5 Home Improvement Projects that Will Get You Top Dollar For Your Home

It’s a highly competitive market for home sellers right now. More homes to compete with means that the impression your homes makes - from the curb, and on the inside - matter now more than ever. You can increase your chances of selling faster - and at today’s top dollar - by investing in a select few home improvement projects that have been shown to make a big impact on buyers.

Bad news alert: it might cost you a little time, effort and cash.  The good news, though, is that the best projects for quickly increasing your home’s resale value tend to be cosmetic and fairly simple and inexpensive to do. Here are five projects with big-time return on investment for home sellers-to-be, in terms of their power to attract buyers, and to attract dollars from those buyers.

1. Painting:  Adding a fresh coat of paint to ceilings and walls is a tried and true way to increase your home’s appeal to buyers. Go for white or neutral tones that help lighten your rooms. (Now is not the time to show off your fascination with fuchsia and lime green.) Buyers will have an easier time envisioning how they will infuse their own personalities into your home if they’re looking at a relatively blank slate.

Painting lightens and brightens rooms, instantly removes scuffs and dings and gives every room a fresh, polished feel. 

Fresh exterior paint - even if your time or cash budget limits your efforts to accents like eaves, shutters, doors and trims - is also a quick, inexpensive way to polish the look of your home from the curb.

2. Landscaping:  Everything you’ve heard about curb appeal is true. First impressions matter - especially if your house is one of eight or nine a buyer has seen in one day. Buyers will be more excited to look at the inside your home if the outside looks clean, charming and inviting. Mow the lawn, trim the hedges, pull the weeds and plant some flowers, bushes or shrubs for the biggest impact - and be diligent about keeping your landscaping very well-manicured throughout the time your home is on the market. 

Be sure to keep it low-key, relatively low maintenance and neutral, though. This is not the time to indulge your personal fantasies of living in an exotic paradise, unless that matches the existing look and feel of your home, nor is it the time to install a time-intensive English garden that buyers will love, but not want to take on. Think clean, simple and elegant for the biggest boost in value.

3. Cleaning and de-cluttering:  Start by removing all your family photos from the walls and all sorts of tchochkes and clutter from the tops of tables, desks, dressers and counters. Buyers want to be able to envision their lives in the house, not yours. Personal items - and the visual clutter they create - have been shown time and time again to block buyers’ ability to create this vision.

Also, remember that buyers are coming to see the house and evaluate its space, not to bear witness to all the fabulous furniture that means so much to you (no matter how amazing your personal taste). Remove furniture that takes up too much space and fills up rooms. Get rid of clutter such as clothes, boxes, piles of mail and other items.

And then clean - and keep cleaning obsessively, the entire time your place is on the market. Kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms should look unlived in when they are shown.  And don't forget to clean less obvious places like windows, walls, doors and  and floors, to dust off shelves and furniture, and to polish appliances. 

4. Plumbing repairs and water stain/damage repair: Paying a plumber to make a few stops throughout your home can be well worth the investment. Leaky faucet in the master bathroom? Get it fixed. Does the space under your kitchen sink look like a science experiment? Leaks and water stains definitely provoke disgust and exasperation on the part of the buyers you want and need to impress.  And they can be pretty cost effective to fix - ask your agent for a referral, if you need one.

5. Staging:  Staging your home can make a dramatic difference in the price for which your home sells. Good staging is equal parts:

(a)    removing your personal belongings and replacing it with more  artwork, decor and cleaner-looking furniture,

(b)    and tweaking the home’s paint, wall coverings and even landscaping to show the place in its very best light.

When done well, staging can convert your home from just another listing on a buyer’s list to the setting for a fresh, new start to the fresh, new life of their dreams. Professional stagers, in particular, have special skills and materials they use, from convincing you to get rid of a bunch of things you value (but read: junk to a buyer), to  items like mirrors, plants, art work, lamps, pillows and even furniture that tells a visual story of the life buyers can fantasize about living in your home.

Talk to your agent about staging - some agents have the skill to do this on their own, while others might have a professional stager they frequently work with.

In some cases, you might want to take on even larger projects. Before you go that route, talk with a local real estate agent; they are well-positioned to know what sort of updates and features will make the most impact on local buyers. Not all major, non-cosmetic upgrades to your home will create a significant difference in the price it commands, so take advantage of your agent’s expertise as you make decisions about which property preparation investments to make (and which to forego).

Tackle Small House Repairs to Prevent Larger Problems

Given the recovering economy, some homeowners may be delaying smaller home repairs to save their hard-earned cash. However, delaying smaller issues could lead to larger problems down the road. Here are a few repairs that you would be best off not ignoring. 

Never neglect your annual HVAC inspection. By having an HVAC inspection at least once a year, you can ensure that your heating, air conditioning and ventilation are all working properly. The inspection may find that the furnace blower isn't working properly, which can prevent a broken heat exchanger down the road. You may also find that the reversing switch in the heat pump is broken. If handled sooner rather than later, you can save hundreds (or thousands) of dollars by replacing these items for $100-300. It will also save you extra money on your heating bills.

Chimney inspections are also important. For $150, you can have your chimney inspected and cleaned, removing creosote buildup and helping to prevent water from leaking in. If too much moisture gets in and ruins the chimney liner, you may have to drop thousands of dollars on a new one. Again, spending a couple hundred dollars to clean it and make sure it has the appropriate capping and calking will save you thousands later on.

Regular termite inspections are not only beneficial, but will also give you peace of mind. Once a year, in the spring or summer, have an inspector come search your property for flying or grounded termites. The average homeowner loss for damage caused by these little buggers is nearly $3,000, but some losses can reach as high as tens-of-thousands of dollars. For under $200, you can rest assured.

Dryer vent cleaning can prevent clog-ups that cause fires in many homes. Excess lint in the vents can overheat, catch fire and possibly burn your entire home to the ground. Clean these vents out at least once a year to protect your home and belongings.

Source: Bankrate

6 Ways to help kids adjust to moving day

Moving to a new home can be stressful for everyone, but it can be especially unnerving for children. Younger kids often become confused when their daily routine is disrupted, while adolescents fear the loss of old friends and dread the prospect of having to make new ones in a strange school or neighborhood. But there are steps you can take to help alleviate their fears and get them involved in the move.

Communication is Key
First, it's important for parents to explain the moving process by providing children with as much information as possible and allowing them to participate in decision-making discussions. This will give children a sense of control and help relieve anxiety. Talk about the positive aspects of their new home, school and neighborhood. Try to communicate the idea that the new home, if given a fair chance, can be even better than the old one. Encourage questions and invite children to talk about their worries.

Manage Your Stress
Children pick up on our own stress-levels so it's a good idea for the whole family if you try to manage your stress as much as possible. Having a plan, staying organized, packing wisely and clearly communicating with your moving company are all ways to minimize your stress on moving day.

Rehearse Ahead of Time
For younger children, the move should be made into an exciting adventure. Encourage your child to pack his or her own things, but be sure to leave favorite toys out until the very end. Act out moving day well ahead of time. A conversation could go something like this: "On Friday when you wake up, there will be a big truck in the driveway. We will have breakfast, then go into your room, and show the movers which things to put on the truck. Then, after the truck is filled we will get in our car and go to our new home. Then we will tell the movers exactly where to put your things in your new room."

Because we all fear the unknown, if possible, take children with you to look at potential neighborhoods, homes/apartments and schools. It may be more expensive and require extra effort, but it will ease the transition and help children begin to make the adjustment.

If your children are really young, consider hiring a babysitter while you pack and on moving day. Otherwise, resist the temptation to send children away during the move. Participating will help them understand what's happening and can help them adjust more easily to their new surroundings. Even so, don't be dismayed if your child exhibits regressive behavior such as bed-wetting or thumb sucking. It's quite normal.

Make It Fun
For older children, a move that involves leaving friends, sports teams, and favorite hangouts behind can be extremely difficult. Help them say good-bye to friends by hosting a good-bye party. Emphasize how easy it is to keep in touch through email and by phone; you could even give each of your children his or her own address book and make the party an opportunity for friends to write in their personal contact information.

If at all possible, time the move to coincide with the start of a new school year or term. Contact coaches and club advisors at the new school and ask them to assist your child with the transition.

Get Back to the Status Quo
Once you are settled in your new home, resume familiar routines as soon as possible. If it's a tradition in your family to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings, for example, you should continue the practice as soon as possible in your new home. 

Stage It Like A Pro: Tips for Selling Your Home Faster

For homeowners ready to sell their home, staging a property professionally can make a huge difference in the amount of time it takes to sell. If you're selling on a budget, you can still properly stage the home yourself in order to maximize the chances of alluring visiting buyers. Keep the following in mind before buyers come to the door:

Remember to highlight the home's strengths and take attention away from the weaknesses. Pick up and organize every room as much as possible. Organize book shelves, cabinets, closets, or any other nook and cranny a buyer might want to see. If a particular room has a fault, rearrange furniture or redesign the room as needed to draw the attention elsewhere.

Choose and place your furniture wisely. Be sure not to overcrowd a room with couches, tables and chairs. The end goal should be to make each room as spacious as possible, so cut down on the number of items, and remove any that may look old or beaten up. Try "floating" furniture away from the walls and more toward the center of the room. This will enhance the illusion of space and make the room look that much bigger.

Light it up: Proper lighting can give a home a warm, welcome feeling. Replace low-wattage bulbs with higher wattages. Be sure to have different types of lighting in each room (overhead lights, reading lights, etc). If you can, take advantage of natural light during daytime hours. Open up those drapes and let the sun shine through. The welcome feel your home gives off will be both infectious and memorable.

Repurpose storage rooms. For those miscellaneous storage rooms, be sure to repurpose them into something a buyer can picture themselves using. Create a craft room, game room or office with the extra space. You want to put ideas into the heads of your buyers, not entice them with rooms filled with junk and clutter.

Give bathrooms a spa-like feel: Buyers love the look of a nice, neat and clean bathroom. Anything you can do to create a spa-like environment, the better. Roll towels and place them on display in wire racks. Spread candles on countertops, and have a scented plug or other soothing scent permeating the room. The more calming the bathroom feels, the more appealing it will be to viewers.

Homeowners need not spend hundreds of dollars on a professional stager, however, staging is essential to selling your home promptly. Staging every room in your house will be beneficial toward reaching your end goal.

Source: Bankrate

The Importance of getting Pre-Aprroved

When shopping for a home, you're going to be asked at some point whether you've been "pre-approved" or whether you have mortgage "pre-approval." You're going to want to answer "yes" to these questions -- buyers who can are in a much better position to purchase a home. Why? Read on to find out.

1. What is pre-approval?

   In real estate lingo, to say you have been "pre-approved" or that you have mortgage "pre-approval" means you have a commitment in writing from a lender to lend you a specific amount to buy a home under certain conditions (e.g., length of the loan and interest rate). A pre-approval holds more weight than a loan pre-qualification, which is an estimate of how much you may be able to borrow.

2. Why is it important?

   It's important to have pre-approval for several reasons: It will let you know how much you can spend on a home and the size of mortgage you'll be able to obtain, it will give you an advantage when it comes time to bid on a property, and it will speed up the process when you find a home you want to buy.
   When you have a pre-approval letter for a loan, you'll know exactly how much you can borrow, and possibly the length of the loan (15 years, 30 years, etc.) and your interest rate. This will give you an idea of how much you can spend on a home and what your monthly payments will be like should you purchase the property.
   Buyers prefer sellers who have their financing in place. They don't want to choose a buyer who seems to be a qualified buyer, but can't come up with the funds to buy the house.
   If you are pre-approved with a reputable lender, you may be able to win a bid over another buyer should multiple buyers be interested in a particular home -- even if the offers from the other buyers are higher.
   When it comes time to place an offer on a home, having a pre-approval letter will speed up the process. That's because you won't have to wait to hear from a lender as to whether or not you've been approved.

3. How do you get it?

   You'll want to talk to a few lenders to search out loans that will best suit you and your financial situation. The lenders will require certain information, including: your income, your employment situation, how long you've been employed, and any debts you may have -- e.g., student loans, car loans and credit card debt -- and the source of your down payment.
   You may be asked to show your tax returns, bank statements and W2 forms. The lender will use this information to determine the maximum loan you can qualify for and your monthly mortgage payment.
   The lenders will also check your credit report and whether you have funds for a down payment and closing costs.
   But, even when you do get pre-approved, remember that there are some caveats: Pre-approval letters can be time-sensitive and are subject to an appraisal on the home you're purchasing, so while a pre-approval gives you a firm idea of how much you may be able to borrow, it's still not a concrete guarantee that you'll get the loan.

From Trulia.com

The 5 Most Common Complaints of Short Sale and REO Buyers (and How to Avoid Them)

Roughly forty percent of the homes for sale on today’s market are short sales and foreclosures! Distressed properties are well known for their value (a reputation which is sometimes accurate, and sometimes not), but they also have a reputation for causing buyers to become distressed, too!

Transactional snafus, last-minute surprises and long, drawn-out escrows that never close seem to be par for the course. Instead of avoiding these properties altogether, get educated about the most common dramas that go down in these deals, and how you can avoid falling victim.

1.  Run-on (and on, and on) escrows. When you’re buying a home (or selling one, for that matter), time is absolutely of the essence.  And buyers reasonably expect that the big time suck in real estate is in the house hunting process itself; seems like once you find a home you want to buy and the seller agrees to your price and terms, things should move pretty quickly, right?

Not so much, when it comes to some distressed property sales. I’ve heard tell of the occasional, swiftly-moving escrow on an REO (real estate owned – by the bank). But for the most part, these transactions take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks longer than “regular” sales, because of the extra signatures, supervisor-level approvals and even investor involvement required to seal the deal.  Banks don’t have the same sense of urgency individual home sellers do, and it’s not uncommon for the people who need to sign on the dotted line to be on vacation or scattered across the country, adding days’ or weeks’ worth of time to the escrow.

And short sales are also an entirely different animal when it comes to escrow timelines. While a standard sale from an individual seller to an individual buyer might take 45 days from contract to closing, a short sale can take anywhere from 45 days to 6 or 8 months (!) to get the deal closed, after the seller has accepted the contract.

Avoid the drama by: expecting your escrow to run long, and being pleasantly surprised if it doesn’t.  Expectation management is everything. Make sure you take these extended timelines into account when you’re working with your mortgage broker on the issue of when to lock your interest rate, and how long your rate locks will last. You might even need to plan on and/or set aside an allowance for the cost of extending your low interest rate, if rates are rising rapidly during the time you’re waiting for the deal to be done.

2.  Bank won’t take lowball offer.  If I had a dollar for every time I’ve received a question from an outraged reader to the effect that a buyer has had their short sale or REO offer rejected on grounds that it was too low,  even though the bank has no other offers, I could buy a foreclosure myself (admittedly, it’d be one of those $150 foreclosures in some blighted town with tax liens and no plumbing, but still).

Banks owe their shareholders and investors a duty to get as much as they can for these properties. Just because you see it’s on the market and listed as a short sale or a foreclosure doesn’t mean they’re going to give it to you for a fraction of its worth. The bank’s goal is to get a purchase price as close as possible to the home’s fair market value, as determined by the recent sales prices of similar, nearby homes, with some adjustments made for the property’s condition.  Fact is, many banks would rather see the listing agent reduce the price by a moderate amount, and wait to see what offers come in, than to accept an offer 30 percent below the asking price just because there are no other offers on the table.

Avoid the drama by:  working with your agent to make a realistic offer, based on recent comparable sales in the neighborhood, not just on what you think you can get away with.  You can waste a lot of time, spin a lot of wheels and lose out on a lot of properties making lowball offer after lowball offer on distressed homes. Sit down with your broker or agent, review the ‘comps’ and make a smart offer that reflects a good value for you, is within your budget and is not bizarrely out of the realm of the fair market value of the property.

3.  Last minute postponements/cancellations. These transactions have an uncanny way of being delayed at the last minute – or never going through at all, through no fault of the wanna-be buyer. You signed docs yesterday, put your dog in the crate this morning and just hopped in the moving truck, only to get a text from your broker that the deal didn’t close because the escrow company which was selected by the bank flubbed the checkboxes on a single sheet of paper (it happens). Or, you’ve been in contract (with the seller) on a short sale for four months, and the bank refuses the sale entirely because the seller refuses to kick even $1 of their own cash into the deal, despite having a flush savings account.

Avoid the drama by:  staying as flexible as possible with your moving plans as long as possible.  Best practice is to plan on some overlap between the time you can be in your last place and your scheduled move-in date.  Also, if you’re in contract on a short sale, you should take the point of view that you don’t have a firm deal until you get the bank’s approval of the transaction. So don’t even think about starting to make moving plans or paying for home inspections and appraisals until you know the bank has greenlit the deal and that the purchase price and terms they’ve approved work for both you and the seller.

4.  The bank’s black box. Make an offer on a normal home and you’re likely to know what the outcome will be within a few hours or a few days, at the outside. If things take longer because the seller is out of town or some such, the listing agent tells you that, and you at least know what’s going on.

Make an offer on a bank-owned property or a short sale?  It’s a crap shoot – could be days, but could also, easily, be weeks or months before you know what’s going on.  And no amount of calling, pleading, prodding or nudging is likely to get you much information on how your offer or the seller’s short sale application is being handled or what (if any) progress is being made.  And that “black box” into which your offer disappears at the benk level is very frustrating.

Avoid the drama by:  continuing your house hunt until you have an answer back.  Maniacally pestering the listing agent for answers or harrassing your buyer’s broker into spending hours on hold with the bank is highly unlikely to get you any insight. (With that said, it does make sense for your agent to check in regularly – sometimes even daily –  with a short sale or REO listing agent to stay updated on any developments with the property and to make sure your offer/transaction stays in the front of their mind.)

Most of the angst in these situations arises when a buyer feels they passed on properties that would have really worked for them when they pinned their hopes on a distressed home.  You can only control your efforts and activities, not the bank’s.  So, consult with your own broker or agent about staying proactive in viewing and even pursuing other properties until you have a firm “yes” from the bank on your short sale or REO offer.  Until that time, and usually for a short time after you get the bank’s approval, you have the right to back out of the transaction if you need to (make sure your broker briefs you on precisely when your right to rescind your offer or exercise contingencies – i.e., bail – will expire).

5.  Double standards. In a “regular” equity sale with no bank involvement, both buyer and seller are obligated to meet various timelines.  Seller has to provide disclosures by X date, open the property to inspections – with utilities on – by Y, and close and move out by Z.  REO and short sale buyers, on the other hand, are often dismayed to find that  even though the bank might take weeks or months to sign or handle its deliverables, the bank will insist that the buyer show up, sign or send a check quick-like.

Avoid the drama by: chalking it up to the (admittedly irritating) way things are – the price you pay to buy from the bank.  Realize that working with the bank on the bank’s terms is unavoidable when you buy a distressed property. Then, go into the deal with realistic expectations – including the expectation that the bank will drag its feet, despite expecting you to keep every deadline – and you’ll be less frustrated, and less likely to make poor decisions out of frustration.

Also, make sure you do respond in a timely manner to the bank’s requests and your obligations under the contract.  I’ve seen banks capitalize on buyer delays in returning signatures and removing contingencies to accept higher offers they received in the interim.  Don’t lose your home on a technicality because you assume that the bank’s lackadaisacal timelines apply to you as well.

Author: Tara Nicholle Nelson

Do You Know? I can help ANYONE, ANYWHERE

Do you know that I can help anyone in any state with Real Estate?

By Melissa Kellerman


It is true! I can help you, your friends, and your family buy and/or sell real estate in any state.Although I live and work in Colorado Springs, I have an extensive Realtor referral network. I match people to agents all the time.

When a friend in Arizona tells me she is thinking about purchasing a home, I find a couple of agents to help her. How is this better than her just picking a random agent on her own? I prescreen the agents based on my friend's wants and needs, the area she's looking in, and for a personality match. I usually give 2 or 3 recommendations to my friend. I want her to make sure she meshes well with her new agent.

Let's say I have a friend who's brother lives in Idaho and need to sell his home, but is afraid it may be a short sale and doesn't know what to do. I research agents with successful short sale experience in his neighborhood. I also look for someone I think might connect well with the brother. Again, I give 2 or 3 referrals so that the seller can decide who they like best.

I would not connect an agent who sells million dollar condos with a buyer looking for farm land. I also wouldn't match an agent with no short sale experience with a seller trying to avoid foreclosure. It is important that I find someone who will do the very best for the buyer or seller. These folks trust me enough to help them, I can't hand them over to just anyone.  I also make sure to follow up with the selected agent. I want to make sure they are taking great care of my referral.

So if you know ANYONE living ANYWHERE that is thinking about buying or selling, please put me in contact with them. I can help them!

www.YourSpringsAgent.com

Mortgage Rates Again Fall to Record Lows

Mortgage rates fell once again, to the lowest point on record, according to mortgage rate research website, ForTheBestRate.com. Rates for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage were advertised as low as 3.875% (APR: 4.040%, Lender: LoanDepot) on Thursday, September 8th. Pricing this low for residential home loans is unprecedented, and while it reflects the weakness of the US and global economy, represents a huge opportunity for home buyers and current mortgage holders.

The record setting drop was confirmed in the weekly mortgage survey released September 8 by Freddie Mac, a government sponsored enterprise that purchases residential mortgage loans in the secondary market. The report showed that the average 30 year fixed rate mortgage was down to 4.12% (0.7% points), the lowest point since Freddie Mac began keeping records four decades ago. 15 year fixed rate pricing also fell to an average of 3.33% (0.6 points) from 3.39% (0.6 points) the week prior. 5 year arm rates held steady averaging 2.96% (0.6 points).

Below is a snapshot of mortgage rates for a variety of products listed on ForTheBestRate.com on 9/8/2011. Rates are subject to change. Please visit the site to view the criteria used in the survey.

For more information, visit www.ForTheBestRate.com.

Home odors that will scare off buyers

Sniff, sniff — that smell is buyers walking away from your odorous abode. Here's how to identify and fix what makes buyers hold their noses.

By Marcie Geffner of Bankrate.com

(© Fuse/Getty Images)

A buyers market is a tough challenge for sellers, says Patti Ketcham, owner of Ketcham Realty Group in Tallahassee, Fla.

Homebuyers don't want houses that stink. Sellers must identify and remediate odors that make prospective purchasers hold their noses and run for the exits.

"If you're selling," she says, "your house has to look a little better, smell a little better and be priced a little better than the other houses the buyer will look at that same day."

Unfortunately, it's not always easy for sellers to identify familiar smells that might be problematic, says Neeraj Gupta, director of product research and development at ServiceMaster Clean, which performs major cleanups and post-disaster restorations of residential and commercial properties.

"There is no 'odor meter,'" Gupta says. "People get used to the odor of their house and may not notice that something is not pleasant."

Outside sniffers
The best way to find out whether a house smells OK is to "ask someone who doesn't live there to come inside and give an opinion," Gupta says.

The obvious "someone" would be the real-estate broker hired to sell the home. But not all brokers will point out that a house smells bad, even if they're willing to offer other helpful suggestions.

Ketcham, for one, says she's not outspoken about odor issues. Instead, she offers to pass along any unfiltered "brutal truth" comments she hears from her colleagues who bring buyers to see the property. That way, the message gets delivered with less risk to her cordial relationship with the sellers.

"I will never be the kind that will come out and tell you that your house smells like cat litter or mothballs," she says. "I would rip my tongue out first."

Pet odors
The two most common sources of difficult and offensive odors are pets and cigarettes, neither of which, Gupta says, is easy to remediate.

The point might seem obvious, but the first line of defense in any smelly situation is to remove the source of the problem, even if that means a beloved pet must board elsewhere for a while.

"It's kind of cruel," Gupta says, "but if the pet is in the house, you're introducing new odor every day. For people who have pets, over time, it's a losing battle to get rid of the odor."

Cat urine, among the worst of the bad odors, can seep into carpet fibers, carpet padding, concrete and wood floors, upholstery fabrics, and furniture cushions and pillows.

"Oftentimes," he says, "you have to remove the carpet, remove the pad and seal the floor, and then replace the carpet and the pad."

Cleaning the carpet might help. But Gupta warns that any humidity will raise the odor from the padding or floor beneath.

No smoking
Cigarette smoke can cling to furnishings, drapes and other window coverings and work its way inside walls. Some topically applied solutions can help to reduce the stench, but an ozone generator, hydroxyl generator or air scrubber should be more effective, Gupta says. These approaches are "very effective in absorbing odors," he says, though there is no guarantee that an odor can be eliminated.

One more tip: If someone suffers a long illness or dies in a home, a good airing may be adequate to remove any odors. In the case of a violent death, however, professionals who handle what's known as "trauma cleanup" should be called to do the job. The cost might range from a few hundred dollars to $1,000 or more depending on the type of remediation and the square footage.

"It's not like buying glass cleaner in a store and cleaning your windows," Gupta says. "If you have that type of situation, it's probably best to call a professional. It may be traumatic for you to do it yourself."

Environmental Issues Report Now Available for Homeowners

Environmental Data Resources Inc., (EDR), provider of property-specific environmental information and risk management solutions, recently unveiled the Environmental Issues Report (EIR), an online environmental education tool for homeowners, home buyers and real estate brokers.

The EIR provides access to information about the historical and current use of land in U.S. neighborhoods, especially uses that may pose environmental risks.

For over two decades, EDR has provided information nationwide for commercial real estate transactions. Now, homeowners and buyers, sellers, brokerages, real estate agents and home inspectors can directly access EDR's extensive database.

"Conducting an environmental history search on a possible new home or residential lot is a prudent step in the due diligence process for home buyers," says Max Cook, an environmental professional with Ranger Environmental Services, Inc. "Just as the market requires home buyers to procure appraisals and home inspections, the natural next step should be to identify impacts to properties or surrounding properties which have nearby contamination reports that could affect home occupants."

Commonly recorded impacts include contaminated soil or groundwater, and according to Cook, "facilities such as gas stations, dry cleaners, landfills, former airports and military bases are everywhere and can affect the environmental health of many neighborhoods across the U.S."

To run an EIR, users can visit www.environmentalissuesreport.com and enter the desired address to obtain a property map that shows environmental issues within a one-mile radius. Users can then request access to a more detailed report that will help inform them of the risk any reported event(s) poses to their home or well-being. If a professional opinion on the information is needed, users can consult with an environmental professional from EDR or consult with their real estate agent regarding the next steps to take.

According to EDR, current homeowners should consider evaluating their property for environmental impacts throughout their ownership, as spills and contamination events happen often.

Cashing in on rental property

• 
  
  
  

• 
  

By Jeff Wallach @Money September 2, 2011: 6:07 AM ET

(MONEY Magazine) -- Most of the news lately about real estate has been dismal: Home prices are swooning, foreclosures ballooning.

There is, however, one bright spot: the rental market, where demand is up and rents are rising. That's partly because those foreclosures have turned more than 4 million former homeowners into renters, but also because many other prospective homeowners, worried about losing their jobs or housing prices falling a lot further still, are reluctant to buy now.

As with many investments, the best time to get in is when most others are sitting on the sidelines. To figure out whether you can benefit by investing in rental property, here's what you need to know.

THE CASE FOR BUYING NOW

Many factors make this a great time to invest. Mortgage rates are at a 40-year low, and homes in many areas are ultra-cheap. Meanwhile, demand for rentals has risen in more than 500 cities, according to recent Census data. That, in turn, has enabled landlords to charge more. Hotpads.com, a real estate research firm, reports that rents nationwide jumped 11.6% in 2010, to $1,320 a month.

You'll need that rental income to tide you over until home prices bounce back; in fact, the typical investor today plans to hold for 10 years, according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors.

If you can hang on that long, you've got a good shot at solid gains, especially if you're financing the home purchase. "Whereas leverage is dangerous when buying stocks, it can be a good long-term strategy with real estate," notes real estate investor and Columbia University adjunct finance professor Marshall Sonenshine.

The big catch: "Can you afford to hold the property that long and not need the equity for your kid's college fund?" says Sonenshine. Or whatever other pressing need might crop up.

You'll also face some tough financing rules. Most banks now require a down payment of at least 20% to 25% and evidence you have enough cash to cover six months' worth of mortgage, tax, and insurance payments.

HOW TO FIND A GOOD DEAL

Investment real estate is like produce: It's best bought locally. "Buy something you can get to in 10 minutes," says Seattle real estate investor Bill Snyder.

Familiarity with the neighborhood also limits nasty surprises like a noisy bar or a nearby development competing for renters.

Work with a local realtor who has experience with rentals and can help you assess how attractive a given home will be to tenants.

And while prices on multifamily dwellings haven't dropped as much as they have on single-family homes, don't ignore plexes: Intake from a few rents instead of just one will boost your cash flow; a single vacancy won't hurt as much; and you could benefit from economies of scale for things like appliances and painting. But stick to buildings with four units or fewer to avoid stricter financing requirements, such as a bigger down payment and higher mortgage rates.

Once you've identified candidates, crunch the numbers. The goal: to make sure your rental income will at least cover your loan payments, plus a 20% cushion to handle repairs, vacancies, and property management.

To figure out what you'll garner in rent, ask sellers for recent leases, says Snyder, and double-check their numbers by perusing sites like Rentometer and Craigslist for similar rentals in the neighborhood.

Assume your mortgage rate will be at least a half-point higher than rates on owner-occupied properties. Factor in insurance and property taxes, and bank on a 5% vacancy rate. Otherwise, "one empty month can kill you," says Ellie Berlin, a broker with Houlihan Lawrence in Larchmont, N.Y.

KNOW WHAT YOU'RE IN FOR

Brush up on your people skills: Owning rentals also means responding to tenant complaints, like the 2 a.m. phone call about a broken toilet. Want to palm off the grunt work? You can hire a handyman (around $45 an hour) or a management company (8% to 10% of monthly income plus a half-month's rent for filling vacancies), but the luxury will eat into cash flow.

To find your own tenants, creative ads on Craigslist are your best bet. Run credit and reference checks (National Tenant Network, at ntnonline.com, can help). And invest in small touches to make your place stand out, such as cool lighting fixtures or antique door hardware. Those will pay off when it's time to sell too.