Bob Whigham's Blog

1.    Tax breaks. The U.S. Tax Code lets you deduct the interest you pay on your mortgage, property taxes you pay, and some of the costs involved in buying your home.  2.    Gains. Between 1998 and 2002, national home prices increased at an average of 5.4 percent annually. And while there's no gu...

Lovely 3 bedroom Ranch home located in very desirable Kettering location. Recently updated throughout and freshly painted inside and out. Ideally located near Town and Country Shopping Center, walking distance to all Schools, Lincoln Park Commons, the Fraze and parks. Just minutes from The Greene...

I'm curious if anyone out there knows the home buying rules for aliens residing in the USA.  For example, can an alien residing in the USA in possesion of a tax ID and paying income taxes buy a home in the USA.  In this example the buyer does not have a social security card but has a passport.

In a 2006 study of home buyers and sellers conducted by the National Association of REALTORS® it was found that buyers rated neighborhood quality as the number one factor in purchasing a home. So what if your neighborhood lacks a little (or a lot) to be desired? Check out this quick list of ideas...

Item number 3 in my last blog post mentioned appraisals.  Thought this post might help to expand on this very important issue.   1.  It's an objective opinion of value, but it's not an exact science so appraisals may differ. 2.  For buying and selling purposes, appraisals are usually based on mar...

  1.   Don’t Just Show Your Home – Show It Off    Like it or not, your home is competing with many more homes in the area. Buyers buy on emotion, not rationale; therefore, even the savviest marketing program in the world can only bring lots of buyers into your home – it can't make them WANT the h...

One of the many details affecting a smooth real estate transaction is the transfer of important information. The following list is just a few of the actions that could make this very exciting process a good memory or a bad one.  A good Realtor understands the details and makes sure these items ar...

    Buyers and Sellers have a tendancy to view a real estate transaction in simple steps.  i.e. Buy side-look for a home, make an offer, get a loan, close, move in.  Well, this view make work for senior level executive summary, however, as we all know the devil is in the details.  The following a...

It seems to me that most people choose a Realtor through word-of-mouth, at an open house, or through some advertising.  What buyers and sellers don't seem to understand is they are hiring an employee.  Just as a business person interviews an employee prospect, so should a buyer and seller intervi...

Although most homeowners eventually decide to use a real estate agent to sell their home, many of them often try to sell the property themselves, usually with mixed results. However, if you’re the type of person who welcomes the challenges of any task as big as marketing your home as efficiently ...