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Games That Will Make Your Housewarming Party a Win

Games That Will Make Your Housewarming Party a Win

Games That Will Make Your Housewarming Party a Win

You now hold the key to your new home, congrats! This is definitely a new chapter to celebrate, especially if you are a first-time home buyer. A housewarming party is the perfect way to introduce your friends and family to your new space and celebrate. Perhaps even extend some invitations to your new neighbors so you can get to know one another!
 
A fun way to entertain your visitors and get everyone to interact is through playing games! While you may choose to play cards, board games, or whatever you have available, having house themed activities will make this experience even more memorable for you and your guests. You may even hand out prizes to the winners! Here are a few fun games everyone will enjoy:
 

Room Memory

Test your guests’ memory while having them together in small groups! Choose one of the rooms in your house and allow a small number of people in for 2-minutes at a time. When they leave, ask them particular questions about the room such as “what color was the rug?” or “name how many picture frames there are.” The team with the most accurate responses is the winner.
 

Don’t Lose Your Key

For this game you will need keys and lanyards. You can find a pack of keys on Amazon here, or if you have old keys you could get rid of, that works too. Choose 1-3 words your visitors will not be able to say throughout the whole event. Welcome your guests and give them a key as soon as they arrive. Explain that they are free to keep their home key for the entire party, however, if they may not say any of the forbidden words. When another guest overhears one of these words being mentioned, they are able to take a key from that guest. Toward the end of the celebration, have everyone count how many keys they have. The winner will be person with the most keys!
 

House Hunting

An exciting way to have your guests tour your new home is to make a scavenger hunt! You will need to hide random items throughout the house for players to find. Your guests can play individually or you can split them up into teams. You will give them a list of the items they must find and then set a timer for five minutes for them to search around your home. The team or individual that finds the most items at the end of the game wins!
  
 
Buying a home is a significant achievement, no matter how you choose to celebrate. If you are still looking for your dream home in the Central Florida, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help!

Ready to make a Move?

Bardell Real Estate are the experts in helping you with your selling, buying or renting needs near Orlando, Florida. Make your Disney area experience a forever memorable one. Call us now to speak to a real estate agent.

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Why You Should Buy a Home

Why You Should Buy a Home

Why You Should Buy a Home

June is National Homeownership Month
Have you considered buying a home in Florida? From being a prime location to live to increasing your net worth, there are many advantages to owning a home in Central Florida. As June is National Homeownership Month, we weigh in four benefits of purchasing a home.
 
 

Consistent monthly housing payments

No longer will you have to deal with the unpredictability that comes from renting such as lease termination, change in landlord or rent spikes. As a matter of fact, buying a house rather than renting is often a more affordable option. While home insurance rates and property taxes may not always be steady, you are able to pay the same amount of fixed rate throughout the entire time of your home loan through a fixed-rate mortgage.
 
 

Beginning your retirement mortgage-free

There’s no feeling like getting to live in a house you can fully call your own. Once you pay off your mortgage, you’ll be able to allocate money you’d be spending on housing to other things you’ve been wanting to splurge on. Now that’s an attainable Florida retirement dream!
 
If the house you’re purchasing isn’t the one you want to officially settle in forever, you can always sell it and use the money to fund your retirement. After all, the average American has about double in home equity as they do in their retirement savings.
 
 

Receiving Florida tax benefits

Owning a home in Central Florida gives you the advantage of getting to claim some extra tax deductions such as:
  • Mortgage interest
  • Mortgage points and insurance
  • Property taxes
  • Medical home improvements
  • Energy efficient upgrades

 

Earn extra income

Whether you choose to hire a property manager to lease your property to a tenant, host with Airbnb (the average host earns about $924 a month!) or rent out a spare room, by owning property you have the opportunity to earn passive income.
 
 
Owning property in Florida is something to take pride in. It’s a milestone to celebrate! While it is a significant commitment, the financial and lifestyle benefits make it a worthwhile investment. Don’t know where to start? Contact us to speak with a Bardell Real Estate agent and learn more about how you can buy a Central Florida home.

Ready to make a Move?

Bardell Real Estate are the experts in helping you with your selling, buying or renting needs near Orlando, Florida. Make your Disney area experience a forever memorable one. Call us now to speak to a real estate agent.

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7 Reasons to Own a Home

7 Reasons to Own a Home

7 Reasons to Own a Home

7 Reasons to Own a Home

  1. Tax benefits. The U.S. Tax Code lets you deduct the interest you pay on your mortgage, your property taxes, and some of the costs involved in buying a home.

  2. Appreciation. Historically, real estate has had a long-term, stable growth in value. In fact, median single-family existing-home sale prices have increased on average 5.2 percent each year from 1972 through 2014, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.  The recent housing crisis has caused some to question the long-term value of real estate, but even in the most recent 10 years, which included quite a few very bad years for housing, values are still up 7.0 percent on a cumulative basis. In addition, the number of U.S. households is expected to rise 10 to15 percent over the next decade, creating continued high demand for housing.

  3. Equity. Money paid for rent is money that you’ll never see again, but mortgage payments let you build equity ownership interest in your home.

  4. Savings. Building equity in your home is a ready-made savings plan. And when you sell, you can generally take up to $250,000 ($500,000 for a married couple) as gain without owing any federal income tax.

  5. Predictability. Unlike rent, your fixed-rate mortgage payments don’t rise over the years so your housing costs may actually decline as you own the home longer. However, keep in mind that property taxes and insurance costs will likely increase.

  6. Freedom. The home is yours. You can decorate any way you want and choose the types of upgrades and new amenities that appeal to your lifestyle.

  7. Stability. Remaining in one neighborhood for several years allows you and your family time to build long-lasting relationships within the community. It also offers children the benefit of educational and social continuity. 

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Dear Homebuyers: Learn About Your Down payment

Dear Homebuyers: Learn About Your Down payment

Dear homebuyers: Please stop thinking you need 20% down payment

NEW YORK – Feb. 18, 2019 – First-time buyer surveys consistently show the top hurdle to homeownership is saving up for the down payment. But potential home shoppers may be misunderstanding the amount of money they really need to buy a home.

“Paying 20 percent down is, quite frankly, a myth,” Karen Hoskins, vice president at NeighborWorks, told HouseLogic. “Most buyers pay only 5 percent to 10 percent down – some even pay zero.”Several assistance programs can help buyers with down payment concerns break into homeownership. For example, 69 percent of about 2,500 homebuying programs tracked by Down payment Resource offer down payment assistance. The average amount of assistance from these programs tops $11,000.

HouseLogic offers several places where buyers can search for down payment assistance, including through national government programs. The Federal Housing Administration offers loans to first-time buyers with down payments as low as 3.5 percent. Programs like the USDA Rural Development Loans and VA Home Loans offer eligible buyers zero-down payment loans. Mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac offer eligible buyers loans where they can put down as little as 3 percent of the purchase price.

When buyers put down less than 20 percent, they pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) each month to protect the lender’s interest, though the PMI can often be cancelled once they build up 20 percent equity in the property. Many state and local homebuying programs offer assistance programs too. There are many different forms of assistance, such as forgivable loans and grants (gifts for some or all of the down payment and closing costs) to soft mortgages (down payment assistance loans that are deferred for some period of time based on the program’s requirements).

Mortgage brokers should also be able to supply buyers with information about programs in their area and help determine eligibility.

SOURCE: © 2019 Florida Realtors®

Central Florida’s Daily Mortgage Rates

Central Florida’s Daily Mortgage Rates

Welcome to this weeks snapshot of Central Florida Daily Mortgage Rates! Does your New Year’s Resolution include spending time to invest your hard earned money into something that will continue to reward you, especially with ownership? Well, it should!!

BREAKING DOWN ‘Mortgage Rates’Central Florida Mortgage Rates

The mortgage rate is a primary consideration for homebuyers looking to finance a new home purchase with a mortgage loan. Other factors also involved include collateral, principal, interest, taxes and insurance. The collateral on a mortgage is the house itself, and the principal is the initial amount for the loan. Taxes and insurance vary according to the location of the home and are usually an estimated figure until the time of purchase.

Source: Investopedia.com

Each mortgage rate is determined by the lender and can be either fixed, staying the same for the term of the mortgage, or variable, fluctuating with a benchmark interest rate. A mortgage rate may vary for borrowers based on their credit profile. Here is a snap shot of the daily mortgage rates as of today, Tuesday, January 29, 2019. While the rates shown are not guaranteed for everyone, this gives the average buyer a good idea of what their rate should look like. We always recommend you speak with your local realtor to find the best loan program for your Orlando Home purchase. Take advantage of these mortgage rates now before it changes, contact us today by clicking on the ‘contact us’ link or by filling out the form above!

Source: Bank Rate