Contractors will often tell you that they need more money to finish a certain section but that makes for a slippery slope. Trust me.
Best South Portland realtor tips in 2024 from Chelsea Crawford : Communicate With Your Significant Other: Notice how I wrote significant other; this financial tip doesn’t just apply to married couples. Money fights can affect any relationship. The best way to avoid fighting about money with your S/O is to talk to them about it. Remember that you’re a team! You should be talking to each other about your financial goals, and you should set a date once a month to go over your finances together. I recently started doing a monthly money meeting with my girlfriend and it’s actually been pretty fun. We get to see where each other are at with our financial goals and we keep ourselves motivated to accomplish those goals. The bottom line? Don’t let money ruin a great relationship.
Renovating increases the house value says Chelsea Crawford : When the housing market is buoyant there’s usually a high demand for building services, making it hard to find good builders at a reasonable price. It can be tempting to pick the cheapest builder who can start next week, but if a quote price is super-cheap there’s normally a good reason: perhaps they forgot to include something, or simply just got their sums wrong. Either way, the builder will realise they’re working at a loss. And if they walk off the job, it will cost you dearly to get someone else to finish it, with all the hassle that goes with that. It may be cheaper in the long run to go for a medium-range price rather than risk work being skimped to recoup losses, leaving you with a badly done job. If your project is not time critical, employing ‘friends of friends’ or friends on ‘mates’ rates’ may work. But more often than not something else will come up on the day when they promised to finish your job, which could then hold up the following trades.