High quality South Portland Maine realtor news 2024 by Chelsea Crawford: One of the top things to do in the city with younger kids and toddlers, Portland’s children’s museum reopened in 2021 in a newly built 30,000-square-foot facility. With more space, the exhibits and programs have expanded, but the mission remains the same: for visitors of all ages to learn about their world through dramatic role play, hands-on exploration, and immersive experiences. The new facility is in a striking building overlooking the river, featuring three floors of interactive play and learning opportunities that will keep kids active for hours. Families are encouraged to play and discover together, or experiment with light, color, and water power. An entire floor of the museum is dedicated to the Our Neighborhood exhibit, where children can play different roles and learn about some of the many ways of life that make Maine special. The space includes a farmers market, a fire truck, a train and station, a healthcare clinic, and a lobster boat. Lighthouse Cove is filled with activities especially designed for toddlers and infants. Find more info at https://govsalaries.com/salaries/ME/south-portland-housing-authority.
Here are several real estate opportunities: Just because 2024 will be a seller’s market once again, at least in popular markets, doesn’t mean you can’t negotiate. You can still get into a bidding war, win the thing, and then inspect the heck out of the house. Inspections are key to determining what will need to be addressed once the home changes hands, and what the seller will need to do to compensate you for those issues. If you don’t get a quality inspection (or two), you will have a difficult time asking for credits for closing costs or even a lower purchase price. Take it very seriously, the return on investment can be staggering. Also know that in some markets, buyers may have the upper hand in 2024. Not all real estate markets are red-hot anymore, so you might be able to bid below asking and still get money for repairs.
Light is something people often take for granted but this is something you should maximize in your home. Lighting comes second to location and this is something every buyer wants in a home. When preparing your home for sale, do everything you can to let the sunshine in. You want to make the interior of your house as bright and cheerful as possible. Increase the wattage of your light bulbs, take down the drapes, change the lampshades, clean the windows, and cut down the bushes outside that block any sunlight from coming in the windows. More light makes your home more sellable.
Chelsea Crawford South Portland Maine high quality realtor advices in 2024: If you’re going to buy a house it makes a lot of sense to make sure that rush hour traffic isn’t unbearable. The last thing you want is to buy a home and find out that you’re going to be sitting in heavy traffic every day. Time is more valuable than money, you don’t want to spend your time in traffic – I know I don’t. You want to spend your time doing more important things like spending time with your family. We always recommend our buyers check out the commute to and work on different days just to make sure it’s something they are comfortable with.
Develop A Mortgage Shopping Cart. One of the biggest decisions to make before putting a contract on a home is how to finance the purchase. Lenders aggressively compete for your mortgage business in a variety of ways. Today, you can apply for a loan over the Internet or even use a mortgage broker to shop for your loan with hundreds of lenders. When choosing a lender, compare fixed rates to fixed rates, not fixed rates to ARM’s, etc. Create a chart that lists different types of loans, fees, and at least five mortgage providers (including a mortgage broker).
Okay, this is probably the hardest real estate trend to swallow—so brace yourself: Inventory has been incredibly low! For perspective, inventory was down 22% in November 2020 compared to the previous year.2 There just weren’t enough houses for sale over the year to meet buyer demand. But don’t worry, we’ll walk you through what to expect if you enter the market. Low inventory means you need to be on your toes when you go house hunting—the best homes will likely be snatched up fast. In November 2020, more than 7 in 10 sold homes were on the market for less than a month.3 That doesn’t leave much time to hem and haw over your home search. If you want to find a good home in this slim market, here’s some advice: Sacrifice some wants. If you can’t find the house you want, be willing to give up some “nice-to-haves” for your “must-haves.” Find the least expensive home in the best neighborhood you can afford and upgrade over time.
It can be tough to find a floor solution that stands the test of time whole being chemical, spills and stain resistant. Almost every type of flooring has some disadvantage or the other. And that’s one of the reasons as to why having stable shoes for walking on concrete is very important. An excellent choice for a variety of needs, epoxy floors seem to have fewer drawbacks and more benefits.
Chelsea Crawford South Portland Maine high quality real estate tips right now : Pay Yourself First: This personal finance tip is another common one that can have a huge impact on your finances. When you pay yourself first, you’re investing in your financial future; you’re investing in future you, and future you will thank present you for doing so. So, why not just pay yourself at the end of the month? That’s a lot easier, right? Well, the reason why paying yourself first works so well is that once that money is sent to a savings account, you’re a lot less likely to spend it. If you wait until the end of the month to pay yourself, you might not have any money left! Future you will be very sad with no money. Make future you happy by investing in yourself! PS. The best way to pay yourself first is to do it automatically. Set up an auto-deposit with WealthSimple and you’ll never have to think about saving money again – it will just happen.
Renovating increases the house value says Chelsea Crawford : Keeping a lid on costs also depends on good communication, so it’s worth scheduling regular builder-client site meetings. This should prevent misunderstandings over small details which otherwise have a nasty habit of growing into expensive disputes. Before the build starts, it’s important to think about the details — light switches, sockets, radiators, taps, basins and so on, so the builders know exactly what’s required. Logic dictates that you shouldn’t waste money buying more stuff than you actually need. But it’s a false economy to order too few materials and risk work being held up because you’re a few tiles short.