Real Deal “How to”

Debt to Income Ratio Explained Debt to Income Ratio, in the most simplest terms is how much you owe (debts) divided by how much you earn (income) per month. In order to calculate your debt to income ratio all you have to do is add up all your monthly expenses, including credit card and car payments, utilities, housing costs, student loans, and any other recurring expenses you might have, then divide...

Frozen Pipes - What do I do? When people look back in history, they will see that Charleston experienced two very colder than usual days on January 7 and January 8, 2014. It was so cold that the power company had to utilize rolling black outs just to keep up with the demand for energy to heat up people's homes. Another unfortunate thing to result from the unusually cold weather was that a number of home...

You did it!  You found the house of your dreams, and you're ready to make an offer, but where should you start?  Here are 6 tips on how to negotiate a lower home price and get you into your dream home. 1. Keep Your Emotions in Check! Don't let the seller know how interested you are in the house!  I see it all the time...a buyer will walk into an open house and they instantly fall in love.  They start...

How to Price Your Home to Sell! Whenever I speak to potential clients interested in selling their home, our conversation will inevitably turn to my opinion on what I think they should price their home at.  More often than not, homeowners will have a totally different estimation of the value of their home, based on their belief that they have the best house on the block and that's why it should be...

How to Mulch I am by no means an expert when it comes to laying mulch, but after 3 days of buying and spreading 135 bags of mulch I think that should make me at least a specialist!  Full disclosure: I did not open and spread all 135 bags by myself, I had the help of my father-in-law and brother-in-law (who probably hate me by now).  While putting the mulch in, I thought that maybe it would be a good...

First Citizens Bank - Home Ownership Mortgage Express - 100% Loan First Citizens Bank is now offering their 100% financing loan program with no PMI.  It is a great product called HOME (Home Ownership Mortgage Express).  Listed below are some of the guidelines required to obtain this type of loan. HOME ( Home Ownership Mortgage Express) 680 credit score (100%) 679-660 credit score (97%)...