Handy tips and articles about buying a home in St. George, Utah.

Getting a professional inspection done when buying a home in St George, UT is just common sense. There may be a couple of items missed during the inspection that you should be aware of. 

These two items are:

  1. The age of the the hot water heater.

  2. The age of the heat pump or air conditioning unit. A working heat pump or air conditioner is super important in the hot St George summer months. Summer is almost always the time when they’ll die.

Of course these two items will be covered by your home warranty, but if one of these systems goes out you will be annoyingly inconvenienced for a while. Plus, you will have to “arm wrestle” the home warranty company to do expensive repairs (which they hate doing).

So, if your home inspector…

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Are you thinking about buying a second home in The Ledges of St George community to use as a vacation rental home? There are several things to consider.

The first thing you should keep in mind is that vacation rental income often only supplements the carrying cost of a property - it doesn’t always translate to a profit once other expenses are paid.

For example, if your Ledges vacation rental is rented 30% of the time (optimistic), and you are getting $250/night, your rental would be bringing in about $3,750/month. Sounds good, huh? But not so fast. Property management fees can be as high as 50% of the gross rental income for nightly rentals (i.e. the Ledges of St George).  From this example, you would net $1,875 after management fees.

Now,…

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The Community

Entrada at Snow Canyon is a luxury home community located in Southwestern Utah. It is a development large enough so that portions of it are located in three different cities; Santa Clara, Ivins and St George. 

There are several different sections of the Entrada community all of which have their own price point. A few of the communities include: Chaco Bench, Chaco West, Kachina Cliffs, Toroweap, Lava Falls, Kachina Springs and The Reserve. 

 

The Homes

All of the homes in the various communities are built southwest style, somewhat similar to Santa Fe style homes, but more modern. 

Common to most of the homes are incredible views, huge picture windows and dramatic ceilings.

Custom ceiling designs include beamed,…

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So, you're thinking of buying a home in St. George, Utah?

Congratulations!

Southern Utah is home to some of the world's most stunning national parks, beautiful sunshine and, in our humble opinion, some pretty fantastic real estate.

While it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of purchasing a home, there are certain steps homebuyers must take before officially beginning their search.

We've done the work for you and prepared an essential home buying checklist to consider prior to beginning your property search.

Enjoy! 

1. Gather Essential Documents

First things first, there are many essential documents one must have prepared when considering purchasing a home.

While we sometimes might wish we could waltz into the home of our…

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Buying a vacation home is a little different from purchasing a primary residence. There are just as many if not more things to consider besides location and space. If you don't think of everything before jumping into a 30-year commitment, it could affect your future negatively.

But where do you start? Knowing where you want to buy is the first step. And, of course, you'll need to know what you can afford.

Beyond the basics, however, are some things that you may not think of on your own. All of these factors combined should be entertained so that you can make the best choice for you and your family.

If you want to know more about how to find vacation homes for sale in St George then you've come to the right place. In this article, we're discussing…

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Earning a home is a life goal for many people.  Homeownership affords you privacy, gives you equity and there are even tax advantages. 

Even for people who already own a home, the essential dream doesn't go away. It just alters focus slightly. You start considering questions about whether a better home is practical.

There is one question that confronts everyone during their quests for homeownership. Should I buy an existing house or look into new construction homes?

Both options provide advantages, but they also include disadvantages. It's important to have a handle on these issues before you make a final decision.

With that in mind, let's dig into the pros and cons of...

Existing Vs. New Construction Homes

Since a home is one of the…

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Trail Tuesday took me to the Bloomington area of St. George, Utah.  I noticed that there are beautiful homes for sale in the Bloomington area.  The homes in this area of Southern Utah seem to be very unique, one-of-a-kind homes in beautiful dessert settings.  I hiked around the hills in Bloomington and ended my hike at the Bloomington Petroglyph Park.  This park is a very small park with large boulders that have hundreds of petroglyphs on them.  The area is fenced, but there is an opening so that you can walk right up to the carvings.   There is also a bench for you to sit on to view the engravings on the beautiful boulders.   

Many of the carved images represent humans and animals, as well as designs and possibly early trail maps.  I looked…

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I am amazed at the number of Southern Utah homes that have lush, green lawns.  I moved into a new home in the Little Valley area of St. George from Farmington, Utah.  I quickly started asking how we could maintain our new existing, green lawn.  I spoke to our landscaper and my neighbors and these are the things they told me to do to keep my lawn green in this sunny, warm climate. 

  1.        Keep your grass cut regularly to prevent weeds
  2.        Keep the blades on your lawn mower sharp, so that you are cutting your grass not tearing it
  3.        Don’t cut your grass too short - removing more than 1/3 of the grass blade will stress out your lawn  
  4.        If your soil is tough, aerate it to loosen the ground
  5.        Fertilize your lawn two…

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Buying a home is hard enough, but many people find themselves in the position of needing to sell their house either before or at the same time they are buying one. As if one wasn’t stressful enough… It is possible to make the process easier. Here are a few tips to think about before you get started.

  1.        Get a Net Sheet for Your Current Home

A net sheet will tell you how much you’ll be walking away with when selling your home after closing costs. If you are counting on that money to make a down payment, this will give you an idea of what you can expect to have available. This is also a good time to get an idea of how much your current home is worth.

  1.        Put Your House on the Market

It is important to list your house…

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If you’re like me, you are intimidated by starting the process of getting a mortgage. Like most things, it’s the unknown that is scary. Learning about the process bit by bit can make the process more manageable. So before you call your real estate agent, here are a few quick things to know to make the process less intimidating.

  1.        Examine your Financials

Before you do anything else, you want to make sure you are in a good enough financial state to even consider taking on this responsibility. Analyze your debts. Do you have a lot of debt? Will buying a house make it harder to pay off the debt? After analyzing your debts, make sure you have enough money saved to make a down payment. Will a down payment deplete you? Do you have enough…

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