#apple realty

[applerealty]

(It's not.) 🍎

[dreamaketron]

Home Buying Process- Putting The Pieces Together

 There is just so much that goes into making a home purchase, we want to make it easy for you to understand the home-buying process from the get-go. Here is a quick guide to help get you going as you begin to work your way through the process. 

1.Figure out how much house you can afford- Do this FIRST, I know cruising through homes on Zillow is so much fun, but trust me: this keeps everything in perspective-It’s recommended that your house payment should be no more than 25% of your take-home pay. At less than 25% of your take-home pay, this leaves room for ice cream money & future goals.   

2. Save for a Down Payment. Pro Tip- don’t forget to consider closing costs and moving expenses (ie: take-out every day for a week)  on top of your down payment amount. 

3. Identify your favorite neighborhoods. Instead of running around all over town, narrow down your home search to just a few areas.  This helps bring focus and attention to your favorites.

4. Get preapproved for a 15-year or 30-year fixed-rate. If you live a debt-free life and don’t have a credit score consider speaking with a qualified lender about doing manual underwriting. Although not as common, it is completely possible to accomplish. 

5. Consult with your favorite real estate agent. You want an agent you can trust (Apple Realty & Auction: 423-968-7653 ) one who actually cares about your financial goals and offers guidance at every step of the home-buying process.  

6. Meet with me as Your Agent and discuss your list of must-haves. Getting on the same page with your agent will help in finding the kinds of houses you actually want and can afford. This kind of intentionality will help us find you the home, that you will love. 

7. Go house hunting. Most buyers search for 10 weeks and view around nine homes before they find the home they buy.

8. Make an offer on a house. Once you have found a  home you love, and that you can afford, Trust me as your real estate agent to help you make a competitive offer and negotiate with the seller for the best price.

9. Pay the security deposit and start the mortgage process. After your offer is accepted, you’ll pay a type of security deposit called earnest money. Then, you can let your lender know the exact dollar amount to process for your mortgage.

10. Get a home inspection and appraisal. Your home inspection will protect you from buying a house that isn’t structurally sound and your appraisal will protect you from paying too much for a house.

11. Be patient as your lender finalizes your loan documents. There’s a ton of paperwork that goes into getting a mortgage. On average, it takes 44 days to close on a loan.

12. Closing Day!!! Close on your house—finally! Review all of your closing costs, sign your life away and make final payments. The closing day is when you officially become a new homeowner! Congratulations, You Did It! 

[dreamaketron]

Your Realtor Next Door:

Hi, I’m Dreama-

 I am a Member of the National Association of Realtors and the TN National Association of Realtors. I was born and raised in Tennessee. I have a deep love for both the families I serve in the area as well as the mountains in which we live. The energy and transparency that being a Real Estate Agent takes is what has driven me to the industry. My drive and passion will keep me finding new ways to serve my clients and bring excellence through each transaction

Apple Realty & Auction Co

 [email protected] (M) 423-723-7713 (O) 423-968-7653

[v-b-d]

Call Apple Realty at 423-968-7653 to Buy, Sell, Rent, or Auction real estate in the Tri-Cities region of Bristol, Johnson City, Kingsport, Abingdon.

While this isn’t a new project for us — it part of ongoing work for Blountville based Apple Realty.

Website features:

RETS integration

PHP, MYSQL, JQUERY

Mobile Friendly

Google Analytics

Custom Search Integration

Custom features based on device detection. (SMS properties to friends)

Tumblr Integration (Blog & #anotherhomesold ad campaign.)

In addition to being their website advocate, we also handle digital advertising, and video marketing for them.

[v-b-d]

For internal use ony. Apple Realty & Auction Tri-Cities TN-VA real estate.

We created an entire suite of web based apps for Apple Realty to assist with back-end tasks and daily work flows.

Supra Lock-box Library

The first thing we did was create a page to quickly look up Supra lock box codes without having to talk to someone at the office. Simple database to house the codes and mobile friendly webpage that agents can access to the code to unlock the box.

Ads App

Another app allows generates the code for posting company branded listing ads formatted for Craigslist.com & Backpage.com. This aids in the broker meet state advertising requirements for real estate firms and also provides a level of consistency for the company across digital mediums.

Scheduling App

This app allows the receptionist (or agent) to quickly schedule appointments for showing agents. Ties into the office’s appointment calendar & helps with a historical overview of showing and appointments.

This is ties back to feedback form sent to agent to help catalog agent feedback from showings.

Listing Kiosk

Created a HTML 5 / CSS solution for showing listing on digital signage.

[jdrichards]

Looking for the Apple Realty blog? I had to move it.

Originally, when I set this tumblr up it was set up as my company’s blog with the username “AppleRealty" — it was the only tumblr I had and all was well until I realized that primary blogs can’t have multiple contributing authors. To make it worse tumblr has no built in way to switch a primary blog to a secondary — and that sucks!!

So what to do?

Well, here’s what I did:

Changed the username on this account (that’s why you’re seeing this blog instead of the old one if you are a follower)

Created a new secondary blog with the "AppleRealty" username.

The upside is that old posts will live on — downside is that we’re basically starting over.

[jdrichards]

New Commercial for River Bluff Landing - located in Bluff City, developed by Moretz Construction LLC

[jdrichards]

Don't Walk Away from Your Home

If you're having mortgage payment difficulties, you may be tempted to "walk away" from your home, but abandoning your home isn't your best option. Don't walk away from your home without looking into other options.

You may have heard in the news that many people who are faced with a mortgage that they can no longer manage, or who are facing foreclosure, or who owe more on their homes than they are worth, are "walking away" from their homes by dropping their keys in the mailbox abandoning their homes. While the idea may be tempting at times, walking away from your home won't improve your situation, and may even make your situation worse.

Here's why walking away from your home isn't your best bet to get out of a mortgage that's hard to manage, along with some alternatives.

Walking Away: Not Your Best Bet

Here are some reasons why walking away from your home isn't a good idea:

Walking away from your home can hurt your credit. You still owe money on your mortgage, even if you walk away from your home. If you walk away from your home, you can end up in foreclosure, which can really hurt your credit and make it harder for you to borrow money in the future.

Walking away from your home can cause you legal problems. Your lender may take legal action against you for the amount you owe on your mortgage, and charge you legal fees, too. Your local government may take legal action against you for failing to pay your property taxes, as well as for abandoning and neglecting your home.

Walking away from your mortgage hurts others, too. Abandoning your home contributes to neighborhood blight, which lowers the value of other homes in your neighborhood.

Alternatives to Walking Away

Here are some alternatives to walking away from your mortgage, as well as some things to think about:

Before you do anything else, talk to your lender.

Your lender doesn't want to go to foreclosure or have you abandon your home. Your lender is willing to help you manage your mortgage, but only if you talk to your lender right away.

Look into refinancing your mortgage.

You may be able to refinance your mortgage to get a monthly payment or interest rate that's easier for you to manage.

Consider selling your home with a short sale.

If you plan to sell your home, you may be able to make a short sale, which means that your lender accepts less than the full amount of what you owe on your mortgage. Ask your lender if a short sale is an option for you.

When all else fails, look into a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

If you still can't sell your home, your lender may accept a deed in lieu of foreclosure, which allows you to transfer ownership of your home to your lender instead of going to foreclosure.

Both short sales and deeds in lieu of foreclosure are last resorts, but they allow you to avoid foreclosure, which can hurt your credit score and cost you and your lender a lot of money and time.

You have other options than walking away from your home when you're having mortgage difficulties, but only if you take action right away, work with your lender, get the right advice, and act on it.

Call Apple Realty, let us help you.