Judith Abbott's (judithabbott) Blog

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Real Estate Agent - Coldwell Banker Residential
RECENT BLOG POSTS
Sizing up a Duplex Deal is a whole lot more about money and the Bottom Line than about where the couch is going to fit. Buying a home is an emotional, right-brained, intuitive decision.  Buying an income-prodiucing property has to take some left-brain, bullet-point kinds of factors into consideri...
05/24/2012
If you buy a full duplex as an owner-occupant, you can finance up to 96.5% of the purchase price.  As an investor, you will be lucky to get 80% financing. Mortgages.  You can have up to 4 mortgages that were set up as Owner-Occupant loans to begin with.  You can move out and not have to refinance...
05/24/2012
There are some "Rule of Thumb"s that I use in my real estate practice.  A Presumption, or Rule of Thumb, is a standard or belief that is true often enough that it is reasonably safe to begin there.  If we had to get out of bed every Monday morning of the world and make every decision we ever made...
05/23/2012
People often misunderstand the difference between "Market Value" and "List Price".  The Market Value of a home determined by how much a Willing Buyer will pay a Willing Seller.  Period.  I have just gone through an experience with an anxious and nervous first-time buyer where we had to make offer...
05/23/2012
Most people would agree that people tend to either be Cat People or Dog People.  I have been thinking about another division:  Mountain People vs Ocean People.  One or the other has a way of feeding a person's soul. I remember the first time someone told me that she was an Ocean Person.  I was a ...
05/22/2012
Regular Home Maintenance is so critical to do and so often not done.  I recently got to do the post-Home Inspection explanation of the Inspection Report without the Home Inspector. I know, I know.  That isn't my job.  Disclosures were issued.  However, the Buyer and I missed connections with the ...
04/05/2012
If you are going to be an Owner-Occupant of a Duplex, there are some misc issues for you to think about...not everyone is cut out to be a landlord;  you have to actually occupy the property;  and you will only get property tax homestead exemption for half the property you occupy (spoiler warning....
04/03/2012
If you are interested in buying a duplex rather than a stand-alone single family house, the actual search process has some interesting differences.  These observations are based on my experiences in Texas Markets.  In older parts of the country, where  more inventory may be single-family attached...
04/02/2012
Knowing when and how to make a low-ball offer without being slimey is one part art, one part science.  I don't mind making low-ball offers as long as I have a reasonable explaination for the offer.  I explain to my buyer clients that we are going to find the house they want to buy and then we are...
03/28/2012
Screening a prospective tenant is a 4-step process.  You want to do a credit check, a criminal background check, a prior rental history check and an employment check.  If you find yourself tempted to short-circuit the process, just ask yourself if you would hand over a sack with a large amount of...
03/19/2012
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Judith Abbott

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smartphone(214) 228-9828
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