Category Archives: Home Owners

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Authorities Uncover Growing Mortgage-Relief Scams

Federal and state officials have filed dozens of lawsuits against companies they say have been duping a growing number of home owners who are facing foreclosure with big promises to lower their mortgage payments or rescue them from foreclosure while collecting millions of dollars in illegal upfront fees from home owners, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Dubbed Operation Mis-Modification, federal and state officials are uncovering pockets of law firms and counseling services that they say are falsely offering assistance to modify mortgage terms or payments for struggling home owners.

Officials say it’s against federal law for companies to collect fees from home owners until the home owners have received a written modification offer from their lender or mortgage servicer.

Read the article…

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12 Causes and Cures for Common Home Maintenance Problems

Your house sometimes acts as if it’s alive — making strange sounds, emitting odd odors, and giving visual cues that say something might be amiss.

Here’s how to interpret what your house is trying to tell you, and how to recognize the early warnings of common home maintenance problems that are easily solved if caught early…

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Do You Really Need to Clean Your Air Ducts?

Contrary to popular belief, there aren’t any health benefits linked to cleaning air ducts, but having a pro remove gunk can boost the efficiency of your HVAC.

Five to seven times a day, the air in your home circulates through the air ducts of your HVAC heating and cooling system, carrying with it the dust and debris of everyday living.

Your furnace filter catches much of the stuff, but neglect, remodeling projects, or shoddy duct installation can lead to a buildup of gunk inside your ductwork that threatens the efficient functioning of your system.

Are Dirty Ducts Hazardous to Your Health? Read more…

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Solutions for Reroofing Your Home

Reroofing is necessary maintenance, depending on your roof’s materials. Finding a roofing solution that is the most cost effective and longest lasting can be confusing – how do you find what’s best for your home and budget?

The average roof consists of three layers of material. Resting atop your rafter boards is the first layer, known as the solid decking. On top of that is a layer of felt underlay, and finally comes the roofing shingles. Extra materials include flashing, a kind of siding that extends the roofing protection to the sides of the house, eves, and chimneys, and rain gutters.

You may only need to replace the underlay and shingles, but chances are good that you may need repairs to rafters or to the decking. So, the first thing you need to know is how your roof is constructed.

Read the article…

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Choosing the Right Surface Material for Your Patio

Puhrmann back

A patio can enhance the time you spend outdoors, add value to your home and save you money on landscaping maintenance. Just the thought of a patio evokes images of sun-drenched afternoons, relaxing evenings, cocktails and fireflies. In almost every case, a patio is a very attainable DIY project, as long as you plan well and choose wisely. The task is made more difficult, however, by the huge range of available materials, colors and patterns. Before you start a patio building project, it’s important to research your options and determine which material best suits your needs and abilities.

Read more…

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Do You Really Understand Your Home’s Equity?

As a homeowner, you probably think you know all about what your home is worth, what your interest rate really means, what you are paying out every month, and how to access your equity if you needed to.

But do you really? If your home is worth $20,000 more today that it was when you purchased it, does that mean you are entitled to all 20,000 of those dollars? Does having equity in your home automatically mean you can sell for a profit? Would you know what your best option was if you needed some equity in a pinch? Check out the these scenarios for a quick equity tune-up…

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Here’s Why Owning Your Own Home Really is a Good Investment

Home

According to a recent Gallup poll, more Americans are beginning to view real estate as a viable long-term investment. Thirty percent of those surveyed early last month took this view, up from 25% just a year ago. Gallup credited an improving housing market as being the chief driver of the change in popular opinion on this matter.

But, wait. Some experts, notably Yale economics professor Robert Shiller, disagree heartily with this view. In interviews over the past couple of years, Shiller referred to his research in which he studied home price appreciation from 1890 to 1990. He found that, considering costs of construction and inflation, homes really didn’t appreciate in value at all.

Does that mean that buying a home is a lousy move? Not at all, and here’s why…

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US Foreclosures Fall to Lowest Quarterly Level Since mid-2007

The U.S. housing market is back on its feet, aided by rising home prices, steady job growth and fewer troubled loans.

More U.S. homeowners are also keeping up with their mortgage payments. March was the 42nd straight month where U.S. foreclosure activity dropped from year-ago levels.

Read more…

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Are reverse mortgages easy money or just a dumb move?

Faced with rising medical expenses and longer life expectancies, many seniors are turning to their single largest asset as a source of supplemental income: their home.

Indeed, reverse mortgages enable seniors who are 62 and older to convert a portion of the equity in their home into cash without having to sell.

As the name implies, such loans are structured as the mirror image of a regular mortgage. The lender makes payments to you in either a lump-sum amount or in monthly installments based on a percentage of your home’s appraised value. Eligible homeowners can also set up a reverse mortgage as a line of credit, providing access to emergency funds on an as-needed basis.

The money received can be used to pay off your existing mortgage loan and halt your monthly payment, supplement your retirement income, finance a home-improvement project or pay for health-care costs.

Read more…

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10 Things You Should be Doing to your Home in Spring

Front Door

We’re all aware of the idea of Spring cleaning (whether or not we do it – we mean REALLY do it – is another story). If you’re ready to delve in, there are some tips for Spring cleaning, plus a few other Spring things you should be doing to your home. Ready to Spring forward?