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Relocating to a new area can be exciting, but it can also be expensive. There are many resources to help, but most cost money. However, if you take your time and plan carefully, you can reduce the expense so you don’t start your new life with new debt. Here are three tips to controlling your moving budget.
1. Find Out What’s Free
Nothing is better than paying nothing, right? Don’t assume you have to fork out money for everything you need to move. If you have accepted a new job, ask your new employer whether the company can cover any of your moving expenses. When it comes to moving supplies, see what you can get without having to pay for it. Stock up on free moving supplies by asking your workplace, local grocery stores, and friends and family for unneeded, sturdy boxes. Instead of paying professional movers, see if you can barter with friends or family for help in moving boxes to and from the truck.
2. Focus On Essentials
After you’ve pursued every possible angle to cover your needs for free, you will likely need to pay for something. The trick is to only do so for what is absolutely necessary. Many providers will offer you help along the way, but you should only sign up for basic services. This could include moving big items such as a piano, paying for gas and tolls, or buying cartons for oddly-shaped or particularly valuable items. If you are not able to move things yourself, this could include hiring professionals.
3. Do It Yourself
If you have the time and are physically fit, start long before moving day and pack everything yourself. Rent or borrow a truck and move your boxes yourself, perhaps with the help of a friend. Take care of disconnecting old utilities and signing up for new ones. Handle both cleaning your old home and preparing your new one. Anything you can do with a little elbow grease will mean less money out of pocket.
CALL ME for advice on keeping moving expenses down. Ask about providers who may give you a discount for being referred by your agent. Remember that you are in charge of your move, so don’t automatically sign up for every service available. By using free goods and services when available and doing much of the work yourself, you can set and follow a moving budget you can afford.
Are you thinking about selling a home that you have rented out for some additional revenue? If so, you’re likely trying to discern how to best inform the current tenants and conduct the sales process in a way that works well for all of the parties involved. In today’s blog post we’ll explore how to sell your home while you’re renting it out to tenants and share three tips that can make the process a bit easier.
#1: Review Local Laws and Your Tenancy Agreement
First, you’ll want to break out your tenancy agreement and download any state, provincial or municipal laws that apply to landlord-tenant relations. Selling a home with renters living in it can result in a number of sticky situations. You’ll want to ensure that you conduct yourself in accordance with the rule of law as you may end up in court if the process goes sour. OR CALL ME and I will do that leg work for you!
#2: Communication is a Vital Part of the Process
Next, you’ll need to ensure that you’re communicating with your tenants every step of the way. Be polite but firm; you don’t want to encourage any hostility but this is your property and ultimately, your decision.
Don’t forget to fully inform your tenants as to how home showings will work, as they’ll likely be concerned as to who is being provided with keys to their home.
#3: Incentives Can Sway an Unruly Tenant
Finally, if you’re faced with some unruly tenants that are making the sales process challenging you may find that financial incentives to help the process go smoother. You’ll need their cooperation in keeping the home relatively clean and tidy, so you may want to consider offering some gift certificates or paying a portion of the rent in exchange for their help. If you’re hosting an open house over a weekend, offer to put their family up in a nice hotel somewhere in town where they can enjoy a weekend together.
While selling a home with tenants living inside is rarely easy or fun, it’s certainly doable. When you’re ready to learn more about the home selling process, GIVE ME A CALL, to leverage my expertise and guidance to ensure you get the most from your sale.
Whether or not you’ve been looking into selling your house for a while, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the buzzword ‘renovation’ and considered how it can positively impact the value of your home. From upgrading your kitchen to painting, there are plenty of renovations that will do wonders in terms of your property’s price on the market, but there are a few that can actually have the opposite effect so you’ll want to be leery of the following fix-ups.
Cool Colored Tile
If, at one point, you installed a bunch of brightly colored tile into your living room or kitchen to add a bit more life to your home, it’s possible this is the type of renovation you may come to regret upon resale. Often times, when it comes to purchasing a home, buyers will be looking for something they won’t have to renovate right off the bat, so a flashy feature can have a marked effect on the selling potential of your house.
An Unflattering Paint Color
You’ve probably heard all about the power that painting has to revamp the look of your home, but the wrong tint of paint can actually have the completely opposite effect. Instead of opting for bright or risky colors, ensure you stick to neutrals that will coordinate in a flattering way with your furniture and flooring. A bright color can certainly make for a memorable impression, but it can also obscure many other good features if it happens to be too much.
Adding On Another Bedroom
It can often be considered a great benefit to have a house with multiple bedrooms. However, if you’ve condensed the size of one room to create an extra bedroom that’s little more than miniature, it may not have the impact on your price-point you envisioned. Instead of focusing on the house that you don’t have, play up the positive features of your home and the ideal buyer will come to you – and hopefully with the offer you’re looking for.
Renovating your home is a good idea if you’re planning on putting it on the market, but adding on another bedroom or choosing a garish color of paint might not be worth the cost you’re going to pay. If you are planning on putting your home on the market in the near future, give me a call today!
When delving into the world of real estate and investment property, there are many terms that will come up that require further explanation. Whether you’ve never heard the phrase ‘home equity’ before or you have a little familiarity, here are the ins and out of what it means and how this asset can help your financial outlook.
It’s All About The Benjamin’s…& Home Equity
Essentially, home equity refers to your portion of the value of your home, and the amount of this figure is important because it is included among your assets when determining your net worth. If this sounds confusing, think of it this way: if you have completely paid off the cost of your home, the value of your home equity is this total amount. Of course, because most people seek a lender to borrow money from when they purchase a home, their home equity would consist of their down payment and whatever amount they’ve paid down on the mortgage since purchase.
For Example…
To provide further clarification, let’s use the example of a house that has been purchased for $300,000. In the case that a down payment of 20% has been provided at the time of purchase, the equity in the home would be $60,000. Since this amount is the percentage and cost of the house that’s been paid down, this is the amount of the house that is actually owned and this will be figured among an individual’s assets.
How Home Equity Works
As you pay the amount that you owe on your home each month, you are paying off your total debt and thereby increasing your equity. Since this amount of money is considered an asset that belongs to you, it can be used down the road to buy another home or invest in other important things like education or retirement. While paying off the amount owed on a home is a considerable investment, if the value of your home increases, this means that you’ll still owe the same on it but your home equity will have automatically increased.
As an asset that is part of your financial net worth and can be used down the road to fund other investments, home equity is a very useful term to know when it comes to purchasing a home. If you’re on the market for a home and are considering your options, give me a call for more info…
Your home is your castle, your own little piece of the American dream. But lately, your little corner of the world has been feeling cramped and you find yourself eyeing those larger homes. Is it time to pull up stakes and move on from your starter home?
Growing Family
If you’ve added to your family in recent years, you may have more bodies than bedrooms. A two-bedroom home may have been a great idea when it was just you and your spouse, but with two kids, you’re starting to have turf wars over the play area.
Overflowing With Stuff
From an overflowing toy chest to closets packed so tightly with shoes and coats you risk an avalanche every time you open the door, your home just doesn’t have the space to keep all your things. You may have even had to move some things off-site, spending money to rent storage space to keep that antique dresser your grandmother left you or the set of state spoons you carefully collected during your college years.
No Rest For The Weary
You’d love to spend an afternoon soaking in the tub, but before the warmth of the water can take you away, there’s a banging on the door of the only bathroom in the house and a chorus of “hurry up!” invading your quiet time. And the man cave you dreamed of? Those visions of a big screen television were shattered by the realization you needed somewhere for the kids to sleep.
No Room For Extras
When you first moved in, the two-car garage doubled as your woodworking shop. Now, the equipment has been sent to storage to make room for the family’s second car. You’d love to take up organic gardening, but your tiny yard barely has room for a grill and a lawn chair. You’d love to host your friends visiting from out of state, but there is hardly room for their luggage, much less them.
Changes In Career
You may have opted for a starter home when you first entered the market because you had a smaller income. Now, thanks to changes in careers or promotions at work, you can afford a home with greater square footage and room for your growing family that will provide the space you need for many years of happy memories.
Home prices across the country are starting to rise. Contact your local real estate agent today and take advantage of the opportunity to give your family the most space at the best price now.
There can be many downsides to both renting and buying, depending on what side of the coin you are on, but if you’re leaning towards purchasing a home it can have added benefits for your bank account that renting does not. While renting can certainly alleviate many of the costs that go along with property ownership, here’s why purchasing a home can have positive monetary affects in the long run.
The Good Impacts of Inflation
While inflation is often seen as a dirty word, a real estate purchase can see the positive side of inflation with how your home purchase investment will grow over the years. Putting money into rent will mean that money is gone and out the window once you’ve paid for the month, but investing into a property will come back to you in future gains that are made in the real estate market. While buying a home will be more expensive in the short term, it can also provide you with greater financial flexibility and equity in the future.
Renovations Will Increase Home Value
While changing up the bathroom or the paint on the wall in your apartment isn’t going to add any extra lining to your wallet when you move out, making upgrades to a home that you own will have the very opposite effect! Renovations can certainly be unpopular while they’re taking place, but no matter how small or large, they can mean an easier sell and a higher profit when the home finally goes on the market.
The Opportunity For Rental Property
An apartment you rent won’t offer opportunity for investment if you’re away from your home for an extended period of time, but a home you own may serve as an ideal investment property at some point in the future. With the success of Airbnb and unique modern housing needs that may only require a home rental for a short period of time, being able to use your house as a rental property can be a significant boon for earning money you would have otherwise been without.
Buying a home can require a lot of number crunching in the beginning that rent does not, but it can also provide significant financial benefits down the road that might not exist without such a purchase. If you’re considering purchasing a home in the near future, you may want to contact your local real estate professional for more information.
Silvia Portugal-Singh 