Andrew Alpaugh Home Buying

Making your first offer on a home feels significant in a way that's hard to explain until you've done it. You've been looking at listings, doing walkthroughs, imagining furniture placement — and now you're about to write a number on a piece of paper that could define the next thirty years of your financial life. Most first-time buyers get told what to offer. Almost nobody gets told how to think about it. Here's what I've learned — and what I wish someone had explained to me plainly before I went through it. The List Price Is a Starting Position, Not a Verdict Sellers set list prices based on what they hope to get, what their agent suggests, and what comparable homes sold for — in that order. The list price is not a fact about what the home is worth. It is an opening position in a negotiation. This sounds obvious. It stops being obvious the moment you fall in love with a house and start rationalizing why asking price is actually fair. That's the mom...

The number on the listing sheet is not what buying a home costs you. This isn't a complaint — it's just reality, and it catches first-time buyers off guard more than almost anything else in the process. You budget for the down payment, you calculate your monthly payment, and then you get to closing and discover there's a list of additional costs that nobody handed you a flyer about. Here's what's actually on that list. Closing Costs (2–5% of the Loan Amount) Closing costs are the collection of fees paid at the time of closing to the various parties who made the transaction happen: the lender, the title company, the county recorder, the attorneys (depending on your state). In South Carolina and most states, buyers typically pay between 2 and 5 percent of the loan amount in closing costs. On a $300,000 home with a $240,000 loan, that's $4,800 to $12,000 — due at closing, in addition to your down payment. What's in there: Loan origination fee — ...

How to Navigate the Current High Interest Rates When Buying a Home Buying a home is one of the most important financial decisions you can make in your life. However, it can also be a daunting and stressful process, especially when you have to deal with high interest rates. In this blog post, we will share some tips and strategies on how to navigate the current high interest rates when buying a home, and how to make the best decision for your situation. What are the current interest rates and why are they high? Interest rates are the cost of borrowing money from a lender, such as a bank or a mortgage company. They are expressed as a percentage of the loan amount, and they vary depending on various factors, such as the type of loan, the term of the loan, the credit score of the borrower, and the market conditions. According to the latest data from Freddie Mac, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in the US was 4.13% as of November 2, 2023. This is the highest level...

  Hi everyone, Scott Andrew Alpaugh here. I wanted to share with you my thoughts on my yearly termite inspection services, we just had ours last week and it set us back $170 so it got me thinking about whether or not I really need this expense! You might be wondering why you need such a service as well, and the answer is simple: termites are a serious threat to any wooden structure, and they can cause thousands of dollars in damage if left unchecked. I learned this the hard way a few years ago, when my Mom noticed some signs of termite activity on her window sills. She called a professional pest control company, and they confirmed her worst fears: She had a termite infestation. They told her that she needed to treat the entire house with chemicals, and that it would cost quite a sum. She was devastated. Luckily, they also told her about their yearly termite inspection service. For a reasonable fee, they would come to her house once a year and check for any signs of termite activity...

  Hi there, welcome to my blog! Today I want to talk about how important a home inspection is when you're buying or selling a house. A home inspection is a process where a trained professional examines the condition of a home and identifies any issues that may affect its value or safety. A home inspection can save you from buying a lemon, or help you sell your home faster and for more money. Why do you need a home inspection? If you're a buyer, a home inspection can help you avoid buying a house that has major defects, such as a bad foundation, a leaky roof, faulty wiring, or plumbing problems. These issues can cost you thousands of dollars in repairs or lower the resale value of your home. A home inspection can also give you leverage to negotiate with the seller for repairs or a lower price. If you're a seller, a home inspection can help you prepare your home for the market and avoid any surprises during the closing process. A home inspection can reveal any repairs that yo...

  Hey, everyone! Welcome back to my blog, where I share tips and tricks on buying and selling homes and land.  I apologize for the long gap in articles but I've been working on building my youtube channel @time4ten maybe you can check it out if you want! Today, I'm going to talk about one of the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make: buying a house. How much house can you afford? How do you know if you're ready to take the plunge? How do you find the best deal for your money? These are some of the questions I'll try to answer in this post, so keep reading! First of all, let me say that buying a house is not for everyone. Some people prefer renting for various reasons, such as flexibility, convenience, or avoiding maintenance costs. And that's totally fine! There's no shame in renting if that's what works for you. But if you're like me and you dream of having your own place to call home, then you need to do some homework before you start brows...