19
Jul
By First Rate Financial Group
Real Estate

5 Important Benefits Of Downsizing Your Home

5 Important Benefits Of Downsizing Your HomeAfter the children are all grown and moved out, the family home often feels excessively large and empty. If you’re in this stage of life, you may be wondering if you should downsize like so many others, or stay put. Downsizing may be the best option, depending on your lifestyle.

Here are five benefits of downsizing for you to consider.

1. Less Clutter

When you move into a smaller home, you’ll have the opportunity to get rid of many possessions that you no longer need. Whether it’s sporting goods or knick knacks, you’ll be able to either sell the items, give them away to kids and grandkids or donate them to a charitable organization. Your new home won’t have as much space, so this decluttering process is almost mandatory.

2. Lower Utility Bills

A smaller home means lower energy usage and lower utility bills. It’s likely that you’ll have fewer lights on the rooms, less square footage to heat and cool. You may also incur less water usage, since you may have fewer bathrooms and less lawn to irrigate. So, not only will you likely have a lower mortgage payment when you downsize, it will probably also take less money to run the home.

3. More Free Time

A smaller home means that it will likely take less time to maintain, too. There’s less to clean inside and a smaller house to maintain on the exterior of the home. This equates to much more time for you to do the things that you want to do instead of the things that you have to do.

4. Easier To Get Around

Downsizing usually makes it easier to get around the home. Many people who downsize opt for a single-floor home rather than a two-story home, so they can avoid having stairs in the home. Living on one floor is often easier as people age and climbing stairs becomes more cumbersome. 

5. More Sustainable Living

A smaller home means a smaller carbon footprint. For people who are earth-conscious, a smaller home affords the chance to play their part in helping by living a more environmentally sustainable life. 

Remember, downsizing doesn’t mean living with less. For many people who have already downsized, the process has infused their life with more opportunities to live a fuller existence by getting rid of space and possessions they didn’t really need anymore. 

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

 

18
Jul
By First Rate Financial Group
Real Estate

The Incredible Value Of A Business Mentor

The Incredible Value Of A Business MentorIf someone says that they are a “self-made” success who did it all completely by themselves with no help from anyone, they are probably stretching the truth. Success never usually happens in a vacuum. The definition of success is that something is recognized and respected by others. 

Honest business people recognize and appreciate the help that they received from others. They know it was a big part of what made them able to achieve success. Clever people, when they are just starting out in something new, find a mentor. A mentor is a person who is willing to help a new person trying something for the first time.

Why Would Someone Want To Be A Mentor?

If you ask a mentor why are they a mentor, you are very likely to hear a story about how they were helped by another person when they were just starting out. Mentoring is a powerful way to give back. It is rewarding on both sides of the relationship of being a mentor and a mentee. It is so rewarding because both people learn something about themselves by sharing information and experiences with another person.

Mentoring Is Best When It’s A Balanced Relationship

In a healthy mentor/mentee relationship there is a nice give and take that is balanced. The mentor may know much more than the mentee about a subject matter of mutual interest. However, a mentor does not necessarily know everything. A mentee may also have unique experiences to share that the mentor knows nothing about.

Mentorship Is Different From Internship

Having a mentor is different from an internship. Both are meant to be a learning experience, but having a mentor is more about sharing knowledge that includes life skills, whereas an internship is usually limited to job skills.

For example, it is perfectly reasonable to ask your mentor questions like:

  • How did you deal with setbacks?
  • Did you have self-doubt?
  • What kept you from giving up?

The Rules Of Mentorship

There are no specific rules in mentorship. It’s a unique relationship each time based on individual circumstances. The relationship can be as formal or as informal as you like. If the relationship feels strained or uncomfortable for either party, it is time to break it off. The period of a mentor/mentee relationship may come and go; however, sage advice lasts a lifetime.

Finding A Mentor

Many choose a mentor from someone that they already know. One way to meet a mentor is to volunteer for service work in your community. Many times you can make valuable contacts with successful people who are also giving their time and expertise to these projects.

There are also formal mentor programs such as one offered by the Small Business Association. It is called the SCORE program and the services are free.

SCORE is a good program for aspiring entrepreneurs. It can help, if you do not know of anyone who is the kind of mentor you need. Seeking out help through the SBA puts you in touch with an experienced businessperson who is a part of their volunteer mentoring program.

Real Estate Agents Can Be Great Mentors Too

If you are interested in learning about investing in real estate in your local community, a great place to start a mentoring relationship is with a professional real estate agent.  Real estate professionals are well versed in the local market and can answer questions and guide you through your transactions to avoid major pitfalls. The best real estate agents can also find special opportunities to bring to investors that they are mentoring and help make your real estate investments more profitable.

Summary

Dale Carnegie wrote his classic self-help book How to Win Friends and Influence People in the 1930s. Carnegie was a great business mentor. He recommends that if you want to be a success in a particular area of life, be around people who are already successful in that area and copy what they do. That advice is still good, even almost ninety years later.

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

16
Jul
By First Rate Financial Group
Real Estate

How To Find Hot Real Estate Markets

How To Find Hot Real Estate MarketsA hot market in real estate is identified by a few things, which include higher prices, lower amounts of unsold inventory, and desirable neighborhoods. Neighborhoods can increase in value because of having an excellent location, high-paying jobs, quality schools, and a variety of attractive amenities.

Hot Markets Are After The Fact

Properties in a hot market may sell faster, for higher prices, and without needing to be in perfect condition or staged for sale. Real estate investors do not necessarily benefit from learning about a hot market unless they already own property in that market area.

It is nice to be an owner with a property for sale in a hot market. However, more success may come from identifying a market as potentially valuable before it becomes a hot market.

Hot Market Trends Before The Fact

Gentrification is a pattern that may start out slowly and then build until a market goes from cold to hot. With gentrification, renovation of rundown neighborhoods attracts new, wealthier residents. Many cities encourage the gentrification of deteriorating urban areas.

Streets with abandoned storefronts may convert into pedestrian-only shopping promenades. Old wharf warehouses may turn into a riverfront boardwalk. Artist types may move into a bad neighborhood because of the low rent and then turn it into an eclectic, hip area with art galleries, coffee shops, boutiques, and street murals.

One way to benefit from gentrification possibilities is to follow the long-term development plans of a community and be an early investor in those plans. Invest in property just on the outskirts of a planned gentrification zone.

Be careful to note any physical barricades, such as a wide street, which may stop gentrification from progressing further. A wide street may prevent gentrification from moving across it to the rundown area on the other side.

A similar pattern shows up when investing in real estate that is on the outskirts of a growing area or adjacent to a desirable neighborhood. Over time, if the growth continues, these outlying areas may become a nicely profitable investment for those who are patient.

Getting Out Of A Hot Market At The Right Time

It is important to know when to sell properties in a hot market and move on to find a different one. Continuing to re-invest in a hot market may ultimately disappoint when there is a market correction to the downside. Try to avoid this if possible.

Market indicators to watch include:

  • Year-over-year increases in listing prices compared to historical figures for the same area.
  • The percentage of listings showing a price reduction.
  • The average time a property is listed before being sold.
  • A comparison between the listing price and the sales price for sold properties.

Conclusion

Studying market growth and guessing the direction of growth helps identify a potentially strong market before it gets hot.

It is time to sell and move on, if the listing prices are not increasing each year or if price reductions are increasing. Other strong indicators that a market is cooling down are when the average listing time is increasing and the average difference between the listing price and sale price is widening.

If you’re in the market for a new home or interested in refinancing your current property, be sure to set up a consult with your trusted home mortgage professional.