Spring Cleaning Checklist

 

The weather has been glorious lately. Have you started airing everything out yet?

It’s important to regularly check on certain areas of your home for potential problems. Spring is also a great time to go through and do some decluttering. As you put away your winter wear, ask yourself if you really want to wear it next year. Look through all the holiday gifts you got. Are you keeping them because you feel obligated or because you really like them? You will feel better with less clutter.

Maintenance Problems To Fix Immediately

No matter what time of the year, if you see any of these problems, get them repaired quickly. The longer you wait, the more expensive it will be to repair it.

• Caulk in the kitchen and bathroom – replacing rotted walls or floors is very expensive
• Plumbing leaks
• Clean and seal outdoor decking
• Inspect for termites or other pests
• Inspect exterior paint and siding
• Inspect the foundation and concrete slabs for cracks

Other Basic Checks

Check on your roof for any missing shingles or tiles. Also, check to see if the shingles are turning up or down as they may need to be replaced. If you see any dark streaks, you probably have an algae problem. You can hire someone to pressure wash your roof to get rid of that.

Check the masonry for any places where you might need to repair the mortar. If you’re noticing that water is seeping in, look into getting sealer for the bricks.

Check your fireplace to ensure the spark arrestor is still in place, and that there are no cracks around it. You may not be using your fireplace, but the summer is a good time to do any repair work. Also if you used your fireplace a lot this winter, now is a good time to have it professionally cleaned.

Walk around your home looking for any cracks in the foundation.

Clean out your gutters and downspouts. Look for any leaks so you can get it repaired during the summer.

Check your attic for ventilation or any nests that may have been formed.  You may want to consider getting a quote from an exterminator if you have squirrels, rats or mice nesting.  You will need a professional if you have bats.

If you haven’t yet, change batteries in your detectors, and if you have battery backups for your sprinkler system.  Test your sprinklers to ensure that they’re all clean with no nesting earwigs. Test the timing for your sprinklers. You won’t need as much watering during the spring as you will during the summer, so now is a good time to remind yourself how to program the sprinklers.

Replace filters in your heating and air conditioning units. Clean out any debris from the air conditioner. If you’ve had your ac unit under cover, take off the cover and clean dirt and leaves from around the unit.  Store the cover somewhere dry and safe.

Prune your landscaping away from your house. Check how things are draining. They should drain away from the house so you don’t have standing water up against your foundation.

Power wash your concrete patios and driveways. Look into any repair work needed for your driveway, and look into giving it a good sealant whether it’s concrete or asphalt.

If you live where you need storm windows and doors, now is the time to take them down, clean them and store them safely.

Check the wood around windows and doors gently with a screwdriver. You may need to replace wood, or just hammer it down tighter. If there is a gap in your window or door larger than a nickel, it’s time to pull out the caulk and seal it up. Check weatherproofing strips for any holes or leaks. If there are, it’s time to replace them.

Wash those windows well and clean out the tracks using a vacuum cleaner and a soft brush.
Re-seal your basement and your wood deck if you have them.

If you do your own lawn maintenance, now is the time to sharpen the blades on your mower. And give it a little love with some well placed oil. Also, if it’s gas powered, follow your manufacturer’s directions for a tune up including changing out the spark plug.

Clean out the vents in your dryer. Hopefully you’re cleaning the lint out of the lint trap, but twice a year, it’s time to do some deep cleaning. You can hire someone to come in and vacuum it all up, or you can buy a kit to help you get rid of the big ball of yuck. To minimize the lint trapped, run your dryer for 20 minutes on air dry or no heat after every load. The moist duct is a magnet for trapping lint, and running on air helps dry it out so the lint can be blown through.

Focus On Functionality When Buying Your Home

 

You have to live somewhere. For most of us, the decision seems to be simply functional. We all say we only need food, clothing, and shelter. But the truth is that we also want our homes to function well for our needs and preferences.

Functionality begins with making a good decision, based on your requirements and what you can afford.  Talk to a professional loan officer to find out what you could afford right now. That will help you make plans for when you will be ready to buy a home. Whether you rent or buy, you decide which home to choose based on affordability, availability and functionality.
Renting is a great option for the short term, when you’re building your savings and may have another move or two before settling down to a home of your own. The functions of renting are independence, affordability, and mobility. As your life matures, you may become more interested in homebuying because your ideas of functionality may change.

You may want more room, privacy, and better access to certain amenities, schools, family or work. You may want a different lifestyle that your current neighborhood doesn’t foster. You may want the autonomy to choose and change the style of your home so you can enjoy your surroundings with your own décor. You may want a home that allows you to expand your interests, such as cooking in a larger kitchen, creating art in a studio, or having a large back yard for gardening and entertaining.
As your preferences become more focused and as the needs of your household change, you may find that owning a home is more suitable for your lifestyle. But, affordability has to be part of the function. In most areas, you can buy a home more affordably than renting.

Let’s say that you find a 2400-square foot home for sale or lease. You may be able to rent it for $1.25 per square foot, or $3,000 per month, but you can buy the property for $1.65 per square foot or $400,000. When you finance the same property over 30 years, your payment is closer to $1,900. Add in typical property taxes and hazard insurance, and you’re at about $2,700 per month, making buying the home a better choice for the long term.

You trade the mobility of renting for the opportunity to build equity. When you own a home, it usually takes several years of ownership before you can build enough equity to cover your transaction costs, making owning a home a long-term investment.

Functionality is about how the home itself can serve you. Square footage can indicate if a home is large enough to have the features you want, but you won’t know until you go inside if the floorplan, features and number of beds and baths suit your wish list.

Choosing a home is really about how you want to use the space you have. As the owner, you have the option to leave things as they are or you can add or remove features as you wish, to improve the functionality of your home.

Whether you rent or buy, choosing a home is about getting the most benefit for your money. It should be a decision based on how well the location, space, and design can serve your needs and pocketbook.

Written by Blanche Evans

Don’t Miss These Homeowner Tax Benefits

 

One of the most useful yet widely misunderstood benefits of homeownership is tax deductions. Tax deductions are a welcome gift from the government, but if you’re renting, they benefit your landlord, not you.
Property tax deduction: Any money you paid during the year you purchase and in the years afterward to local state, county and city property tax assessors is tax deductible.

Mortgage interest deduction: Your mortgage interest on both first and second liens is tax deductible. Any points you paid to obtain a lower interest rate are deductible. Private mortgage insurance payments are also deductible.

Closing costs: Some fees to the mortgage lender are deductible. Ask your tax professional for guidance. You can deduct some moving expenses, such as items for home offices. Save your Hud-1 form and show it to your tax professional.

Home office deductions: If your home is your principle place of business, and you meet other IRS guidelines for home businesses, you can take a deduction on workspace dedicated to your business and no other purpose. You can also depreciate that portion of your home over 39 years. All improvements to the workspace are tax deductible. In addition, your security expenses, phones, internet costs, computers, insurance, and utilities can be deducted or depreciated according to IRS allowances. Percentages and limits apply, so talk to your tax professional.

Energy Star: If you purchased an energy efficient system or appliance for your home and it meets government Energy Star standards, you may deduct a portion of your expenses. Save your receipts.

Property sales deductions: If you purchased a home today, occupied it as a primary residence, and sold it in two years, you could be eligible for some capital gains exclusions up to $250,000 if you’re single, or $500,000 if you’re married. You can even live in the home two years, rent it out for three years, and still enjoy the capital gains exclusion.
There may be many other deductions out there for you to take advantage of that are associated with your home, so save all receipts throughout the year for repairs, parts, purchases, remodeling, etc. Some allowances and special circumstances apply, so before taking this exclusion, be sure to talk to your tax professional.
Save your tax records up to seven years, because you have to be able to support the deductions you take with documentation such as receipts, credit card statements, cancelled checks, and online banking. Make sure you take deductions and depreciation only for legitimate items.

Remember all the benefits you could be getting in deductions, your landlord is currently enjoying while billing all costs associated with managing the home to you. Wouldn’t you rather do that yourself?

The Top Three Reasons Buyers Choose The Homes They Buy

 

The Top Three Reasons Buyers Choose The Homes They Buy

You may think buyers will love your home because of your extraordinary taste in home furnishings or the incredible job you did with your home addition. Nope, it’s not the décor or the vast add-on that gets them to commit, although they may help. There are three top reasons a buyer chooses to buy a home — price, condition, and location.
Let’s start with Price. To choose the right asking price for your home, you need to know if your neighborhood is in a buyer’s market or seller’s market. A buyer’s market is characterized by large inventories of six months’ supply or higher, few buyers making offers, low offers, and many other concessions asked of sellers.

A seller’s market is characterized by low supply of six months on hand or less, heavy buyer traffic, multiple offers, and close to full price or full price offers.
Bankers, buyers’ agents and buyers all have access to the same market information that your agent has given you. If you overprice for the current market, your potential buyers won’t get to see your home, and even if they do, they won’t get their loans approved.

Condition
Allow your real estate agent to help you market your home by putting it in the best condition possible. Buyer’s pet peeves may be easy items to fix, but you don’t want your house to go to the bottom of their list because you failed to paint, mow, replace the carpet, etc. Sometimes you have to invest a little money to make money.
Remember, today’s buyers are more skeptical about buying a home, so creaky steps, dripping faucets, and outdated wallpaper just give buyers a reason to skip your home.

Location
You can’t do much about your home’s location, but you can make your home more attractive with lovely landscaping, fences to block out ugly views and sounds, a lower price and immaculate condition.

If you do have a great location, don’t overprice. People expect to pay more for a great location next to schools, transportation, shopping and restaurants, but if you overprice, they will scrutinize the price and the condition.

It’s hard not to be sentimental about the home you’ve lived in for years, but to buyers, your home is a commodity. Like you, they simply want to make a good deal on a home they love.
You’ll quickly find out what real estate agents and their buyers think of your home. If you get a quick offer, you know you priced it right for the location, condition, and the current market.

If you don’t get an offer within a couple of weeks, or whatever period is normal for your area, there’s something wrong. Look at your price and condition and see if you can make your home a little more desirable.
 

Eight No-Skip Steps To Buying a Home

There are eight major steps you will take when you buy a home and each one is as important in its own way as the last.
Make your wish list — Decide where you want to live and how many bedrooms and baths you’ll need. Consider lifestyle — condominiums offer shared amenities, with little responsibility. Single-family homes offer more space and privacy, but they also require more exterior and yard maintenance. Consider buying a fixer-upper for a reduced cost so you can remodel it to suit your needs.
Get preapproved — You can prequalify yourself on the internet, but it takes a lender looking at your personal financial information to get prequalified. Your income, credit scores, revolving debts, obligations such as child support as well as the type of loan you choose will influence how much home you can buy. Other factors such as the down payment, interest rate and terms (30-year fixed or an adjustable rate) will determine what you can afford in monthly payments.
Hire a real estate professional — Armed with a sensible price range, you’re ready to hire a real estate expert to help you find the right home. Your real estate professional should be expert in the area where you want to live and familiar with the type of home you want to buy. Your agent should have house-by-house experience in the neighborhood you want so she or he can advise you.
Select your home — No home is perfect, so don’t let minor flaws influence you. Think long-term. Which available home best suits the needs of your household now and in the years ahead? Consider the amount of space, the floorplan, privacy, entertaining options and potential upkeep. Don’t buy more than you need or can comfortably afford.
Make an offer — Your offer should reflect current market conditions. If a home has been on the market a long time, you can ask the seller for a price reduction, but if it’s new on the market, the seller is unlikely to comply. Sellers are more likely to respond to how much you love the home, than all the reasons why you don’t think it’s worth the asking price. Ask your real estate professional for advice on how to negotiate.
Get an inspection — A home inspection is a professional third-party opinion of the home’s condition. The inspector will point out the age of systems, and large and small repairs that are needed, so you’ll know what you’re facing as the next owner. Don’t sweat small cosmetic flaws. Concentrate instead of high-cost items to replace such as air conditioners and roofing.
Get an appraisal – The bank appraisal determines market value to the lender. The appraiser will use comparables of similar homes that have recently sold. If the home doesn’t appraise for the purchase price, the bank will refuse to make the loan unless you renegotiate with the seller. If it appraises for the asking price, the lender will move toward closing.
Go to closing — Once final negotiations are complete, the parties to the transaction meet at the escrow office. This could be a title company, real estate attorney, or other closing agent customary in your area. All paperwork is signed by both parties. The lender pays the seller, minus any liens against the home such as the seller’s mortgage. Once all the disbursements have been made, you get the keys to your new home, according to your agreement.

Cleaning Up the Errors On Your Credit Report

 

Last week, we talked about how to obtain your credit report and credit score. It’s essential to check your report regularly because unfortunately 25-30% of the reports have errors. And it takes time to get the changes made. Unfortunately, you have to be the one to stay on top of the situation to ensure that the changes were made.

 

It’s also essential to ensure that no one else is using your information to open up credit.

 

So how do you look for errors?

Check your personal information including name, address, phone number, birth date, and Social Security number to make sure everything is accurate. Information regarding lawsuits, judgments, liens, late child support, or other late payments should be stricken from your credit report after 7 years and bankruptcies after 10 years. Credit inquiries from companies to determine eligibility for credit must be removed after 2 years.

Then mark anything that looks suspicious including credit card accounts that you closed but still appear as open on the report; accounts that you never opened; activity that you were not involved in; and account histories that show late payments when you know you paid on time.

So you’ve found errors. Now what do you do?

The FTC has a full page on how to dispute including a sample dispute letter. In a nutshell, you need to write out a description of the errors and inaccuracies in detail. Explain why it’s an error, and include a copy of the report where you’ve circled the issue. More detail is better. If you have supporting documentation, include a copy of that as well.

Then send the letter certified mail with return receipt. You want proof that you sent it in case there’s a claim you never notified them. By law, the credit bureau must investigate and contact you within 30 days of receipt.

In the past, there were ways to dispute online, but this wasn’t as good because it wasn’t possible to add in the supporting documentation. Also, it wouldn’t necessarily clean up the report. The agencies would reduce your issue to a two-digit code and provide only that code on to the requester and not what the dispute was about or who was correct.

The good news is as of 2014, you can upload supporting documentation such as a canceled check, a note marked “paid” when submitting your dispute online, and the credit reporting agency must provide all relevant information, including the dispute itself and supporting documents, to the furnisher.

You can mail in your dispute if you prefer the paper trail.

Also, if there are errors for a specific account, send a copy of the dispute to that account also via certified mail with return receipt. Give the company a chance to fix it on their own.

If the information is found to be in error, then it must be removed from your report. You have the right to ask that a corrected version of the credit report be sent to any company that has requested your credit report in the past 6 months. The credit bureau must also send you a free copy of the corrected version.

 

Additionally, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, if the information found to be in error on your credit report is not removed and the court finds the violation intentional, you are entitled to actual and punitive damages, as well as court costs and attorney’s fees.

A woman in Oregon sued Equifax and won $18.6 million in punitive damages. She had contacted Equifax eight times between 2009 and 2011 to fix some major mistakes including her social security number and birth date.

 

Remember, check your credit report and score before:

• You are looking to buy a home
• You want to refinance
• You are looking to rent an apartment
• If you have gone into foreclosure or bankruptcy
• You are planning on leaving your job to become an entrepreneur
• You are applying for a new job
• If you’ve been late on a payment
• You want to help a loved one
• If you’re getting into a serious relationship

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?