 |
How
And Why To
Prepay Your Mortgage
One
of the best ways to have more cash, retire
early, and enjoy debt-free living is to
prepay your mortgage, an option which even
lenders increasingly applaud.
We live in a
society where home debt is generally
mounting. The Consumer Federation of America
reported this month that between 1989 and
1999 home equity declined by $1,500, in part
because of a greater willingness to increase
mortgage debt.
But for
financial reasons and as a matter of
personal preference, many
|
|
|
|
people
favor a home with less debt. Why
wait 30 years to be mortgage-free,
they reason, when the same goal can
be accomplished years earlier
without
|
|
|
|
Use
Contrary Timing to Maximize Home Purchase
Being
contrary can help maximize your home buying efforts.
Not the stubborn kind of contrary, but the kind that
positions you to purchase outside of the prime home
buying time.
If you're a
first-time buyer or one moving up and want to avoid
heavy competition from other buyers, now's the time
to hit the market!
Why does contrary
timing work? It's due to three major factors of
market flexibility, negotiating power and interest
rates that can work on your behalf during the
non-peak home buying season.
First, market
flexibility. By purchasing after school begins in
the fall and prior to it ending in May, competition
from other buyers may trim by fifty percent or more.
This is vital if you're a first time buyer who needs
to ask the seller to help with discount points or
closing costs. It's also important if the type of
property you desire is scarce and/or desired by
move-up buyers since they usually wait until spring
to sell their existing home.
The second factor on
your side in a non-peak market is negotiating power.
The longer a house has been on the market, the more
potential negotiating power you can wield. Motivated
sellers
|
|
|
|
Home
Inspections:
Not Just for Buyers
Buying
a home without having it professionally inspected
first is about as risky as engaging in a game of
Russian roulette. But buyers aren't the only folks
who can benefit from home inspections.
If you're a seller,
your knee-jerk reaction to hearing that a home
inspection for owners is a good idea might be
"Why? I'm afraid the inspector will uncover a
hidden problem that will cost me thousands to
repair. Or, I'll have to disclose the problem and
subsequently bring my asking price down to
compensate the buyer for the necessary
repairs."
Well, actually,
there's a good argument that owners are best served
by having a home inspected prior to the sale.
Why? Because if an
inspector seconds your opinion that your home is in
good condition, then you've got an excellent
marketing tool that should help your Realtor sell
your home more quickly and for the highest price
possible.
Your pre-inspection
report is your negotiating tool that gives validity
to your asking price. It also places confidence in
the minds of prospective buyers, who know that
they're not jumping into uncertain territory.
Chances are good that
a serious prospective buyer would hire his or her
own inspector to conduct an investigation of your
house, but your report signals to the buyer that
you're serious -- that you're so confident in the
structural integrity of
|
|
|
|
|
Taking
Inventory on Safety
In Your Home
The
New Year is a good time to take stock of all kinds of things
we tend to put off --our health, our relationships, our
spending habits. Whatever needs tweaking seems to get its
best start just after that glittering ball drops in Times
Square, depending on the time zone in which you live.
But how often do we stop to
take a look around our house, room by room, and take
inventory on just how safe it is? "A good routine to
get into on a monthly basis is to check your smoke alarms
and carbon monoxide alarms," says Darrin Deany of
Underwriters Laboratories. "You can do so very easily
by pushing the button on the front of the unit. If you have
battery-powered units, it's also important that you check
the batteries. Make sure you put a fresh one in every
year."
"Smoke alarms definitely
save lives," says Deany. "The fact is over the
last 25 years, deaths in home fires have decreased steadily.
In 1975, the year smoke alarms were introduced there were
over 12,000 deaths. Last year, there were less than
3,000."
It's a good idea to make up a
checklist that includes once or twice-yearly projects, such
as making
Daily
News and Advice
Read about the events shaping the
Real Estate market today, find current interest
rates, or browse the extensive library of advice and
how-to articles written by some of the top experts
in Real Estate. Updated each weekday.
|
More
Articles
|
|
