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Why is an Appraisal Important When Buying or Selling a Home?

One the biggest components in buying a home when a lender is involved includes an appraisal. If you buy a home with cash and sometimes with a conventional loan, you can bypass this step. With an FHA loan and an VA loan, you cannot.  What is an appraisal?  In simple terms and Appraisal is a valuation of property.  An appraisal ordered for the purchase of a home is to determine if the price agreed upon by seller and buyer is acceptable by the lending institution. If an appraisal comes in low, the lender will likely decline to fund the deal. Unless the buyer is willing to come to the contracted price the deal to purchase can fall apart.  So what happens if the Appraisal come in Low? Sometimes a buyer will pay over the appraised value in order to buy the home. Sometimes the seller will lower the contracted price to the appraised value in order for the deal to continue. Sometimes the deal falls apart.  Loan types will determine what you can do as a buyer to get past the low appraisal. A con
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Try This: Get to Know Your Neighbors

Long years before when people moved into a new home or a new apartment, these folks called neighbors would pop by with a pot of coffee and a fresh baked cake to share. You would get to know their names, if they had kids or animals and what gossip they could fill you in on. Nowadays this doesn't happen as much and it's sorta sad. I'm hoping to change your mind today on getting neighborly. Let' call on your neighbor even if you have lived in the same spot for years. 

Thought One: Bake a Cake. One from the box is fine. People like cake and it doesn't have to be super fancy. You can either deliver the cake in a non-returnable baking pan or to maybe get one back.... your own baking dish. Knock on the door or ring the bell and hand it over and say, "Enjoy!" 

 Thought Two: Lend a Hand. If you see your neighbor struggling with a bag of groceries, offer help. If they are heading out of town, offer to keep an eye on the house. Get the mail, feed the dog or water their plants.  If they need to borrow something like a cup of sugar, be generous. If you help them, they will help you.

 Thought Three: Set Boundaries. Resist the temptation to snoop over the hedge or lurk in the distance. Aim to be friendly not obnoxious. Respect their privacy and you can only hope they do the same.

 Thought Four: Pipe Down. At most there is a yard or a thin wall that separates you from the people next door. Play your music at a reasonable decibel. Quiet your yappy dog. Run your vacuum during the day and don't get to carried away in the bedroom. If in doubt, ask yourself what you what you'd like to hear your neighbors doing. 

 Thought Five: Keep it Clean.No one wants the neighbor who lets his grass grow as tall as the kids heads. Keep it reasonably manicured. You want your neighbors to enjoy living next to you, not cringe everytime they pass your way.

 Thought Six: Call the Kids Home. How wonderful your kids have it when the neighbors have kids that yours can play with. Call them home for meals and make sure they realize they shouldn't eat or drink everything next door. 


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  1. AnonymousDecember 12, 2014 at 7:25 AM

    Great tips! I just moved into a pretty tight-knit condo community and I'm embarassed to say that I was shocked when everyone was so friendly and helpful. The first weeks, I swore I lost every utensil in my kitchen and I never once had to run out to the store to get something due to nice neighbors. Great tips!

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  2. MeganDecember 13, 2014 at 9:28 PM

    I was just talking with my husband about this very issue tonight. We've lived in Seattle, the UK, the Southern USA, and are back in Seattle now. Seattle and the UK were/are very hard places to get to know our neighbors. There's definitely a wall and people keep to themselves. The South was amazing. It was the perfect environment for me. I'm the type of person who likes to say hello and smile to strangers and I enjoy idle chitchat. We're back in Seattle again, having settled in a Nordic neighborhood and I'm always trying to tone down my friendly personality as it's not receptive by our neighbors. Maybe the next place we buy in a few years will come with friendly, good people living on our street! Boy, do I miss the friendly people in the South.

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