If you are thinking of selling your house, you should look into the matter of hiring a real estate agent. You will gain many benefits from hiring such a professional especially in the buyer’s market borne of the recession.

Just in case you have been living under a rock, even celebrities and millionaires selling their homes have had to significantly lower their homes’ selling prices in an effort to sell these properties as fast as possible and yet nobody seems to be taking the bait. With the right real estate agent, however, you can have greater success where your moderately-priced house is concerned.

Home Assessment

Your real estate agent will start by providing advice on how you can sell the house in a quick manner and even on your own terms. Your house will be inspected from floor to ceiling and then changes will be recommended to make it more salable. You need not worry about spending plenty of money on the recommended home improvements. For the most part, these steps will only focus on minor things like a fresh coat of paint on one part of the house, cleaning up the yard of weeds and junk, fixing up small defects in the plumbing and even removing years of clutter.

Once you have made these minor improvements, your real estate agent can then make an assessment of the house’s value. Factors to consider include comparisons with the property in the neighborhood, current market prices and the value of the home in and of itself, to name a few. From the initial valuation, you and your agent can then discuss the market list price of the property. Keep in mind that keeping to a reasonable and affordable list price is essential in making a fast sale.

Marketing Your Home

Next stop is marketing your home, which is a key responsibility of the real estate agent. Methods applied in said activity include advertisements in the classified ads, posters and, most important, the MSL. Essentially, it is a listing where brokers and agents as well as sellers and buyers share information about available properties for sale. The success of the MSL is proven, too – approximately 80 percent of all home transactions were made with the network as a common factor. You can even secure a better price for your home with said network.

Negotiating the Deal

And of course, your real estate agent will help in deal negotiations for the transaction to push through. The aspects for negotiations will include total price of the house, down payments and final payments, transaction fees and penalties. Basically, your agent should protect your interests first so much so that he can turn down offers that he believes are to your detriment. You still make the final decision but it is a good idea to listen to what the expert in the matter has to say about it.

Before placing your signature on any contract, you are well advised to read it down to the last fine prints. You want to be protected in all aspects so you might also consider talking to an accountant and lawyer for more advice. These professionals are worth their fees if only to ensure that the kinks in the contract are ironed out.

If you are looking to buy a holiday home one of the first things to do is search for your holiday home loan online. This way you can cover a lot of ground and sift through the many options without actually leaving home.

Besides all the major banks and lenders there are a plethora of brokers and consolidators, some of which can search several hundreds of lenders for the best possible deal for you.
By doing this you can quickly compare what is available and do so from your desk or dinning room table. The same applies to searching for personal secured loans, second home loans or holiday home improvement loans.

Key Factors to Research:

Interest rate-
Is it calculated daily, rather than on an annual basis, as this is obviously a better way. This is because interest is charged only on the remaining money that you owe. That way interest is not charged on money that you have already paid.

Type of rate-
Fixed rate, where the rate is fixed for say the first 2,3 of 5 years, which affords a certain amount of certainty in the early period.
Discount rate, where the early years are discounted.
Tracker rate, where the rate follows the Bank of England base rate.

Payment term-
Normally a homeowner loan can vary from 5years up to 25years. You will need to consider this in conjunction with the amount borrowed and the interest rate.

Capital or Interest Only-
It is always best to pay off the capital as well as the interest, although it may be that you start with an interest only to start with and convert later on.

Overpayments-
If you are likely to be able to pay off lumps, this can reduce the outstanding balance and thereby save money on the interest you ultimately pay.

Early payment-
Should you decide to increase your monthly payment during the fixed or discounted period ensure that it is within any threshold, often 20%, as you may then be liable for early payment charges.

Fees-
Don’t forget to take into account any fees, some of which can be rolled into the amount borrowed, but still need to be taken into consideration.

Repossession-
Consider all of the above along with your ability to keep up payments. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments.

Summary
Searching for a holiday home loan online is quick and easy, however do not forget to make your comparisons with the key factors in mind. Failing to miss one out could cost you dearly. Always compare secured loans, to other financial models like straight forward mortgages when looking for the best secured loans.