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What My Money Can Buy

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Finding what price home you can afford to buy can be a time-consuming process of calling on numerous lenders and loan offices. Fortunately, there is a simple way around this. With a few easy steps, you can figure out for yourself the estimated mortgage amount a lender will approve for you. That amount, plus the amount of your down payment, gives you the price range of homes you are eligible to buy.

Let’s play a game call prequalification: First, you have to acquire the interest rate that is currently being charged for 30-year fixed rate loans. But, instead of calling several lenders, you can simply GIVE US A CALL!

Next, apply the following do-it yourself system:

1) Calculate your gross monthly income - the amount you make before deductions. Add your spouse’s gross monthly income, if any. 2) Multiply the income amount by 36% (.36). This is called the “debt ratio.”

3) Then subtract long-term monthly debts (more than 10 months), for example Alimony, child support, personal loans, car loan payments or regular payments toward a credit card balance. This is the usually accepted standard lenders apply to determine what borrowers can pay for, after a down payment of 10%. Some lenders and mortgage plans apply more or less strict factors, such as 33% with a 5% down payment or 38% with 20% down payment.

4) Also, many lenders calculate a “housing ratio” of 28% time gross monthly income. The outcome does not take into account long-term monthly debts. To be eligible for a mortgage, lenders may entail ratios of, say, 28/36. The first number means the maximum mortgage payment you qualify for could be up to 28% of gross income (.28); the second number means the maximum mortgage payment plus monthly debts could be up to 36% of gross income (.36).

5) Take a “guesstimate” of average annual real estate taxes in your area, plus the annual cost of homeowner’s insurance. Divide by 12 to obtain a monthly figure. (On Average, the monthly cost of these two things might be around one-tenth of 1% of the home purchase price. Ask us regarding your specific situation.)

6) Subtract the monthly taxes and insurance cost from both figures you came up with in Step 3 and Step 4. The outcome is the ballpark monthly payment on principal and interest you can meet the expense of to pay on a mortgage.

With the amount of principal and interest (PI) payment you can make in hand, we can give an estimate of the amount of mortgage you can attain at a variety of rates. Or use our mortgage calculation at our homepage. We will be happy to discuss the many alternative mortgage plans – besides the 30-year fixed rate – that can significantly increase the home price you can pay for.

Stop Renting, Buying Will Save You Money

Buying a home can save you money. Do you know how?

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Initially, you will save on taxes since your home purchase will grant you what is most certainly your major tax deduction – the interest on your mortgage. Next, you will save immensely on interest payments though keeping that great tax break by taking the benefit of little-known variations between mortgage plans. Basically, now you can BUY YOUR DREAM HOME AND SAVE THOUSANDS in interest and taxes.

Save With 15 –Year Mortgage Plan

Wish to save thousands in interest payments (and yet more after tax deductions)? Then reduce that 30-year loan term to 15 years. Moreover, paying interest for a shorter term, which saves you money, you generally get a lower interest rate, which means you may perhaps save extra with a 15-year plan. An extra bonus is the equity in your home grows faster because a shorter term means you’ll pay a slight more of the principal each month than you would with a 30-year loan.

Cut Your Interest With 13th Payment

You may also save on interest expenses with an additional inside secret – only by making one extra principal–only payment each year. By making that extra principal-only payment, you boost your equity in your home quicker and shrink the interest portion of the payment earlier than the customary payment plan does. In this way, you cut several years off the life of the loan, as a result reducing the total interest you pay.

Bi-Weekly Saving Strategy

Bi-weekly payment plans entail making a payment every two weeks, generally to a third party who then sends the payment to the lender. The expense, made 26 times a year, equals one-half of a monthly payment. In any case, be certain the payment is visibly labeled to be headed for the loan principal only, and not toward a late fee or contribution to an escrow fund.

Next Step :>

Receiving the right loan is part of the answer to saving thousands on your next home. But getting the most new home for the best price is a big part, too. Certainly, you will also desire to vend your existing home at the right price.

WE CAN HELP! Whether you require assistance selling your old home, finding your dream home or determining the best mortgage plan, call on our expertise. We will work with you to ensure you save thousands while you purchase the home of your dreams.

Use Points To Your Advantages

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Among the foremost things people inquire when shopping for a mortgage loan is what the interest rate will be. The respond is hardly ever a straight percentage rate; it’s a percentage rate with points – for example, 7% plus 3 points. Have you ever questioned what those points are all about? (You wouldn’t be alone!) At times called loan discount points, origination fees or maximum loan charges, a point is equal to 1% of the loan amount. Therefore, on a loan of $100,000, a borrower would pay $1,000 per point to the lender.

But why would borrowers want to pay points to the same organization that is lending them money? By paying points – a form of prepaid interest – borrowers can acquire a lower interest rate than leaders could otherwise afford to propose. In other terms, borrowers pay points to “buy down” the interest rate, as a result reducing their long-term interest cost on the loan.

Should You Pay Points?

Paying no points is an option. It is surely possible to take out a mortgage with no paying points. In fact, several borrowers choose to do so if they are short of cash for their home purchase or they don’t look forward to own the home for long. However for numerous people, receiving a lower interest rate is worth the upfront payment of the at least some points.

Pick the best rate-points combination.

What puzzles a lot of loan shoppers are the diverse combinations of rates and points offered from lenders. Is a 7% with 3 points, for instance, a better deal than a 7.5% loan with no points? If you consider that each point is worth about 1/8% to ¼% drop in interest rate, the two loans are roughly similar. Yet one of those loans possibly is better for the borrower, depending on his or her exacting situations.

Run The Numbers

Use a mortgage calculator to compare options. Say you pay 3 points ($3,000) for a 7% rate on a $100,000, 30-year mortgage. Your principal-and-interest payments would be about $408 per year lower than if you had taken a 7.5% loan with no points. You would, however, have to own the home a little more than 7 years for your savings to pay back your $3,000 points expense. What if you move earlier? You will lose more money in points than you will have saved with the lower-rate loan. Consider, too, that you could have taken the higher-rate, no-point loan and invested your $3,000 elsewhere. Whether you win or lose with this tactic will depend on the investment’s rate of return.

Be aware of tax consequences.

Paying less interest (because you paid points for the lower rate) means a smaller mortgage-interest tax deduction, dropping the real savings attained by buying down the rate. On the other hand, points are tax deductible in many cases. We will talk more about taxes later.

Paying For The Long Haul

Points make more sense the longer you own. How long you have to keep your home to recover your expenses depends on how much of a drop in interest rate your points can buy. If 3 points buy a ¾% drop in interest rate (rather the ½% calculated earlier), you possibly will get back the cost in just 5 years. If you owned the home for the full 30-year term, your savings could peak $12,000!

Paying Points Without Cash

Have the seller pay points. Instead of bargaining a drop in the sales price of the home, you could ask the seller to pay a little or all of your loan-points costs, reducing your cash outlay at agreement. Certainly, your mortgage or down payment sum possibly is higher than if the sales price had been dropped, however this approach may perhaps save you money compared with taking the lower price at the higher interest rate.

Points And Taxes

On top of being capable of deducting mortgage interest costs yearly, several homeowners can subtract loan points as well. The rules vary, though, for acquisition (purchase) mortgages opposed to refinanced and home-equity loans. Please note, the following tax information is provided as a general idea of IRS regulations concerning the tax treatment of mortgage loan points. A more inclusive discussion is offered in IS Publication 936, “Home Mortgage Interest Deduction.” We highly suggest you confer with a professional tax advisor or the IRS for authoritative answers to your personal tax questions.

Private Mortgage Insurance

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Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) permits home buyers to buy a home with less than the traditional 20% down payment. It has assisted several thousands of Americans become homeowners who would or else have been not capable to buy for lack of sufficient cash. We hope you’ll call us if you have any questions about PMI or any other real estate matter.

Historically, the less a homeowner has invested in a property, the higher the chance the owner will walk away from it if payments fall behind. PMI protects lenders against the higher risk of low-down-payment loans by paying the losses if those loans go into default.

Certainly, the exchange for the homeowner is a higher monthly payment to cover the expense of the PMI insurance. Except the payment doesn’t last the life of the loan. Once a homeowner’s equity reaches 20%, PMI insurance can be terminated, together with the monthly PMI payment. That’s what The Homeowners Protection Act is all about, effective July 29, 1999.

If you’re currently paying PMI or if you’re thinking about buying a home with less than 20% down payment, the information in this report could save you thousands of dollars.

Low-Down Buyer Beware

Even though premiums vary, it is not rare for PMI premium to cost between .5% and 1% of the loan amount per year. A $200,000 loan, for instance, could necessitate an annual payment of between $1,000 and $2,000 (or $83 to $167 per month, depending on the percentage of down payment). Usually, a PMI premium is first paid one year in advance by the buyer at the settlement table. Every month after closing, two things happen. First, 1/12 of that pre-paid amount is credited toward your annual PMI premium. Second, your monthly PMI payment goes into your mortgage escrow account so that sufficient money is collected to make the advance payment every year.

Request vs. Automatic

If you have reached 20% equity in your home through payments and market appreciation, then you can ask for to have the PMI eradicated. This was forever the case before the 1998 law, but nearly all homeowners didn’t know they had the option to do so. At present, though, the law requires lenders to send letters to homeowners, letting them know they’ve attained sufficient equity in their home from loan pay –down to cancel their PMI policy. However, they’re not mandatory to send those letters until the equity reaches 22%.

Alternatives To PMI

Private mortgage insurance is not the only method to purchase a home with less than a 20% down payment. Even though it has provided many homeowners well, additional programs and financing policies are accessible that may be more inexpensive for some home buyers.

4 Steps To Savings

Here’s the four-step process for canceling your PMI:

1. Call us for a free Equity Analysis. We’ll estimate the market value of your home and deduct your loan balance to give you an estimated equity percentage. Depending on the property and location, we can often give the analysis with a return phone call, or a visit to the property possibly be needed.

2. If your anticipated equity is at 20 % or more, you will require ordering a professional appraisal of your home’s value to use when submitting the written request to have you PMI policy terminated. (WE would be happy to provide names of local appraisers.)

3. Contact your lender and find out the company’s procedure for requesting PMI termination, then send in your application.

4. Once your application is approved, your house payment will drop by the amount you pay for PMI each month. As well, you may be permitted to a refund of any pre-paid annual PMI balance.

LOW DOWN PAYMENT ALTERNATIVES TO PMI

The explanation to why lenders charge private mortgage insurance is because they carry more than 80% of the risk of the loan. There are ways to limit the lender’s risk, though, devoid of making a 20% down payment.

One alternative is taking a second mortgage to cover the shortfall between your down payment and the requisite 20%. For instance, a first trust of 80%, combined with a second trust of 15% and a down payment of 5% (80/15/5) would allow the first-trust lender to remove PMI premiums. YOU would have two house payments, with the second, smaller mortgage maybe at a higher-than-market interest rate. The monthly payment might be lower than if you were making a single loan payment and paying PMI.

Another option is a “single-premium” plan. With this kind of program, you take out a larger loan to pay the entire PMI premium upfront, which is paid by the lender. YOU avoid paying PMI fees and, by making a larger payment possibly with a higher interest rate, you get a larger tax deduction. The downside is the higher monthly loan payment is for the life of the loan because there is no premium to get rid of no matter how much your equity grows. Certainly, refinancing or selling down the road is always an alternative to minimize this downside.

Keys To Investing Wisely

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Investing in real estate is not for everyone. However if you are searching for a way to boost your personal wealth, purchasing a rental property may be for you--- especially in today’s real estate market.

Keep in mind, any opportunity has a downside risk. Real estate is difficult, and every property is different. However, at present experience prove rental property investors can benefit from informed real estate professionals who can find the right property in the right location with the right financing. The key to success today is doing your homework and making sure the numbers work.

FOUR WAYS RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE INVESTORS BUILT WEALTH:

LOWER YOUR TAXES

Investor tax incentives can be substantial. Some investors can use deductions from rental property to offset some of their wage income. Other investors, while not eligible for the offset, can pass up owing taxes on their rental income by showing adequate expenses and deductions. Even if rental payments do not cover the investor’s expenses, tax breaks may actually make up the difference--- or more. As an investor, you can claim deductions for actual costs you incur for financing, managing and operating the rental property. Moreover, do not forget deductions for depreciation.

HAVE A POSITIVE CASH FLOW

A positive cash flow results when the rent you receive go beyond the sum you pay for the mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance and other carrying costs. You necessitate buying sensibly. Not all properties will yield high enough rental income to cover expenses. You will want to make sure your tenants make timely rental payments and take care of the property. A positive cash flow is not possible lacking rental income. A thorough credit, employment, and landlord check on applicants will assist you in finding good renters, and a strong lease combined with a required security deposit will help put you ahead.

BENEFIT FROM GROWING EQUITY

Even at a modest rate of appreciation, real estate may well yield a higher return on the cash investment than would some other financial investments, such as bonds or long-term CDs. Each mortgage principal payment you make is a payment to yourself. You build equity as your mortgage principal shrinks, even if your investment property does not change in value.

Even though homes in different parts of town might value at entirely different rates, the key is shopping cautiously for a purchase guided by knowledgeable professionals. Review your expectations and think about how long you plan to hold onto your investment. When you arrive at your predetermined “equity target,” it’s time to sell or refinance—and possibly use the cash you get for other investment properties.

CONSULT PROFESSIONALS

Your best asset in choosing investment property—whether a rental property or a vacation home—is your real estate professional. Knowledgeable realty agents can locate prospective properties, provide information and perform a market analysis, investigate local ordinances and regulations, and present your offer to the seller. Agents can also assist in finding the best available financing.

Foreclosure

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If you are like most homeowners, your mortgage payment is the solo prime expense you have every month. It is also the most important one. If you fail to make your house payments on time, you can lose your home – including everything you’ve invested in it – and ruin your credit rating for years to come. Alas, since mortgage payments are so large compared with other bills and debts, it may be the very payment you just can’t make when times get tough and cash runs short. If you are already late making one or more payments on your home, or if you can see you’ll have a problem making future payments, the time to act is now – before your lender initiates foreclosure proceedings.

What is Foreclosure?

Foreclosure is the legal process by which your lender can repossess (take ownership of) your home because you fail to fulfill the terms of your loan repayment agreement. If it turns out the value of your home is less than the amount you owe the lender (including late-payment charges and legal fees), the lender may seek a “deficiency judgment” against you. If the lender is successful, you would not only lose the home, you would be required to pay the difference between your outstanding debt and what the lender was able to recoup by selling your home. Both the foreclosure and the deficiency judgment would become part of your credit profile, marking you as a bad risk for credit from other lenders. Your ability to borrow money could be vulnerable for many years down the road.

Act Fast!

The more quickly you contact your lender when you’re having trouble making payments, the more options you will have for saving your home and your credit rating. Many mortgage lenders today are willing to work with homeowners who fall behind the outstanding amount in a variety of ways. The key, though, is to contact your lender and explain your situation early. The longer you wait, the more unmanageable the situation will become as you incur late fees and legal charges in addition to your mounting unpaid debt.

Inexpensive Fix

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Your home has only single opportunity to make a good first impression. The secret to receiving the most for your home when you sell is to spend some time, effort and money in advance getting it ready to sell. If you make the right improvements today, you’ll sell faster and pocket more cash tomorrow.

By making “market-smart” improvements, you will come out ahead. Certainly, every home can benefit from lots of elbow grease. But you can realize bigger returns when you go a step further with a few “best foot forward” improvements. The secret is NOT to undertake major remodeling projects before you sell. Spending too much on too many projects just drains money from your pocket. Prior to deciding which fix-ups are right for your home, call on us--- your neighborhood real estate specialists. As one we can tactically pick and choose the smartest fix-ups that will really make a difference.

Here are 20 secrets successful home sellers use to impress prospective buyers and bring a top-dollar sale. Remember, the secret is in selecting the smartest makeovers that will have the most impact on your home’s value and marketability.

1. Resurface the driveway and redo the walk so your home makes the right “cared for” first impression.
2. Install a new front door with brass fixtures to make your entry welcoming, then paint or stain the door surround.
3. Replace the garage door and install an automatic opener.
4. Put in a new flower bed, green up the lawn and replace any overgrown bushes in front.
5. Power wash your siding and deck, and repaint the trim or, if needed, the whole house.
6. Consider sought-after double or triple-pane windows or storm windows and doors that keep the temperature indoors comfortable all year round.
7. Install or upgrade porch and pole light fixtures to give your home a touch of elegance.
8. Redo the roof and gutters to guard against hidden leaks.

INSIDE FIX-UP

9. Repaint all interior walls using a neutral color to make the whole home shine.
10. Install new carpeting and vinyl or ceramic flooring.
11. Refinish wood floors to five that “new home” look.
12. Hang new chandeliers, recessed or track lighting, to make pleasant rooms brilliant.
13. Keep things cool with attractive ceiling fans.
14. Add elegance by replacing switch and outlet plates and register vents with pretty new ones.
15. Make over the kitchen: new countertops and appliances will help it sell. Among other things, today’s buyers want a disposal and dishwasher. Consider replacing or refacing cabinets to bring them up to date.
16. Replace bathroom lighting, toilet seats, medicine cabinets and bathroom hardware to bring a sparkle that goes beyond clean.
17. Update your home’s energy efficiency, possibly with a new furnace or additional insulation and new weather-stripping, so it costs less to operate.
18. Install cable TV lines and an extra phone line to the best room for a home office—even if you don’t need them—to upgrade you home’s electronic capabilities.
19. Reorganize and add closet shelves to make closets function better and appear more spacious.
20. Buy that new living room sofa or family room furniture you planned for the new home to improve the look of the home you’ll be selling.

Tips For Easy Relocation

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Plenty can go right when a family relocates: landing a new, more challenging job, perhaps with a larger paycheck, getting a fresh start in an interesting city, purchasing a just-right home, seeing your housing dollars stretch further, meeting new friends. ON the other hand, a lot can go wrong.

MISTAKES AT THE OLD LOCATION

MONEY MISTAKE #1

Failing to bargain a good relocation benefits package. Begin by studying your company’s relocation policy. Learn what benefits you are permitted to. Inquire about others which are not particularly mentioned. Following are some benefits you might wish to pursue.
• House hunting and spouse job hunting trips for you and your family;
• Corporate buyout of your home if it doesn’t sell in a timely fashion;
• A self marketing bonus if you do sell;
• Help with selling expenses;
• Full reimbursement for moving household goods—be sure to ask about vehicle transportation and other large, fragile or valuable special items;
• A rebate or lump sum payment for a self-move;
Assistance with home buying expenses, such as closing costs, mortgage fees, points, credit reports, title searches, etc.

MONEY MISTAKE #2

Failing to get a cost-of -living comparison previous to accepting the salary. If the cost of living is higher in the new location, your firm may make you financially whole with a salary increase, a salary-based supplement such as a cost-of-living adjustment, a mortgage buy-down or a corporate-funded down payment loan.

MONEY MISTAKE #3

Failing to engage the family in planning the move. Recognize it’s not just the transferee’s move--- it’s the whole family’s move. Every person will have a response to news of the transfer, to thoughts of leaving the old home and moving to the new, to leaving friends and possibly relatives behind. Face the fact that relocating is stressful both for you and for other family members and face family issues openly.

MONEY MISTAKE #4

Failing to price your home right. Setting your home’s price at what you would like to get, rather than what you are likely to get, is a big money mistake. Some transferees mistakenly set the price of the old home according to the cost of the new. What is probable to happen is your listing goes out of date as your overpriced home decays on the market. In the end, you may end up dropping the cost severely lower than its value to prompt interest in your old listing.

MONEY MISTAKE #5

Failing to assure appropriate treatment of household goods. First, reduce the expenses of moving household goods by downsizing, particularly if you are paid a lump sum or not repaid for moving household goods. Second, insure your house hold goods appropriately. Third, be aware of what the mover’s contract offers if your belongings are damaged or lost.

MISTAKES AT THE NEW LOCATION

MONEY MISTAKE #6

Failing to get loan pre-approval. In the hubbub to relocate, don’t overlook the importance of getting pre-approved for a mortgage. You will negotiate from a stronger position if you present yourself as a “cash buyer” and will be a more attractive prospective purchaser to sellers who know you’re ready and qualified to buy.

MONEY MISTAKE #7

Failing to learn the “culture” of the new city’s real estate market. To avoid a buying mistake, it’s crucial to know, for example, whether homes in the new location usually sell close to the asking price or considerably below. Know what items generally convey. Learn about the expenses of purchasing, including local taxes. Make certain you investigate zoning, neighborhood architectural and use restrictions.

MONEY MISTAKE #8

If you buy considerably more home in your move to a low-cost location, any future move to a high-cost location will be especially difficult; your family would require to get reaccustomed to a more modest home.

MONEY MISTAKE #9

Failing to establish your new family life. Don’t lose time and money. If your spouse is leaving a job and needs another, act on it even before you move. Find out the details of your company’s spouse employment assistance program, if any, to reduce the period of unemployment.

MONEY MISTAKE #10

Failing to work with a relocation specialist. Possibly the most expensive mistake is neglecting to have relocation specialist watch out for your financial and other interests. A relocation specialist is specially trained to work with transferees, understand your stresses and pressures, and help you navigate the relocation maze. An experienced relocation specialist can help you prevent the slip-ups transferees make.

Smooth Family Move

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Each family’s schedule for a shift will certainly be different. However a great deal of the hassle can be removed of from Moving Day by adapting an established schedule to fit available time. Feel free to move tasks to suit your special circumstances.

M-DAY (MOVING DAY) MINUS SIX WEEKS

• Change address at post office (effective on moving day). Keep a list of needed address changes; check off as notified. Change magazines and other computer-addressed mail now.
• Start a file of vital papers and remainders (an accordion file or three-ring binder with pocket dividers keeps them in their proper categories).
• Get estimates from moving companies. Plan ahead if moving in peak season of June through September.

Moving With Teens

WHAT EVERY PARENT NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT TEENS, MOVING, AND SURVIVAL--- YOURS AND THEIRS!

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Moving a teenager can be like uprooting a mountain. That is because most teens come up with a ton of oppositions to shifting from home, school, friends, jobs, activities. And no wonder. Teen years are notorious for change--- biological, physiological, psychological, and emotional. The last thing teens hope for is yet one more change to deal with.

RECOGNIZE THE HARDSHIP PERCEIVED BY YOUR TEEN.

Understand the importance of your teen’s thoughts and feelings. Departure from friends may seem an intolerable calamity. Shifting may seem to take control of their lives out of their hands.

LISTEN AND TALK.

Deal any anger with as much calm understanding as possible---even try some humor, regardless of the stress you’re under too.

INCLUDE YOUR TEEN IN RESETTLING PLANS.

If possible, let your teen come with you on home-finding expeditions. The house choice may focus in part on a school that best meets the teen’s interests. Tour schools, parks, social and athletic centers, shopping malls, libraries. Turn the Great Unknown into the Great New Beginning.

MAKE THEIR SCHOOL TRANSITION AS SMOOTH AS POSSIBLE.

Prior to moving, contact the new school for correct information on transfer of credits, timing of registration, deadlines for joining team sports or dramatics, music or dance groups.

CONSIDER THE TIMING OF YOUR MOVE.

The best timing depends upon your needs and your teen’s personality. There are pros and cons to both mid-school year moves and vacation moves. Moving during summer vacation is most common. It permits teens to finish the academic year with no need to adapt to a different curriculum mid-year. Midterms exams and final are less stressful when the teen has been at school all year. Additionally, your teen can go to long-awaited end-of-year team, club, political and educational activities and special school trips. The disadvantage of a summer move is the summer itself—long, possibly lonely months spent missing friends and dreading the first day of school.

Help Kids Survive A Move

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Kids can get lost in the shuffle during relocation. Parents are, understandably, occupied in the particulars of the move—perhaps selling one home and buying another, determining what to pack and what to get rid of, arranging for the transfer of medical and school records, and countless other errands that go along with moving the family to a new town. Even when it seems you have less time than ever, it is vital to carve out time to give children the emotional support they need during a time of transitions. Here are some strategies:

EXPLAIN THE ABC’S OF MOVING

One of the best ways to conquer children’s fears is open communication from the start. Inform them about leisure areas, places of special interest to children, schools, etc.

STAY UPBEAT

Children are inclined to copy their parents’ emotions. If you are happy, they’ll be happy. Make sure you schedule family time, such as dinner out with the family so the kids don’t feel forgotten. Pay attention carefully to their concerns and reply honestly.

INVOLVE THEM IN PLANNING & PACKING THEIR STUFF

To a small child, the world is made up of possessions. Have children pack as much of their own stuff as possible--- even preschoolers can help. Remind them, when the family gets to the new home, all their things in boxes will go right into their new rooms. Talk about how they’d like their new room decorated.

SAYING GOOD-BYE

Children, like adults, need closure. Help them prepare to move by creating a memory book. Take pictures of friends, favorite places, family members in favorite rooms of your home. Help your children create a scrapbook to remind them of the “old” home. Incorporate addresses and phone numbers of friends in the book.

WHEN YOU FIRST GET THERE

When the family arrives at the new home, set up the children’s rooms right off the bat. Open the cartons with their stuff and make them feel at home before they have a chance to feel “lost.” Make an effort to keep their schedules as normal as possible. That way, you will help give them the additional security they need in the new surroundings. Think about signing up for one or two activities--- sports or lessons--- to help your child meet new friends and continue special interests.

RELAX!

Kids are quite flexible, even if at first it seems they’ll never forgive you for moving. After a while, most likely they wi ll, often even faster than you would expect. Moving jitters may cause behavior changes which will, after some time, vanish as children find a new sense of “home.”

Mold

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Nationwide, toxic mold is a rising concern for home sellers, buyers, real estate agents and insurance companies. Toxic mold found in homes has been verified to be the reason for a variety of illnesses in or else healthy people.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Nearly every home has some form of mold. Even though most household molds are generally harmless from a health standpoint, yet even the common ones can cause allergic reactions in some people. Toxic molds, such as penicillium, stachybotrys, cladosporium, aspergillus and black mold, are a real health concern for humans who experience prolonged exposure to them.

Making Mold At Home

1. Moisture – This could come from a leaky roof, defective plumbing, bad drainage or high-humidity in areas such as a laundry room or bathroom.
2. A food source – such as wood, paper, fabrics. Leather, gypsum, fiberboard, drywall, stucco, and many insulation fibrous materials. Mold can even grow on glass, tile and stainless steel, but in such cases it is usually feeding on something attached to the surface of these materials – oil, film, dirt, skin cells, and so on.

Tell-Tale Signs

How do you know if a home already has a mold problem? Look for the following indicators:
- Stains on ceiling or walls.
- A musty, earthy or mildew odor.
- A speckled pattern (black, brown, orange, pink, green) on or behind walls, floors, tile, grout, plumbing, air ducts or other surfaces.
- Swollen or crumbling walls or bucking floor boards.
- Mild to severe unexplained illness in combination with the tell-tale signs listed here.

Testing And Removal

For mold on hard surfaces, scrub the area with detergent and water, and then allow it to dry completely. Bleach will also kill mold, yet, it should merely be used in well-ventilated rooms on non-porous surfaces that are not prone to stains.

Testing is surely a good idea after an area has been cleaned and dried to make sure that the entire mold was removed. Testing may also be essential if you have had recent water damage or you suspect an unexplained illness maybe the result of exposure to mold. Call in professionals with credentials that demonstrate they know what they are doing.

Pulling Up The Welcome Mat

Avoiding mold growth is a lot easier and less expensive than getting rid of it.

Repair leaks from roofs, chimneys, appliances and their hoses, water pipes, plumbing fixtures, air conditioners, water heaters, heating systems.

Seal up or caulk flashing (around skylights, vents chimneys), gutter seams, windows, doors, drains (from toilets, baths, showers and sinks), basement walls and floors, and areas where tile meets other surfaces around sinks, tubs and showers.

Clean and reseal tile grout regularly to prevent moisture from soaking through to walls and floors.

Remove wet materials caused by flooding, sewer back-ups or other water problems. Make sure items are dried quickly and completely before putting them back in your home. (You may need to discard items such as carpeting, unsealed wood and upholstered furniture, however.) Avoid over-use of water during carpet cleaning.

Cover or apply a sealant to exposed wood. Make sure siding is properly and securely fastened to the home.

Encourage air movement inside your home by keeping air vents and ducts free of debris and furniture away from interior air-intake and exhausts registers. Run ceiling fans during damp weather. Make sure your attic and crawl space are properly vented.

Avoid “lumberyard mold” by insisting on dry construction materials. Suspend construction during wet weather.

Maintain the interior humidity level at 55% or lower. Run dehumidifiers (stand-alone or associated with AC/heating systems) if needed.

Protection For Buyers And Sellers

As a home buyer, you can protect yourself by hiring an experienced inspector and making your contract contingent on approval of the report. You can also make sure your homeowners policy will cover mold-related damage – or purchase a rider policy that will. As a seller, consider having your home inspected for mold prior to listing it on the market. This will give you time to correct the problem and avoid possible post-closing lawsuits should your buyers experience mold-related problems.

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