Testing… just testing…

Two of the biggest threats to a real estate transaction involve the discovery of cracked foundations and bad roofs during the home inspection. A five year roof will typically sail through inspection but I recently sold a home for some clients who replaced their roof five years ago and their roof didn’t.

It turns out that moss had taken hold and they had never treated the roof with a moss removal solution. All I can say is that I am glad we didn’t wait another year to list the home because the moss would have won the battle within that amount of time.

This would have been a problem because lenders shy away from giving loans to buyers of homes with failing roofs because of the damage that a failing roof can cause to the rest of house. Even if a buyer is willing to close a transaction, it’s the lender that won’t let it happen.

This got me thinking about my own roof. In the two years I have owned my current home, I have never gone up there with a critical eye. I went up yesterday afternoon and it’s a good thing I didn’t wait. I found moss growing at the edge of each row of composition on the north facing side of the roof. The growth was minimal but wide spread.I went to Ace Hardware and purchased a few $10.00 bottles of moss removal solution and I applied it to the roof. I feel like I dodged a bullet. The bottle said that I should reapply the stuff every three months so I have scheduled a reminder to deal with it again in the fall. It will be interesting to compare the level of moss now with the amount of moss then. I think this is better than power washing the roof because that can cause more harm than good aside from rapidly aging a roof.

You should take this very seriously. I didn’t, but now I do. When you list your home, your roof can kill your transaction if it’s in bad shape.

Other tips…• Trim back overgrown vegetation. • Clean all debris off the roof and inside the gutters and hose down. • Spray water inside clogged gutters to clear them.• Remove crinkled caulking and roofing cement and reapply. • Check flashing (metal areas) for warps and holes. Secure any loose flashing to the siding or other surface • Secure loose asphalt shingles with roofing cement. 

I recently came across a very interesting article that pits many of our own self dilemmas against each other.  The columnist Jeff Opdyke goes through the mental hurdles involved with a simple whirl tub replacement.  A great article, that will hopefully help you decide what to do in your next remodeling project.

“There’s demolition work needed to remove the tub, as well as some plumbing. But we never really liked the triangular shaped tub to begin with. And to be honest, the nearby glass-and-brass shower isn’t our style; the light fixtures and vanities need to go; the white floor tiles are too sterile; and the mirrors are plain.”

The entire article available at: Home Sweet Home: But at What Price?  

By Elio Parente Prudential (DBA) 

As with all industries, real estate professionals have developed a lingo and acronyms to help them communicate with each other more easily. For the first-time homebuyer (and even some veterans), making sense of property listings can sometimes leave you feeling like you’re deciphering the DaVinci Code.

Let’s take a look at a sample real estate listing:

2,500 sf on a c-d-s, 2BR, 2.5BA, CA, spac grt rm w/ wbfp, grmet kit, det gar

Looks a lot like alphabet soup. However, using this type of abbreviated property description saves valuable advertising space. Some abbreviations you’ll probably encounters are:

·         AC or A/C: air conditioning

·         BA: bathroom

·         BR: bedroom

·         CA: central air

·         C-D-S: cul de sac

·         DET: detached

·         DK: deck

·         EIK: eat-in kitchen

·         F/FIN BSMT: finished basement

·         FDR: formal dining room

·         FP, frplc: fireplace

·         GAR: garage

·         GRMT KIT: gourmet kitchen

·         GRT RM: great room

·         HDW, HWF, Hdwd:  hardwood floors

·         HOA: home owners association

·         LR: living room

·         KIT: kitchen

·         OFC: office

·         PVT: private

·         SF: square feet

·         SPAC: spacious

·         VW, VU: view

·         WBFP: wood-burning fireplace

In addition to the abbreviations in property listings, here are a few other common terms you should become familiar with.

FSBO—For Sale By Owner.  This term refers to a property which the homeowner is trying to sell independent of a real estate professional.

MLS—Multiple Listing Service.  MLSs are comprised of a group of real estate brokers who have agreed to share their property listings. This listing is then provided to the group through a database or directory.  If you are buying your home, this is the service that your sales professional will use to search for potential homes for you to purchase. If you are selling your property, your real estate professional can list your home through the MLS. For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) properties are typically not listed through the MLS.

CMA—Comparative Marketing Analysis.  This analysis is an informal assessment of a property’s market value. This is one of the tools your real estate professional can use to help you determine a reasonable listing price. Usually, the CMA compares your property with similar properties that have sold in your area within a certain time frame. Besides purchase price, some of the information typically listed is the number of bedrooms and baths, approximate square footage, size of major rooms, amenities such as fireplaces and pools, age of the home, and property taxes.

During the real estate process, you’ll more than likely come across more acronyms and lingo. Make sure you ask your real estate professional to explain any terms you are unfamiliar with so that you are not in for any surprises.

By the way, the listing above was a 2,500 square-feet home on a cul-de-sac, with two bedrooms and two and a half baths, central air, a spacious great room with a wood-burning fireplace, and a gourmet kitchen and detached garage.

Family Watchdog Sex Offender Locator

 http://www.familywatchdog.us

This is a great tool for keeping our children safe.  The site was developed by John Walsh from America’s Most Wanted.  Enter your address and a map will pop up with your house as an icon and red, blue, and green dots.  Click on the dots and the offender living at that address will pop up with the crime they committed.  Schools are also shown as an icon and you can locate the offenders closest to your children’s school.  Show the pictures to your children so they can be aware.

I’ve enjoyed the Monrovia street fair for a long time but where did all the fruit vendors go? When I was a kid I remember going to Myrtle ave and looking forward to getting some fresh local strawberries, some tasty apples and possibly some beef jerky. Alot has changed where now it doesn’t seem to be much more than street vendors pushing knockoffs from china. Don’t get me wrong there are still a few sweet spots where you can pick up some quality stuff but is Myrtle ave becoming a glorified Tijuana? I would love to hear any response from people that went to the street fair in the 80’s and 90’s.

Technology is ever evolving, and at an alarming rate too. I’ve always been interested in how new advances in technology can help my clients as well as myself in the field of Real Estate in general.

An article on news.com introduces a new way for homeowners to save on utility bills while saving the environment at the same time. According to the article,

“Combined heat and power systems, already available for industry and large buildings, are designed to harvest what is normally wasted heat during the process of power generation. As fuel is burned to make electricity, the resulting heat is captured and piped through a home’s existing hot-air heating system.“

While it’s not the first Micro-CHP system around, it’s the first in this country to be offered to homeowners who will be able to use this system as well. Although it might be a bit costly at first, it’s something that can pay for itself in a short time considering the costs of high-end furnaces these days and the amount of energy we use…

“Greener than the grid
At $13,500, the cost of the system is roughly twice what somebody would pay for a high-end furnace, Guyer said. But he calculates that people can save $800 to $1,000 a year on electricity, which means the payback would be quicker than conventional heating.“

For those living in the New York City region, there is even more incentive for owning one of these units in your home now as well, in the form of rebates.

“Because of its high efficiency, the micro-combined heat and power system qualified for a utility-sponsored incentive program. Keyspan Energy Delivery, which serves Massachusetts and other eastern U.S. regions, offers a $2,000 rebate because the system fits into its efficiency programs, according to the company.“

Imagine as well how this might affect the price of your home if you were to sell it later on. The savings on electricity and heating would be a giant factor in convincing buyers to want a piece of real estate property that automatically promised a huge savings in the future.

For more information, the full article is HERE.

Before you start looking at homes for sale, be sure you do some “homework.” Here are some of the questions for which you’ll need answers:

• Check out interest rates
  What are current local mortgage interest rates for 15-year and 30-year fixed rate mortgages, and for 1-, 3- and 5-year adjustable rate mortgages?

• Shop for the best loan
  Which type of loan is best for you? Will you be in the house several years and benefit most from a long-term fixed rate, or do you want a lower, short-term rate because you plan to move soon or expect your income to increase rapidly over the next few years?

• Determine how much house you can afford
  How much of a mortgage can you qualify for? The loan amount plus your down payment tells you how much house you can afford.

• Investigate neighborhood prices
  What neighborhoods feature homes in your price range?

• Separate needs from wants
  What are your priorities for your next home? How important are public transportation, community facilities, on-street parking, lot size, privacy? How many bedrooms and baths will you need? Will you need a space for a home office? How important are quality neighborhood schools?

Chances are you can answer a couple of these questions on your own, but you may need some assistance with the others. If you do, please call or e-mail us. We can make sure you have the preliminary house-hunting information you need.

WWW.teddybgriffin.com for more information for 1st time home buyers

Over the past several weeks, I’ve ran into folks who are SO preoccupied with getting the best interest rate on their home loan - I thought that mania deserved some attention.

When you want to buy a house, chances are you won’t have the full amount to plop down.  You need a loan.  Banks charge money for lending money.  The amount they charge is governed by the interest rate of the loan.

A lower interest rate will save you money.  No questions there.  But people are quibbling over 6.1% or 6.15%! 

 Perspective:

Ask anyone who lived through Nixon and Carter - anything under 10% ain’t that bad.  Yes, ain’t.  You hear that Dakota County?

You should absolutely try to secure the lowest rate possible, but don’t drive yourself crazy doing it.  If you live in the Twin Cities area, I personally use Jesse Geiken at Lakeland Mortgage for all my lending needs.  I’m pretty proficient when it comes to loan issues, but Jesse is a true expert.  I go to him for all my lending needs, including the really difficult stuff.  You should too.

Oh, and he’ll advise you on which loans are flat-out terrible.  There are some loan schemes out there that are down-right predatory.  Jesse will steer you clear of these as well.