Mortgage Forbearance Has Ended: Now What? During this pandemic that started in 2020 many homeowners found themselves out of a job due to local economy shutdowns meant to slow the curve.
Through government action homeowners with certain types of home loans were allowed to defer paying their mortgage due to impacts from COVID shutdowns. For those who were impacted economically by job loss or reduction in pay and have their mortgage payments in deferral may be wondering what actions they should take once the deferral of payments come to an end. This article explores what homeowners should be considering about their current home situation and their deferral of mortgage payments.
What Did The Deferrals Allow? People had to prioritize their spending due to either being temporarily or permanently out of work because of the the virus related shutdowns. Should You Defer? For those who are or were suffering a hardship deferring payments is a needed option. Options For When The Payments Come Due Bottom Line Additional Resources. The Complete Winter Storage Checklist For Your Belongings. With the cold season approaching fast, many homeowners start asking themselves if they know how to properly winterize a home.
Homeowners should start the process of winter-proofing their belongings. From tools and outdoor furniture to sporting equipment and recreational vehicles, most households contain items that need to be protected from rain, snow and freezing. Finding enough space at home to properly protect all these items away from the harsh winter weather can be challenging. Symptoms to Determine Is My House Haunted. Halloween is spooky.
Pandemics are also spooky, too. How about ghosts? Have you ever asked yourself is my house haunted? Now that is a scary thought! Ghosts are not the easiest beings to get rid of, let alone even find them. Smart Home Improvements To Do This Fall. Autumn is a fabulous time for home improvements and maintenance.
It’s not too hot, not too cold, kids are already in school, and you are hopefully well-rested and full of energy to tackle home improvements that matter the most. Homebuyers purchasing in the fall will appreciate home improvements such as these. Virtual Staging vs Traditional Staging. Staging a home is an important concept when it comes to selling houses or redesigning a house.
It helps in showcasing how an empty house would look in reality after it is furnished and decorated. Virtual home staging is the process of decorating a house virtually rather than going down the traditional route. But, what does virtual and traditional staging mean? Let's take a look. New Homeowner Safety Checklist. Making these improvements over the long term will be especially important if you have bought a fixer-upper.
However, before you get to the fun part, there’s something much more pressing you need to tackle, and that’s setting up security measures in your new abode. The primary role of a home is to provide you with feelings of safety and security and put your mind at ease. For that to happen, there are a couple of things you need to cross off your checklist upon moving in. Let’s take a look. Change the old locks. All About Smoke Detector / CO Detectors. It is important your home is equipped with properly working Smoke Detectors and Carbon Monoxide Detectors.
Doing so provides a level of safety to your home’s occupants from fire and equipment malfunctions. Many states like Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island require a certificate of compliance prior to a home sale. The certificate of compliance is to make sure your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are of the right type, placed correctly and are working. Other states, like New Hampshire, currently have no compliance laws that require smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to be installed.
Either way, statistics show that smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors save lives. 75 percent of fire-related deaths could be prevented by having smoke detectors properly installed and/or working. Massachusetts Certificate of Compliance for Smoke Detectors and Carbon Monoxide Detectors. DIY Home Maintenance Tasks To Complete When Stuck At Home. Smart Tips For Saving Money. By having a savings fund in place homeowners can weather the good and the bad times with less stress.
Even non-homeowners can benefit from having a savings fund since the money will be helpful during a “rainy day” event. Building up that savings fund does not mean big sacrifices either as some seem to think. Easy things can be done to start saving money that can translate into big numbers with the right effort as this article explores. Giving Your Kids the Gift of Equity. There are times when selling a home to a stranger makes the most sense.
But there are also opportunities for a person to sell their place to a family member while also giving that family member an automatic boost in equity. How To Give Your Kids The Gift Of Equity In the real estate world, this type of transaction is called a gift of equity. When done properly, it can be a real boost to the new homeowners while keeping ownership of the place within the same family. Example Scenario for Gift of Equity Suppose a married couple has lived in the same home for 20+ years.
If the couple chose to sell their home for the fair value of $400,000 to one of their children, the couple could gift $150,000 in equity to their child. This is a fantastic deal for the child since they will get the home at a fair price, but due to the gift, they will have instant equity in the home the day they close on the loan. The Buyer Will Benefit Handsomely in the Above Scenario. Smart Tips For Picking The Right Contractor. When the home is a castle making sure that home is in tip top shape or looks great is essential for both keeping the occupants happy and for retaining the value of the home.
Homes require routine maintenance and updating to keep everything in good working order. Deferred maintenance can quickly turn a great home into something that is unlivable. Using the wrong contractors can result in overpaying for a job or worse having the contractor create more problems than what were to be fixed This article provides tips for homeowners to find the best contractors to keep their home in tip top shape. Search More Than Traditional Sources For Information On Contractors One tried and true source of information on contractors is reviews on various review and social media sites. Contractors may even offer referrals from past clients as a way to show that people are happy with the work they do. Needs. Bring In Other Experts. Low-Cost Ways To Increase The Value Of Your Home. Small Kitchen Design Ideas for a Glammy Look - Tips To Remember. The primary factor that determines the type of kitchen design is the availability of space.
When creating the kitchen upgrades other factors that come into play include; the kind of appliances you will need, the lighting design, and type of design whether modern or traditional, etc. It is important that you know what you want to change specifically. The type of faucet, backsplash, and a good countertop material to buy. Measure Twice – Cut Once What a great saying. Well, I guess that’s not entirely true. You could design, build, tear out, re-design, over and over again until you run out of money. That wouldn’t be any fun at all, so let’s not do that. Eileen Anderson, REALTOR® Berkshire Hathaway. Summer Curb Appeal Tips: Turn Ordinary into Extraordinary. Summer Curb Appeal Ideas With the end of another school year behind us, now is the time to focus on summer curb appeal tips for your home.
Because there are some slight differences in the seasons, the curb appeal tips for fall, winter and spring will vary from the suggestions for the summer. The longer days and warmer temperatures will provide a good environment to finish up the exterior projects and also spruce up the outside. Listed below are ways to turn your ordinary home to extraordinary as you prepare to sell the property. Easy DIY Summer Curb Appeal Projects The first section deals with various projects that most people can handle on their own. Make the Front Yard Exceptional Most homeowners have no problem taking care of the lawn during the spring and summer months. Extra tip: if your area has suffered a dry spell and your lawn is closer to the color of dirt than grass, try a lawn paint. Put Some Pressure on the Driveway and Walkway. Great Tips for Gardening on a Shady Slope.
Gardening on a Slope with a Water Feature. What better way to in increase the value of your home than to create a peaceful oasis in your backyard? One of my real estate clients asked me for some advice on his backyard garden and hired me to create a peaceful place to rest on a summer day. There was somewhat of a garden there with a nice water feature but the soil needed amending with compost and fertilizer. The area was on a slope which made it difficult to work on and was also full of tree roots and poison ivy. The plants needed dividing and many more needed to be installed. Begin with cleaning up the slope and surrounding areas.
Fortunately, this slope was not very steep so terracing the garden would not be needed. I began removing the debris of leaves, dead tree branches, and pull vines from the trees. 8 Important Things New Homeowners Need. Smart Things To Setup After Buying A Home. Prior to closing on the purchase of a home the new homeowner to be should consider what types of services they will be needing for the home. For some of those services calls should be made prior to closing so as to make sure upon moving day the house has power, water and any other services needed to make sure everything goes smoothly. Most services that are acquired for a home are obtained by contacting the provider directly and letting them know the date the service needs to be turned on. Vacation Home Decor Ideas (Second Home Decorating) Tips On How To Build Up An Emergency Savings Fund. Whether you own a house or live in rented living space having an emergency fund is smart thing to do.
An emergency fund is there to help you in case you encounter some unexpected expense. As a homeowner if your furnace goes out in the dead of winter you will need to have it fixed so you don’t freeze or don’t damage your house in the from frozen pipes later bursting and causing water damage. Top 10 DIY Home Maintenance Tips. 7 Easy Ways to Boost Your Home’s Value. Ways to Increase and Build your Home Equity. Appreciation is an increase in price or value of properties. What To Do After Buying A House. Easy DIY Weekend Home Improvement Projects. Can A New Roof Be A Good Investment? How Can A Fence Increase The Value Of Your Home? What You Need to do in Late April to care for Your Trees, Shrubs, Lawn and Gardens. Pay Off Your Mortgage Early Without Breaking the Bank.
Smart Ways To Renovate Your Home. Often as real estate agents we meet with sellers that that are shocked to hear the renovations or remodel they did on their home is not worth what they thought they would be. The home owner could have went way overboard renovating their home…..or, they did some very poor workmanship on their own… o,r made some seriously bad choices in regards to renovating and remodeling . Summer Home Maintenance Checklist And Tips. Make Life Easier Around The Home With These 6 Gadgets! Let’s face it, you’re very busy. We’re very busy. Top 10 Affordable Home Improvement Projects That Add Value.
How To Avoid Foreclosure. 13 Things To Do After Moving Into A New House. Home Maintenance Tips for Spring! 14 Home Renovation Mistakes To Avoid.