Major money transactions are stressful. Moving is stressful. Big life commitments are stressful. Put 'em all together, and what do you have? The home buying process (and the potential for one of the most stressful life experiences you'll ever have)!
But even in this volatile market where distressed properties - and people! - are commonplace, it ispossible to maintain your sanity in the midst of a real estate deal - I promise.
Here are 3 money, mindset and calendar management strategies for buying a home, without stressing entirely out.
1. Work the Boy Scout program: be prepared. Scrambling for money and documents that the lender, unexpectedly, “requires” to close has got to rank up there in the top couple of stressors that buyers experience. Once you get into contract and, especially, once you’ve removed contingencies and put your deposit money on the line, every request that your lender makes seems like a ransom demand for your home - and your life, as you’d planned it.
Avoid this scrambling by being prepared. If you are planning to buy a home down the road, consult a mortgage broker and real estate pro early on in your planning process, so you can know what kind of cash you'll realistically need to close the deal - before you start the buying process. You might keep hearing about 3.5% down FHA loans, but your local pros can reality check you that it might cost an addition 5 or 6% of the purchase price just to close such a loan, in your area and price range!
If they give you a range, err on the high side - penny-scraping buyers are generally the most stressed of them all, as they are the ones whose deals are most likely to be entirely derailed if there’s an uptick in interest rates, say, during the time they are house hunting or in escrow, or if the homeowners’ insurance costs a bit more than they planned.
And have all your documents ready, too - things like divorce decrees, tax returns, updated check stubs, documentation of bills that you’ve recently paid down or off , even driver’s licenses (you wouldn’t believe the number of people who can’t produce ID when the notary needs it at the closing table!), keep all these items at the ready in case your lender requires them. By the same universal law that renders my dogs smarter and faster the wetter they get, it seems like lenders require the most documentation of the folks who have no idea where their most important papers are.
Last, but not least, there’s also an education element of preparedness. Educate yourself about the standard practices and timelines for a real estate transaction in your local market (your agent will surely be able to brief you on this, and you can also peruse Trulia Voices Community to sample the experiences of other folks buying right now in your area.) If you’re buying a bank-owned property or a short-sale, educate yourself about what this will entail - spend some time reading up on the rollercoaster of Wild Westiness (a mixed metaphor, I know, but still appropriate) that some distressed property sales can be, from the buyer’s point of view.
When it comes to buying a home, realistic expectations will set you free. Stress-free, that is.
2. Keep your timelines as flexible as possible, as long as possible. Rarely does the sun set in America without some homebuyer (or 5) near you lying awake in bed wondering how long they’ll have to:
a) keep bunking with their in-laws,
b) keep paying the nightly rate for the all-suite hotel down the street from the place they’re buying,
c) keep paying the daily fee for the moving truck which is parked outside,
containing everything they own,
d) keep begging their landlord to please, please, please give them another 24 hours
- and they swearing they’ll be out after that (even though they said that
yesterday!),
e) keep pushing back the vacation days they took off work for the move that seems like it will never happen, or
f) some combination or all of the above,
all because their escrow is not closing on the timeline they expected it to.
There are as many reasons for late escrow closings as there are insomniac homebuyers facing this issue: buyer’s loan underwriting is taking too long, seller’s short sale application is still being processed, appraisal is glitchy, bank-owned property asset manager is slow to produce the necessary signatures, and the list goes on.
More important than knowing the causes, though, is having the awareness that escrow closing dates are not set in stone until the end is very, very near - and that the problem of delayed closing comes up with ever-increasing frequency these days. Buyers who are trying to time their closing so that they move out of their apartment on the exact day they plan to close are likely to be disappointed - and temporarily homeless - in the current market climate.
Best practice is to plan on some overlapping days, weeks or even a month between the time you should be able to move into your next home, and the time you must be out of your current home, if you can afford it. Keep your moving plans flexible as long as possible - I’ve know a number of buyers who didn’t realize their move would be delayed until they were signing their closing docs!
Also, it’s sanity-making to try to keep some flexibility about your daily calendar while you are in escrow, lest you need to show up at the property and get some additional inspections, unexpectedly, which were recommended by your inspector. If you only have a couple of days before you must remove your inspection contingency, you might have to drop everything and stop in at the place for an hour here or there. You might also need to stop in at the bank - in person - to wire cash when it’s time to increase your deposit or pay your down payment or closing costs into escrow. This cannot usually be done over the phone or outside of banker’s hours, so if you can be a bit flexible for these outings, calendar-wise, you’ll be in good shape.
3. Pre-approve the folks across the bargaining table from you. There’s nothing worse than doing every thing you’re supposed to do, then having the deal fall apart at the last minute, through no fault of your own. I’ve known scores of buyers whose short sales failed to get approved by the seller’s bank and fell out of escrow as a result. I’ve also seen and heard from buyers whose deals died when their intended properties failed to meet the buyer’s mortgage guidelines because of condition problems like incomplete kitchen remodel jobs, mold or electrical problems and high-cost pest report items that neither the buyer nor the seller can afford to repair.
These ailing transactions can be prevented by early diagnosis: vet the other party’s qualifications and ability to close the deal, before you get into contract. For buyers, this can mean having your agent collect as much information as possible about the seller’s equity position, how underwater the home is, which banks are involved and how successful the listing agent is at closing short sale transactions - all of these things can give your agent and yourself a big old clue as to whether a short sale is likely to close. Similarly, if you’re getting an FHA loan, before you make an offer, walk through the property with your agent and troubleshoot it for condition problems that might come up during the appraisal.
With this information you can make an informed decision whether to move forward and try to buy the place; if you get into contract knowing it’s a crap shoot, at least you’ll have realistic expectations - the sort that are very difficult to disappoint.
SOURCE: Tara@TRULIA.COM
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
FIRE SALE: 5 Tips To Help You Navigate The Summer Clearance Sales In Real Estate
Home prices are low, interest rates are low - real estate is basically having a summer clearance sale! But unlike buying a clearance-priced car or computer, making the wrong move in this real estate 'sale' can have disastrous effects, from losing your dream home due to a bad bid to ending up with a money pit of a property.
Here are a few money-saving, pitfall-avoiding tips and tricks for buyers who want to do some smart home shopping this summer.
1. Have a vision in place, before you start your house hunt. Actually, have several visions in place. Have a financial vision, complete with a clear picture of what your total income and expenses look like, in the “after homebuying” view, including what you pay out for your home and related expenses, like HOA dues and homeowners’ insurance. Have a vision of your life in your new home, including what you want to do, with whom and where you want and need to go - in the work, family and recreation areas of your life.
If you kick off your conversations with your mortgage broker and real estate agent with a clear understanding of the lifestyle you are looking to create, you’ll be much less likely to get derailed. With a clear vision in place and, ideally, on paper, you can clearly communicate your wants, needs, goals and financial boundaries to your professionals, telling them what you can afford, rather than trying to shoehorn your financial plans into one-size-fits-all mortgage guidelines. With a vision, the temptation of an uber-low-priced, but completely inappropriate, home will not lure you into buying the wrong place for your needs. (Nor will an amazing home that is simply out of your personal price range - no matter how great a value it is for the money!)
2. Don’t let affordability get between you and reality. High affordability doesn’t necessarily mean you can get every single thing you want - and name your price. The fact is, even people who are spending millions for their homes don’t get everything they want! I’ve seen buyers insist that they need X number of bedrooms and Y number of bathrooms in move-in condition for a price that is just not going to happen, even in this clearance sale climate, and end up looking and looking, ad infinitum.
If your agent has shown you home after home that is what you want, but has sold for more than you want to spend, and you’re confident that you can find or cut a better deal because the market is down and you just os happen to be a brilliant negotiator (!), you might be at risk of falling into this trap. There are deals to be had, but if you don’t stay grounded in reality, you’ll end up chasing your tail and missing out on the tax and lifestyle advantages of homeownership.
If you’ve been house hunting for months and months on end, your agent keeps trying to tell you that you should search in a lower price bracket, you have repeatedly gotten overbid or you just can’t seem to find the precise home you seek in the location and price range you seek, at least consider the possibility that you might have an outsized wish list for your budget. Take a step back, revisit your vision, and remind yourself what’s really important. It’s okay to save some “must-haves” and “deal-breakers” for your next home purchase!
3. Get a local expert to brief you on the local market, then screen out the noise. Now more than ever, it’s essential to have laser beam focus on the information and strategies that will get you what you want - whether it’s an amazing deal on the home you’ve always wanted or simply success at becoming the owner of your first home at a price you never thought would ever be possible. Otherwise, you’ll end up all over the place, spending your time, money and sanity attending auctions, getting worked up over distressed properties that aren’t yet for sale, trying to negotiate deals with sellers who are in no position to cut them and having your lowball offers on bank-owned properties rejected time after time.
Don’t let a news story about a guy in Minnesota who got a home for $3.27 be the basis for your entire home buying strategy. Instead, ask around and get referrals to a local broker or agent who has a track record of helping the people you know. Read their answers on Trulia Voices and ask them your own questions to get a sense for whether they might be a good fit for you - if they are, and you trust them, then consult with them on the dynamics of your local market. The market is down everywhere, relative to 2006. But some markets - and some neighborhoods within markets - are still seeing multiple offers and home prices which are relatively recession-proof, compared to what you’d expect from the national news.
Once you have a strategy in place, work it - don’t let your acupuncturist or shoe repair guy convince you that your strategy is wrong, that you could get the place for cheaper or that the bank should absolutely do every single repair, or you should walk away from the deal. Many would-be buyers lose out on great homes because they take negotiating advice from their holistic veterinarian over that being offered by their broker or agent.
4. Read everything. Good faith estimates. Contracts. Disclosures. Inspection reports. There is a long, long list of multi-page documents that are very easy to “just sign” when you’re in the heat of the hunt and think you’re on the scent of an amazing deal. I’m not suggesting you ask for a week-long pause button to read every document, either - rather, read them when you get them, ask questions, and keep asking until you understand the documents.
Many buyers this summer will make offers on more than one home before they get into contract on “the one,” and many of those properties will be short sales or foreclosures. With distressed properties, every contract is different, so it behooves you not to go on autopilot, just skimming the papers as you might otherwise. Also, inspection reports might reveal red flags and condition issues that you’d normally expect to see in the seller’s disclosures. It’s especially critical, in these situations, to fully understand as much as you can about the property, your loan, and your obligations and due dates under the contracts.
5. Stop your mental accounting and do the actual math - on paper. In the field of behavioral economics, mental accounting refers to the tendency we humans have of doing math in our heads, separating things like easy money (e.g., the so-called “instant equity” from buying a home for less than it’s supposedly worth) from hard-earned wages and salary, and making spending decisions differently from these different mental accounts.
On the scent of a good deal, and in the heat of the hunt, even the most meticulous homebuyer can go up a few thousand in offer price to beat out other buyers. No problem, right? Well, but then when the inspector uncovers a few needed repairs, they make a mental guess as to what they’ll cost, and add that in - again, mentally. Then, when the lender requires a few extra thousand bucks than expected to close, that goes on top, but again, only mentally. And mental money tends to stretch a bit longer than real money does!
So, you can see how it’s possible to break the bank when you thought you were in great shape because you scored such a great purchase price for the property itself.
Even if you hate budgets with every iota of your being, buck up on this one project, pull out the calculator or open up a spreadsheet and keep track of every line item. Get actual repair bids during your inspection period, to the extent possible, and get your math mojo on. It’s fine to buy and incur these overages here and there, but keeping track of them is key. You know what I like to say - surprises are for birthday parties, not for real estate transactions, and not for your bank account, either!
Keeping a strict tab on the expenses you incur during the transaction - or will need to incur afterwards -- will save you so much drama later.
SOURCE: TRULIA.COM
Here are a few money-saving, pitfall-avoiding tips and tricks for buyers who want to do some smart home shopping this summer.
1. Have a vision in place, before you start your house hunt. Actually, have several visions in place. Have a financial vision, complete with a clear picture of what your total income and expenses look like, in the “after homebuying” view, including what you pay out for your home and related expenses, like HOA dues and homeowners’ insurance. Have a vision of your life in your new home, including what you want to do, with whom and where you want and need to go - in the work, family and recreation areas of your life.
If you kick off your conversations with your mortgage broker and real estate agent with a clear understanding of the lifestyle you are looking to create, you’ll be much less likely to get derailed. With a clear vision in place and, ideally, on paper, you can clearly communicate your wants, needs, goals and financial boundaries to your professionals, telling them what you can afford, rather than trying to shoehorn your financial plans into one-size-fits-all mortgage guidelines. With a vision, the temptation of an uber-low-priced, but completely inappropriate, home will not lure you into buying the wrong place for your needs. (Nor will an amazing home that is simply out of your personal price range - no matter how great a value it is for the money!)
2. Don’t let affordability get between you and reality. High affordability doesn’t necessarily mean you can get every single thing you want - and name your price. The fact is, even people who are spending millions for their homes don’t get everything they want! I’ve seen buyers insist that they need X number of bedrooms and Y number of bathrooms in move-in condition for a price that is just not going to happen, even in this clearance sale climate, and end up looking and looking, ad infinitum.
If your agent has shown you home after home that is what you want, but has sold for more than you want to spend, and you’re confident that you can find or cut a better deal because the market is down and you just os happen to be a brilliant negotiator (!), you might be at risk of falling into this trap. There are deals to be had, but if you don’t stay grounded in reality, you’ll end up chasing your tail and missing out on the tax and lifestyle advantages of homeownership.
If you’ve been house hunting for months and months on end, your agent keeps trying to tell you that you should search in a lower price bracket, you have repeatedly gotten overbid or you just can’t seem to find the precise home you seek in the location and price range you seek, at least consider the possibility that you might have an outsized wish list for your budget. Take a step back, revisit your vision, and remind yourself what’s really important. It’s okay to save some “must-haves” and “deal-breakers” for your next home purchase!
3. Get a local expert to brief you on the local market, then screen out the noise. Now more than ever, it’s essential to have laser beam focus on the information and strategies that will get you what you want - whether it’s an amazing deal on the home you’ve always wanted or simply success at becoming the owner of your first home at a price you never thought would ever be possible. Otherwise, you’ll end up all over the place, spending your time, money and sanity attending auctions, getting worked up over distressed properties that aren’t yet for sale, trying to negotiate deals with sellers who are in no position to cut them and having your lowball offers on bank-owned properties rejected time after time.
Don’t let a news story about a guy in Minnesota who got a home for $3.27 be the basis for your entire home buying strategy. Instead, ask around and get referrals to a local broker or agent who has a track record of helping the people you know. Read their answers on Trulia Voices and ask them your own questions to get a sense for whether they might be a good fit for you - if they are, and you trust them, then consult with them on the dynamics of your local market. The market is down everywhere, relative to 2006. But some markets - and some neighborhoods within markets - are still seeing multiple offers and home prices which are relatively recession-proof, compared to what you’d expect from the national news.
Once you have a strategy in place, work it - don’t let your acupuncturist or shoe repair guy convince you that your strategy is wrong, that you could get the place for cheaper or that the bank should absolutely do every single repair, or you should walk away from the deal. Many would-be buyers lose out on great homes because they take negotiating advice from their holistic veterinarian over that being offered by their broker or agent.
4. Read everything. Good faith estimates. Contracts. Disclosures. Inspection reports. There is a long, long list of multi-page documents that are very easy to “just sign” when you’re in the heat of the hunt and think you’re on the scent of an amazing deal. I’m not suggesting you ask for a week-long pause button to read every document, either - rather, read them when you get them, ask questions, and keep asking until you understand the documents.
Many buyers this summer will make offers on more than one home before they get into contract on “the one,” and many of those properties will be short sales or foreclosures. With distressed properties, every contract is different, so it behooves you not to go on autopilot, just skimming the papers as you might otherwise. Also, inspection reports might reveal red flags and condition issues that you’d normally expect to see in the seller’s disclosures. It’s especially critical, in these situations, to fully understand as much as you can about the property, your loan, and your obligations and due dates under the contracts.
5. Stop your mental accounting and do the actual math - on paper. In the field of behavioral economics, mental accounting refers to the tendency we humans have of doing math in our heads, separating things like easy money (e.g., the so-called “instant equity” from buying a home for less than it’s supposedly worth) from hard-earned wages and salary, and making spending decisions differently from these different mental accounts.
On the scent of a good deal, and in the heat of the hunt, even the most meticulous homebuyer can go up a few thousand in offer price to beat out other buyers. No problem, right? Well, but then when the inspector uncovers a few needed repairs, they make a mental guess as to what they’ll cost, and add that in - again, mentally. Then, when the lender requires a few extra thousand bucks than expected to close, that goes on top, but again, only mentally. And mental money tends to stretch a bit longer than real money does!
So, you can see how it’s possible to break the bank when you thought you were in great shape because you scored such a great purchase price for the property itself.
Even if you hate budgets with every iota of your being, buck up on this one project, pull out the calculator or open up a spreadsheet and keep track of every line item. Get actual repair bids during your inspection period, to the extent possible, and get your math mojo on. It’s fine to buy and incur these overages here and there, but keeping track of them is key. You know what I like to say - surprises are for birthday parties, not for real estate transactions, and not for your bank account, either!
Keeping a strict tab on the expenses you incur during the transaction - or will need to incur afterwards -- will save you so much drama later.
SOURCE: TRULIA.COM
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Smallest House In The World
The Guidelines for the smallest house in the world
1. The “house” has to be a structure initially constructed with the intentions of living in, it can’t be a shed, tin can or any other vessel that someone freely chose to convert into a home. Boxes don’t count either.
2. The house has to look like a house E.g front door, windows and 4 walls
3. I think that just about covers it.
Without further ado…
Pictures of the smallest house in the world
Details about the house
- The house occupies a total of 96 square feet, which is smaller than most people’s bathrooms. It is truly TINY.
- The house comes fully equipped with a desk and fireplace in the main room; a kitchen; wet bath; and a loft upstairs.
- For its small size, the house has a large amount of storage space, thanks to its clever design.
- A house like this costs approximately $40,000 to buy
- the house is wired for electricity and ready to be plugged in through a plug on the outside. The house could also be powered by using a standard AC plug-in, or even better, via a solar electric system with an inverter.
- There are two-burner stove, an under-counter refrigerator, a bar sink, an RV on demand hot water heater, and a propane boat heater.
- Tumbleweed Tiny House is very well insulated, easy to heat and cool, and
meet the State of California’s strict residential energy efficiency standards. Jay typically spent less than $170 (total) on propane to heat his tiny house during the brutal winters in Iowa.
Who owns the house and why?
Everyone say hello to Jay Shafer. He’s the creator and resident of the smallest house in the world, which he has proudly named Tumbleweed. Jay is an artist and architect, who lives in his home near San Francisco. He sells plans for, and builds, tiny homes in sizes ranging from an extremely small 50 square feet to a practically roomy 500 square feet.Jay has been living in a house smaller than some people’s closets since 1997. Can you imagine living in something so small for so long?
Jay’s decision to inhabit just 96 square feet arose from his concerns he had about the impact a larger house would have on the environment, and because he does not want to maintain a lot of unused or unusable space. Basically, he’s a tree hugger. Truly inspirational or just plain nuts. What do you think?
Since completing Tumbleweed, Jay has continued to make little buildings, which are available to purchase from his website, Tumbleweed Houses.
Guided tour of Tumbleweed
Saturday, May 14, 2011
5 Easy Luxury Touches For Your Home
Real estate eye candy is everywhere. And if you love window shopping for homes online, there's a seemingly endless influx of massive mansions listed in the tens of millions of dollars. While their trillion square feet might not tempt you, and their manicured grounds seem like an eco-nightmare requiring a lifetime of landscaping, the luxury amenities and highly customized features do make the living seem easy, right?
Whether you're buying, prepping to sell or simply trying to live the good life in your current home, here are 5 inexpensive ways to add some luxury to your regular home:
1. Spa bathroom upgrades. I’m not saying you have to have a toilet like Whoopi Goldberg’s or anything. Her flusher has been featured on the View, Oprah and all over the web - one site even made up a song about it (the ditty is a bit blue, though, so I won’t link here. The curious can find it online.) But her toilet - yes, the toilet - runs around $7,000!! (No typo, folks.)
In all seriousness, though, spas tend to have a clean, bright look and feel and luxurious stress-busting features that just flush the tension right out of you (pardon the pun) - many of which can be installed in your own home for a fraction of what the dreadlocked one paid for her porcelain potty. For example, pedestal sinks instantly - and inexpensively - open up a bathroom, especially when replacing a dark vanity and wall-to-counter mirrors. I recently put a new pedestal sink in my bathroom for less than $600 - top of the line, including faucets and installation!
Similarly, you can get more of the spa look and experience at home, with a relatively modest investment - especially compared with the lifestyle upgrade for your buck - by installing granite counters (the tiny slab most bathrooms take can run a few hundred dollars), a basic bathtub with jets or river-rock shower floors for under a thousand dollars!
2. Custom, decorative paint treaments. Sponge painting? Trè
s 1990. Murals in your kids’ rooms, entry hall inspirational mantras that greet your guests - paint is one of the least expensive “edits” you can make to your home, and homeowners are upleveling their home’s aesthetics with custom paint in lots of luxe-ey ways.
From harlequin diamonds to chair rails, crown moldings and wainscoating, decorative paint treatments are a simple, cheap and chic method for upping the luxury in your home life.
3. Built-in anything. Part of what makes uber-luxury homes, well, uber-luxurious is the fact that it seems like living life in them would be so neat and clean and easy. One way to get that feel in your very own home is to build in some of the necessities, optimizing the way you use your space and takes great advantage of otherwise unusable areas, generally creating what the feng shui set would deem free-flowing chi.
Consider building in:
4. Dedicated spaces for anything. There’s no need to go all Candy Spelling and dedicate multiple rooms to gift wrapping. But space is a luxury in and of itself, so dedicated space for your film-watching (a theater room), gardening materials, crafting supplies or even the kids’ homework is an extra-special, super-duper luxury, especially if it’s equipped with the right equipment for the activity to which the room, half-room or even corner or nook is dedicated.
5. Automation. Remember the Jetsons? The vision for this century was a fully automated, robotic home that did all the work of life for you, so your time would be free to shop at Mooning Dales or work for Mr. Spacely building sprockets. Most of that hasn’t happened, and that’s probably for the good. But injecting small touches of automation into your home can give it a decidedly high-end feel - for very, very little cash.
(And they're also gadget-ally delicious!)
I personally just put a couple of these
automated trash cans- $60 each! - into my own kitchen. They’re hands free, so eliminate the germiness and clunkiness of opening a lid with your hands or feet, and they were the hit of a recent dinner party! (Okay, it was the food, then the trash cans that guests admired. But still.) Many hands-free or automatic household items are available at very low prices, like automatic soap pumps, paper towel dispensers and robotic vacuum cleaners.
And if you want a built-in recycling center with a techie feel, here’s one that should really float your boat - $100 bucks for in-home, eco-chic luxe!
SOURCE: TRULIA.COM
Whether you're buying, prepping to sell or simply trying to live the good life in your current home, here are 5 inexpensive ways to add some luxury to your regular home:
1. Spa bathroom upgrades. I’m not saying you have to have a toilet like Whoopi Goldberg’s or anything. Her flusher has been featured on the View, Oprah and all over the web - one site even made up a song about it (the ditty is a bit blue, though, so I won’t link here. The curious can find it online.) But her toilet - yes, the toilet - runs around $7,000!! (No typo, folks.)
In all seriousness, though, spas tend to have a clean, bright look and feel and luxurious stress-busting features that just flush the tension right out of you (pardon the pun) - many of which can be installed in your own home for a fraction of what the dreadlocked one paid for her porcelain potty. For example, pedestal sinks instantly - and inexpensively - open up a bathroom, especially when replacing a dark vanity and wall-to-counter mirrors. I recently put a new pedestal sink in my bathroom for less than $600 - top of the line, including faucets and installation!Similarly, you can get more of the spa look and experience at home, with a relatively modest investment - especially compared with the lifestyle upgrade for your buck - by installing granite counters (the tiny slab most bathrooms take can run a few hundred dollars), a basic bathtub with jets or river-rock shower floors for under a thousand dollars!
2. Custom, decorative paint treaments. Sponge painting? Trè
s 1990. Murals in your kids’ rooms, entry hall inspirational mantras that greet your guests - paint is one of the least expensive “edits” you can make to your home, and homeowners are upleveling their home’s aesthetics with custom paint in lots of luxe-ey ways.From harlequin diamonds to chair rails, crown moldings and wainscoating, decorative paint treatments are a simple, cheap and chic method for upping the luxury in your home life.
3. Built-in anything. Part of what makes uber-luxury homes, well, uber-luxurious is the fact that it seems like living life in them would be so neat and clean and easy. One way to get that feel in your very own home is to build in some of the necessities, optimizing the way you use your space and takes great advantage of otherwise unusable areas, generally creating what the feng shui set would deem free-flowing chi.
Consider building in:
- Storage systems. From shelved nooks to closet organizers to garage grids for sports equipment, storage systems eliminate clutter and make sure there’s a place for everything, and that everything has a place. If you can afford a custom cabinet installation or custom closets, they certainly offer the fancy moldings and modules that create luxury appeal. But many home improvement stores now offer much less expensive versions of these systems that look and work great.
- Desks and bookshelves. Like storage, but activity-specific, built-in office equipment maintains order and can turn a dead corner of a room into a highly useful workstation. To replicate this functionality on the cheap, find a corner or nook and put in an armoire-style workstation that closes and folds up when you’re not working. And built-in bookshelves are a time-tested selling point when your home is being sold, by the by, so, if you have an empty area from old-school built-ins which were removed, installing inexpensive shelving might be a great way to go.
- Wine storage. Dead space under the stairs can easily be transformed into a wine cellar or storage space. My own personal wine cellar is where I store my kid’s chocolate milk, my electrolyte water and a bottle or two fish sauce, but it’s a great feature to have at home, no matter what you’ll use it for!
- Recycling/compost/trash centers. Try as we might to minimize it, we all generate trash. Built-in centers with clearly marked waste receptacles make this dirty part of life less messy and more manageable.
4. Dedicated spaces for anything. There’s no need to go all Candy Spelling and dedicate multiple rooms to gift wrapping. But space is a luxury in and of itself, so dedicated space for your film-watching (a theater room), gardening materials, crafting supplies or even the kids’ homework is an extra-special, super-duper luxury, especially if it’s equipped with the right equipment for the activity to which the room, half-room or even corner or nook is dedicated.
5. Automation. Remember the Jetsons? The vision for this century was a fully automated, robotic home that did all the work of life for you, so your time would be free to shop at Mooning Dales or work for Mr. Spacely building sprockets. Most of that hasn’t happened, and that’s probably for the good. But injecting small touches of automation into your home can give it a decidedly high-end feel - for very, very little cash.
(And they're also gadget-ally delicious!)
I personally just put a couple of these
automated trash cans- $60 each! - into my own kitchen. They’re hands free, so eliminate the germiness and clunkiness of opening a lid with your hands or feet, and they were the hit of a recent dinner party! (Okay, it was the food, then the trash cans that guests admired. But still.) Many hands-free or automatic household items are available at very low prices, like automatic soap pumps, paper towel dispensers and robotic vacuum cleaners. And if you want a built-in recycling center with a techie feel, here’s one that should really float your boat - $100 bucks for in-home, eco-chic luxe!
SOURCE: TRULIA.COM
Thursday, May 12, 2011
NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY!
Home Prices Retreat to Circa 2003 as Foreclosure Pressures Persist: IAS
05/11/2011
Integrated Asset Services (IAS) says its latest market analysis indicates the size and scope of home price declines are accelerating across the nation.
The Denver-based default management and valuation firm’s IAS360 House Price Index (HPI) fell another 2.6 percent over the first three months of 2011.
IAS says with the first-quarter decline, U.S. house prices are now down more than 25 percent from their high-water mark touched four years ago. At the end of March, the IAS360 was standing at a level not seen since the second quarter of 2003.
The company says foreclosures, meanwhile, are expected to rise to 1.2 million this year, adding to an already engorged housing supply and exerting further downward pressure on property values.
“There are simply too many market factors weighing against house prices to correct the supply and demand gap in the near term,” said Paul Sveen, CEO of Integrated Asset Services.
“Even if the economy is normalizing a bit, I just don’t see any of the problems overhanging the housing market going away any time soon,” Sveen said.
IAS reports that virtually every key measure of its home price analysis declined during the first quarter, including all four U.S. census regions, all nine census divisions, and all of the IAS360’s largest metro regions.
The continued slide has pushed both Las Vegas and Miami down more than 50 percent from the top of the market in 2007.
Even the nation’s wealthier areas took a turn for the worse this period, with eight of the IAS benchmark’s ten wealthy counties reporting first-quarter declines. All were positive the previous period.
“We look at the housing market all the way down to the neighborhood,” said Sveen, “and there’s just nothing good to see in this report. I have very real concerns the U.S. housing market is on its way to a new low.”
Leading the way down this period were outsized price declines in the two North Central divisions that comprise the Midwest census region, according to IAS’ study.
With the Chicago metro area dropping 4.6 percent, the overall region fell a stunning 6.9 percent for the quarter — this following a slight gain the previous period.
Similarly, the Northeast and West regions also turned negative, falling 3.2 percent and 3.7 percent respectively. The South slid another 2.0 percent.
The West region, which includes three of the nation’s hardest hit states — California, Arizona, and Nevada — is down nearly 40 percent from its high four years ago, according to IAS.
IAS data includes non-conforming, bank-owned, and conventional sales transactions, in addition to those insured by federal government agencies.
SOURCE: DSNEWS.COM
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