Tag: tips

It’s Easy!

Buying a New Home is Easy! We’ll show you how.

Did you know that buying a new home is a very simple process? You have one major choice to make before you begin the process: do you want to build your new home from the ground up or do you want to move into your new home in the next 30 days or less?

 

If you want to move quickly, let’s say your home has sold or your lease is up, or you have just re-located, an inventory home is the best option for you.    An inventory home is one that the builder chose to build knowing that it is a popular floor plan and anticipating that some people may need to move into their new home in 30 days or less. There are about five steps to buying a completed inventory home:

 

-Gathering Your Paperwork 

Now this is the first step no matter what type of home you are buying.  You will need to provide your lender with a copy of your last two year’s W2’s, the two most recent paycheck stubs, a copy of your driver’s license, a copy of your social security card and your most recent checking and savings account statements.  Getting this paperwork together before you begin looking will streamline the process when you are ready to make your decision.

 

-Loan Application

Most Home Builders will have their list of preferred or in house lenders.  At Antares we have a list of over six Lenders that we prefer to work with.  These people have earned their place on our list by providing great customer service to our Home Buyers and to our Sales Consultants.  They are Lenders we can depend on to answer our phone calls even on weekends and after hours and they take care of our Buyers.  You can submit a loan application at any of our Model Homes any day of the week.  You are also welcome to use your own Lender that has already pre-approved you.  Getting this part out of the way early on in the process helps you to determine what price range you want to stay in.  It can also help with planning a budget for after you close.  Having a realistic plan for your lifestyle is very important.  For example, if you love to travel, you may want to keep your mortgage payment way below the maximum you can qualify for.

 

-Choose Your Home

This is the fun part!  Visiting our Model Homes, looking at our completed inventory and imagining where you’ll place your furniture!  Not sure what exactly will be the best style home for you?  No problem.  Our Sales Consultants are very good listeners and they will ask you lots of questions to discover which home will best suit your needs.

 

-Go to your Home Owner Orientation

Meet with the Construction Manager and find out all about the unique construction of your New Home.  You’ll learn more about Water Heaters, Grout, Foundations and Insulation than you every wanted!

 

-Go to Closing

Signing on the dotted line and getting the keys to your future!  Congratulations!

 

Have you decided you would like to pick all of the colors for your new home?  Need a few months to save up your down payment?  Want a floor plan that we don’t have as a completed inventory home?  In love with that over sized Cul-De-Sac Home Site?  Build!  After the first two steps above, the next step is:

 

-Choose Your Floor Plan and Home Site

It can be overwhelming when we have so many different plans and locations to build.  But don’t worry we are here to help!  With plans ranging from three bedrooms to six bedrooms, we will have the perfect plan for you!

 

-Visit the Selection Studio

This is my favorite part!  Since we don’t limit our Buyers to pre-selected packages, every home can be customized in many different ways.  We will help you choose options that are beautiful and within any budget!

 

-Watch Your Home Emerge!

The construction process is very interesting if you ask me!  A lot of our buyers will visit their home weekly to take pictures and observe their dreams taking form.  You will meet with the Construction Manager during this time to get an overview of the construction process.  He will also be able to answer any questions you have about how your home is being built.  All of the Construction Managers at Antares Homes are Graduate Master Builders!  Where else can you find that?

 

-Save Your Down Payment Money

Most of our buyers are using FHA loans.  These loans require 3.5% of the mortgage value of the home as a down payment.  A lot of people don’t have that amount sitting around and have to budget to save it.  Since it takes us four months to build your new home, most of our buyers are able to save down payment money in that time period.  We also have various Zero Down loans available for qualified buyers.  If you want more information on those programs, please contact one of our Sales Offices.  Our Sales Consultants will be able to tell you very quickly if you qualify for one of those programs.

 

-Meet with the Construction Manager

You will meet with your Construction Manager at least three times during the building process.  He is a great educational resource for our buyers.  Every wonder why we do what we do?  He’ll be able to tell you!

 

-Go to closing!

The same last step: Signing on the dotted line and getting the keys to your future!  Congratulations!

 

Now Wasn’t That Easy?

DIY Halloween Decorations

Looking for some great DIY Halloween decorations and a good laugh? Look no further!

Link to Source below

Here’s a list I compiled of great places to find DIY projects for Halloween.  Oh, and dogs in costumes.

  1. Using Microsoft Publisher to create paper decorations and banners.
  2. The Family Fun website from Disney has a long list of DIY craft projects you can do with your children.
  3. She Knows Halloween has endless projects and ideas for Halloween from party tips to jewelry.  Oh and don’t forget the pumpkin carving templates.
  4. The Tip Junkie shows you what DIY really looks like!
  5. Casa Cullen has compiled their list too.
  6. If you want to laugh a lot just Google pet costumes…Sushi Pug is my favorite.  Here’s the source for the photo above.
  7. Decorating on a budget?

Have You Googled Your Builder?

Check out Antares Homes. We think you’ll like what you find.

These days most people are making their decisions on which Restaurant or Salon to go to or appliance or book to buy on line.  They are reading reviews, finding ratings and generally finding out the purchasing experiences of fellow consumers.  Well, we have found that buying a home is the same.  Most of the people who walk in to our Sales Offices have visited our website or found out about us on line.  But the next step is to seek out reviews by using a simple Google search of any Home Builder you are interested in.  Go ahead and make our day- Google us!

STOP! Don’t work on improving your credit all by yourself!

Think you know how to repair your credit score? You’d be surprised at how easy it is to make it worse. Best advice: Talk to an expert before you take any action. There are plenty of dos and don’ts when it comes to credit repair.

Photo Credit: money-for-single-moms.com

Sorry for yelling STOP in all upper caps but this topic is way too important to let slide. A prospective home buyer–let’s call her “Melanie”–just stopped by one of our sales offices to share some exciting news. Turns out she’s been trying to repair her credit score on her own. (Insert big “oh, no” here.) Ms. Melanie said her credit score (pulled just two months ago) was only 20 points short of qualifying for a loan. She had taken on the challenge to boost her score and proudly announced, “I’ve been paying on some old stuff.” (Insert another “oh, no” and throw in a sigh.)

So what’s the big deal?

The problem is that credit repair is very tricky these days. Recent credit items are more important than old debt, and most lenders can overlook some dings to your credit if they occurred a long time ago. Believe it or not, paying on an old debt breathes new life into that carcass and makes it show up on your credit report as a recent item. This can cause your score to tank.

No one told Melanie to do this. Despite a consultation with Marcy Rutherford, a veteran sales counselors who is very knowledgeable in credit repair, Melanie didn’t take her advice.  The result is that Melanie may very well have set herself back over 100 points!  This will take a very long time to undo.

Please take a lesson from our unfortunate friend and stop working on your own credit.  We can help!  Just call one of our Sales Offices and make an appointment to find out more about our Credit Watchers Program.  Call toll free: 1-800-Antares (800-268-2737) or choose your favorite neighborhood and phone number from this list.

As the heat goes away, some of our unwanted guests are on their way back…

The record-breaking summer heat helped keep pesky bugs away. Now that cooler weather has finally arrived, they’re baa-aaaack!

Photo Credit: pestybugsbegone.com

We have been assaulted by record setting heat and a drought here in North Texas.  It has been unrelenting and very draining.  But every cloud has a silver lining: Very few bugs this summer.  In an area known for it’s humidity and “Everything is Bigger in Texas” creepy crawly pests, we have had an unusual experience.  Absent were the cool evenings sitting on the back porch under the bug zapper.  But, as the days start to cool down (and yes 85 to 90 degrees is considered a cold front here) and the moisture slowly returns to the area, now is the time to start planning for the return of our six legged friends.  Make an appointment with your favorite pest control now, and prevent unwanted guests this fall!

You work hard for your money. Make it work for you. The best investment you can ever make.

Today’s Master Builder Musing is by Nancy Scott, VP of Sales and one of our newest team members to earn the Graduate Master Builder (GMB) designation.

A house is an asset that is built for folks and families to live in, enjoy and maintain.  It gives us a sense of who we are.  By making payments to a mortgage company instead of a landlord, the house becomes an asset.   The problem with combining that thought with housing is that our houses are not banks.  The real purpose of housing has nothing to do with cash-out refinancing. It is a place to call home, to raise a family, to enjoy Sunday ballgames, to decorate with your style, to park your car in, or to barbecue in the back yard with friends.

This year, the average renter in Tarrant County will be handed two rent increases.  Let’s face it, you have to pay to live somewhere.  If interest rates are low and rent increases are high, the true best investment is housing.   The required down payment when you buy a home is usually less than 3 and one half percent (sometimes as low as zero down), yet when housing prices rise, the investment value increases on the total price of the house.

Now it quickly makes sense.   Builders are now building on discounted lots.   The lots were discounted to the builders when the housing market declined. The builders now offer brand new homes at lower prices than they have been able to offer in decades.    Lower pricing combined with the new home warranty and energy efficiency really add up and just make good solid sense.  The discounted lot supply is limited, as developers cannot redeliver new lots with the same type of discounts.

Today’s interest rates are some of the lowest in the history of our country.  Today’s home prices are the lowest since the 1990’s.  These two combined make a huge difference in a payment.  Let’s compare the principle and interest payment.

For example, in June 2000, the average interest rate was 8.5%.  On a $150,000 home with a 8.5% interest rate the principle and interest payment was around $1124.  The total payment with taxes and insurance was $1672.00

The new builder pricing in August 2011 for a similar home as the above example is about $130,000 in the current marketplace.  The current interest rate is about 4% – the principal and interest payment is $628.   The total payment including all taxes and property insurance is around $1121.

Now let’s see how much you will have paid off after 15 years if you stay in your home.  With the 2000 pricing and rates, you would have paid down to a balance of $114,155.

With 2011 pricing and rates, you would have paid your home balance to $84,924 after 15 years.  Now imagine, if you paid extra each month, the amount that buyers actually paid in June 2000 and kept paying it for the 15 years-an extra $496 per month.  Where would you be?  Your house would be completely paid for and it would have been paid for in February 2024.  That means your home would be completely paid for in 13 ½ years.  This is the true way to wealth.  This is the true American dream.

Amazing, huh?  This doesn’t even show how much the “discounted home” will rise in value over the years. An apartment will never be paid off.  Renters just make someone else rich.

Do you really want to take this risk that interest rates and housing will stay low?  Or do you want the benefits that a home provides? 

Cleaner Glassware

Here’s a great tip I learned from a friend of mine:  Add Lemon juice to your soap dispenser in your dishwasher for cleaner glassware.  All of my glasses and glass vases were building up this unsightly scuzzy film that I could not remove no matter how hard I tried.  My friend told me that there was a water additive that had been removed from the local drinking supply which prevented this from occurring in the past.  So I took her advice and now I have bright shiny CLEAR glassware.  It also works when you add to the water when you wash by hand as well.

 

Do you have any cleaning tips?  Post them in the comments!

Shocking!

To qualify for the $878/mo payment on this home, you only need to bring home $3000/mo Before Taxes!

After all of the gloomy predictions about what a downgraded credit rating will do to our economy I was shocked to learn today that many of our recommended lenders are offering a 30 year fixed rate loan at 3.75%.  Crazy!  Just a few weeks ago rates were hovering around 5%.  What does that mean to you?  On a 30 year fixed rate FHA loan for $120,000 your payment at a 5% rate including Taxes, Insurance, Mortgage Insurance and Interest is around $1065/month.  At 3.75% that number drops below $1000/month to a shocking $979/month!  If you buy our least expensive home, priced at $99,490, your payment becomes $812/month.  Why would you not buy today?  With prices and rates so low, you can’t miss this opportunity to invest in your future!

–Link to 8825 Highland Orchard, pictured above.

Help is Here!

Crescent Springs Ranch, 701 Jetton Court, Crowley, TX 76036

Do you need help just figuring out if buying a new home is an option for you?  Do you need help planning to save money for a down payment?  Do you need help understanding why your credit score went down instead of up after all that work you did?  We have answers for you!  We are offering a FREE Home Buyer Class at our Crescent Springs Ranch location this Wednesday, August 10 from 7-9 pm.  Call the office at 817-704-7532 to register today!  We will have a finance specialist on site to help with planning for a home in your future!