The Jeffrey And Tracey Info Emporium

Perhaps you woke up this morning and just decided it was time to start looking for a new home?

Or, maybe you’ve already started looking, but you want more direction as to what you should be doing to find the perfect home?

What prompted your new home search?

• Did you look around and see that you have really outgrown the place you are in now?
• Are you currently renting, but are ready to buy your own home?
• Are you at the beginning stages of being an “empty nester,” and want to be proactive in your search?
• Did your job (or the job of your spouse or your significant other) get transferred to another city or state?
• Did any unfortunate situation occur that has prompted or required you to move?

As you can see, there are a number of reasons why you may be looking for a new home or (for you in particular) this could be your first home purchase. Regardless of the reason, are you still feeling anxious about your search? Are you asking yourself any of the following questions?

• Buying a new home should be easy enough to do, right?
• People buy new homes everyday, don’t they?
• There are professionals out there that will help me with my search, aren’t there?

The answer to each of those questions is “Yes.” But, if you want to get exactly what you want, it’s always a good idea to first have a picture of what you want in your mind’s eye.

Here are three critical tips that you should consider when looking to purchase your next home:

1. Know and understand which questions to ask during your entire home buying experience - then ask them.

   To many, this sounds simple enough and a real no-brainer. However, the hard part is actually having the correct questions to ask so that you get the real answers you need to make an informed purchase. This is extremely critical since these are likely the same questions that the seller or their agent might be hoping you don’t think about asking. And, don’t think that the only questions you should be asking are directed to the sellers. There are many more questions you’ll need answered to protect yourself from what the sellers might not even know about their own property.

2. Engage more of your senses when inspecting a property you’re thinking about buying.

   When I say “senses,” I literally mean your four senses of sight, touch, hearing, and smell. Unless the seller has cookies baking to impress you (and offers you one), the only sense you won’t be using is taste! I guarantee that - if you are more in tune with your senses - you’ll be surprised at the number of important details you will pick up on and notice during your walk through the property; details many people miss because they are not using all of their senses as best they could.

3. Keep your emotions in check!

   Make every attempt to not make your purchase decision based purely on your emotions. When you learn how to avoid buying based purely on your emotions, you will be prepared to walk away from a home - even a home that might have that one “something special” aspect about it that you just love and feel you absolutely need.

Don Berthiaume has been in real estate for over 20 years. His Home Buyer Defense Guide has helped home buyers better understand the questions to ask when buying a home. His other online resource, the Educated Home Buyer, provides invaluable information on home buying; particularly as it relates to credit, mortgages and finances.

The single biggest question I get from people getting started in real estate (and experienced for that matter) is “how to find deals?” They say, “I don’t know what to focus on in real estate. Should I focus on rehabbing? Should I focus on finding absentee owners? Should I focus on direct mail?”

The problem with those questions is that the real estate investor is confused about the whole business of real estate and the marketing plan behind finding the deals. I understand that you go to a three-day real estate training, or you buy a home-study course, and every angle of real estate investing is attractive. You can see the potential in all these different markets.

First things first, you have to get focused! This is the only way to get good at overcoming objections and solving problems unique to different types of motivated seller markets.

Let’s simplify this whole real estate marketing game and boil it down to this:
Who, What, When, Where, Why & How (And How Much)!

Who:
Who is that we are going to be talking to? Who is that we are going to be trying to purchase homes from? You may want to work in one or two of the following markets: foreclosures, absentee owners, our probates, divorces, for sale by owners, tired landlords. This is your market - the who.

What:
What are you going to say in your marketing? This may be a real estate marketing script that you follow, a direct mail postcard system that you roll out, or specific copy in your advertisement. Understand, that you are looking for motivated sellers to take action. If you’re taking the time to write a letter, place an ad, etc you want your prospect to do something like call you or email you or listen to a recorded message!

When:
When are your prospects going to receive your marketing message? Timing and consistency is everything to your real estate marketing campaign. You need to be the single person (or company) they think of when the moment strikes at which they realize they are, in fact, a motivated seller!

Where:
Where are they going to receive your message? Obviously if you’re door knocking, you’ll meet them at their home. But if you are marketing to personal representatives of an estate, the attorney may receive the letter and pass it on. It’s important to think about where your potential seller is going to “see” your message because this will affect the action they take.

Why:
This is where your real estate investing exit strategy comes into play. What are you going to do with the property once you’ve gained control? Are you going to wholesale it to another investor? Are you going to fix it up and flip it yourself? Are you going to hold on to it for rental?

As you grow into your real estate business, you’ll have a number of options for each deal depending on what’s most suitable for the piece of real estate. You may have properties that you can assign, rehab OR rent. But, initially, decide where you are on your real estate investing scale and work within those parameters. If you are asking: “Should I focus on rehabbing houses or should I target probate?” you’re asking two different questions.

How:
The next thing is the communication method. That is ‘how are we going to talk to our potential motivated sellers?’ So let’s suppose your market is foreclosures or pre-foreclosures (the who). The next question is how? There are basically only four methods that we can use to communicate with our target market.

1. Driving for Dollars (or door knocking)
2. Telemarketing
3. Direct mail
4. Mass marketing

How Much:
I toss this in because this is going to affect your real estate marketing strategies. How much can you afford to spend? Understand for a few dollars a day, you can have an extremely profitable real estate investing business. It doesn’t take a lot of money to bring in home run deals!

Here’s a quick real estate marketing business plan that you can implement immediately using the Who, What, When, Where, Why & How approach:

Who: Pre-foreclosures within 2 weeks of sale at the courthouse (note how specific this is)
What: Yellow legal pad letters
When: Two weeks prior to the sale
Where: Prospect’s Home
Why: Seller is more motivated and has run out of options
How: Hand-written, hand addressed, first class postage and return address label
How Much: Based on a budget of $100/month, I will send 59.5 letters each week (remember to figure out your marketing budget down to the penny - stamps, ink, paper, envelopes, etc.)

And there you have it! 7 Simple Steps for your real estate marketing plan.

To get more real estate marketing tips, visit www.MotivatedSellerMarketing.com with Heather Seitz, co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for Real Estate. Get tips and tricks that will unlock the secrets to finding more deals faster, better, and with less time, effort and money.

Do you want to see something that is absolutely amazing? Let me show you what has happened in Destin, Florida over the last 3 years. Back in August of 2002, the median price of a home selling in Destin was $229,000. One year later, August 2003, the median price in Destin increased to $305,000, or a 33% price increase.

Roll the clock forward in July 2005, and we see that the average price is now $658,000 as you can see in the price charts below. Do you think there was a little money made in Destin over the last few years? Since I live in the area, I can attest to the HUGE role real estate has played in our local economy and large amount of wealth that has been produced.

For the Monday morning arm chair quarterbacks of the world, you can just hear them at a dinner party saying…. “Boy, I knew that real estate was going up around there and I came close to buying a piece of property back in …….”. “If I WOULD OF have purchased that property, I COULD HAVE made a killing…. I guess I SHOULD HAVE bought it before prices went so high. This is what investors call the Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda syndrome.

The WORST thing an investor could do right now is to realize that they missed some gain potential in Destin and then assume that prices will just keep going to the moon. Rather than kicking themselves for actions taken in the past, what this investor should be doing is trying to understand what has happened in the past and then apply that knowledge to FUTURE investments. Let’ rewind the clock and see what happened to see if it sheds any clues as to what we should be looking for in the future.

Twenty years ago, Destin was a sleepy little fishing village that calls itself the “Worlds Luckiest Fishing Village”. In addition to sugar white beaches, the area has great fishing and emerald colored waters that actually rival some spots in the Caribbean for water clarity. But twenty years ago, very few people wanted to live in Destin and only a small number of tourists wanted to visit the area. Boy has that changed.

In 1993, there was a major event that, in many people’s opinion, changed the course of Destin forever. This was the opening of a major bridge into Destin that now provided easy access to tourists. Today, only 12 years after that event, Destin is a huge international tourist destination with multi-million dollar beach condos, Lear jets depositing visitors for the weekend, and a wide array of dining and shopping that rivals many upscale areas. Not too bad for a bunch of people that were affectionately called “fishheads”.

So looking back, how could the individual investor have made smart moves in Destin?. Suppose you put on your investor hat and you came down to visit in 1993 right after the mid-bay bridge was constructed. You would have seen:

* A great beach and fishing location;

* An expanding offering of hotels and condos;

* Have realized that it was very unlikely for this area to drop in price due to the ever increasing demand for waterfront and nice vacation spots.

At that stage, somebody with a little bit of foresight could have made a longer term investment and planned on holding for 10 years. This longer term approach might not be your style, however.

Fortunately, you really did not have to really be that smart. Supposed you decided that Destin was likely to be an EMERGING area but you just didn’t know when. You would have seen both price and volume of sales start to shoot up in the middle of 2002. When this BUY signal occurred, you would have found that you could have purchased many types of properties that would easily rent out and cover your expenses; i.e., there was a safety net for you. At that point in time, it was absolutely obvious to EVERYONE here that Destin was a major tourist destination that was not going to go away anytime soon.

As time went on, you would have seen the price and volume of sales continue. Looking at the figure below, you would have seen the year-to-year % change in price and the year-to-year % change in volume continue skyward until around December, 2004. After this time, the prices kept going up but not as aggressively. Also, you can see that the rate of change of volume has been dropping over the last 6 months which is a sign that things are definitely cooling off in this local market.

To me, that chart speaks volumes. It says there was a great opportunity to get in and there has been plenty of time to get out. However, it also tells me that I probably don’t want to invest in Destin right now even though in the longer term, I think Destin will do just fine. For my taste, I would rather find the next EMERGING market rather than one that has already EMERGED.

Dr. Chris Anderson is a co-founder of http://www.GetPreconstructionDeals.com and is referenced in many venues including the New York Times and USA Today. Download his free, 30+ page preconstruction investing ebook today at Get Preconstruction e-Book.

Consider a Home Equity Line Of Credit

A home equity line of credit is becoming a more popular option among home owners who don’t want to refinance or take out a second mortgage. A home equity line of credit is like a second mortgage, in that you use your property as collateral for the equity you have built in your home. However, instead of getting a lump sum of cash, you can draw out money as you need or see fit. You can control how much money you take out, based on what is available.

Like a credit card, you will be approved for a specific amount of credit and have a limit as to how much you can take out at a single time. Some lenders will actually set your limit to 85% of what your property is worth, minus what you owe on your first mortgage. This of course depends on your credit history, total debt, and payment history.

When considering a home equity line of credit you must ask and compare the following facts so the loan is tailored to your needs. Be sure to ask the lender about the life term of the loan, if there is minimum withdrawal requirement when you first open your account, and if there is a maximum or minimum withdrawal requirement every time you take out money.

You also need to know how you access your credit, whether it is through credit card, checks, or both. There may also be a draw period, or a fixed time that you can withdraw from your credit. A draw period can effect when you can take out money and if you can renew your credit line when this draw period is up.

Just as any loan, you must compare interest rates, whether it is fixed or adjustable. Balloon rates are popular with home equity lines, which are loans that are paid in a single large payment at the end of the life of the loan. Or, you may find a loan with no balloons but a higher monthly payment.

You also may find most loans have large one-time upfront fees, others have closing costs, and some have continuing costs, such as annual fees. All of these things will impact the amount of money you will have to dish out simply for financing the loan, not including paying back the money borrowed.

There are many options to consider when wanting to get money. Perhaps a loan that uses your home as collateral is not what you are looking for. After all, with a first mortgage, maybe even a second mortgage and then a home equity line, you are making yourself liable to a huge financial obligation! If any of these responsibilities were to falter due to too much risk, and not enough money to pay, you could end up losing your home because the loans use your home as collateral.

You may want to explore borrowing from credit lines that do not use your home as collateral. You can entertain credit cards or unsecured credit lines that let you write checks as you need the money. There are also options as such as loans for specific items, such as cars or tuition. These options may be less risky and more suitable for your situation.

When considering a home equity line of credit or other form of loan, be sure to ask the lender about every detail of the terms of the loan. There are many options for you to entertain from many different lenders. You can definitely find a loan that perfectly fits your financial information. It will take some shopping and effort, but it will save you money in the long term.

John R Blakefield is a mortgage and real estate specialist. For more information, articles, news, tools and valuable resources on home mortgages or investment loans, refinancing, debt solutions, visit this site: http://www.scourtheweb.com/mortgage.

A Home Secured Loan is like any other secured loan, taken by placing your home as collateral with the creditor. Lenders look favorably on people who are home owners as this demonstrates a commitment to repay the loan on time. Although you are still living in your home, the creditor is in legal possession until repayment. The interest rate offered on Home Secured loans is obviously lower as here the creditor is taking on a lower perceived risk. The amount that can be borrowed relates to the equity in your home. The amount you can borrow, the APR you are offered and the term of your home secured loan all depends on your personal financial status and the lending company’s outlook regarding your ability to repay the loaned amount. Home Secured Loans are therefore a good option for those who do not wish to sell their homes in a financial crisis.

Since home secured loans are secured on property, most lenders approve your loan even in case of bad credit history making it very attractive to people who would otherwise not qualify for an unsecured loan or any loan from their local bank.

Benefits of Home Secured Loans:

• Home Secured Loans unlock capital instantly and are available to all home owners.

• With home secured loans, people with poor credit histories: C.C.J’s, defaults, arrears, etc. can get good deals as long as they have collateral i.e. a home.

• Home Secured Loans offer low interest rates and easy repayment options.

• If a borrower has exceptional credit history and good financial standing he can expect amounts ranging up to 125% of his property value for home secured loans.

• The amount borrowed for home secured loans depends on the equity in your home. The equity normally ascends; primarily, because of home improvements made by the owner and secondly because of real estate value going up.

• Home secured loans are of immense help to people who prefer not to sell their home, but need resources to meet over some contingency.

• Home secured loans enable you to borrow £5,000 to £75,000 with repayment terms of 5 to 25 years.

• The loaned amount can be used for any purpose as per the borrower’s requirement.

Some lenders apply a charge to home secured loans if they are paid off before the due date. This is called a redemption penalty and can be up to two months interest - a significant additional cost. If you consider repaying your loan earlier than agreed, then it may be wise to take home secured loans that do not have a redemption penalty, even if you pay a slightly higher APR.

Comparing interest rates offered on home secured loans from different lenders gives you a good idea of how competitive they are and familiarize you with interest rates. A variable rate option allows the interest rate to rise or fall with changes in the bank base rate, so your monthly repayments also fluctuate during the home secured loan term. A fixed interest rate implies that the rate you pay will remain constant throughout the loan term, regardless of any changes.

In Home Secured Loans, although the lender is not at risk, the borrower surely is because it’s your home that is put up as security i.e. should you face difficulties in repaying your loan, your home will be at risk of repossession. It is imperative that you make sure you can afford the repayments before signing the credit agreement. Home secured loans are usually easier to get an approval on as compared to unsecured loans. However, these loans could take a little longer to process because home secured loans necessitate valuation of collateral i.e. your home. But one thing is for sure, the time it takes is well worth the money saved on interest.

Marsha Claire is offering loan advice for quite some time. To find Secured loans, secured loans for homeowner, Home secured Loans, low rate loans UK visit http://www.get-secured-loans.co.uk

A big debate these days is whether or not to buy a house, or buy a condo. Most of this debate comes from a lack of understanding about condos, and what they are. Hopefully, the following information will prove to be helpful.

When Buying a condo, are you a tenant?

No. That simply isn’t true. When you buy a condo, you are buying a part of the corporation, and are thus an equal owner. It is true that you can be forced to move, if you are really disturbing the other owners, or causing problems. But this is true of residential homes as well. If your neighbors complain repeatedly about smell, health concerns, or criminal behavior, then you may be forced to move. The same holds true in condos and houses alike.

The board can force you to pay thousands of dollars arbitrarily, and without notice.

At first glance, this may appear to be true. But keep in mind that the condo association is made up of owners who have the same goal as you… Having a comfortable place to live that is building equity. The members of the condo association do not make any money from their positions. They are owners like yourself, who are volunteering their time. There can, however, be “special levy’s” brought about by unexpected maintenance in the building. The same holds true of a house as well; the expenses just come from a different place. Ask anyone who owns a house how much it cost them for their last furnace. Or how much they spent repairing the water leak, and replacing the shingles. The advantage in a condo association is that you share these costs with the other owners, and are forced to save money in advance for these repairs, through the reserve fund.

Condo fees cost too much each month!

Again, not necessarily true. If you were to add up the amount of money that a family spends over 5 years on the maintenance of their house, you’ll usually notice that it equals more than 5 years worth of condo fees. Also, many condo associations pay for their monthly expenses as a group. Heat, water, insurance, and maintenance are examples of such expenses. By purchasing as a group, they can often get these services at a lower rate than a single home owner can.

I could never live in such close quarters

That’s probably true. Condos aren’t for everyone. Every person has to make their own decision, based upon their own lifestyle; now and in the future. If you have 3 large dogs, 3.5 children, and 4 cars… a condo probably isn’t for you. But, if you’re a single young executive who works 80 hours a week, or you’re retired and travel most of the year, then perhaps a condo is the right choice for you. Only you can make that decision, as it is a lifestyle choice. Here are some factors to consider in your decision.

1. How much time do you spend at home?

2. Do you want to shovel walks and mow lawns?

3. Are you used to having your neighbours far away from you?

4. Is the condo association that you’re considering favorable to your children’s lifestyle?

5. Do you want a low maintenance home, or do you like tinkering in the yard and garage?

6. Who’s going to be living there? What are the neighbors like?

In fact, these are issues to consider on any home, not just a condominium. It’s just as easy to get “bad” neighbors when you buy a house as it is when you buy a condo. The best advice that can be given is to research your choices, and be objective when choosing a home. My favorite example of this is as follows:

“A friend of mine asked me to help him find a home. He’s a single young man who travels 75% of the time for his job and is rarely at home. When he is home, all he wants to do is sleep and watch TV. He wanted to buy an acreage so that he could have privacy. After looking at the amount of continuous maintenance required for an acreage, he realized that acreage living wasn’t for him. He’s very happy in his apartment style condo.”

Make your own decisions, based upon what’s best for you. If a condo is where you’ll be happiest, then buy a condo. If a house is what’s right for you, buy a house.

About The Author

John Carle & Sharon Gregresh are Realtors with Royal LePage - ArTeam in St. Albert, AB. They pride themselves on providing more than just real estate sales and listings. Their clients benefit from a much larger spectrum or real estate services. Contact them any time at information@workingtogether.ca or through their website at www.workingtogether.ca. They can be reached by phone at (780) 458-5595

Few of us invest the time and effort into researching and securing the best deal for a mortgage to purchase our home.

For most of us, our house is the single most important and expensive purchase we ever make!

We invest a lot of time and effort into finding the perfect property in the best location and with as many of the features from our wish list as possible, yet, when it comes to finding the best deal for a mortgage, we take what is offered rather than researching and securing the best mortgage for our situation.

When you consider that the average homeowner will pay out more in interest over the lifetime of their mortgage than the home originally cost, you can see why getting yourself the best deal for a mortgage now, could save you tens of thousands of dollars in interest over the 20 30 year term of your home loan.

Your research for the best mortgages or loans and repayment options currently available can be carried out on the internet, thus making the whole process that much more convenient and time efficient for you.

Mortgages are not a “One Size Fits All!”

Mortgages come in many different forms and you need to be aware of the various forms in order to determine which one is the best deal for a mortgage to your unique circumstances.

Basically, mortgages fall into one of the following categories. Lenders will have variations of these basic categories, but armed with this information, you will be able to sort through the choices for just the right package.

Fixed Rate Mortgages:

Loan with an interest rate that remains at a specific rate for the entire term of the mortgage/loan. Approximately 75 per cent of home mortgages are this type. A fixed rate mortgage is often considered the best deal for a mortgage for first time buyers as you can establish a consistent relatively fixed budget of household operating expenses.

ARM’s or Adjustable Rate Mortgages or Variable Rate Mortgages:

A mortgage/loan with an interest rate that adjusts or varies with the changes in rates paid on Treasury Bills or bank Certificates of Deposit. In Canada, the rates vary according to the posted weekly Bank of Canada rates.

To offset the risk associated with an adjustable rate mortgage, some lenders offer various ‘capping’ options. Often, they fix or limit the maximum level to which the interest rate you are subject to can rise for a given period of time. Sometimes they fix the cap per year and sometimes for the lifetime of the mortgage.

Adjustable or variable rate mortgages can be very attractive as usually the rates are considerably lower than for fixed rate mortgages. They are an excellent vehicle for borrowers who are attentive to the rate fluctuations and prepared to ‘lock in’ their mortgage when interest rates start climbing. If you’re constantly watching the money markets, this may be the best deal for a mortgage for you.

Balloon Mortgages:

A mortgage in which the monthly payment is not intended to repay the entire loan. The final payment is a large lump sum of the remaining principal. Balloon mortgages are often only partially amortized and requiring a lump sum repayment at maturity.

It’s popular mortgage in the US for homeowners who aren’t planning to stay in their new home for more than 5 or 7 years. The advantage is that the interest rate is lower than a fixed rate mortgage however, the disadvantage is that if you remain in the home beyond the 5 to 7 year term, you would have to secure a new loan or mortgage to pay off the balloon mortgage.

Jumbo Mortgages or ‘Non-Conforming’ Mortgages:

In the US, Congress has legislated a conforming limit to the amount a mortgage is allowable for funding by Federal National Mortgage Association (a.k.a: Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (a.k.a: Freddie Mac). The 2005 limit is $359,650; $539,475 in Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Any loan or mortgage above that conforming limit is considered a Jumbo Mortgage. A Jumbo mortgage/loan allows you to borrow over the conforming limit, but for that privilege, you will incur higher interest rates. There are variations to the Jumbo Mortgage such as the Super Jumbo Mortgage, but I’m sure you get the basic picture.

Canadians have an equivalent referred to as a “High Ratio Mortgage” guaranteed/funded through Canada Mortgage And Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Now that you have identified which type of mortgage might suit you best, you need to consider repayment methods and you basically have two options:

Interest Only:

An interest only payment method can be combined with any type of traditional mortgage. Interest only payment periods almost never run for the entire term of the loan, so prepare to have your payment rise to include both principal and interest once the interest only period ends.

Principal and Interest or Capital & Interest:

Your monthly repayments are divided into an interest payment and a principal or capital repayment. In the early years of the mortgage period most of the
monthly payment is swallowed up in interest but over time the balance reverses and you start to pay off more of the capital or principal borrowed.

So Many Mortgage Lenders … So Many Choices!

There are so many mortgage lenders offering such a variety of loan options that at first it can seem a daunting task trying to determine which lender most suits you and your circumstances and which Lender is offering you the best deal on a mortgage!

It is important to note that as you shop for a mortgage, each lender will perform a credit check prior to committing to the mortgage or loan. Each credit check remains on your credit record and could potentially reduce your credit score and eligibility for a mortgage or loan.

Helen March offers simple House And Home Sense solutions for buying or selling real estate as well as informative articles for home improvement and lifestyle alternatives. Visit her at: http://www.HouseAndHomeSense.com

The recent destruction caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita serves as a reminder of the type of havoc Mother Nature can cause. Water, wind, fire and earth movement can be hazardous to your home, perhaps your most cherished and largest investment. But, there are actions you can take now to protect your property and prevent major damage should one of these elements strike. Depending on the age of your home and the building codes in your area, some of these improvements may already be in place.

Water

Apart from major flooding, most damage occurs when water seeps in through cracks and leaks. Make sure that windows and doors are well sealed. Seal any cracks and holes in the foundation and exterior walls. Repair or replace roof shingles around any area that allows water to penetrate the roof sheathing. Check for holes or air leaks in the attic and basement. Your basement windows and doors should have built-up barriers or flood shields. Inspect your sump pump regularly to make sure that it is working properly. Install or make sure that the flashing, a thin metal strip, around the doors, windows, thresholds, chimney and roof are in tact.

Wind

Minimize the damage by keeping the wind from getting inside your home. Windows and glass doors should be fitted with impact-resistant laminated glass or covered with impact-resistant shutters. Consider solid wood or hollow metal doors, which are more likely to resist wind pressure and flying debris. There are also roofing products with high wind resistance available.

Wildfire

Some inexpensive home improvements that you can make include installing a spark arrestor on your chimney, eliminating brush and debris from around your property, and modifying your attic, sub-floor and basement vents. More expensive improvements include replacing single-pane glass windows, doors or skylights with tempered glass, recovering your exterior walls with a more fire-resistant material, and re-roofing your home with a Class A roof covering.

Earthquake

California isn’t the only earthquake zone. Other zones include the New Madrid region, west and just east of the Rockies, the southern Appalachians, New England and Alaska. Steps you can take to protect your property and possessions include anchoring appliances, water heater, dressers, and other heavy items to the wall. Attach your TV, computer and other small appliances to desks, tables or countertops. Secure ceiling lights, chandeliers and other hanging items to the permanent structure of your home. Apply safety film to windows and glass doors. It is also a good idea to install a main gas shut-off device.

Of course, there may be times, when no amount of prepping can protect your home. However, homeowners insurance can help protect you financially in case something happens to your property or its contents. Most standard homeowners insurance policies include structural coverage and personal property coverage. Depending on your location, you may also need additional coverage against earthquake, hurricane and fire.

Be aware that flood damage is not covered under the traditional homeowners insurance policy. Flood insurance needs to be purchased separately through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a federal program. It is available to nearly 20,000 communities across the U.S. and its territories that participate in the NFIP. Flooding can be caused by heavy rains, melting snow, inadequate drainage systems, failed protective devices such as levees and dams, as well as by tropical storms and hurricanes. So, although you may be in a low to moderate risk area, you may still want to consider this coverage.

Periodically review your homeowner’s insurance policy to make sure that you are adequately covered to rebuild your home and replace your contents.
If there is ever damage to your personal property, having a home inventory can make it easier when filing an insurance claim. Start with a sheet a paper for each room in the house. Go around the room and list every item. Don’t forget the attic, basement or other storage places. For each item, write the original cost, purchase date, replacement cost, model number, brand name, where purchased, and a general description. In addition, take photos or video of each room for visual documentation. It is also a good idea to arrange valuable collections, silver, jewelry, etc. and take close up photos. Make sure you update your home inventory photos and list at least once a year.

When weather-related disasters strike, what’s most important is your safety and that of your family. However, by taking precautions to protect your home, you can possibly help keep damage to a minimum; or in the case of severe damage, make sure that you have the financial means to rebuild.

For more information go to www.ibhs.org or www.fema.gov.

Neda Dabestani-Ryba is a licensed Realtor in Maryland. She is a member of the President’s Circle of Top Real Estate Professionals. She can be reached at (800) 536-3806 or visit her website for more information: http://neda.dabestani.pcragent.com/
Prudential Carruthers REALTORS is an independently owned and operated member of Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., a Prudential Financial company. Equal Housing Opportunity

Getting ready to sell your home can be one of the most stressful areas of the real estate experience, but it does not have to be. Keeping in mind some key advice will help you get your house looking top shape from the inside and out. Throughout the process, the best way to go through your to-do list is to accept the fact that you can only do one thing at a time. With this perspective, all of the pieces will fall into just the right places.

Getting your house decluttered will help you clear your own mind and get you ready for the prospective buyers to start coming. The best way to get organized is to try to see your house through new eyes. When you pretend like you are the one who is considering buying your home, you can better see the areas which need improvement. Take a clipboard and pen with you as you survey from the outside to the inside. Write down everything which disturbs your eye for even a moment. Chances are that if you notice something that does not look right, your potential buyers will, too. You will probably want to share this list with your real estate agent and go through this process more than once, so you don’t miss anything.

Now that you have an idea of what needs to be improved, cleaned or changed, you can start knocking them off the list one by one. Get the outside, “curb appeal,” taken care of first. This will help your house attract attention right away even if the signs haven’t gone up yet. Seeing your house looking its best on the outside will also give you the courage to tackle the inside.

Each room should contain as little clutter as possible. Get a bunch of clear plastic bins and start filling them up with all of those extra knick-knacks. Remember that buyers want to picture their belongings in your house. If your stuff is in the way, then they can’t form a mental picture as easily. To properly declutter, you have to start detaching yourself from your home. Make the rooms look as large as possible by removing extra furniture, books, objects and wall hangings. Set aside some time to repaint colorful rooms a soothing beige, cream or linen. This will make the rooms look even bigger and give the buyers more breathing room.

Any decorative object which you leave in a room should be used as a tool to attract the buyer to a special feature. Place an interesting candle holder in the fire place, or a few small plants on the mantle. Draw the eyes to windows with lamps and neat end tables.

Despite all your efforts, be mentally and emotionally prepared to hear your agent tell you that you still need major improvements if you want to get the price you had in mind. Consider it a good thing that the professional agent you hired is being completely honest with you. You want to have a real estate agent who knows what and when things need to be done. Talk to anyone you can about the good agents they have had in the past. Get a feel for the agent’s strengths by asking them as many questions as you can before committing to a contract. If you have trouble getting a hold of them right from the beginning, then that is your first sign that they may not have the time or capacity to give you the proper amount of attention.

Your agent should thoroughly discuss the marketing plan for selling your home. Deciding on the price will be one of the most important aspects of this plan. Depending on your home and the time of year, there will be several approaches to combining the need to sell with the need to get the right price. For example, if you live in a desirable neighborhood, you may be able to go a little higher than you thought, but may not want to if there are many nearby homes for sale at the same time. Trust that your agent will inevitably come up with the right strategy, but be outspoken about your opinion. Although you aren’t the professional, it’s always possible that you will have an angle that your agent didn’t consider.

When you are going through the real estate process, there will always be plenty of people with tips, ideas and advice. All the input can occasionally do more harm than good, so take everything in as much stride as you can. Just make sure that your agent keeps you in the loop through the whole process and make your home as appealing as much as possible. With a clean house and a clear strategy, you should be able to sell your home much more quickly and easily than you thought.

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If everyone always did everything they said they’d do, we’d all be a lot richer. Unfortunately, tasks are overlooked, and the ball is often dropped. If you want to have successful closings, you must have strong “follow-up” skills to catch problems early in the process. Follow-up on everyone and everything.

We can’t begin to tell you the number of closings that almost fell apart, or would have fallen apart had we not kept a watchful eye on the entire process to make sure that everything was completed when it needed to be. Here’s a typical scenario: you’re wholesaling a house and you have just 30 days to get it closed before the contract with the Seller expires. You find a buyer who can get a loan and close before the expiration. Then a few days before closing you find out that the loan isn’t ready and closing must be delayed two weeks, but the Seller already has another Buyer ready to pay more than your price, so they refuse to extend your contract. You just lost the deal.

So what is follow-up? We used to think it meant staying in touch with the buyer to make sure that everything was completed for the loan. Then we learned that the buyer is often a newbie and clueless of what needs to be done. Mortgage brokers just usually respond “Everything looks great” until they can’t close the loan. So the real trick to following-up is to speak to the final decision maker for each step. This works whether you’re selling a retail house or a wholesale house, or even if you are the buyer/borrower. The goal is to close without delays.

Assuming that you have already received a pre-qualification letter from the lender, and ensured that the lender will loan on the deal (i.e. no issues with title seasoning, assignment fees, inhabitability of the property), the first step is to follow-up with the broker/lender that all of the application paperwork was submitted, and have they forwarded it to the lender? If not, what is still required? Determine if the lender requires a termite letter, appraisal, and a survey (most lenders do). If so, have they all been ordered? When is each to be completed? Keep following-up until you verify that each has been delivered. You also want to verify that the appraisal was sufficient for the loan.

If we don’t already own the house, we order a title report as soon as we go under contract with the Seller to discover any defects early in the process, and begin resolving them. Closing attorneys usually do not order the title report until just before closing to receive as current information as possible. But if they find problems, it could delay your closing. It is well worth the $125 to run title ahead of time, and eliminate delays.

Once the broker has forwarded the paperwork to the lender, the next step is to verify the loan has gone to underwriting. If not, what is the delay? If so, was the loan approved? Do any conditions need to be met? What are they and who is handling them? Make sure that once the conditions are met, the loan is returned to underwriting and approved.

Verify that the closing has been scheduled with the attorney, and that they have cleared title. Find out if and when the loan package will be forwarded to the attorney. Then remind all of the players of the date and time of closing, to bring a picture ID to closing, and to bring any funds required in a certified check.

This seems like a lot of work that should be handled by other people, but the reality is that often times something is overlooked. Through your diligent follow-up efforts, problems will be detected early and corrected, allowing your closing to occur flawlessly and on schedule.

Best of success & abundance,

Lou Castillo

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