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Buying a home in a sellers market can be difficult, but it doesnt have to be impossible.

A sellers market occurs when there is a low inventory of homes for sale and a large number of buyers creating high demand. It can lead to competitive bidding and high prices.

A real estate agent can help you determine if youre in a sellers market so you can adapt your home-buying strategy. A market absorption rate calculator can help by calculating how many months it would take to sell all the remaining homes, or inventory, for sale in a given area. A low number means youre in a sellers market.

Here are four ways to be a successful buyer in a sellers market:

Be Ready to Bid High
Whatever your budget is, be prepared to go in with an offer for the listing price. It can prevent other bidders from coming in and can help you avoid competing with multiple buyers.

If that tactic doesnt work, be prepared to increase your offer to your best offer, but not your final offer. Add an escalation clause of 2-3 percent more than the highest bid, but only if youre able to pay the most for the property.

Another tactic is to work a bidding war into your budget by only looking at houses listed for up to 90 percent of your maximum budget. This will give you extra money if a bidding war starts.

Dont Counter
There are no counter offers in a sellers market.

Put your best offer on the table early. Sellers could see a dozen offers at once, and theyre unlikely to counter with buyers if they have a lot of high offers to choose from.

Show Them the Money
Show a seller how serious you are by offering more cash than normal in earnest money ” a deposit made to the seller to show a buyers good faith in a transaction. If a high earnest money deposit in your area is $20,000, then increase it by $10,000.

Offer Non-Price Factors
Some sellers will accept your price if you provide some non-price considerations that can speed up the transaction, also called contingencies.

These include waiving the financing contingency, limiting the home inspection to three to five days or eliminating the home inspection completely, giving sellers extra time to move out.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Whether weve decided to go to grad school, have moved to a different country or state for a job, or have simply left our family home for the first thing we could afford, us millennials are usually not living somewhere we expect to stay forever. And while this might sound exciting, the truth is, that lingering sense of instability often causes us to basically live out of a suitcase (something to do with always being prepared to jump ship).

Living in small, shared spaces make us feel like were not allowed to unpack. Yet, unpacking and making yourself at home is of the utmost importance. This room, which is at the moment legitimately yours, is the only space youve got to recharge and refocus. At the end of the day, your 20s are a time of high stress levels thanks to anxiety-ridden life decisions. It is imperative to put your best foot forward every day.

In my personal experience, I have cozy dorm rooms to thank for helping me feel like I was ready to take on the world. Now that Ive graduated and live off-campus, Ive found that moving from one residence hall to the next helped me develop transferable skills that I am now using to set up my new closet room. These are some of the things Im glad I learned beforehand:

Consider the space: The biggest mistake most college students made was leaving the furniture arrangement as they found it. Dont trip over the same stone in your post-grad life. Setting up your bed horizontally and against the wall will automatically free up usable space in your room. In what could only be described as a wide hallway, I managed to fit a futon, a desk and chair, a bed, and a dresser without obstructing the walk-in closet, the bedroom or the bathroom doors. Most likely, there is really only one way to fit everything. You just have to keep going until you find it.

Decorate but dont suffocate: To make a small space a home, follow two cardinal rules when decorating. First, dont accessorize to the point of feeling overwhelmed (you dont want your own bedroom to make you feel stressed). Second, add items that you have an emotional connection with”pictures of family and friends, posters of shows you like, scents that transport you, twinkly lights, etc. If it makes you want to curl up in your bed and stare at it, put it up.

Prioritize comfort: Sure, when youre living in a temporary space its hard to invest in maximum comfort furniture. But that doesnt mean you have to sleep on a rigid mattress. Instead of splurging on memory foam, get an egg crate. Buy basic silverware and dinnerware, but invest in a couple of special mugs. Pick and choose which things you use the most and allow yourself to enjoy them.

Avoid clutter: This last one hurts, but you might need to put the wallet away when temptation knocks on your door. Sometimes we see furniture or dcor that we think would look fabulous in our ideal home, we forget we dont live in said home, we buy them anyways, and are left with an extra yellow armchair that doesnt fit anywhere. Be mindful of what actually belongs in your current space and what is meant to continue dwelling in dreams.

Your temporary home can be broken in like new shoes, and they will help you walk the walk youre on at the moment. By the time you move out, youll realize that a little extra spending and organizing really went a long way in keeping you saneand maybe even happy. So give it a try, go and really unpack in your little millennial hutch!

Published with permission from RISMedia.

While many homeowners make monthly mortgage payments, millions enjoy the luxury of owning their homes outright. If you strive to join their ranks, there are a number of ways you can expedite the completion of your mortgage ” and none include lottery tickets.

Below are three ways you can pay your mortgage off faster.

1. Making Extra Payments
There are several ways you can make extra payments. Consider doing one of the following options, or doing a combination of them.

Make an extra payment each quarter (4 extra payments/year).
Divide monthly payment by 12 and add that amount to each monthly payment (adds up to 1 extra payment/year).
Pay half of your mortgage payment every two weeks ” aka biweekly payments (this also adds up to 1 extra payment/year).
Make an extra payment whenever you can. If you receive a bonus at work, tax refund, or win a sweepstakes, consider putting that extra money toward your mortgage. Just be sure to have your lender apply it to your principal balance.

2. Rounding Up
Round your mortgage payments up to the nearest ten, twenty, or even fifty dollars, so that youre paying at least a few dollars more each month.

For example, if your monthly mortgage payment is $930, you could round it up to $950, putting an extra $20 toward your mortgage per month ($240/year).

3. Refinance to a Shorter-Term Mortgage
Refinancing into a shorter term mortgage will most likely make your monthly payments increase, but in return it will help you pay off your loan much sooner, therefor avoiding additional interest fees.

If you can comfortably afford the higher payments, and if you can lock in a lower interest rate, then refinancing into a 10-, 15-, or 20 -ear mortgage could be a great decision.

You may be surprised to find out that even making a few additional payments a year can really help reduce your mortgage balance sooner. If you want to crunch the numbers and see exactly how making extra payments will affect your mortgage contact a mortgage professional or talk to your accountant.

While all of these tips are pretty reliable ways to pay down your mortgage, please consult a financial advisor before acting on a strategy.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Man caves and she sheds have been hot trends for years, but one of the best things to do with an extra room is to create a special place the whole family can enjoy. This is especially true as kids spend more and more time on their phones, and lets face it, kids arent the only ones who are addicted to their screens.

Creating a gadget- and TV-free room results in a space where family members talk and interact together. Here are some tips to create this special room:

Decorate with comfort: This isnt a fancy room, so pick furniture thats comfortable and fun. A nice couch and bean bag chairs are a good start. Make sure the room is well lit and has lots of shelves. Hang up fun posters and family photos.

Add reading material: A spare room is a great place to encourage reading. Get a bookshelf and start with picture books and chapter books for the youngest members of your family. Set aside a time where you read to your kids and make it special by including cookies or a healthy snack. Also add graphic novels and young adult books for older kids.

Set the scene with music: The idea is to keep gadgets out of this room, so that includes music streaming, too. You probably have a box of CDs somewhere, so put them to use by buying a CD player. And vinyl records are growing in popularity, even with young people. Buying a turntable isnt just hip, it creates opportunities for the family to buy records together, either online or at a record shop, if theres one near you.

Games and puzzles: If your family doesnt play board games, you might be surprised at how much fun they are. Set up a table for games, and find options for people of all ages ” Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders for little kids, Monopoly, Clue, Life, and Sorry! for the whole family. Aside from those classics, there are all sorts of fun games to try like Ticket to Ride, where players establish railroad lines across the board, Wingspan, a hot new game thats easy to learn, and Sherriff of Nottingham, a fun social game with lots of bluffing. Puzzles are another great option for fun family time, especially since you can find puzzles for people of all ages in all sorts of themes.

Bottom line, the family that plays together, stays together.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

If youre buying a house or condo, chances are you are going to need a mortgage, as having total cash on hand is rare.

Most people know you should shop around for a strong rate and lender before agreeing to terms, but many dont realize the different people involved.

By understanding the lender community, you can get financing that makes the most sense for you. Here are some terms you should know:

Mortgage Lenders: This is probably what you immediately think of when you first hear talk of mortgages. Mortgage lenders are the ones that will provide the money you need to buy your home. Simply fill out some information on your financial background, and youll see what sort of mortgage interest rate you are eligible for.

Mortgage Brokers: Brokers dont actually make loans, but they do deal with multiple lenders. Youre still utilizing a lender for the money, but the broker will help you find the one that will offer you the best rate and terms.

Mortgage Bankers: Almost all mortgage lenders can be classified as mortgage bankers, which means that they dont lend their own money, but borrow funds at short-term rates from warehouse lenders. Larger mortgage bankers will originate their own loans, which they will then sell directly to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or investors.

Portfolio Mortgage Lenders: These lenders originate and fund their own loans, offering more flexibility in loan products because they dont need to adhere to the guidelines of secondary market buyers.

Wholesale Lenders: Wholesale lenders cater to mortgage brokers for loan origination but offer loans to brokers at a lower cost than their retail branches offer to the general public. The result for the borrower is that the loan costs about the same as if he obtained a loan directly from a retail branch of the wholesale lender.

Hard Money Lenders: If youre having trouble getting a mortgage and working with a portfolio mortgage lender, a hard money lender may be your last resort. These lenders are private individuals with money to lend, though interest rates are often much higher.

Correspondent Mortgage Lenders: These lenders have agreements in place with one or more wholesale lenders to act as their retail representative, so they lend directly to homebuyers and use wholesaler guidelines to approve and close loans with their own money. They also agree to buy back any loans they close that deviate from wholesaler guidelines.

Published with permission from RISMedia.