Resources Archives • Kay Pratt, Realtor

Oklahoma-based lender Gateway Mortgage offers home buyer assistance programs

I talk to people all the time who think they may not be in a position to buy because their credit has a few dings or they have not been able to save up money for a down payment or closing costs. But at a recent meeting at our Edmond office, I learned that one lender in particular offers a wide array of home buyer assistance programs specifically tailored to Oklahoma homeowners. Brett Baldwin presented updated information about Gateway Mortgage’s many home buyer down payment and closing cost assistance programs at a recent RE/MAX Platinum office meeting. Many mortgage companies have some type … Continue reading...

Five Tools to Find a Safe Neighborhood

When searching for a home, it is important to be proactive in regards to your family's safety. After all, the safety of your neighborhood impacts everything from your happiness and sense of security to the resale value of your home. Here are five online tools you can use to find out "how safe is my neighborhood". 1. NeighborhoodScout NeighborhoodScout provides crime statistics and other important data to help you decide if a particular neighborhood is right for you. It allows you to compare overall crime rate, violent crime rate, and property crimes in any neighborhood. It can tell you what … Continue reading...

Who to Call for Edmond City Services

Click on this map to see who to contact about a particular service or issue in the City of Edmond.

Have you ever wondered who to call in Edmond for a particular city service? I get questions all the time from people moving to Edmond about who they should call for trash service, water, electricity and other services. The City of Edmond has created a helpful graphic on their web site that makes it easy to figure out who to call for a particular service. It is updated regularly by the city so will always have the latest information on Edmond city services ranging from police, fire, trash, traffic, code enforcement and the city council. … Continue reading...

Authentisign Speeds Real Estate Transactions

I have been using Authentisign for over two years now to speed the processing of real estate transactions for my clients. As most everyone knows, real estate transactions require a TON of paperwork. There are offers to sign, along with counteroffers, addendums, treatments, repairs and replacements (TRR) documents, contract extensions, etc. And this is all BEFORE the closing occurs. In the past the fax machine was our best friend. I would constantly be faxing documents for clients to sign, picked up and transferring signed documents, and trying to keep track which document was the latest … Continue reading...

Using the Internet to Find Your Next Home

Internet Changes Everything The biggest change in real estate in the past 20 years has been the ascendence of the Internet. The vast majority of buyers begin their search for a new home on the Internet, and nearly every home for sale can be found somewhere on the Internet. You can now find your home, apply for a mortgage, aquire homeowners insurance, and conduct much of the paperwork right on the Internet. Internet Savvy Realtor Surprisingly, many realtors are still not Internet savvy, despite the fact that most homeowners begin their search on the web. It is estimated less … Continue reading...

Real Estate Links

Below are a list of companies that share links with me from across the country. Why do this? Unfortunately, that is one of the key ways Google ranks pages, so to get rankings up in Google most real estate professionals share links with each other. Real Estate Reciprocal Link … Continue reading...

Home Staging

Professional home stagers are practiced in the art of preparing a home for sale. They help homeowners eliminate clutter, edit and arrange furniture, and help to create a great first impression when a potential buyer walks through the door. Yet staging is more about moving furniture and hanging pictures. It is about the art of creating moods. Staging makes your house look bigger, brighter, cleaner, warmer, and best of all, makes home buyers want your home. Staging is what you do after you've cleaned, de-cluttered, painted and made minor repairs; it's all about dressing the house for … Continue reading...