Real Estate Archives – Page 38 of 75 – First Rate Financial Group

26

Jul

Real Estate

Innovative Home Security Technology

Innovative Home Security Technology For market value and the comfort of a home’s occupants, home security is just as important as energy-efficiency. Innovation in smart home technology focuses on both of these areas.

Here are some tips about things a homeowner can do to make a home more secure and a few pitfalls to look out for, which may not be obvious.

Smart View Doorbell

No matter how reinforced the front door of a home is, it is not secure if it is opened by someone inside without first knowing who is there. Additionally, smart doorbells allow the homeowner to view the front of their home using a smartphone application, even when they are not home.

These systems use motion sensors and video cameras. When someone approaches the front door, the motion sensors trigger and the camera captures the images of what is happening. The smartphone application notifies the homeowner that there is physical activity at the front door.

It may be a neighbor’s cat passing by or a burglar trying to steal a package or attempt a break in. The homeowner can trigger a response through some systems to send a security guard to the premises or has the option to call law enforcement.

Biometric Door Locks

Biometric door locks use fingerprints, iris (eye) scans, and/or facial recognition along with passwords to control who is authorized to enter a home. These systems improve door security and eliminate any problems caused by lost keys or unauthorized duplication of keys.

Improved Remote Garage Door Opener

These are convenient systems, especially when driving up to a home in bad weather and not wanting to get out to open the garage door. They do expose the home to vulnerabilities because the wireless signal that triggers their operations is hackable.

The newest systems use a password-protected system with a two-part security authorization that includes entering a password and responding to a text message sent to the homeowner’s smartphone. The wireless communications of the most innovative systems are encrypted, which makes them impenetrable to hacking.

Automatic Lighting

Smart home lighting can turn on and off automatically. This is useful to save energy and turn things off when a room is not in use. It is also useful to give the appearance that the home is in use even when the occupants are away. Lights and television sets can be turned off and on in the home, based on a pre-determined schedule as if done by occupants, which discourages burglars.

Remote Home Monitoring

Many systems exist that allow a homeowner to remotely monitor a home. “Nanny” cams allow parents to use a smartphone application to view their baby at home when in the care of a babysitter. Other systems allow viewing the entire home.

Be cautious when implementing wireless systems. It is very important to use point-to-point encryption technology to protect the wireless transmission from hacking. It is critical to understand that having a wireless view of the interior of the home creates a security risk if hacked by unauthorized users. As an alternative, the home can be hard-wired (not use a wireless signal) and encryption used to send data to the homeowner’s smartphone.

Summary

Improved home security is a value-added thing to have for a property to protect the occupants and may also improve the home’s resale value. Just be careful not to create new security vulnerabilities by using systems with unprotected wireless communications.

If you are looking for a new home or interested in refinancing your current property, be sure to contact your trusted home mortgage professional.

25

Jul

By First Rate Financial Group

Real Estate

The Monopoly Technique – How To Build Value By Acquiring Adjacent Properties

The Monopoly Technique - How To Build Value By Acquiring Adjacent Properties Have you ever played the classic board game called Monopoly? The object of the game is to collect all the properties until one winner bankrupts all the other players. The other part of the game is that accumulating properties adjacent to each other increases the value of the individual properties. When a player acquires all the properties of the same color (two or three), then the rents go up and property development can begin.

The Monopoly Game In Real Life

The same basic principles sometimes work in real life. Owning a property and then buying the one next door creates a value-added possibility of the combined properties being worth more than the individual pieces.

To start this strategy, tell the neighbors of having an interest in buying their home in the future if they want to sell. This is a way to get the first option to buy a home before it lists on the market.

Control Of The Neighbors Adds Value

In many neighborhoods, there is one home that creates severe negative pressure on property values. These homes may be neglected and badly needing a paint job and landscaping. The home may be a source of neighborhood noise problems or heavy traffic.

When considering buying into this neighborhood, make a plan to buy the derelict house. Then, before bringing it back into a marketable condition, there may be a chance to buy the ones next door for a steep discount from the market value.

If possible, buy all the properties at once and close them around the same time. This helps avoid triggering a profit demand from those who are opportunistic and learn about the interest of a buyer in more than one property.

Cashing Out

If possible, buy three houses, one of each side of the derelict house, then renovate all three properties. Make them into rental units or to sell them as a “flipped” property after the renovation for a big profit.

If there is the possibility of controlling a full block on both sides in a rundown neighborhood, it is possible to start with one block of home improvements at a time. Entire neighborhoods may improve one block at a time.

Redevelopment

In some neighborhoods, there is a chance of re-zoning and redevelopment. For example, it may be possible to build a larger structure by combining two properties. There is profit possible in assembling the land for redevelopment purposes, even for those who do not do the construction for the redevelopment.

Summary

Playing Monopoly in real life can make investing in real estate fun. It is possible to start with a few low-cost rental homes. For rental properties, it makes it much easier to manage them if they are next to each other. Values may increase in the neighborhood by the renovation of a derelict house.

If you are intested in refinancing your current property or in the market for a new home, be sure to contact your trusted home mortgage professional!

24

Jul

By First Rate Financial Group

Real Estate

What’s The Value Of Water?

What's The Value Of Water When investing in real estate, few people think about water as a high priority. All of us have become used to water being readily available and rarely give it a second thought. Most would think that water is only a consideration for farmers who need it to irrigate agriculture. However, due to climate change and population growth, the world is experiencing large impacted areas and major cities that are running out of water.

Will Water Run Out?

Las Vegas expects to run out of water by 2030. Lake Mead near Las Vegas is the water supply for more than two million people. Its level has been declining steadily for decades. Las Vegas gets a limited supply of water from the Colorado River that goes through Nevada all the way to Southern California. The river water is not sufficient to support the population there either.

California now has droughts that last for many years. This makes wildfires more likely, like the one that burned the entire town of Paradise and the surrounding area to the ground in 2018. This wildfire named “Camp Fire” burned over 150,000 acres, destroyed nearly 19,000 buildings, and cost $16.5 billion in damages. Sounds more like hell than paradise.

NASA scientists predict that California could run out of water by the end of 2020 and thereafter experience a mega-drought that might last for decades. All of a sudden, that multi-million-dollar luxury house in the desert or in beautiful, sunny California seems much less appealing.

Investing In Water Rights

Major investors, including gigantic hedge funds, have been buying up water rights all across the United States. Water rights are like any other mineral rights for a property in that they can be sold separately from the land.

Real estate investors who are interested in participating in the potential success of companies that own water rights can now consider investing in exchange-traded funds (EFTs) that include a bundle of stocks from companies that own these rights.

Water Everywhere And Not Drop To Drink

A homeowner might have beautiful lakefront property or a lot with a river running through the land. However, if the owner does not have the rights to access any of that water for residential use it is only a nice view and not a water resource.

Oceanfront properties have a vast supply of seawater that sits in front of them. However, again the legal right to use it may not exist and the cost of desalinization of salt water is still prohibitive.

Properties in rural areas may need to get a permit to drill a water well that must be approved by the county authorities. Even with an operating well on the property, it is possible for a well to run dry.

Conclusion

Real estate investors and home buyers looking to acquire a property now need to include the serious consideration of the access to water and any available water rights as part of their due diligence process.

If you are in the market for a new property or interested in refinancing your current property, be sure to contact your trusted home mortgage professional.