As 2018 is fast approaching, you may find yourself promising the usual resolutions; exercise more, save money, and eat healthy. Does your New Year's resolution include buying a home in Brookings, Aurora, Volga, or the surrounding area? Maybe you are a first time home buyer or your family is growing and you need more space. Whatever the reason, here are some tips to get you on the right track:

Trust Your Gut

Buying a home is huge! When you are looking for someone to help you find a home, finance a home, or inspect a home you need to be able to trust those you are working with to be looking out for your best interest. I can help you get in touch with trusted sources at First Bank & Trust and Fairway Mortgage that I work with regularly. 

Know…

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With winter approaching, cold and flu season is in full swing in most places. The chaos of the upcoming holiday season—combined with the stress of selling your home and planning a move—can erode your immune system and leave you vulnerable to illness. However, infection may be preventable with early, aggressive action. In addition to the standard advice like getting plenty of sleep and washing your hands frequently, here are a few overlooked strategies for staying healthy this season:


    • Drink hot tea with honey and a squeeze of lemon juice. Inhaling the steam from hot tea will help the cilia—or hair follicles—in your nose rid the body of germs. Meanwhile, lemon juice is rich in Vitamin C and is believed to decrease the severity of colds…

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Sure, we all think about it. How nice it would be, how exciting it’ll be. But now the question is – when? When is a good time to sell your home?

Good news

If you’re trying to decide, just know that it’s a great market for sellers right now! Now that doesn’t mean do it now. There are a lot of things to consider first.

Let’s get personal

You have to take your own personal situation into account. Take a good, hard look at your finances. If you’ve paid off all of your non-home debt, you’re sitting good. Ask yourself, “Can I actually afford the move?” It is indeed exciting, but it comes down to dollars and cents. Do you want professional movers, and things like that.

Get a free Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) from your agent

A…

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- All right, here we are, episode number two, two, twenty two. Here with Mark Waterman from Great Western Bank. I think this is the second time.

- Yes, sir, yep.

- Second one here.

- You bet.

- And we'll leave it on a great note here. This will be the last one for 2017. But due to popular demand, we'll continue it into 2018 here. So, we'll keep you informed on that. But, this morning it's 8:15, means that's our Monday morning mortgage tip, like I said, with Mark Waterman here from Great Western Bank. And we'll let him give today's Monday tip away. And then a few information tips, sort of details, after he speaks here. So, take it away, Mark.

- Thank you very much, Shane. Appreciate it. It's good to be back. My Monday morning mortgage…

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Whether you’re dreaming of a white Christmas, or dreading how to keep your family and visitors busy, “chill out!” Here are some holiday fun events going on in the area this month.

Big guy coming to town

You read it right! Santa will be at McCrory Gardens Sunday 17th. Have you been good this year> Perhaps a little naughty? Find out at the McCrory Gardens Visitor Center! While you’re there, tour the beautiful Garden Glow on display in the Terrace Garden!

Midtown Men

A true holiday favorite is coming to the Swiftel Center right here in Brookings on December 14th at 7:30pm. They’ll be singing their “Holiday Hits – All Alone on Christmas”, and plenty of other yuletide classics like “Winter Wonderland,” “Let It Snow” and “Have Yourself a Merry…

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It seems homes in Brookings & the surrounding area are being bought the second they’re listed. And you think yours will be the same, right? Maybe, Maybe not!  Here are some steps to help with that process.

Gather your closing papers.

Hopefully you or your closing agent will keep all of your documents in one place. You may or may not need them, but it’s better to be safe than sorry!

Notify people you’re moving

With everything going on, even the simple things can slip your mind. Especially the change of address form! It’s available at the nearest Post Office, or even online for convenience!

Cancel your insurance

You better wait until the title has transferred or the deed has been recorded; otherwise, you may be financially responsible…

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Prequalification vs Pre Approval

 

Alright, here we go, welcome everybody. Shane here from Century 21. Justin from Fairway Mortgage and it is Monday morning, 8:15 on the dot, means it's ready for our Monday morning mortgage tip. So I'll let Justin take it away. We've only got a couple of these left. I'm gonna take a couple weeks off here as we get closer to Christmas and then we'll start it back up the first of the year. But we got yourself to do this week and then one more next week, and then we'll be ready for the Christmas season. Hopefully you are too, and get ready again for 2018. So Justin, what is the tip today. 

Alright, well first you know, apologies. I'm getting over a lil head cold. 

Yeah 

I think you mentioned you were…

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Christmas Tips for Hosting in Your New Home

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? Or are you too stressed about having your first Christmas in your new Brookings home? Well, here are some helpful holiday hints…

Expecting guests? Expect the unexpected!

It’s a good idea to plan ahead of time; an even better idea to plan for planning ahead of time. You want your guests to feel welcome in your new home; not like intruders. So, make some time about the week before their arrival to have everything ready: spare bedrooms, closet space, extra towels in the bathrooms, etc. And, don’t feel bad if there are just too many guests that you recommend them staying at a hotel. Check out Brookings’ options here:…

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