Karin Cunningham

What is the perfect house warming gift…from your Realtor?
October 5, 2010 · · 5 Comments

I recently had the opportunity to represent two separate couples, no children, who purchased remodeled homes in the Bay Area. It’s been a pretty continuous trend of mine to represent people who are purchasing homes that require a lot of work. Bay Area homes are old, what can I say. This is not the case this time!

There is no need for Home Depot gift cards. Probably not a Lowe’s gift card either. I don’t want to give a basket with cleaning supplies and candy because they have all of that already! Wine and cheese, maybe? Gift certificate to a fancy restaraunt, maybe? I’m just not sure! I’m looking for suggestions! Thank you!

www.KarinCunningham.com

12 Hidden Costs of Homeownership
July 29, 2010 · · 3 Comments

Hi everybody! I know, it’s been awhile..but here’s an awesome article I found earlier this year that would benefit first-time home buyers especially!

-via Luke Mullins, USNews.com (April 8, 2010)

As the selling season gets underway, many Americans will be looking to take advantage of the lower real estate prices, attractive mortgage rates, and federal tax credit by purchasing a home. But remember: Not all of the costs associated with homeownership are reflected in the listed price. Indeed, many buyers — particularly first-time buyers — may be surprised by the amount of cash they’ll need to set aside for housing-related expenses that they hadn’t previously considered. These often-overlooked expenses can include everything from title insurance to lawn mowing. To give would-be home buyers a better sense of the budget they’ll need to buy and maintain a home, U.S. News spoke with a handful of real estate experts and compiled a list of 12 hidden costs of homeownership:

1. Home inspection. Since a home purchase is likely to be the largest financial investment of your life, it’s a good idea to have it professionally inspected beforehand. A home inspector can point out areas of the property that may need repairs. Buyers can use this information as leverage during home-price negotiations or simply to determine whether or not the property is worth purchasing. “It’s not required, but certainly I recommend it to buyers,” says Judy Moore of Re/Max Landmark Realtors in Lexington, Mass. “It is actually very helpful in that [buyers] learn about the property and how to maintain it and it also alerts them to any potential issues that may be coming up in the near future or need to be taken care of.” The cost of a home inspection, which can run several hundred dollars or more, is typically incurred by the buyers before they go to closing, Moore says.    Read more

How to Apply “Free Money” Wisely Toward a Home Purchase?
February 22, 2009 · · 5 Comments

In my previous blog, “Stimulus Package – What It Means to Bay Area Homebuyers”, some prospective homebuyers and comments  have expressed that the $8,000 tax credit in the Stimulus Package is “just not enough” to stimulate them to get off the fence.  Understandably, the incentive seems too insignificant when we are talking about an average housing price of $500,000 in the Bay Area. 

On the flip side of the coin, $8,000 is unarguably a substantial amount of money – don’t we all wish to have an extra $8,000 in our bank account?  Since a tax credit is a dollar for dollar reduction in income taxes (e.g. if you have $8,000 tax credit, you will pay $8,000 less tax that year regardless of your tax bracket), it is essentially like “free money”. Therefore, for someone who intends to purchase a home this year, there could be a number of ways in which this money can be wisely applied toward the purchase.  Here are some examples: Read more