Getting Started on Your Own Home Theater
I know it may be surprising to some, but I enjoy watching hockey and football (Go Gators!) as well as a great action movie. And with the Olympics just starting, there are a lot of “sports viewing” opportunities about to occur in my household. And if you’re watching a sport from home, it’s important that you have a great home theater with a big screen and surround sound. It used to be that only the mega rich could install lavish home movie theaters. Yet today, with Blu-ray discs, big screens and comfortable seating, installing a home theater...
read moreSpring Cleaning: Clothes Closet Economics
Too many clothes, not enough closet space? Where to put your heaps (upon heaps) of clothes can be a problem, especially if you’re planning to buy an older home or a smaller home. In those types of listings, closet space is at a premium. What can you do? A. Buy a bigger home, with a bigger closet B. Call a reality TV show for help with a closet makeover C. Store your extra stuff in an off-site storage building D. Throw away or donate stuff you don’t need Plenty of people pick option A. And they have the oversized utility bills to prove it....
read moreREALLY Bad Special Stipulations
The following Special Stipulations are real. The names of the parties have been changed to avoid embarrassing the agents who are sure to never commit such errors again. Buyer Clara Careful entered into a binding agreement on July 1 to purchase a home through her buyer’s agent, Sally Speedqueen. The home Clara wanted to buy was in “rough” condition and there were several obvious repairs which Clara wanted the seller to complete prior to Clara hiring a home inspector to check out the house (and the repairs the seller would have just completed)....
read moreKeeping Your Roof Over Your Head
Depending on where you call home, your roof is a source of protection from rain, sleet, snow, sun, the odd errant fly ball and just about everything else. Yet one thing you can be sure of is that sooner or later, your home will need a new first line of defense from the weather. When your home reaches the point of needing roof repair, take a good look to see if a simple patch job will do or if your home needs some professional TLC. If the supporting surface under the shingles is in good condition, an effective patch job can prolong the life of...
read moreThe Facts about the 3.8% Real Estate Tax in Health Care Law
You might have heard rumors or received e-mails stating that all real estate sales would have a new tax in 2013 due to the passage of the Health Care Law. Here are the basic facts: Yes, there is a new 3.8% tax that is part of the recently passed Health Care Bill. Yes, this new tax comes into effect January 1, 2013. No, this is not a transfer tax that will be charged on all real estate sales. The tax will only impact individuals who have more than $200,000 adjusted gross income (AGI) and joint tax filers who have more than $250,000 AGI on...
read moreThinking About Purchasing a Home with a Swimming Pool?
As the spring season begins, buyers across the country are beginning to look around and swimming pools can be attractive. You may be tempted to buy a home with a swimming pool, but before you go off the deep end (pun absolutely intended), there are a few things to consider. Swimming pools are both beautiful and lots of fun, but you should be ready for the amount of expenses and work it takes to maintain, as well as the increase to your liability. So should you buy a home with a pool or not? As an outdoors trend, swimming pools have joined the...
read moreDoes Your Entrance Say Welcome or Walk Away?
As summer kicks into high gear, we’re all starting to plan our summer projects. If you’re looking to sell your home, you might want to consider adding “working on my front entrance” to your to-do list. From the moment a potential buyer steps through the threshold of your home, you want to do everything you can to excite and impress them. As they always say, first impressions are everything, and sellers could lose a potential sale if their entrance isn’t in peak form. With a little effort, you can create a home viewing experience buyers won’t...
read moreTo Quote or Not to Quote Interest Rates… That is the Question!
“What are your rates today?” This seems like such a simple question. However, there is no simple answer to this seemingly simple question. Interest rates vary greatly based on loan type, loan size, loan term, and lock-in time, region of the county, world markets, bond prices and many other volatile indexes. These factors have a major impact on the movement of interest rates, but this list does not include the most important factor, the specific borrower’s credit score, LTV, DTI, property type, source of down payment, etc! The major...
read moreGetting Rid of Those Cooking Smells!
Does your house have housitosis? The last thing your home needs when you’re trying to sell it is “bad breath”, which is generally caused by all of your delicious cooking. If those cooking smells continue to linger long after the meal is served, it’s time to take action. The best remedy is preventing the odors in the first place. This is an easy fix through proper ventilation and air filtration. Your cooktop or stovetop should be ventilated with an overhead or downdraft ventilation system that is matched to the needs of the burners. But it’s...
read moreFinancing a Small Business Acquisition
In a perfect world, all sellers would finance the sale of their business and realize the additional financial gain associated with the loan interest. It seems like a great opportunity until the buyer decides not to pay the seller. So what are seller financing pros and cons today? First, most small business owners have an immediate need for the cash or capital generated by the transfer of the business. The seller may be planning to purchase another business, retire or need the money for any number of other reasons. Any of these reasons make...
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