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Household

How Big Does Your Home Need To Be?

I recently read an article about a woman who lives in a tiny New York City apartment that is just 90 square feet.  Her bed is within a few feet of her ceiling and she doesn’t have room for a kitchen.  She’s in a prime location near Central Park and she says she is content with her living conditions.  It allows her to spend money on other things besides a huge rent bill.

There is always a trade off, I guess.  If you want to live really comfortably but still live in a prime location, you have to expect to pay a lot more.  If your goals are to travel, eat out a lot, etc. then you may not be able to afford the luxury of having the best of both worlds and you may need to live in a much smaller place.

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August 19, 2011
General

Choose A Qualified Home Inspector Before Buying A Home

get a home inspection before buying a houseI watched part of Holmes Inspection on TV the other day and it was about this young woman’s experience in buying her first home. She bought a 20 year-old townhouse and had a home inspector give her the go-ahead to make the purchase.  Within a week of taking possession of her new home, she noticed that something in her bathroom was causing water to leak through her kitchen ceiling.  She hired a plumber to resolve the issue, but all the plumber did was make a large hole in her kitchen ceiling and then he told her he couldn’t find the leak so he wouldn’t be able to do anything.  Nice!

So, when Holmes and his crew came to take a look at the situation, they were able to discover where the leak began.  Unfortunately, the more work they did on the house, the more problems they discovered.   The home had been recently renovated, so even a home inspector could not have possibly caught every problem since some of the issues were covered up.  Nevertheless, the home inspector wasn’t thorough enough and should have seen some red flags that would have indicated possible issues with the home.

When purchasing a home, in order to save money and frustration in the long run, it’s good to make sure you find a credible home inspector.  Also, be wary when purchasing an older home with recent renovations as the new laminate flooring or a fresh coat of paint could be covering up some nasty household problems.

Make sure to ask lots of questions about the house and find out as much as you can from the previous owners.  Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions of the home inspector.  Make sure they check the electrical and plumbing.  The key is not to become emotionally attached to the house because if you do, you may end up buying a home against your better judgment.

Buying your first home can be really exciting.  Do your due diligence and get a home inspection before committing to a home purchase.  Make sure your home inspector is reputable and highly experienced.   Buying a home is a huge investment; Make sure it’s a wise investment that you won’t regret.

October 8, 2009
Banking

Tips for Choosing the Right Home

If you have considered buying a home but you aren’t sure how much house you can afford, here is a suggestion. buy a less expensive home than you can afford Choose a financial institution that you trust and have them do a preapproval.  It prepares you for when you really are ready to make a serious offer on a home, and many real estate agents ask you to obtain one so they know you are serious about buying.   The main thing, though, is that it gives you an idea of how much you can afford given your current circumstances. Consider buying a home that costs $20000.00 to $30000.00 less than what you are preapproved for.  The result: You will be less likely to find yourself financially stressed down the road should your circumstances change, and you will save a ton of money that you would otherwise have spent on mortgage interest, not to mention higher property taxes, utilities, and maintenance.  Most people don’t regret making the decision to choose a less expensive home and with the economy the way it is right now I don’t think there are too many people saying they wished they had bought bigger homes.  If you choose to use a real estate agent to help you find the right home, and you are planning to pay less than your preapproved amount, you can ask your financial institution to mark your preapproval down to a lower amount so that your real estate agent is less likely to try to pressure you to spend more than you would like.  This seemed to work well for us.  Our real estate agent never knew the amount we really were preapproved for so we felt no pressure from him to pay more than we wanted to.  

April 16, 2009