This week, the Bunch Team is happy to host guest blogger, Candace Sigmon! You could say Candace Sigmon was born to DIY. She has always loved to tinker, fix, and build, and she has been working on home projects with her dad pretty much ever since she could hold a hammer. She created AtHomeHelper.com because she thought it might be fun to share some of what she has learned along the way as well as resources that she finds especially useful.
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Photo via Pexels
 
Working from home offers many benefits. For one thing, you can eliminate a lengthy commute from your life. You may also find that you're more productive. In fact, the top advantage people cite about home office life is the ability to better balance personal and work life. That said, if you want to stay focused when working from home, it's important to clearly delineate your professional and private spheres.
 
The best way to do that is to create a dedicated office space, free from the dis. ...

Earth Day (earthday.org), April 22, is the one day we shift the world's focus on the earth's health, but with everyone making small habit changes to improve the planet’s well-being, it can be a year-round undertaking.


Some are concerned about lowering their carbon footprint, while others are driven by reducing energy costs and living in a healthier and more comfortable home. In fact, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ “2022 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends” report, 30% of all buyers considered environmentally friendly features very important.

Traditionally big-ticket energy-saving technologies, like smart thermostats, LED lighting, and solar panels continue to come down in price making them more accessible to the average homeowner. Likewise, electric cars have recently made huge strides in improved technology and affordability.
 
No matter your motivation or your budget, here are some changes you can make at home that; ...

Last month, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates exceeded 4% for the first time since before the pandemic, and this month, the national average crossed above 5%. While the Federal Reserve doesn’t directly set mortgage rates, its policies influence mortgage rate movement. The Fed’s announcement of multiple rate increases in 2022 will put upward pressure on mortgage rates throughout the rest of the year.

What does this mean for you? How do interest rates on home loans and their ups and downs affect your purchasing power?


3 Different Interest Rates and Their Impact on Your Monthly Mortgage Payment

I’ve set up an example based on this house:


For our example, this house hits the market, listed at $365,000. You love it and want to put an offer in. 

When you go to get pre-approved for a loan to buy a house, lenders look at how much income you have coming in each month compared to the debts you pay monthly. From this calculation, they can tell you how muc; ...

Are you thinking about buying a house in the near future? If you’ve been looking into where to get started, you may have seen the phrase debt to income ratio or DTI.


Why DTI is Important
When you go to get pre-approved for a loan to buy a house, one of the main factors your lender is going to look at is your debt to income ratio, so I’m going to tell you more about it today and show you how you can calculate it yourself! Knowing your debt to income ratio will help you understand how much house you can actually afford.

Your debt to income ratio is an equation: your monthly debt payments divided by your monthly gross income. Keep in mind that these totals are pulled for each person applying for the loan. So if you and your spouse will both have your name on the loan, your debts and incomes will be totaled together.

When getting pre-approved for a home loan, different lenders may have varying preferences of what they are looking for when analyzing your debt to inco ...

Zillow is a household name for finding houses for sale online. There’s no ignoring it, they dominate the internet and it’s a fun place to browse. But how much can you trust the information you see on Zillow? I’ve got some comparisons to show you and some insight into the Zillow algorithm.


Active Listings on Zillow

According to Zillow at the time of this article, there are 163 active listings in Buford in zipcodes 30518 and 30519. When we hop over to the multiple listing service, or MLS,  which has up-to-date statuses and realtors have simple access to, the number of homes for sale in Buford, same zipcodes, is actually 101. That’s a 38% difference! What’s happening here is that Zillow is pretty slow to update the live status of a property. 

Picture it: you find the perfect home on Zillow with the square footage you need, ideal location, in your budget, and it shows it’s been on the market for a month, so maybe you can get a deal! ...