home thoughts: Another Happy Family Living in a Tiny House
- 05/30/17 07:38 PM
If you liked last week’s blog about the Berzins, a family of four living in a 320-sq.-ft. home, but didn’t care for the rustic look of their modern-day little house in the mountains, I’ve found another tiny house you might like better.
Debra and Gary Jordan built their 320-sq.-ft. cottage-style home in Siloam Springs, Ark., (for $20,000, plus a monthly land fee) because they wanted to live a simple, debt-free lifestyle. Like Harry Berzin, Gary Jordan lost his job when his company closed in 2008. Both couples responded to unemployment by moving into extremely small homes that simplified their lives.
Ironically, Siloam Springs … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: What Should Be in an Emergency Survival Kit?
- 01/31/17 05:14 PM
You can’t prevent disasters, but you can take charge of how you respond if you’re prepared. The first step is putting together an emergency preparedness kit.
What should go in an emergency kit? Here are the basics:
Your Most Important PapersIf a flood destroys your home, you could spend weeks or even months just trying to re-create the essential documents you’ll need to get back on track. That’s why it’s critical to have backups of important papers, such as:
The deed to your house. Proof of insurance. Medical records. Passports. Social security cards. A list of personal contacts. Keep one set at home … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: How to Get a Playground Built in Your Neighborhood
- 01/01/17 06:31 PM
Love your home but wish the neighborhood offered more for kids? You can spearhead efforts to build a new playground that children will love and homebuyers will desire.
“We’ve seen some tremendous dedication in fundraising, community partnerships, and use of available resources where small groups have done wonderful things,” says Anne-Marie Spencer, marketing director for GameTime, a playground equipment manufacturer. “Basically, if a community wants a playground, they can build one.”
A new play space will benefit adults as well as kids because amenities contribute to property values. In South Florida, extensive recreational amenities boost home prices in master-planned communities by 10% to … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: Condo Association Newsletter Helps Owners Feel More at Home
- 11/16/16 09:12 AM
Peek behind the curtains at strong, connected condominium and homeowners associations, and you'll find leaders who believe in frequent and open communication. A longstanding--and effective--means to that end is an association newsletter.
A condo/HOA newsletter is a simple tool for circulating critical association information and building bridges between neighbors that will strengthen the whole association. The more informed owners are about your community and the more connected they feel to fellow residents, the more likely they'll participate in a positive way. That improves all owners' property values, according to studies by Dennis P. Rosenbaum, director of the Center for Research in Law … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: Delinquent HOA Fees: How to Collect
- 09/20/16 10:55 AM
As difficult as it may be, there’s really only one way to deal with homeowners who aren’t paying community association fees: Get tough.
No one enjoys forcing payment plans, filing liens, or even foreclosing on their neighbor's home. But when homeowners don’t pay their homeowners association fees, the rest of the neighbors must pick up the slack through higher fees, special assessments, or reduced spending on community upkeep and amenities.
The cost of delinquency
Nationwide, non-payment of HOA fees is among the top problems facing condo, single-family, and other planned development associations today, says Thomas M. Skiba, chief executive officer of the Community Associations … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: Getting a Historic Designation for Your Home
- 08/11/16 11:06 AM
A historic designation for your home takes a lot of time and research, but the payoff can be grand: getting official recognition of your home's architectural style or its ties to events or people who were important in the past.
The good news about getting a historic designation for your home is that it's easier than doing it for your entire neighborhood. But you may be better off taking the extra time to designate the neighborhood because studies suggest home values rise when an entire neighborhood is declared historic.
Want to get your home designated as historic? Consider these issues:
Know what “historic” means
Is … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: No Mothers-In-Law Allowed: The 7 Craziest Local Laws and HOA Rules
- 07/27/16 10:49 AM
It’s important to know the laws of your land and your neighborhood. Both governments andhomeowners associations, or condo associations if you are a condo-dweller, can levy powerful—and sometimes incredibly strange—restrictions and requirements. Some can be pretty costly, as Pennsylvania residents recently found out with the potential new requirement for sprinkler systems in single-family homes.
Even celebrities such as Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson can be at odds with an HOA. Here are seven crazy examples of laws and HOA rules:
1. Can't park your car in your own driveway.
In Odessa, Fla., a resident was fined by his board for parking his … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: Got Problem Neighbors? Mediation Might Work
- 06/21/16 10:51 AM
Can’t resolve a dispute with a problem neighbor? A mediator might be the cheapest way to end the fight. Mediation is often free via the National Association for Community Mediation.
Volunteers at mediation organizations like the Conflict Resolution Center in Minneapolis listen to both sides of an issue and point out areas of common ground to guide the parties involved in crafting their own win/win solution.
You also can hire a private mediator if you’re willing to part with somewhere between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars, depending on how long you and your problem neighbor take to reach a compromise. … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: Noisy Neighbors: How to Turn Down the Volume
- 06/19/16 11:21 AM
When your next-door neighbor's decrepit air conditioning unit clanks and whirs so loudly you can’t sleep even with earplugs, or your upstairs neighbors clomp around day and night on hardwood floors, it’s time to launch a campaign to quiet your noisy neighbors.
Show your noisy neighbors how loud they are.
Step one in your noisy neighbor silencing plan is to invite them over to hear firsthand what you hear. If the neighbors smile, nod, and ignore your verbal request, write them a polite note about the problem and keep a copy for yourself. This note and others that you’ll write will help prove … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: Neighbor Stories: 6 Horror Tales of Bad Neighbor Behavior
- 05/31/16 10:38 AM
Next week, children all across America will be knocking on neighbors’ doors chirping “Trick or treat!” and skipping back home with hoards of candy. But we don’t all have neighbors like Mr. Rogers. Every home comes with a community; people you live with all year round. For Halloween, HouseLogic presents a few horror stories of bad neighbor behavior — and offers some practical advice.
The Chicken Coup
It started Sept. 21, when a chicken-owner from Tyler, Texas, saw his neighbor’s dog carrying off one of his chickens — and it ended with gun shots, reported the local NBC affiliate KETK. According to investigators, … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: Estate Tax, Tax Credits, Flood Insurance: An Update on Tax Issues
- 05/05/16 06:26 PM
Estate tax in flux
Even top tax experts confess confusion as they try to figure out what’s happening with the estate tax.
Here’s a quick summary: As of October 2010, Congress still hasn’t restored the federal estate tax despite predictions they would reinstate it retroactive to January 1. Now, many experts are saying that Congress isn’t likely to pass a retroactive estate tax this year. The 2011 status remains a mystery.
What should you do?
First, if you inherit an estate in 2010 you get it free of estate tax. However, it’s likely the estate tax will return in 2011. Unless Congress steps in, estates … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: Neighborhood Historic Designation Can Raise Property Values
- 03/28/16 11:05 AM
A neighborhood historic designation won’t guarantee home values in the historic district will rise, but studies show it’s likely.
Home values rose 5% to 35% per decade in more than 20 historic districts nationwide, compared with home values in undesignated neighborhoods in the same communities, according to a 2007 analysis by Jonathan Mabry, historic preservation officer for Tucson, Ariz.
The biggest property value boost comes from local historic district designations and districts that layer local and national designations, the study says.
Why neighborhood historic designations protect property values
Even if your home’s price doesn’t rise, it’s less likely to fall if your neighborhood is in … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: Not Sure How to Price Your Home? Use These Expert Strategies to Hit the Sweet Spot
- 03/21/16 10:55 AM
You don't need to be Bob Barker to know when the price just isn't right. Just ask Candace Talmadge. She originally listed her Lancaster, Texas, home for $129,000, but "eventually had to accept the market reality" and chop $4,000 off the price.
The home's location proved challenging: Buyers were either turned off by the area — a lower-income neighborhood south of Dallas — or unable to afford the home.
"Sellers have to keep in mind the location," says Talmadge. "Who are going to be the likely buyers?"
Home pricing is more of a science than an art, but many homeowners price with their heartstrings … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: Here's Why You Should Totally Snoop When House Hunting
- 03/06/16 09:07 AM
Ah, house hunting. It may technically be shopping, but it can feel more like breaking and entering. Even though you know the seller wants you there, does anyone really want you traipsing through their bedroom? Or looking through their closet? Or digging around in their basement? Awwwwkward.
But here's something that should feel weirder: buying a home without knowing absolutely everything you can about it. The only way to avoid the second awkwardness is to face the first head on. When you're house hunting, don't think of poking around in someone else's home as nosiness. It's a smart, must-do investigation.
Here are six things you should … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: What Makes a Neighborhood or Home Worthy of a Historic Designation?
- 02/03/16 08:42 AM
Research the answers to these three questions to figure out if your home or neighborhood will qualify for a historic designation:
1. What did your home or neighborhood do in history besides exist?
Structures generally are considered historic if they're at least 50 years old. But old age alone won’t get your home a designation. The National Trust for Historic Preservation offers a guide for researching the history of your home. The more historical facts you can dig up, the more likely you are to get a designation.
Did anyone famous live there? Was your home or community the site of a historic … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: 5 Steps to Get Rid of Your HOA
- 02/02/16 11:11 AM
Want to get rid of an HOA that drives you batty with its rules, spends all your dues money, and doesn’t even mow the lawn?
It's possible that you could dissolve your association if you live in a community that only has a few homes and no big-ticket, high-maintenance amenities like a pool.
Here’s how to go about it:
1. Read the Rules
The covenants, conditions, and restrictions, or CC&Rs in association-speak, may cover the dissolution process. If you can't find the copy you got when you closed on your home, ask the community board for the CC&Rs.
2. Check Your State Law
Your state may have … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: Condo Rental Restrictions: How to Limit Rentals to Keep Your Condo Value Up
- 01/24/16 09:09 AM
Are renters taking over your condo building? If more than 50% of units are home to renters, your property value takes a hit because FHA won’t finance loans to buyers for your condo or refinance your existing loan. Plus, would-be buyers typically seek out condos in buildings that are majority owner-occupied based on the perception that owners are quieter and more stable than renters.
2 ways to add a condo rental restriction
1. Cheap and easy: If your condo declaration (the legal document that lays out the condo’s rules) doesn’t mention rental limits, the condo board can pass one or more rulesthat:
Cap the … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: Property Line Disputes: Peaceful Ways to Settle Boundary Issues
- 12/01/15 08:41 AM
When facing a property line dispute, take a deep breath before jumping to conclusions. At the end of negotiations, you still have to live next to these people. But don’t let property line encroachments go unanswered. Inaction could haunt you when it’s time to sell; it could also cost you part of your land.
So gather your paperwork, bake a peace-keeping strudel, and try to work things out with neighbors who claim your elm is in their yard, or you suspect have built their fence on your property.
Know your line
Before you march across your lawn, find your settlement papers and search for … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: Want to Help Your Community? Food Banks Are in Dire Need
- 11/17/15 08:36 AM
Neighborhood food pantries and food banks are desperate for donations of food, funds, and folks; and the need is growing all the time. If you’re a home owner, you’re in a generous group: Home owners are more likely to donate to non-profits than renters, so if you’re in the mood to donate, food banks could use your help.
“Food assistance has gone from an emergency to a chronic need,” says Shannon Traeger of Feeding America, an umbrella group for more than 200 food banks throughout the U.S. “People are chronically depending on food pantries to feed themselves and their family.”
Here’s how you … (0 comments)
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home thoughts: This New Law Will Protect You From Surprise Closing Costs
- 11/11/15 08:48 AM
If you're about to close on a new house, your timing couldn't be better. Thanks to new mortgage rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that kicked in on Oct. 3, 2015, there's good news on the dreaded loan paperwork front.
You'll now receive transparent loan and closing documents, which could save you money on small-print fees you might otherwise miss. In addition, you'll get these docs three days prior to closing -- not 15 minutes as sometimes happens -- before it's time to make everything official.
The downside? The new rules, nicknamed "Know Before You Owe," bring some challenges. But a … (0 comments)
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If you liked last week’s blog about the Berzins, a family of four living in a 320-sq.-ft. home, but didn’t care for the rustic look of their modern-day little house in the mountains, I’ve found another tiny house you might like better.
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