Real estate activity often slows surrounding the holiday season and into winter, especially in areas that get a lot of snow. Many people prefer not to move in winter if they can avoid it. There are always buyers out there and our local real estate market is still very hot, but typically the winter months are not as crazy competitive as the rest of the year. Is it really a good idea to buy a home in the winter? It depends on what your personal situation and priorties are, but there are both advantages and disadvantages to buying in the winter season.

This is a guest article written by Patrick Young with Ableusa.info. Able USA provides lots of valuable resources for people living with disabilities. Thanks for your contribution Patrick!

Buying your first house is a landmark moment. It’s also a major investment, so you want to make sure you spend your money wisely. Finding an affordable home if you have accessibility needs can be extra challenging. According to Pew Research, Americans with disabilities earn less, with a median income of $21,572 compared to the $31,871 earned on average by those without a disability. However, by teaming up with Lisa Vanderloo, and with some effort and financial savvy, you can find a first-time home you love — and can afford. Follow these tips for first-time buyers.

Location is usually the most important thing to someone looking for a home. So how do you know whether a particular location is a good place to live? Can I just ask my Realtor?

Due to fair housing laws, there are a lot of questions Realtors cannot answer. The answer is subjective to each person's own experiences and expectations. Anything referring to the ages of people, racial make up, or safety of a neighborhood is off limits. Although we may not be able to answer a specific question, we can help guide buyers to information to form their own conclusions.

The first thing I recommend to buyers is to go through a neighborhood at different times of the day to get a feel for it. The most important time is during rush hour to see traffic at its worst. The evening hours are great for catching neighbors out and about. I encourage buyers to talk to neighbors and ask questions.

The article "I Bought a Condo and it Ruined My Life" was posted on Vice recently. It was shared on Facebook with the suggestion that "this is why millenials don't buy homes." Reading through this I couldn't help but notice the similarities of my own housing situation. I also purchased in 2006 at practically the same age, before the housing market crash. However, my outcome was extremely different than Mike Tunison. My house has been a wonderful financial investment.

There are a lot of factors that are important to a seller when considering whether to accept a buyer's offer, especially when there are multiple offers to choose from. Here is a list of some of the most important factors a seller will look at:

1) Price- this is likely the first thing the seller will consider. Most people want the highest price possible for their home. If the buyer is asking for closing costs, the seller will subtract this amount from the offer price to figure what the net amount is. For example, let's say two buyers write offers for the same price of $150,000. However, one buyer is asking for the seller to pay $4,000 towards their closing costs, and the other is not asking for any. One offer is a net of $150k while the other is only a net of $146k. Obviously the higher net offer is usually more desirable to a seller.

Many people enjoy the idea of becoming a real estate investor. An abundance of infomercials and HGTV programming make it seem so easy and glamorous. The reality is that it is not always easy. Real estate can be a great investment, but educate yourself and understand what you are getting into before you make the plunge.

​BUYING THE PROPERTY
When purchasing a property, the first step is to get pre-approved for a home loan. Be sure to specify whether you want to purchase a single family or multi-unit residence, and whether you plan to occupy it. Based on this information, there are different types of loans available, and different requirements for each loan type such as down payment amount, interest rate, and other costs. Typically when purchasing investment property, larger down payments are required. When house hunting, you will want to consider a number of factors that make a rental desirable. Location is first and foremost. Size, condition, and neighborhood amenities are other important factors.

It is tough to be a home buyer right now in the greater Grand Rapids area. Why...? INVENTORY. Inventory is pretty much all we have been talking about for the last 2 years. The lack of inventory of homes available.

Inventory of homes for sale is measured by determining how long it would take to sell all current homes for sale if no new listings came to the market, based on the current rate of how many people are buying.  A normal market is considered to be an inventory of 6-6.5 months.  Back in 2008, we had a whopping 13-14 months, a market that strongly favored buyers. In 2012, the inventory started dropping and has not stopped. The strong buyers' market is a thing of the past and has been replaced by a market extremely weighted in a seller's favor.

If one of your future goals is to purchase a home, it’s never too early to start preparing yourself financially. One of the major factors that goes into getting approved for a home mortgage is your credit score and credit history. Your credit worthiness will determine what loan terms you  qualify for.  The following are steps you can take now to prepare your credit for buying a home in the future.

1) Establish Credit- In order to have credit, you need to start somewhere. For me, that was a credit card with a very low balance as soon as I turned 18. As you use it and make payments, you will be establishing credit.

Though the housing recovery is trucking along, that doesn't mean real estate scams have gone away. Home owners have been duped out of an average of $4,000 to $5,000 from scams, but even five-figure losses aren’t uncommon for those who have fallen prey to fake loan modifications and other housing fraud. Highlighted here are four of the most common real estate scams today:

1. Rental scams: Scammers illegally pull online listing information from a home for sale and re-post it as a rental on another site, such as Craigslist. They’ll often ask for money upfront, in the form of a security deposit or broker fee, from prospective tenants. Scammers often advertise the home at a low price and collect application fees from several prospective tenants in order to hold the property for them.