Rosie Crow's Blog

My next door neighbor contacted me to see if I could do a quick CMA for her son.  He is getting a divorce and his lawyer requested that he contact a realtor to get a CMA on the house. He purchased the home in 2009 for $222,000. As I was searching for comps, I noticed there were NO similar comps t...

If a homebuyer's pre-approval letter expires, the lender can always re-issue another one.  The shelf-life of a mortgage pre-approval letter varies among lenders.  Generally speaking, a pre-approval letter is valid up to 90 days.  Suppose you have a 90-day letter, and you’ve found no potential hom...

This is an excellent blog by John Meussner who shares tips on how to effectively shop for a mortgage loan while saving time and money. Shopping around allows you to see how different lenders operate, BUT what is more important is knowing HOW to shop around. Besides comparing the interest rate, bo...

I thought I'd share this blog from Gene Mundt regarding the importance of homeowners insurance in the mortgage process. It's important for buyers not to procrastinate getting homeowners' insurance. This should be done at least two weeks prior to closing. The sooner the better. Any delays could po...

  This is an excellent post by Jamie Russen. A good credit score is essential when purchasing a home.  If you want to improve your credit score, pay your bills on time and reduce your account balances, as they make up 65% of your total credit score. Here's the credit score breakdown:  35% - payme...

This is an excellent blog by George Souto that explains the difference between the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) and the interest rate, and why the APR is higher. When shopping around for the best rates on a mortgage loan, pay close attention to the APR.   The purpose of the APR is to help borrowe...

Did you know that Sugar Land has one of the lowest property tax rates in Texas?  Yet another reason why you should move to Sugar Land. The Texas Municipal League conducted a survey of 657 Texas cities. When comparing cities with populations greater than 25,000, Sugar Land's tax rate of 30.895 cen...

  This is an excellent post worthy of re-blogging.  There are many things to consider when purchasing a home with someone other than a spouse. If your name is on the mortgage but you want to include your significant other's name on the deed, legal ramifications could ensue if a break up occurs. I...

When I represent buyers, I always recommend that they purchase a brand new land survey.  Here's why. A land surveyor is only liable to the person who purchased the survey. If an existing survey is used and errors are detected in the future, the new homeowner has no legal recourse against the surv...

We've all been there before.  What seems to be an endless journey, suddenly comes to an end. Finally, you find it.  The diamond in the ruff.  The home of your dreams. After running through the pros and cons, you reach a conclusion: This home has everything  on the wish list and more. As excitemen...