The best choice of your home living

Archive for January, 2010

It was 5:00 PM and time for Susan to call it quits for the day. While signing off the computer, a last-minute check of the traffic reports revealed that the roads were backed up again. Susan drove home against the commute feeling her daily rush of sympathy for all those on the other side of the road stopped in traffic.

Ten minutes later, she drove past a golf course and pulled into home. The flowers were especially lovely this month and the fountain sparkled as it reflected the brilliant colors of the foliage. She drove past the landscaped grounds, pool and through the security gates that swung open with her security access.

What would it be tonight, a cardio work-out? No, she’d invited Steve over for some tennis. After a pleasant game, they’d head back to her place, fix dinner in her gourmet kitchen and eat on the balcony at tree level while the evening breeze rustled the nearby leaves. To wind down, they’d take a dip in one of the pools and relax in the Jacuzzi in the evening air. Maybe tomorrow night they could hit a few balls at the nearby course or check out one of the nearby art galleries.

She placed her mail on the granite countertop and padded across the ceramic tile to the sink at the breakfast bar to take her daily vitamins. A quick check with her concierge service confirmed the tickets for the weekend show, and she filed the maintenance report for the fix to her marble bathroom sink – the repairs had been quietly made while she was away. She took a deep breath, turned on the surround sound and walked over to the private balcony off the main bedroom.

How does Susan afford this life? She doesn’t have a trust fund, and her income is about the same as colleagues that commute long distances to go home to maintenance, chores, yard work and television. Susan goes home to a beautiful home with a gourmet kitchen, elegant baths, vaulted ceilings, sun rooms, surround sound, sound reduction features, plush carpeting, ceramic tile, and custom oak cabinets. She goes home to tennis, golf, swimming, fountains and lovely grounds because she lives in conveniently located, luxury apartments. She enjoys an easy commute, concierge services, laundry services, professional landscaping, exercise facilities, recreational services, community parties, easy care, and maintenance services – all for less than her friends are paying in mortgage costs.

When does it make sense to live in apartments?

According to Evelyn Barfield of GreystoneProperties.net there are many situations when renting is a much better financial choice than purchasing a home. Home ownership often means commuting long distances, constant maintenance and upkeep, mortgage payments, and yard maintenance. The term ‘bedroom community’ is a term for people who own homes long distances from their daily lives. The owners don’t actually live in their home, they simply return to it late at night to sleep. The home remains empty most of the time.

Renting luxury apartments offers an alternative to long commutes, constant maintenance and a fixed residence. It is a great choice for those who want flexibility, mobility, easy care and a freer life. Luxury apartments offer all the amenities that one would wish in a home with none of the maintenance or hassle. The vaulted ceilings, clubhouses, movie theatres, pools, tennis courts, Jacuzzi, cardio fitness equipment, fountains, gardens and landscaping are maintenance free and always available for use. Luxury apartments can often be found in great locations with easy access to work, golf or downtown. The cost of purchasing in such areas is often prohibitive, but luxury apartment living enables one to enjoy the location, amenities and lifestyle at a fraction of the cost.

For those in fluid situations, renting is usually a much better financial choice. Purchasing a home becomes financially wise only if housing prices in that particular neighborhood rise, if the homebuyer stays in the home long enough to justify the up-front costs, and if the maintenance or repairs to a home are kept to a minimum. Purchasing a home almost never makes financial sense for those who stay in a location less than 2 years. Unexpected expenses, taxes, repair costs or upgrades crop up often and can wreak havoc with a budget. Luxury apartments offer a fixed cost per month, which includes professional management, upkeep and maintenance. Renting a luxury apartment can enable people to enjoy a freer, more relaxed, fun-filled life.

There are many different ways a landlord can advertise his / her rentals property. The kind of advertising that works best depends on numerous factors that include property characteristics, location, landlord’s budget, and whether he / she is in a hurry to rent. There are many combinations of advertising methods landlords and property managers use to achieve the best results, some of which are as under.

1. ‘For Rent’ Signs

The most common method of advertising is the putting up of a ‘For Rent’ sign, either in front of the building, or in one of the windows. A relatively cost-free method, it works best if a lot of foot and motor traffic goes past the building. It also helps if the building is as attractive as the rental unit.

2. Advertising in the Newspapers

As much of a tradition as ‘For Rent’ signs, newspaper ads are also available online, if the paper has an online version. Many potential tenants begin their search for a place to rent by scanning the classified ads in newspapers, while, out-of-towners can log on online to the local paper from wherever they are. Ads should always be placed in papers having many residential listings, as it has been found they work best.

And, they should be targeted to produce the right kind of prospective tenants i.e. if a landlord primarily rents out to college students, the best bet is to advertise in the campus newspaper or put up a ‘For Rent’ sign in the housing office. To play it safe, it is also a good idea to list the rental in a general newspaper, as well.

3. Neighborhood Flyers

As well, a landlord can post ads on neighbor hood public bulletin boards to be found at grocery stores, Laundromats or coffeehouses, complete with tear-off strips listing their phone number. However, if the property is upscale, this is not the best way to advertise for it, though there might be takers at the high-end gym down the street.

4. Listing Online

Online rental services have mushroomed like crazy in recent years, from national in scope, to regional. After finding a residential rental listing for your area, you can add your property to it.

5. Home Or Apartment Finding Services

Home or apartment-finding services are very popular in some areas, with landlords paying to list their properties, though sometimes it is the tenants themselves, who pay the fee when the unit is rented.

6. Spreading the Word

Small-time landlords instead of advertising widely and screening potential tenants, find it easier to market their rentals through word-of-mouth i.e. telling friends, colleagues, neighbours, and current tenants. After all, people already living on your property will invite decent neighbours. So, when a property becomes vacant, simply send a note around to every one, asking them to tell friends or relatives about the available apartment.

7. Real Estate Offices

Many real estate offices handle rentals, but of course, there is a fee involved.

8. Property Management Firms

Going through a property management firm is the easiest way to do it. They handle advertising, showing tenants around, as well as, selecting tenants, collecting rents, and interacting with residents during tenancies (handling repairs, etc. etc.). A paid service, it is for landlords with large rental properties and no time to spare.

Next Steps

Once, the advertising has been done, the next step is to create a rental application and select a tenant. When advertising vacancies and selecting and rejecting applicants, read up on the Fair Housing Act, so as to avoid any inadvertent lawsuits. Evaluate prospective tenants by thoroughly checking out their rental applications, legal residency forms, and tenant consent forms for contacting references, performing credit checks and criminal and background checks.

The only way to avoid unnecessary litigation is by screening prospective tenants and conducting background checks. Simply visit www.e-renter.com for tenant screening and background check services.

As the real estate market cools, the profit potential of home ownership has cooled as well. Here’s a strategy called “follow the builder.”

It is relatively easy to make a profit when you sell your home if the market is rising sharply like it has been in most of the country for the last three years. It becomes more difficult when a hot market slows down. It’s very difficult to make a profit on the sale of your home when prices are falling.

Is there a way to be relatively sure you’ll make a profit when you sell your home? There is under all but the most negative market conditions. In fact, I’ve seen young, energetic couples use this maneuver multiple times when they don’t even need to move.

Follow That Builder

In many areas of the country, there are builders who build hundreds of houses each year within a fifty mile radius of each other. They build entire communities or are one of three to five builders who build entire communities around big employment centers. This present you with an important opportunity.

New Community

Builders will typically sell first phases of communities for significantly less than later phases. On one hand, they need to get the cash flow moving. On the other, it is harder to sell at high prices because the community typically consists of dirt lots and construction equipment. Put the hands together and you have a great profit opportunity.

The idea is to get in on the first phase of the build out. You will purchase the home at a discount, which gives you built in equity. As the community is built up, you sell the home for a profit at a higher price. While you’re doing this, you keep tabs on the builders projects and find another location where you can do the same thing.

You’ll end up living in each house for a year or more and picking up nice profits along the way. The only real downside is you have to move repeatedly.

Tax Consequences

I’ve seen this work well for a number of people who have done it more than once. However, you need to be aware that generating profit this way can have tax consequences. You need to discuss your plans (including projected timing and profit potential) with your tax professional so that you are prepared to deal with any tax consequences.

With oil and natural gas prices rocketing, stoking terror of long, cold and and expensive winters, a renewed interest in keeping heating costs under control has has been sparked. Homeowner’s have an ignited passion in understanding energy saving methods. If you’re in this boat, stuck in cold waters, here are some tips for energy saving tricks of the trade.

If you’re living in a home with a furnace that’s more than 20 years old, you may have already attempted the “buy a sweater” method of keeping warm. This is certainly one approach, but these days upgrading your home’s conditioning system is a much better option, and will bode well for you in the here and now, and in the long term, should you decide sell your home. More and more, homebuyers are looking for homes with energy efficient systems already in place. So, think of these upgrades as a long term investment in the resale value of your home, as well a cost efficient and green alternative to your current conditioning system.

Now, with that old choker of a furnace huffin’ and puffin’ away, guaranteed it’s not as efficient as it could be, no matter what fuel type it uses. The newer gas furnaces are mid-efficiency (78-82%) or high efficiency (89-96%). Although the higher efficiency products can cost up to $1000 more than the mid-efficiency products, extra costs will be re-couped in a couple years, as they will burn less fuel. And, you’ll be the greenest frog on the block, sending less harmful emissions out into the atmosphere. “It’s so easy being green”, murmured Kermit, once he upgraded his furnace.

With oil furnaces, there are again, much more efficient products on the market as of late. But, a oil furnace does need to partner with a good chimney, and so this may be an additional cost to keep in mind

Take note, it’s still the case that electric heat is more expensive than oil and gas, although a smart combination of central woodstove heat, supplemented by electric heat can be cost efficient.