6 Great Reasons to Buy a Home Right Now

 

To take advantage of near-record low mortgage interest rates and home prices undervalued by as much as three percent nationwide, now is a great time to buy a home.
You’ve already missed the bottom of the market, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t great buys to be had out there. Your community may not have appreciated as quickly as some of the big metro areas have recently. Your boom may yet come.
To begin with, the economy is growing. From information gathered on or before August 22, 2014, the Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book” report found economic activity is up in all eight national districts, including consumer spending, freight loads for deliveries of goods, and more.
But there are even better reasons to buy a home right now. Here are just a few:

More jobs are available
The Labor Department announced that the jobless rate is now below six percent. Consider how far the job market has come since January 2010 when unemployment was 9.7 percent.

Houses hedge against inflation
The Consumer Price for All Urban Consumers is up 1.7% from August 2013 to August 2014, excluding volatile food and gas prices. The food index has risen 2.7 percent over the span, while the energy index has increased 0.4 percent. This is the first month that the index hasn’t risen since 2010.
Why is that good for homeowners? Even in a tepid inflationary environment, when prices rise, a major asset such as a home, purchased at a fixed cost, becomes more valuable. Typically, in an inflationary environment, housing prices rise.

Housing price gains are slowing
The median existing-home price in August was $219,800, which is 4.8 percent higher than home prices in August 2013. This marks the 30th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains. In 2013, home prices rose in the double digits.

Mortgage interest rates are still low
According to Freddie Mac’s archives, the lowest that mortgage interest rates have been in modern history (since 1971) was in November and December 2012 at 3.35 percent with 0.7 points for a benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate loan, and that was back in 2012 before the housing recovery began in earnest. The most recent Freddie Mac survey found national averages at 4.16 percent with .05 percent points in September 2014.

Pent-up demand ready to release
Household formation has been muted since the Great Recession, preventing as many as 2.5 million people from forming households who otherwise would have. Economists with Harvard’s Center for Joint Housing Studies predict that annual U.S. housing starts should average 1.4 to 1.5 million over the coming decade. Considering that the largest generation ever –81 million Echo Boomers — are well into renting and homebuying age, the numbers should be closer to the 2.3% annual growth of the 1970’s, when 78 million Baby Boomers reached adulthood.

Buy VS rent ratios favor homeownership
Trulia, a real estate marketplace and research group announced that nationally, rents rose 6.5% year-over-year in September 2014. Apartment rents were up 6.9%, while single-family home rents gained 5.2%. At the same time, housing prices have leveled off.

The takeaway
A housing market never remains even. There are always surges and dips. Buyers could wait for better market conditions, but the present alignment of low mortgage interest rates, slowing home prices, rising rents and pent-up demand add up to great reasons to buy a home right now.

Written By Blanche Evans

Keeping Cool Without Air Conditioning

 

The price of electricity has gone up quite a bit in recent years. Even if your home has central air conditioning, you may not want to use it in order to save money. Or if your home doesn’t have it at all, read on to find out how to stay cool when it’s hot outside.

The Air Outside

When the day is cool, like in the evening or morning, keep the windows open to let the air in. Then when the air starts warming up, close all of the windows and doors to keep your cooler air in, and the warmer air out.

Window Coverings

Make sure that all sun facing windows have thick window treatments. If you have drapes, make certain they’re lined. It helps also to have sheers to block the strong sun from getting through.
Having wood blinds will protect you the most followed by metal and plastic slats.
Have some large plants in pots that you can move in front of the curtains as they will absorb a lot of the sunshine.

Using Fans

Ceiling fans can create a pleasant breeze to cool a room significantly, but ceiling fans should be placed where they can keep people cool rather than a room. And make sure you have it turning in the correct direction to provide a downdraft. Turn the fan off when you leave the room since you won’t need it to keep you cool.
Use standalone fans and a water spritzer to cool yourself as well.
And, in the evening when you open up the house, set one fan at one end of the house to pull in cold air. Put another fan in the opposite end of the house to push out the hot air, and you have a wind tunnel to get cooler air in and warmer air out.

Other Tips

Keeping the lights and other electrical appliances off will also help reduce the ambient temperature. Also, incandescent bulbs run hotter than fluorescent or LED bulbs.
Plant trees and shrubs strategically to provide lots of shade.
Ensure that your home is well insulated.
Look into adding awnings or porch roofs.
Check out films that are attached to the outside of a window that reflect light and heat.
Look into investing in a toaster oven, rice cooker, electric pressure cooker or slow cooker in order to reduce using the oven or stove.
And don’t forget to drink a lot of ice water.

3 Home Renovations That Pay Off

 

 

Did you buy a house that you’re intending to flip? Or perhaps you just bought your first house, and know that you want to make some smart updates that will improve the resale value when you sell it to buy a larger home in a few years. Or you’ve lived in your home a long time and are thinking of selling to downgrade, and want to get the most money possible.
So today we’ll look at the big three home renovations that get you the most money in return for your money invested.

 

Baths and Kitchens

These are the gold standards of renovations. Talk with a local real estate agent who knows your neighborhood as to what the trends are. If people are buying homes with cabinets, and you remodel with all pedestal sinks, it may not bump up the prices like you want.
Repainting cabinet door fronts and updating hardware, counter-tops and appliances will give you the best ROI. And make sure the floor looks nice. If not, look for some inexpensive vinyl flooring.
If you’re trying to save money with your bathroom renovation, keep the tub and tile, but look into updating the faucet fixtures, light fixtures and the toilet. People are really looking for low-flow toilets, but the big draw are the two way flush toilets.
In the kitchen, look to replace laminate counter-tops with granite or fake stone. And black and white appliances are being upgraded to stainless steel.

Update for Efficiency

One of the first questions most home buyers want to know is “how much is it going to cost me monthly?” So look at ways to save yourself money, and keep the documentation, and your home will look like a great prospect when you go to sell it.
Look into updating:

• toilets
• water heater
• HVAC
• low flow showerheads
• windows
• doors
• weatherstripping
• and all kitchen appliances

Should you upgrade to solar? That’s a good question. The companies show how you can save money, but some of them have you buy the panels. You need to ask if it’s transferable or if you’ll be on the hook for paying an exit charge.

Fix Up the Outside

This is just simply making the outside of the house pop. Add in new landscaping. Repaint the outside. Clean up the backyard. Get your trees trimmed. Reseed any bare spots in your lawn. Upgrade your sprinkler system (see if your water company has any good rebates). Make it a house you want to come home to.

Real Estate Investment Secrets

 

 

Ok, these aren’t really secrets, but they are good advice. Once upon a time back in the days of the Wild West, Easterners who traveled West looking for opportunity were often called a ‘tenderfoot’.
This wasn’t a complimentary term but it was a rather apt one. They wore ‘city’ shoes that weren’t designed to withstand the rigors of the western terrain, not to mention their hats didn’t have wide brims, and their clothing wasn’t sturdy.
These new Westerners didn’t know how to take care of themselves and avoid danger, because they didn’t know what was dangerous. If you are just beginning to consider the idea of investing in real estate, you are a tenderfoot and you do need some instruction to avoid losing your shirt…and probably your pants, hat and boots, as well.

We’ve talked a bit in prior blog posts about how to find investment property, but today, we’ll take an even bigger step back. First and foremost, you will need to determine what your strategy will be in real estate investing. Do you want to buy a property, fix it up and sell it quickly or do you want to buy a property, hold it and wait for the market to increase? Do you want to deal with renters?

You will need to learn how to investigate the value of properties yourself. It isn’t fair to use the time of a real estate agent and have them show you property after property while you try to look for a good deal.
There are several online sites that are helpful in determining a more realistic value of real estate. Don’t rely on tax records as they are not reliable and probably not accurate either.
After you have learned how to determine property values yourself and have chosen a real estate agent that you can work with, the next thing that you need is a professional mortgage broker that you can also work with. Ask your real estate agent or friends for the names of three mortgage brokers. Talk with them about your goals, and see which one you mesh with best.
Then you need to get pre-qualified or pre-approved, which we’ve talked about in the past as well. It’s essential to be pre-approved if you want to move quickly when you find a property.
Once you have all of your ‘ducks in a row’, it takes about 30 days to make the final close of escrow.
Okay, remember the first thing that you needed to do?  (Determining your strategy.)  Now is the time for you to execute that strategy. If you bought it with the strategy of flipping it when the market went up, you just simply wait. If you bought it with the strategy of renovating and then selling, then it is time to start your renovations. And, if you bought it with the strategy of renting it, now is time to start looking for tenants.

 

Three Ways to Remove Stress When Moving

 

We probably should say remove some of the stress. Moving is one of the most stressful events in our lives like birth and marriages. The end result is something we want, but the process can drive you insane.
In a prior post on moving during the holidays, we talked about the importance of having a kit that you move rather then the movers. The kit should have toilet paper, paper towels, a flashlight, cleaning wipes, and some simple snacks. You won’t want to cook, and you may not have electricity when you first move in. Also, you’ll have a special box filled with the irreplaceable items like jewelry, medications, and important papers.
Today, we have three more tips that will make your life easier when you move. All of these require some early planning. Hopefully when you move, you’ll have at least 30-45 days to plan, pack and move.

Know What’s In The Box

You know you should keep a master list of what is in each box, but how to make it easy? Take some notebook paper and some masking tape, and tape a piece of paper on each box. You’ll probably be packing for a few weeks before you move. Whenever you put something in the box, make a note. It doesn’t have to be huge amount of detail, just something meaningful to you like “favorite mug” or “favorite wine glass.”
When the box is full, pull off the paper and place it into a file folder. Make sure you number the paper and the box so you know how to match it up.

Get Rid of Stuff

If you no longer own it, you no longer have to pack it. Once you start packing, you may be amazed at the duplication. You may find five wine openers because you couldn’t find one and bought a replacement. Clear out the clutter by having a number of yard sales, or put items up for auction or online classifieds. Give items away on freecycle to help others who may have a really great use for your extra stand mixer that’s still in a box. Or just bring a large box to donate.
In your new house, try to think about ways of unpacking so you never lose the basics again.

Get Free Boxes

Talk with your local grocery store about taking their boxes that held paper towels and toilet paper. They’re large and sturdy. The grocery store will be happy because it saves them time and effort from having to break down the boxes and binding them together for recycling.
Also ask for their wine boxes. You can also go to your local liquor store and get wine boxes from them as well. These boxes are naturally well padded and have the bonus of the built-in dividers which you can use for packing your glasses without the added cost of bubble wrap.
Will you be moving soon? What’s your best tip to make moving less stressful?

What to Do if Your Taxes Aren’t Done

We’re getting close to April 15th. But maybe the months of January through March zoomed by faster than an Indy race car and you’re still in shock that your taxes aren’t even started, let alone ready to be submitted.

Don’t panic.
You can file an extension that gives you six more months.
However (and it’s a big one), this only delays when you have to file the forms. It doesn’t delay you paying what you think you owe. An extension can help reduce your penalties if you cannot afford to pay in full by the deadline.
There are two basic penalties the IRS usually imposes: a late filing penalty of 5% per month on any tax due plus a late payment penalty of half a percent per month. If you file an extension and then file your return by the extended deadline of October 18th, you’ll avoid the 5% per month late filing penalty. If you file after October 15th, the late filing penalty won’t begin until October 15th which reduces the total penalty as well.
Individual taxpayers can file an extension using Form 4868. Extensions can also be filed online, which has the added benefit that you’ll get a confirmation code from the IRS that your extension was received.
Businesses request an extension using Form 7004.
So, if you have had taxes withheld, chances are you won’t have to send any additional money in. Look at your tax returns from previous years to see if you owed or were owed money back, and let that be your guide.
The IRS says there will be no penalty imposed if you underpay if:

• The total of your withholding and timely estimated tax payments was at least as much as your 2012 tax. (See Special rules for certain individuals for higher income taxpayers and farmers and fishermen.)
• The tax balance due on your 2013 return is no more than 10% of your total 2013 tax, and you paid all required estimated tax payments on time.
• Your total tax for 2013 (defined later) minus your withholding is less than $1,000.
• You did not have a tax liability for 2012.
• You did not have any withholding taxes and your current year tax (less any household employment taxes) is less than $1,000.

So if this year was an off year, give yourself some breathing room and file that extension. If you talk to a tax accountant in May, June or July, you’ll probably get a better rate since it’s their off season.
Let’s look at state taxes.
California gives you an automatic extension, and you don’t have to file a separate form.
Here’s what you should do if you can’t file by April 15, 2014:

• You are due a refund — File your return by October 15, 2014. Choose e-file and direct deposit for the fastest refund.
• You have a balance due — Pay the amount you owe by April 15, 2014 to avoid penalties and interest. You can pay online, by credit card, or by check with form FTB 3519. Then file your return by October 15, 2014. Choose e-file to ensure we receive your return on time.
• You’re not sure if you have a balance due — Use the worksheet on form FTB 3519 to figure your tax.

It’s usually better to overpay the Franchise Tax Board than underpay. They don’t tend to be as understanding and forgiving as the IRS.
And the usual disclaimer applies. Talk with the IRS or FTB and a licensed tax professional to get the best advice for you and your situation.
 

What to Buy in April

We’re freaking out a little too wondering where February went, let alone April. We thought we’d publish our monthly guide now so you can plan ahead this weekend.

What’s Free?

Some fast-food outlets and nationwide chains will be offering free items on April 15 aka Tax Day. If it’s anything like last year, then you should be on the lookout for opportunities to get a free cup of coffee, free breakfast foods, or free side orders or desserts with the purchase of an entrée.

What’s A Great Deal?

If you’ve been wanting to buy that XBox One, now is the time. And it could be a great Easter present. There were a lot of flash sales in March. During one, Amazon sold it for $350. Generally, you can find prices down to $450. The Playstation4 is still far outselling the XBox, so don’t expect any discounts on the PS4 any time soon.

Planning ahead for Mother’s Day? There are some good deals out on jewelry right now, and the prices should stay reasonable throughout April. Expect the prices to increase in May the closer you get to Mother’s Day.

Does your daughter crave Hollister or Abercrombie & Fitch labels? They’ve been hard hit lately (no doubt due to release of their bias towards size 0 shapes as customers and as staff). So what’s good for you is that announced that it will lean more heavily on discounting in order to revive the brand. Moreover, it hopes to turn the Hollister line into a “fast fashion” chain, which means lower retail prices as well. It’s already generated some great sales, so keep an eye on these stores in the coming months. Aeropostale and American Eagle are facing the same problem and may try the same strategy.

For the second straight month, deals on 60″ LCD 1080p HDTVs have been the best out all other television size categories.  More deals doesn’t always translate into better prices; however, during the month of March,  60″ HDTVs tumbled to a new all-time low of $500. That’s $100 cheaper than February’s best deal and the best price we’ve seen for any 60″ TV.

By comparison, prices on other sizes like 55″ and 47″ LCD HDTVs remained unchanged. For 55″ 3D TVs, we’ve actually been experiencing a scarcity of deals. Budget 55″ 4K TVs, like the Seiki SE55UY04, are making more headway in the deal space, hitting a new price low of just $600.

What to Avoid?

Spring cleaning fever hitting hard? Hold off on a new vacuum. The prices are better in November. Black Friday seems to have the best prices for vacuums for the entire year.
Ready to replace your mattress? Wait until the big Memorial Day sales.
March wasn’t a stellar month for deals on laptop computers. In fact, February’s lows were all but erased as deals on most 15″ mainstream laptops  rebounded to pre-holiday rates. The sole exception were laptops with the Haswell Core i3 processor, which is Intel’s budget line of CPUs. These laptops remained steady at $400 for the second consecutive month.
That’s not to say you won’t find any laptop deals this month, but you may benefit from waiting a few more weeks.

What’s In Season?

Cooking with the seasons means choosing fruits and vegetables that are at the peak of freshness and flavor. Buying locally grown produce is the best: local produce is less likely to be damaged, uses less energy to transport, ripens more naturally and you support your local economy.
Some of the fruits and vegetables that are in season for April include:

• Artichokes
• Arugula (Rocket)
• Asparagus
• Beans
• Beets
• Chicory
• Chives
• Dandelion greens
• Fava Beans
• Fiddlehead Fern
• Horseradish
• Leeks (end of season)
• Lettuce (leaf and head)
• Limes
• Morel Mushrooms
• Oranges
• Papayas
• Peas
• Ramps
• Rhubarb
• Shallots
• Strawberries
• Sweet Onions
• Turnips
• Watercress

 

Five Ways To Benefit From Free Mortgage Loan Calculators

An astonishing 80% of home buyers now conduct at least part of their  research online. To help future home buyers, mortgage officers provide free mortgage loan calculators  online. All of these calculators share basic core financial functions with some of them providing advanced features. But they all can provide valuable insight as you navigate the home mortgage process. Let’s take a look at some of the different types of free mortgage loan calculators available online, and see how we can put them to best use.

 

 

Monthly Payments

All free mortgage loan calculators are able to calculate monthly mortgage payments. All you have to do is enter your total mortgage amount and the length of the mortgage, along with the interest rate and the starting date of the mortgage. The calculator will take this information and show you the amount of your monthly mortgage payments.

Some free mortgage loan calculators include an additional feature that will let you calculate the beneficial impact of making extra payments on your mortgage. By entering additional monthly or annual amounts, or adding a one-time payment, you can predict how much earlier your loan pay-off date could occur.

Amortization

Free mortgage loan calculators can also help you figure out your amortization schedule. Whether or not your amortization schedule is based on prepayments, free mortgage loan calculators will help you compute the amount of a monthly payment.

Free mortgage loan calculators determine this by basing their calculations on your data: the principal amount borrowed, loan term, and the annual interest rate. Once the free mortgage loan calculator computes your monthly payment based on this data, you can then create the amortization schedule report.

Bi-Weekly Mortgage

Free mortgage loan calculators can also help you with your bi-weekly mortgage calculations. Making bi-weekly mortgage payments is a relatively painless way to pay additional amounts on your mortgage, saving you interest and shortening the mortgage term. Several free mortgage loan calculators can calculate what your bi-weekly payments will be and show you the amount of interest you will save.

To calculate your bi-weekly payments, total interest, and average interest each bi-weekly period, you will need to input into the free mortgage loan calculator the principal loan balance, the annual interest rate and the amortization. This should be enough for the tool to compute your savings on interest and monthly payments.

Scenarios

Here’s where the free mortgage loan calculators start to get interesting. They help you answer the “what if” questions. You can compare different scenarios to see which course of action leads to the most desirable outcome. For example, you can figure out how the size of your down payment can affect your monthly mortgage payments.

Missing Variable

Free mortgage loan calculators can also help you determine missing variables of a loan. For instance, you can find out how much money you would have to earn in order to afford one.

If you have any questions about what the calculators are asking for or what the answers mean, contact a reputable mortgage loan officer who will be happy to take the time to review the numbers.

 

 

What’s the Truth About Homes Under Electrical Lines?

You’ve been looking at homes and found a nice one, but it’s right under some large electrical wires. Your real estate agent counsels against it saying that a house isn’t safe, or that it lowers the property value.

But is it true?

The answer is that it depends. Generally if there’s electrical towers near the house, it will impact the value and time to sell when you’re ready to sell it. However, it could be a good way for you to buy the house if it’s in a neighborhood you might not ordinarily be able to afford.

But is it dangerous?

The short answer is probably not. However you should consider putting in a contingency that it passes inspection from the local power company to ensure that it’s not leaking. Just know that there is no conclusive evidence to date that power line towers cause cancer. You can search the internet and find compelling proof both ways, but nothing has ever been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.
However, you should also ask the current owner if they have any problems with television reception, or interference with computers, cell phones, landlines, etc.
And the bottom line is that you need to evaluate for yourself what you want to do. It’s similar to purchasing a house on the corner. Statistically, they have a higher crime rate, but that doesn’t mean you will have a problem with crime.

Resources

For more information, Realtor.org provided a page filled with resources to examine this issue.
One recent article was from Health Physics on Health Risks Associated with Living Near High-Voltage Power Lines.
So, if you’re getting a good deal because there’s a power line, then yes, the property value is lower than if there weren’t power lines. And when you go to sell, most of the people will walk away as soon as they see the power lines. But there will always be people who are looking to get a good house for less than market value.

Should You Borrow From Your Retirement to Pay Your Mortgage?

 

We’ve been seeing this question asked a lot lately. It’s a tough question to answer because everyone’s situation is different.
So today, we’ll look at the pros and cons and help you think about the important questions to make up your own mind if it’s the right thing for you.
Generally speaking, we’re not talking about savings. We’re talking about your 401k investments, IRA’s and other investments you may have specifically set aside for retirement.

Why You Should Borrow

Borrowing from your IRA’s is not like borrowing from your 401k. You have 60-days to pay back the IRA loan without penalty. You can borrow from your 401k for five-years without penalty as long as it’s all paid back before the five years have elapsed.
You can usually borrow up to half of your 401k balance up to a maximum of $50,000 at any age and for any reason.
If you’re young, you can withdraw money from an IRA for a first time home purchase subject to a lifetime limit of $10,000 as of June, 2013. Talk to a reputable tax adviser if this is something that you’re looking into.
Both of these will give you extra cash when you may need it most, like closing costs or getting a slightly higher down payment. The IRA would be interest free if you pay back without incurring penalties and 401k would charge the prime rate plus one or two percentage points that goes back into your account.
Borrowing from your 401k won’t count in your debt-to-income ratio when you apply for a mortgage, and it won’t get reported to the credit bureaus.

Why You Should NOT Borrow

If you borrow from your 401k and lose or leave your job, you have a 60-90 day window to pay back the loan or it will be considered a distribution subject to taxes plus 10% early withdrawal penalty if you’re under 55.
You can’t miss even one payment or else you will be considered in default and penalized.
You will get double-taxed when you repay the loan. This is because the loan repayments, including the interest, will be repaid with amounts that have already been taxed and will be taxed when withdrawn from the retirement account.
If you cash out other investments intended for retirement, you lose the benefit of holding onto it for long term, and may have to pay capital gains on your taxes.
Bottom line is talk to a tax professional to understand the impact to your taxes. Think about if the long term gain of the house will offset the lost opportunity by borrowing or cashing out your retirement investments. Will you have enough time to recover?
And finally, the bottom, bottom line is never borrow more than you can repay. Don’t borrow off of your 401k to buy a larger house and then not adjust your spending so you can’t repay the 401k every month. And remember that if you lose or change your job, you will be required to pay back the borrowed amount in full. Talk to a reputable mortgage loan officer to understand how much you can afford.

Ideas for Day Trips

 

Are you feeling some wanderlust? Have you been cooped up for too long and you want to go exploring? Maybe you got a great camera for Christmas and want to go test it out. Or maybe you bought a great pair of hiking boots that you want to break in before you go on a really big hike. Or maybe you just want to go kick up your heels and have some fun.
Whatever your reason, it’s time to look into a day trip.
Chances are, there are really fun things to do within a 25 mile radius of your home that you didn’t know about. Why? Because you live there and it would never occur to you to look for what a tourist wants.
So, let’s play tourist for a day and have some fun.

Road Trip Tips

First, if you have kids and you’ll be driving in the car, you’ll need to plan ahead.
Here are some tips to keep everyone happy and well-fed for traveling:

• Bring books and music that the whole family will enjoy, and don’t forget about classic games such as “I Spy” and “Go Fish.”
• When packing food for a day trip, keep it simple. Fill a cooler with a variety of sliced fruits and veggies stored in plastic baggies for hassle-free munching. Include drinkable yogurts, individually wrapped cheese slices and granola bars.
• If a long road trip is in store, plan for several stops throughout the day. Giving kids – and parents – time outside of the car will help everyone stay energized throughout the drive.

A Local Day Trip

Are you the mother of a teenage girl? No matter how close of a relationship you may have with your daughter, it may feel as if you are spending way too much time apart. Instead of traveling, make your day trip at an all day spa.
Look for a day spas  equipped to handle pairs or even groups (if you have more than one daughter).

Apps to Help You Find Fun

Let your smart phone do the heavy lifting to find events nearby. There are some apps that also tell you where to eat like a local.
This site has links for apps to help you find the best places for hikes and camping.

Think Like A Tourist

Finally, go to your local library and look for a guide like Fodor’s to see what they recommend doing in your area.
Don’t wait to go do the silly things that only the tourists do. Play tourist for a day and make some silly memories.

What To Buy In February

What To Buy In February

Hopefully you purchased your jewelry during the sales in December and January because prices are back up for February.
If not, don’t despair! Look for coupons for value-driven jewelry sites like  Netaya, ICE.com, Limoges Jewelry, and Ross-Simons.
There are also great coupons for lingerie sites like Victoria’s Secret and Frederick’s of Hollywood but watch the expiration date carefully.
Also, look at the ads for department stores like Macy’s. Last year, they had some good sales through February 14th.Then look for really big President’s Day sales the weekend after Valentine’s Day. This may be a good time to buy jewelry for Mother’s Day. Historically, retailers take as much as 85% off on a variety of goods like clothing, tools, bedding, and furniture. Some retailers tend to offer deeper discounts on existing sales, while others will lean towards modest coupons (likely an extra 20% to 30% off) that are applicable sitewide. Look to clothing and department stores for a big Presidents’ Day sale push.

So, what else to buy? If you’ve wanted a Wii U, look for great prices or amazing bundles. Nintendo released a report that showed their sales were far lower then they’d hoped. So, they will be motivated to get more people buying. Tax software will still be priced lower than it will in April.
Winter clothes are on the clearance racks right now as Spring apparel is being highlighted.

For big screen televisions, look for 55″ 3D 1080p LCD HDTVs. For the past five months the best deals on these TVs have averaged $700, and it’s only a matter of time before they hit sub-$700 terrain — especially now that 2014′s new models were announced at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show. If you don’t care for 3D, then look for standard 55″ 1080p LCDs that dip as low as $500. And while we generally wouldn’t recommend jumping on the 4K bandwagon, the 65″ Seiki SE65UY04, which Dealnews.com predicted would hit $1,900 in February, actually hit $1,388 last month. That’s a 53% drop from its December launch and a much faster price drop than expected. While it’s not videophile quality, it is a cheap way to get your feet wet with 4K technology, and may be more appealing in 2014, since there are more providers of 4K content.

Touchscreen ultraportable laptops have gone below $200, so if you’ve been thinking about it, now may be the time.

Don’t buy smartphones if you can help it. New models will be announced soon, and we should see price breaks then.

And to save money on groceries, buy what’s in season. There’s more than you might think.

• Arugula
• Asparagus
• Artichokes
• Beets
• Bok choy
• Broccoli
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Carrots
• Celery
• Cilantro
• Clementines
• Dill
• Fennel
• Grapefruit
• Kale
• Lemons
• Lettuce
• Leeks
• Oranges
• Onions
• Parsnips
• Pears
• Shallots
• Sweet Potatoes
• Tangelos
• Tangerines
• Turnips
• Rhubarb

And there are cycles to what’s on sale in your supermarket.
National Canned Food Month: Canned Fruit, Pie Fillings, Vegetables, Meats: Tuna, Chicken, Salmon
National Hot Breakfast Month:  Malt O Meal, Oatmeal, Eggo Waffles, Syrup
Valentines:  Chocolate,  flowers

Chinese New Year: Soy Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce, Noodles, Canned Water Chestnuts
Heart and heart-healthy products (American Heart Month): aspirin, supplements,low cholesterol oils and spreads

Westminster Dog Show February promotions: Dog food from Eukanuba, Pedigree, Purina, and Iams

What do you usually buy in February?

Planting Spring Bulbs

If you’ve gone into your local gardening supply store, you’ve probably seen large racks of bulbs for sale. The bulbs have big flowers and fun names like Dahlias and Gladiolas.

These are the bulbs you plant now that bloom in the summer and create a gorgeous burst of color. There are many varieties of flowering plants, but few offer all the advantages of bulb plants. For starters, bulbs are generally cheap to buy, and are available from local shops or on the internet.


Bulbs are also beautiful putting out the most beloved flowers in the garden. Irises, hyacinths, daffodils and tulips are also bulb plants. Most of these should have been planted in the late fall or early Winter. But don’t let that stop you. If you can find the bulbs, plant them and they will certainly bloom the next year. Sometimes, they even reward you by blooming the first year.
Even though bulbs are among the hardiest of all plants, it is important to exercise caution when planting them, and to buy only the best and most healthy bulbs. By choosing the healthiest bulbs, it will be easy to create a beautiful and healthy garden year after year.

When shopping for bulbs, look for the firmest, plumpest bulbs you can find. A good, high quality bulb will seem surprisingly heavy for its size. Avoid bulbs that are too soft as it’s often a sign of bulb rot. In addition, bulbs that are very light in weight, or that appear shriveled or cracked, should be rejected. These bulbs may have lost too much of their moisture to bloom in the garden.
The best blooms are generally provided by the largest bulbs. For instance, the largest iris bulbs will generally provide the biggest irises, and the biggest tulip bulbs will produce the largest tulips. Since bulbs bloom every year, a most cost effective approach for the patient gardener is to buy small bulbs and allow them to grow over time. Or you can buy some large and some small and build up your garden with a variety of color and flowers that are timed with the season. For example, you could have the crocuses and paperwhites flower in early spring giving way to tulips and then irises and finally the dahlias.

Just be certain to give each bulb plenty of space to grow, and plant them in well draining soil. If water hangs out, you’ll unfortunately rot out your bulb.
And take care of your bulbs annually. A great gift could be some bulbs and directions on how to grow them.

Home Improvement With A Pocketful Of Tips

It’s a new year, and maybe it’s time for some “newness” in your home. If you have been planning for a while that you would like to make some updates to your home, but have put it off because you just don’t know where to start, let us help you determine what to do, how to do it, and how to get the best deal possible.

 

 Today, we’ll do some quick tips.

To keep your toilets clean, pour bleach inside the bowl. Close the lid and let it sit for 15-20 minutes. Bleaching your toilets will smell bad for a while, but it will decrease your chance of getting sick and spreading germs as well as making your toilet nice and shiny.

When looking to improve your home, consider going with Compact Fluorescent Lights. CFLs do not use as much energy as a normal light, and they last a lot longer. When you switch your lights to Compact Fluorescent Lights, you will save money on your energy bills. CFLs do contain mercury, so you will need to find out where to properly dispose of them. If you don’t like the idea of the mercury, spend a little bit more on LED bulbs. They last just as long and you don’t have to worry about calling a hazmat team if they break.

When you are remodeling your bathroom, make sure not to add carpeting to the floor. Not only does carpeting stain easily, but the water from the shower will give the carpet, and subsequently your whole bathroom, a musty odor. Instead, go with a tile so you can easily clean up any water that may get on the floor.

Store your paint cans upside down. A skin forms inside used cans of paint. When you open the can it’s a mess to remove. One solution is to put the used paint cans in your storage area upside down! That way when you turn the can over and open it, the skin is underneath the paint where it can’t cause a problem.

Cover your door knobs, hinges and other hardware with petroleum jelly before painting. It is an easy way to insure they don’t get covered in paint. All you have to do when you are finished painting is use a soft cotton cloth to wipe the petroleum jelly from the surfaces of the hardware.

Painting an indoor room can be done quickly and easily. If possible, try to do all your painting in daylight hours, as artificial light can cause you to miss small areas. Tackle the ceiling first painting around the edges in bands then working your way towards the center. The walls should be painted starting at the top, and working downwards in overlapping sections.

If you are having home repairs done by a contractor, always get multiple bids from several licensed contractors that are well established and highly recommended. Make sure that the bids you receive are written and contain fixed-price bids for the needed services. Ensure that the wording is detailed. You don’t want to go with the best price and find out it didn’t include something major.

Don’t keep putting off your home improvement projects because you lack the knowledge or expertise to do it all on your own. There are plenty of ways that you can make significant changes in your home, with a little bit of time, research, and practice.

What home improvement projects are on your list for this year?

Should You Rent or Buy in 2014

 

Housing prices are increasing and so are mortgage interest rates. New regulations in 2014 also increased closing costs and put limits on the amount of points you could use to pay down your interest rate. They also created stricter guidelines for application approvals.

So if you’re a first time home buyer, you may be asking yourself: should I continue to rent or should I buy in 2014?

TIG adviser Jeff Lewis was interviewed on Fox Business to answer this very question. You can see the full 6:32 minute video here. His prediction is that the housing market will get back to normal by the end of the calendar year.

In his opinion, housing prices are still affordable now compared to housing prices before the real estate bubble that inflated costs tremendously. They are not as easily affordable as they were the last two years, and as interest rates continue to increase and housing prices level up, we will achieve a normal balance by the end of the year.

We’re seeing a greater recovery in the states with the better abilities to create jobs. Housing is still in a very bad state in the Midwest and big cities like Detroit. Mr. Lewis speculated that increased home ownership may be part of the problem because it reduced mobility of people to leave the area and find a better job. The homeowners are stuck in underwater housing and no jobs.

Also, in large cities, home ownership is near impossible, and there isn’t the same stigma attached to being a life-long renter. In fact, renting is considered a bonus because when there are problems like water leaks, the owner of the building has to fix it.

Still, for many people buying a home is achieving an American Dream. The bottom line for future homeowners is to evaluate their expectation of prices and goals. If it is your goal to own a home on a nice tree-lined street and have block parties, then you should start talking with a reputable mortgage officer to find out how much you could pre-qualify for. A knowledgeable real estate agent will also be able to help you find the right home. You may want to save up longer and buy the one home you will stay in, or you may want to invest in a starter home that you can sell to get back your equity, or rent out.

For real estate investors, it’s still a great time to be buying homes that are lower than their normal value. Rental vacancy rates are still at an all time low.

Will you be buying in 2014?