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1. Kitchen

Updating your kitchen with modern appliances, new cabinets, and countertops can make your home more attractive to potential buyers.

The kitchen is one of the most visited rooms in the home. When you list your property for sale and a potential buyer visits your home, they will appreciate that updates have already been done and it’s already included in the price of the house.

 

 

2. Bathroom

Changing out the fixtures, vanities, tile, or hardware can give your bathroom a facelift and make your home memorable. Keep as much natural light as possible, add some greenery for a pop of color, and do some research on what will be the easiest to clean and maintain. 

For example, bronze fixtures may look nice but they can show hard…

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1. Insurance purposes

In the case of an unfortunate event causing damage to your home such as bad weather, a tree falling on your home, sinkholes, flooding, etc., you need to know your home’s value in order to make sure that you have enough insurance coverage for your home.

For example, if you purchased your home for $250,000, it is likely that your home insurance policy includes covering that exact amount for the dwelling itself. Say it’s been at least a year since then, and your home value may have gone up 5-10%. Your home may be worth $275,000 versus the initial $250,000 on the insurance policy. That’s a $15,000 difference that is uninsured!

To make sure you don’t make that mistake, click here to get a free home valuation estimate from one…

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Z-Truck

We just got a new moving truck to help our clients! Introducing the new Zealty Home Advisors’ “Z-Truck” moving truck. If you buy or sell with us, you can use it for FREE.

This beauty came to us all the way from Buffalo, New York thanks to our amazing Office Administrator Winston Jimenez II. He flew out to New York and then started the 861 mile drive to West Des Moines. The trip took two days and Winston said he liked the drive.

If you or anyone you know is looking to sell their home or thinking about buying in this great market, give us a call at (515) 329-4667 and we’d be glad to help and also make sure you get your belongings moved with the help of our new Z-Truck.

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Answering three common questions about appraisals to prepare sellers. 

Are you thinking about selling your home? If so, how exciting! This process means a fresh start and new beginnings. However, before you list your property, it is important that you completely understand appraisals. An appraisal is an opinion of value, where an expert appraiser will come to your house and estimate how much it is worth. They will provide a written report based on their inspection of pertinent information that determines your home’s value. This could greatly affect the success and price point of your sale, so it is crucial to be prepared. Here are three common appraisal questions and their answers:

1. What are appraisers looking for? They consider a wide…

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Introducing the newest Zealty Home Advisors team member, Allison Orange.

Today we have a very exciting announcement—a new team member is joining us! Her name is Allison Orange, and she will be running our client services center. This will help our agents provide excellent service to their clients, which is very important to us.

She has been in the industry for a little over seven years, has a beautiful family with three children, and used to play football in high school. She will pour all of that strength and drive into her work here, and we are glad to have her.

If you have any questions about Allison or real estate in general, don’t hesitate to reach out. You can call or email us anytime, and we would love to hear from you!

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Here’s what you need to know about the 2-1 buydown strategy.

How do 2-1 buydowns work? A buydown is a real estate financing technique that makes it easier for a borrower to qualify for a mortgage with a lower interest rate. That lower rate can last for the duration of the mortgage (as is often the case when borrowers pay extra points up front to the lender) or for a particular period of time. A 2-1 buydown is one kind of temporary buydown, in this case lasting for two years.

In a 2-1 buydown, the interest rate will increase from one year to the next until it settles into its permanent rate in year three. To make up for the interest that they won’t be receiving in those early years, lenders will charge an additional fee. Either a homebuyer or a…

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How to decide if you should try to time the market for a cheaper price. 

Are you waiting for prices to drop significantly before you buy a house? That is a common mentality nowadays, especially with interest rates as high as they are. No one can say exactly what will happen in the future, but many are hoping that values will crash so they can swoop in and buy properties for low prices. Should you wait to buy a house? Is it worth the risk?

Some industry experts say the fluctuation in prices depends on the needs and goals of the particular area. A J.P. Morgan 2022 analysis of 116 metropolitan areas predicts housing prices to go in three general directions over the next couple of years. Some areas are predicted to drop 20% to 30%, some 10% to…

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What will happen now that the moratorium on foreclosures has ended?

 

Are we about to see a tsunami of foreclosures and a struggling market similar to what happened in the real estate market crash of 2008? The short answer is no—foreclosures will start to increase again but not enough to worry over. Today I’ll go into more detail and explain why increasing foreclosures don’t spell doom for the market.


At the beginning of the pandemic, many thought that a housing market crash would surely happen, but it didn’t. In fact, because of the combination of government support, low interest rates, and eager homebuyers, we experienced a housing boom. However, the various foreclosure moratoriums that protected people from financial disruptions during…

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From our team to your family, we want to wish you a happy holiday season.


Happy holidays to you!


The holiday season has officially arrived. We hope you enjoy this wonderful time of year and make some fantastic memories.


We wanted to take a moment to thank you for your continued support. We love helping people make their real estate dreams come true, so thank you for working with us and supporting our business.


This may be a busy time of year, but we are always here to help you and answer any questions you may have. Give us a call or email, we’d love to help you. 

 

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