Ben Coughanour's Blog Posts

The “MLS” is an acronym for the Multiple Listing Service. This is an online system where all the Realtors and brokers in a region put up their listings, share information on the listed

What is an “EMD” in a real estate transaction?EMD is an acronym for Earnest Money Deposit. In the Florida standard purchase contract, you will see the term “Initial Deposit”

How to stage your home to sell(While you are still living in it)As a listing agent, I can tell you it is always more difficult to sell homes while the owner is still living there. The first step is

How much is my home worth?Is it the appraised value, the "Zestimate," or the "Just Market Value" from the county?This is a great question that I recently covered in interview below:Key Terms

Why is buying properties at auction only for experienced investors?I saw this story pop up in my news feed and it breaks my heart. I work with a lot of investors, and most know that I actively buy

The U.S. announced a relaxation in travel restrictions just in time for the official start of fall. The white house announced Monday that fully vaccinated air travelers from 33 countries will

Decorating outdoors for stress free entertainingOptimizing a home's out door space can set a listing apart from comparable sales, and maximize how you enjoy your home everyday. As a local Realtor I

 The saying is that "20% of the agents do 80% of the business." From what I see in our local market, I would say that this saying certainly holds true. It is a common experience for buyers

The stats for August are in! Every day I feild questions from clients and investors about which way the market is going. I am a pretty good Realtor, but a terrible fortune teller. I cannot

If you own your primary residence in Florida, you can claim a "homestead tax exemption" of up to $50,000.00 dollars. This amount is deducted from your "assessed value" by the county property

This is the time of year that I get a lot of clients calling me asking about their mortgage payments going up. There are a few reasons this happens, but first we need to understand the 4 pieces that

The US Supreme Court has struck down the CDC eviction moratorium for the second (and likely the last) time. Does this mean the sky is going to come crashing down on the real estate market? The more

The supreme court has struck down the CDC eviction moratorium for the second time this year. Read the Full AP story and details in the link below.Supreme Court strikes down CDC Eviction