Idaho is one of the lucky places that experiences distinct four season weather with fairly temperate days and nights throughout the year. However, average winter temperatures do dip into the 30's and occasionally into the 20's overnight, so it's important to protect your Idaho home from the elements.

Keep your home in tip-top shape throughout the winter by beginning the job in autumn. One of the first things you should do is have your furnace inspected. It's important to ensure that your furnace is operational, energy efficient and of-course, safe. Have a HVAC professional come out and have a look. The repairman will clean the furnace, change the filter, check for leaks and unhealthy gases and ensure everything is operating as it should.

Getting…

Renting can be a bit of a drag. Your home is not your own, your landlord smells funny, and you are not allowed to hang up pictures. If this sounds familiar to your situation, then maybe it’s time to look into buying your own place. There are many reasons to look into buying- from decorating to stability and many things in between. Owning may be the perfect solution for your needs.

The experience of renting can be a bit of a gamble because the landlord or apartment complex is in charge of setting the rent price. There is not a guarantee from contract period to the next that your rent will stay the same. Often, apartment managers raise rent prices and either give written notice or have raised rent prices so that signing another contract will…

Ah, the age-old question: is it a good idea to buy a home. Well, if you want the short answer— yes, yes it is, assuming that you are ready to buy it. You don’t want to commit to a house when you aren’t sure how long you will live in the area or when your paycheck isn’t projected to be stable for the next few years. Why do you ask? Well, to answer that, we will need to discuss the long answer.

When to Consider Buying a Home

Like it was mentioned before, whether to buy a house or not, at any particular time, is a factor of time and money— much like every other aspect of our society. So that is what you need to make sure you have: the right timing and money.

Time Commitment

Let’s start with time. When we say time, we don’t mean a gross block…

The first step in buying a house is making the decision to buy a house. But this decision can be as daunting as it is exciting, especially if this is your first home. With your first home, there are a lot of unknowns. Which is understandable; you’ve never bought a house before. This doesn’t mean that buying a home for the first time has to be a terrible experience. Instead, if you are properly prepared, buying your first home can be a memorable and exciting experience. To make this process go as smoothly as possible, here are five tips to get you started.

Tip #1: Checking Your Credit

When you are buying a house, you are more often than not going to be needing to get a home loan. Your credit score is going to be very important in…

As the younger generations start coming into the age where one would typically buy a home, that is not really happening as much anymore. Previously, many people sought out starter homes, where they could plant some roots in a community, before moving on to a bigger and better house. However, the millennial generation is quite different, especially when it comes to buying their first home.

While this is not always true, a broad range of millennials are a part of a far more mobile society. Settling down and planting roots are not as important, or simply not the first priority of many millennials. Travel and freedom are important, and owning a home is not the same status symbol that it used to be. Of course, this doesn’t mean that there…

Having a foreclosure happen to you is never something that you want to go through. However, foreclosures certainly aren’t as rare as they once were, especially since the housing market crash. Banks had lax lending requirements, and many people ended with mortgages, and then were unable to make the payments. Sometimes, your circumstances simply change, and you might find yourself going through the foreclosure process.

It’s not the end of the world, although it certainly feels it. No one wants to lose their home. The state of Idaho and the federal government both offer free or low cost foreclosure assistance. While there’s no guarantee (anyone offering a guarantee is a scam), you will get help to try and keep you in your house.…

Visiting the Boise real estate market this season? It's cold outside, the skies are grey and there's snowfall in the air. Perhaps you're waiting for the warmer months to make your move onto the Boise real estate market. But when you consider that the majority of buyers come out during the spring and early summer months, it can be wise to take advantage of what's in the market now.

Contrary to what many people might think, December and January may be the best time of the year to buy a new home.

When it comes to the holidays, you may be able to save thousands from a motivated seller. You'll also gain an edge by avoiding competition from other buyers. At the end of the year, many people are focused on the holidays and real estate buzz dies down.…

It's the big question among those who are evaluating their options for purchasing or buying a home in Boise, Idaho. The time is now to create a plan for success, and we are here to make the decision making, as well as the process a little bit easier.

Decisions to Make

Deciding to buy or rent in Boise, Idaho is full of little and big considerations to mull over. It's perhaps the biggest question in real estate, and many people find themselves grappling with the decision more often than not. 

There are several reasons why in most housing markets across the country it is more affordable to buy than to rent. Home prices have fallen, and mortgage rates remain at historically low levels. In some cases, rent is on the rise, and Boise is no exception…

Short sale homes occur when the home is sold for less than what the current owner owes against the property, and the seller doesn't have the funds to close the gap come time to sell. Short sales have been a popular type of distressed property sought out by bargain house hunters, but as the Boise Idaho market has been on the rebound, the inventory of short sale homes and foreclosures have been decreasing. This is a good thing, but it does mean people interested in purchasing a foreclosed homes in Boise should move fast to find a property! Though not likely to ever completely disappear, foreclosed homes can be a great purchase for those looking to buy a quality home for a lower price. 

What's More

There's nothing short about a short sale except…

Many people believe that house staging is a long, complicated process and can only be understood by professionals. This isn't true. You already have most of the knowledge and skills that you need. Though your main focus is selling the home, you also understand the buyer’s perspective. You've been there before so trust your instincts. Try to remember what you were looking for as a buyer. You bought your house. Why? What was it about the house that you live in that stuck out to you? Don’t underestimate your knowledge. You know your house better than anyone else. When getting ready for a buyer, simply learn to accentuate the positives of your home. Think big picture but don’t forget about the little details. Every little detail of your home should…