Author: coleb9955

For people selling their homes, closing costs are often the largest final expense.  In fact, closing costs usually are around 5% to 6% of the selling price of the home. On a $250,000 home, then, you could expect to pay up to $15,000 or more.  So we wanted to take a moment to share some … Continued

Are you just *this* close to being done with your mortgage payment?  Housing is easily the most expensive part of a family’s monthly budget — in fact, it takes up an average of 16% of the ENTIRE budget.  That’s why it’s so exciting when you finish paying off a home! But what next?  What happens … Continued

Planning to move to a new city but not sure if it’s going to be a fit for you and/or your family?  It can be really challenging to move sight unseen — it’s in the real estate agent’s best interest to convince you to move and buy a house… so they’re going to make everything … Continued

Trying to decide between saving money and fixing your home?  Maybe you want to save money for college or for buying your next house or just for building up that rainy day fund.  Whatever the case, you’re not the only one who’s had to make that decision.  At PineCone Properties, we’ve worked with a lot … Continued

Want to sell your house as a for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) rather than going through a real estate agent?  That’s great! When you sell by yourself, you avoid some agent fees and can do things at your own pace and list your home for a price that you think is fair.  It is important to keep in … Continued

How can a homeowner easily increase their equity?  Increasing equity on your home means you’ll make more money when it sells AND it means you can refinance to get a lower monthly payment.  So obviously, there are a lot of advantages to equity.  And the good news is, every mortgage payment pays money toward the … Continued

What should a homeowner do if they’ve fallen behind on their mortgage payments?  Unfortunately, most homeowners who’ve fallen behind get overwhelmed and simply ignore the phone calls, emails, and bill statements… hoping that the problem will go away.  But it won’t.  In fact, the worst thing a homeowner can do is ignore the problem.  But … Continued

Want some easy every-day tips for maintaining the quality of your home?  Your home is like anything else in your life that you care about — to maintain it, you’ll need to give it a little bit of love every now and again…and stay committed… But that doesn’t need to feel overwhelming… At PineCone Properties, … Continued

Are you worried about your home’s foundation wearing down?  Unfortunately, a sinking or settling foundation is one of the biggest problems homeowners can experience — and it’s one that you DEFINITELY don’t want to ignore.  Just check out what Peak Structural Inc. has to say about it… “One of the biggest dangers of neglecting a … Continued

Planning to make some repairs to your home?  Well, most people spend a lot of time talking about the repairs and updates you should make to modernize your home and get it to sell for top-dollar… But what about the repairs you should AVOID?  After all, some repairs are so expensive that they’re not even … Continued

Want to update your kitchen but don’t know where to start?  Join the club.  Home renovations can be pretty expensive… and so we don’t want to mess anything up or spend our money on the wrong thing.  At PineCone Properties, we’ve been working in real estate in Clark and Cowlitz county for quite some time … Continued

What’s the best paint color for selling a home? 🤔  It might seem like a trivial question, but today’s buyers actually DO care about the color of the house they’re buying.  As a rule of thumb, stick with neutral colors — according to HomeLight’s Top Agent Insights Report for Q1 2020, 98% of agents surveyed … Continued