Ray Peckham Real Estate

Huntington Beach Homes / A Guide for Buyers and Sellers

Huntington Beach Real Estate or Homeowner’s Insurance

While it is necessary to have Huntington Beach Real Estate or Homeowner’s Insurance, there are ways to reduce your premium costs.

One: Raise your deductible. Deductibles are the amount you must pay towards a loss before your insurance company starts to pay. You can save costs on your overall policy by increasing the amount of your deductible. For example, according to a Federal Government paper on lowering Huntington Beach insurance costs, you can save up to 12% on your rate if you go with a $500.00 deductible rather than a $250.00 deductible.

Huntington Beach FAIR MARKET VALUE

When you buy Huntington Beach real estate or refinance your present home, your lender will ask you to pay for an appraisal to help ensure that the sales price and mortgage amount is consistent with the property's market value. The appraiser uses the Rule of Three. What that means is the lender wants to evaluate three "comparables"—recent sales of nearby homes that are very similar to the one you are buying. Based on this information, the lender will make adjustments to reflect the differences between the properties and arrive at a fair price for your home.

Huntington Beach Real Estate Contract Options

Finally, the Exclusive Agency Listing allows an agent to list and market your Huntington Beach real estate. The agent will earn a commission if he/she or any other agent sells the property but not if the homeowner finds his/her own buyer. Very few if any agents are willing to agree to spend time, money and know-how on promoting a home without the guarantee of a commission when the home sells.

Many people imagine that the agent who lists their home begins an immediate search for likely homebuyers for Huntington Beach but this is not always the case. The real skill of a good listing agent is her/his ability to market your home to other agents. Usually as soon as your listing agent returns to the office, your home is entered into the MLS and is now available to hundreds, maybe thousands of other agents.

Building Huntington Beach Home Equity

A popular question from prospective Huntington Beach homebuyers relates to building home equity. Buyers like to estimate how much a home may increase in value based upon past appreciation. One of the many advantages of home ownership is that appreciation is based on the home’s market value rather than on the actual dollar amount invested or the down payment so that a $100,000.00 home that appreciates 5% is now worth $105,000.00, especially in Huntington Beach.

With a typical 30-year loan, most of your monthly payment goes toward interest payments with only small amounts going to the principle in the early years. Only half the principle is repaid in the first 23 years of the loan. You can build Huntington Beach home equity faster by choosing a 15-year loan instead of a 30-year loan.

Huntington Beach GUIDE

One of the major benefits that experienced Huntington Beach agents and brokers provide for prospective buyers is a thorough knowledge of the area and the real estate market. Whether buying in a specific school district is important to you or making sure the home you buy is close to shopping and transportation, a knowledgeable agent is your bust Huntington Beach Guide.

Huntington Beach INVESTMENT

Investing in Huntington Beach as a second home or as a rental has many advantages. But before you invest, it is a good idea to acquaint yourself with the actual sales price of similar properties and to get a picture of the Huntington Beach market in general. Please contact this office for detailed information on Huntington Beach market