28
Jun
By First Rate Financial Group
Real Estate

Home Staging Tip – Urban Gardening in Small Spaces

Home Staging Tip - Urban Gardening in Small SpacesHome staging means getting a home ready for sale with the goal to maximize the sale price and close a sale as fast as possible. Some home staging tasks are very dreary, like having to get the place sparkling clean. That is really not fun work. It may be better, if it is affordable, for the homeowner to hire professionals to do that grunt work.

Another part of home staging is really fun and even can start long before putting a home on the market for sale. Children like to participate in this as well. It is creating an urban garden.

Urban Garden

An urban garden fits in anywhere. The idea is to create space for plants to thrive even if there is no backyard or in-ground growing opportunities. Here are some easy ways to achieve this:

  • Window Planter Boxes: Any window that gets sunlight can have a window box. Install these boxes on the inside or on the outside of the window depending on the climate. These are perfect places to have flowers add color that is attractive. Transplant low-cost flowering plants into window boxes. Using this strategy, window boxes stay full of flowers, which are constantly in bloom.
  • Big Pots: Decorative large pots are a great thing to use to create a garden space. Strawberry pots made of clay are popular things to put on a balcony or a porch. Flower pots that line the walkway to the front door add to a home’s curb appeal.
  • Roof Gardens: For townhouses without a backyard, balcony, or a patio, there may only be an urban garden space available on a roof. If there is a good view as well, this is a real plus. Be sure to have a nice picnic table to sit around and enjoy the area.
  • Herbs: Herb gardens are very easy to start. Herbs of many kinds can grow in simple planters. One added advantage is, if growing aromatic herbs, they put a pleasant smell in the air.

Summary

Besides growing flowers, urban gardens may also provide fresh herbs and vegetables to eat. Many things are really easy to grow, such as the herb basil, and they add a nice flavor to a meal.

Start with a small herb garden. If you have children, get them involved. Soon, it will be so much fun growing plants that your house will fill with color, nice smells, and good things to eat.

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 to discuss current financing options.

21
Jun
By First Rate Financial Group
Real Estate

Pros And Cons Of Installing A Pet Door

Pros And Cons Of Installing A Pet DoorIf you’ve just moved into your new home and you have a pet, you may be thinking of installing a pet door. A pet door is a permanent door feature that is cut into the bottom third of an entry door. Before making a permanent alteration to your door, consider the pros and cons of installing a pet door. 

Pro: Your Pet Can Come And Go As Needed

A pet door could cut down on indoor pet accidents if that’s a problem you’ve had to deal with in the past. This is especially convenient if you get home late to let the dog out, or if they have a temporary gastric illness that requires more frequent outings. 

Con: An Unwanted Visitor Could Get Inside

Pet doors are designed to give egress to pets, but your pet door might give indoor access to an unwanted animal. It’s not common, but it does occur, particularly in areas where wildlife is abundant.

Pro: You Could Do Without A Litter Box

Cats can be trained to go outdoors instead of using a litter box. With a pet door, you can dispense with the odorous litter box entirely, knowing your cat will always be able to take care of business outside.

Con: It’s Something Else You Must Remember To Lock

Most pet doors have a locking mechanism for times when you need to secure the home, such as at night. But this is just one more thing you’ll have to remember to do, along with setting the alarm and locking windows. And, the more you have to remember, the more you could forget.

Pro: Better Energy Efficiency

Anyone with pets knows that they can ask to go out and come back in numerous times per day. Every time you open the door you’re letting hot air in, cooled air out, or vice versa. With a pet door, your conditioned air stays in the home much better because there’s a smaller opening, and less time spent with the door open.

Con: New Homebuyers Might Not Want It

If you ever sell your home, the new homebuyers might see a pet door as a negative. Since a quality new door costs around $500, they could ask for a price discount on the home purchase.

A pet door can be a huge convenience, but there are some drawbacks as you can see. However, depending on your view (and the opinion of your pet!) the pros may outweigh the cons.

If you are interested in buying a new home or refinacing your current property, be sure to contact your trusted home mortgage professional to discuss your current financing options.

 

 

19
Jun
By First Rate Financial Group
Real Estate

Buying A Home In Foreclosure

Buying A Home In ForeclosureForeclosure is a process that happens over many months. There are various opportunities to acquire real estate that is in a different stage of foreclosure, including before the foreclosure process completes. This short guide identifies the different stages and the opportunities that may exist to acquire a property at a discounted price.

Get The Money Lined Up First

To acquire a property at any part of the foreclosure process requires cash or pre-approved credit. Have the full amount of cash available to pay for the transaction or have a recent pre-approval letter from a reliable lender. The letter shows the amount of mortgage financing available and approved for buying a foreclosure.

Pre-Foreclosure

Before a lender forecloses on a home, to take legal possession of it, they must go through a legal process filed with the courts. All those legal filings are public records.

The borrower, who is in default on the loan, gets a legal “Notice of Foreclosure” that gives a date when the foreclosure will occur. There are subscription services that collect these dates from the court records and assemble a database of information about the properties coming up for foreclosure.

Up until the foreclosure date, it is possible for the homeowner to make a deal to sell the home, which pays off the lender and that stops the foreclosure.

Sometimes the existing loan can be acquired and the past-due payments brought up to date and that is all that is needed to satisfy the lender. In other cases, the outstanding loan must be paid off entirely or refinanced by the new owner.

To find an attractive deal in this stage of the foreclosure, a real estate investor looks for a property that has significant equity and the loan(s) on the property are far below the market value of the property.

If the home continues to foreclosure then the existing owner will lose all the equity they have in the property. This makes the owner very motivated to sell the property at any price, even at a steep discount, which helps them to not lose everything.

Foreclosure Auction Sales

Some lenders immediately put a property up for auction right after foreclosure. An investor with an interest in these foreclosed properties, bids with other bidders at the auction. The highest bid wins.

All that is needed is to get on the mailing list to be informed of upcoming auctions and have a cashier check in hand for the required deposit at the auction to be able to bid.

REO Properties

Other lenders take ownership of foreclosed properties and then sell them off through authorized broker/dealers who work for the lender. Some lending systems, like HUD, for example, maintain a public database online that shows all the foreclosed properties that are for sale and their minimum offer price.

Creating personal relationships with the bank/lending officers who manage REO properties is a terrific way to get leads. It helps to have the first chance to buy a foreclosed property, which is recently added to a lender’s REO system, that other investors may not yet know about.

Conclusion

Foreclosed properties may create significant opportunities; however, there are also serious risks when buying these properties because they are sold on an “as-is” basis. This type of investment is definitely a “buyer be aware” opportunity. It can be lucrative, yet investors need to be careful as well.

If you are interested in trying to find a foreclosed property, one of the most important steps is getting your financing pre-approved. Be sure to contact your trusted home mortgage professional to discuss your current financing options.