Tuesday, June 22, 2010
6417 January Virtual Tour
For more information on this listing, or any other in the St. Louis area, visit www.MikeCromie.com.
Posted by Mike Cromie on Beyond Realty - St. Louis Real Estate Blog.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Tips For Home Buyers #2
Follow the home inspector around your house.
This tip can be especially helpful to first-time home buyers. Or for that matter, anyone that's unfamiliar with the various systems used to run a home. It's a great way to get acquainted with your new purchase.
Although not necessary, I often recommend to my clients that they be present during the home inspection and to feel free to ask questions. A good inspector will educate you about the home you're under contract to buy and should encourage any questions you have. After all, this is what you hired them to do. Their job is to inspect the home's structure, test all of it's systems, point out potentially hazardous situations and discover latent defects. But in the process, by following them through the house, you can discover the location and function of many of the home's mechanical, electrical and structural elements.
A complete home inspection will take anywhere from 3-6 hours, depending on the size of the home (Although, some of the time will be spent in areas that you most likely won't want to go, or shouldn't for safety reasons, such as the roof, attic or crawl space). This might seem like a long time to follow someone around your house, but may come in handy down the road. I'm sure even the most novice of home buyers know how to flip a breaker switch or even change their furnace filter. But, can you locate your main water supply shut off in the event of a leak? Or do you know how to determine when your brick needs tuckpointing? Or how to adjust the temperature on your water heater? These are just some of the nice tidbits you can gain from being present and curious at the time of inspection.
Posted by Mike Cromie on Beyond Realty - St. Louis Real Estate Blog.
This tip can be especially helpful to first-time home buyers. Or for that matter, anyone that's unfamiliar with the various systems used to run a home. It's a great way to get acquainted with your new purchase.
Although not necessary, I often recommend to my clients that they be present during the home inspection and to feel free to ask questions. A good inspector will educate you about the home you're under contract to buy and should encourage any questions you have. After all, this is what you hired them to do. Their job is to inspect the home's structure, test all of it's systems, point out potentially hazardous situations and discover latent defects. But in the process, by following them through the house, you can discover the location and function of many of the home's mechanical, electrical and structural elements.
A complete home inspection will take anywhere from 3-6 hours, depending on the size of the home (Although, some of the time will be spent in areas that you most likely won't want to go, or shouldn't for safety reasons, such as the roof, attic or crawl space). This might seem like a long time to follow someone around your house, but may come in handy down the road. I'm sure even the most novice of home buyers know how to flip a breaker switch or even change their furnace filter. But, can you locate your main water supply shut off in the event of a leak? Or do you know how to determine when your brick needs tuckpointing? Or how to adjust the temperature on your water heater? These are just some of the nice tidbits you can gain from being present and curious at the time of inspection.
Posted by Mike Cromie on Beyond Realty - St. Louis Real Estate Blog.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Summer, summer, summertime. Time to sit back and unwind.
Yeah that's right, I'm breaking out DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince lyrics. (Normally, I would assume if you don't recognize these lyrics you're from an older generation than mine. However, if you don't know them and you're reading a blog, I'm more likely to assume I'm the one from the older generation - and that scares me.)
What better way to sit back and unwind on a hot summer day in St. Louis than to hang out at the pool. My wife and I are city residents and thought our pool-going options were pretty slim. If you're like us and don't live in a community that runs their own public pool (unless, for us, you count the YMCA run Carondelet Rec Plex), you may also feel left out. But I've done a little research recently and was pleasantly surprised to find that a majority of the pools run by various St. Louis area municipalities are available to non-residents.
Although you'll almost always pay more than your tax-paying resident counterparts, in several cases you don't even need to be an accompanying "guest" of someone else. Some aquatic centers are only available with a season pass, whereas others offer daily passes.
Next time you want a break from the heat, check out these St. Louis area pools (click the link to find detailed information on fees, locations and schedules):
Daily and Season passes available without accompanying "resident/member":
Crestwood Aquatic Center
Sunset Hills Aquatic Center (New in 2010)
North Pointe Family Aquatic Center (Ballwin)
The HEIGHTS (Richmond Heights; Indoor pool and water park)
St. Louis County Parks Aquatic Facilities (Kennedy Pool, North County Pool, St. Vincent Water Park)
Aquaport (Maryland Heights)
Season pass available without accompanying "resident/member":
Carondelet Rec Complex (New in 2010)
Shaw Park Aquatic Center (Clayton)
Daily admission as a "guest":
Carondelet Rec Complex (New in 2010)
Shaw Park Aquatic Center (Clayton)
Recreation Station Aquatic Center (Kirkwood)
Webster Groves Aquatic Center
Posted by Mike Cromie on Beyond Realty - St. Louis Real Estate Blog.
What better way to sit back and unwind on a hot summer day in St. Louis than to hang out at the pool. My wife and I are city residents and thought our pool-going options were pretty slim. If you're like us and don't live in a community that runs their own public pool (unless, for us, you count the YMCA run Carondelet Rec Plex), you may also feel left out. But I've done a little research recently and was pleasantly surprised to find that a majority of the pools run by various St. Louis area municipalities are available to non-residents.
Although you'll almost always pay more than your tax-paying resident counterparts, in several cases you don't even need to be an accompanying "guest" of someone else. Some aquatic centers are only available with a season pass, whereas others offer daily passes.
Next time you want a break from the heat, check out these St. Louis area pools (click the link to find detailed information on fees, locations and schedules):
Daily and Season passes available without accompanying "resident/member":
Crestwood Aquatic Center
Sunset Hills Aquatic Center (New in 2010)
North Pointe Family Aquatic Center (Ballwin)
The HEIGHTS (Richmond Heights; Indoor pool and water park)
St. Louis County Parks Aquatic Facilities (Kennedy Pool, North County Pool, St. Vincent Water Park)
Aquaport (Maryland Heights)
Season pass available without accompanying "resident/member":
Carondelet Rec Complex (New in 2010)
Shaw Park Aquatic Center (Clayton)
Daily admission as a "guest":
Carondelet Rec Complex (New in 2010)
Shaw Park Aquatic Center (Clayton)
Recreation Station Aquatic Center (Kirkwood)
Webster Groves Aquatic Center
Posted by Mike Cromie on Beyond Realty - St. Louis Real Estate Blog.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Record Low Mortgage Rates
My mom always told me not to take advantage of other's misfortune. OK, maybe she didn't, but that seems like something moms say. Either way, I'm here to tell you - you can. And you should. And you shouldn't feel bad about it, at least in this case.
Because of the European debt crisis, mortgage rates here in the US are seeing record lows. The national average rate on a 30 year fixed loan, quoted on Bankrate.com, is 4.87%. Many investors are moving their money into US Treasurys, which lowers their yield and in turn, affects mortgage rates. This creates a great opportunity for those currently seeking a new home.
In an article on CNBC.com, Moody's chief economist, Mark Zandi, had this to say about the potential of buying a home in today's market: "It's the best time in our generation to buy. It may be the best time in any generation. Mortgage rates are so low and with homes prices down and lots of inventory, you couldn't pick a better time to buy or re-finance."
If you've been considering making a purchase of a new home for a while, or just missed the tax credit deadline this could be the opportunity you've been waiting for.
To search all listings in the St. Louis area, please visit my Google Map Search. Or sign up for Property Watch to be emailed listings that fit your criteria as they come on the market.
Posted by Mike Cromie on Beyond Realty - St. Louis Real Estate Blog.
Because of the European debt crisis, mortgage rates here in the US are seeing record lows. The national average rate on a 30 year fixed loan, quoted on Bankrate.com, is 4.87%. Many investors are moving their money into US Treasurys, which lowers their yield and in turn, affects mortgage rates. This creates a great opportunity for those currently seeking a new home.
In an article on CNBC.com, Moody's chief economist, Mark Zandi, had this to say about the potential of buying a home in today's market: "It's the best time in our generation to buy. It may be the best time in any generation. Mortgage rates are so low and with homes prices down and lots of inventory, you couldn't pick a better time to buy or re-finance."
If you've been considering making a purchase of a new home for a while, or just missed the tax credit deadline this could be the opportunity you've been waiting for.
To search all listings in the St. Louis area, please visit my Google Map Search. Or sign up for Property Watch to be emailed listings that fit your criteria as they come on the market.
Posted by Mike Cromie on Beyond Realty - St. Louis Real Estate Blog.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tips For Home Sellers #1
Go see your competition.
A good way to know how you stack up against your competition is to see them in person. The typical practice when pricing a listing will be for your real estate agent to show you, either online or on paper, comparable properties (comps) in the neighborhood. The agent may have seen some of the properties him/herself, especially if they specialize in the area, but you as the seller need to as well.
Not only will this help to accurately price your home, but you may come away with some fresh ideas on ways to present your home at showings. Pay attention to things you like and dislike about the way other homes show. Then go home and try to view your own home in the same critical mind set. You might find that the stuffed moose head smoking a cigarette in the den is tacky after all. Who knew?
Posted by Mike Cromie on Beyond Realty - St. Louis Real Estate Blog.
A good way to know how you stack up against your competition is to see them in person. The typical practice when pricing a listing will be for your real estate agent to show you, either online or on paper, comparable properties (comps) in the neighborhood. The agent may have seen some of the properties him/herself, especially if they specialize in the area, but you as the seller need to as well.
Not only will this help to accurately price your home, but you may come away with some fresh ideas on ways to present your home at showings. Pay attention to things you like and dislike about the way other homes show. Then go home and try to view your own home in the same critical mind set. You might find that the stuffed moose head smoking a cigarette in the den is tacky after all. Who knew?
Posted by Mike Cromie on Beyond Realty - St. Louis Real Estate Blog.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Real Estate Today on the Radio
Looking for some background noise while you're sitting at your desk all day? Why not learn about the current real estate market, or pick up some home buying/selling tips while you're at it. Just click play on the RET Radio player to the right of this post to listen to the current program, or visit Real Estate Today's website for show archives.
Posted by Mike Cromie on St. Louis Real Estate Blog - Beyond Realty.
Posted by Mike Cromie on St. Louis Real Estate Blog - Beyond Realty.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
HGTV's House Hunters in St. Louis - Starring Yours Truly
As promised in my earlier post, I'm back to give you the update on our episode of House Hunters. The show is set to air April 25, 2010 at 7pm. So, set your DVRs because you won't want to miss one heart pounding second of the this thrill ride. You'll be on the edge of your seat as Josh and Amy decide. Will it be House #1, #2 or wait, maybe it's #3? Tune in to find out.
And if you were wondering, I have not seen an advance copy of the show, so I'll be just as curious as you to see if I'm TV's next great reality star. Who knows, maybe they'll cast me in the next season of Jersey Shore. If so, I'll need to come up with a good nickname. Any suggestions?
Our episode - Making It Right In St. Louis
Posted by Mike Cromie, specializing in St. Louis Real Estate.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Another Incentive For 2010 Missouri Home Buyers
Whether or not you bought into President Obama's message of hope and "Change We Can Belive In", you'll probably be interested to hear about Missouri's new incentive called HOPE that introduces a change you can cash in on.
Many home buyers understand the great opportunity they've been given to purchase a new home in today's "buyers' market". There are several factors that contribute to making home buying so affordable right now including lower home prices, historically low interest rates and federal tax credits. Now the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) is offering an up to $1750 property tax incentive for the purchase of a home in 2010. This incentive is available for first-time buyers, as well as, repeat buyers. The MHDC is allocating $15 million towards the program which is available on a first-come, first-served basis until it runs out.
For more information on the program including eligibility and income limitations, please visit their website. You can also find there a pretty helpful list of FAQs.
Posted by Mike Cromie, specializing in St. Louis Real Estate.
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