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CREDIT: US ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERS A bill to make homeowners pay roof-replacement deductibles failed, but OIR says it can be an insurer option, such as lower premiums for owners willing to take a risk. Fla. Regulator: Insurers Can Offer Roof Deductibles

When you buy a home, there are one-time expenses, such as your down payment and closing costs, but there are also ongoing costs you need to prepare for. These costs include homeowners' insurance, property taxes and routine  home maintenance . With this essential guide to creating a homebuying budget, you’ll understand the costs of buying, owning and maintaining your home and how to budget accordingly.  READ MORE

Borrowers who have taken forbearance can nevertheless take benefit of record low mortgage prices for buying a domestic or refinancing their current domestic, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Tuesday. The FHFA made the statement to try to solve a  confusion about those who've taken forbearance all through the COVID-19 pandemic, which now totals about 4.1 million owners. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the FHFA oversees, will allow borrowers who went into forbearance due to the pandemic to refinance their mortgage or purchase a new domestic as long as they’ve reinstated their loan and made three consecutive months of their reimbursement plan, payment deferral option, or mortgage change from their neglected payments. Also, there's no ready period for borrowers who requested forbearance but in the long run were able to make their payment in full and on time, Fannie Mae notes. “Homeowners who are in COVID-19 forbearance but continue to make their mortgage pay...

When you own your home, things are going to break and, unless you want to spend your money on visits from a neighborhood handyman, you’re going to need to fix them yourself. Luckily, you don’t need an arsenal of tools to handle most home maintenance fixes. These five tools will cover most of your basic projects. Cordless drill.  A cordless drill is a must-have for installing cabinets, drawer pulls, hinges, picture frames, shelves and hooks, and more. Whether it’s for do-it-yourself projects or repairs, you’ll use your cordless drill just about every month. Drain cleaners.  Shower and bathroom sink drains are susceptible to clogs because of the daily buildup of hair and whisker clippings. You can use chemical clog removers like Drano, but they’re expensive and the lingering chemical scent is unpleasant. Instead, buy some plastic drain cleaners that can reach into the drain to pull out the clog of hair and gunk. You can purchase them on Amazon or at a local hardware store ...

An accent wall can totally transform a room, taking it from boring and drab to bold and exciting. Accent walls create a new focal point for your space, add liveliness and contrast, and are typically a very inexpensive DIY project. The starter accent wall You can easily add an accent wall to your room in one afternoon by applying a new paint color. Deep blues and bright oranges are common choices for accent walls, but choose a color that will complement your existing decor and overall design aesthetic. Interesting textures Bright, contrasting paint is a good starting point, but there are other options for accent walls that are even more eye-catching and distinct. Floor-to-ceiling wood planks can make your home seem both rustic and modern all at once and provide a natural, outdoors-inspired feel. It’s more work than simply painting a wall, but it’s still relatively inexpensive. You can source the wood from pallets on Craigslist and stain it yourself before attaching it to your...

Negotiation is a subtle art in real estate, but skilled negotiators can usually find some common ground that satisfies all parties. On the other hand, using the wrong negotiation tactics can sink a deal pretty quickly. Here are some negotiation tactics buyers (and real estate professionals) should avoid: Lowball offers: Going far below market value when you make an offer damages your credibility as a buyer and can be insulting to the seller. The seller has a range in mind that they’ll accept, and if you’re not even approaching the low end of that range, they won’t even consider the offer. Incremental negotiations: Don’t continue to go back to the seller with small increases in your offer ($1,000 or less). The constant back-and-forth can grow tiresome and lead the seller to consider other opportunities. “Take it or leave it”: Try not to draw a line in the sand with your initial offer. The seller can get defensive and consider other offers if you immediately show that you’re unwill...

When you put your home up for sale, one of the best ways to determine the asking price is to look at comparable sales. There’s rarely a perfect apples-to-apples comparison, so a pricing decision often relies on comparisons to several recent sales in the area. Here are five criteria to look for in a sales comparison. Location:  Homes in the same neighborhood typically follow the same market trends. Comparing your home to another in the same neighborhood is a good start, but comparing it to homes on the same street or block is even better. Date of sale:  It varies by location, but housing markets can see a ton of fluctuation in a short time period. It‘s best to use the most recent sales data available. Home build:  Look for homes with similar architectural styles, numbers of bathrooms and bedrooms, square footage, and other basics. Features and upgrades:  Remodeled bathrooms and kitchens can raise a home’s price, and so can less flashy upgrades ...

Originally published by Realtor.com.  By  Jamie Wiebe  |  Nov 7, 2018 HOME IMPROVEMENT You'll Save Money, and 6 Other DIY Myths You Need to Stop Believing Immediately MHJ/iStock If hours upon hours of HGTV binge-watching has taught us anything, it's that pretty much  anything  can be DIY'd. New deck? Go for it. Updated bathroom? You could have the walk-in shower of your dreams in a weekend's time. What's more, those TV pros make it look  so  easy. So if you have a big renovation on the horizon, we can understand the temptation to ditch the general contractor and tackle the job yourself. Have you caught yourself making these assumptions about your DIY project? Set yourself straight before you start swinging the sledgehammer. Myth No. 1: Home improvement shows are adequate DIY tutorials Watch  Jonathan and Drew Scott  rip out a kitchen wall, and you'd be forgiven for thinking ...

https://youtu.be/D1VMDFtB76E What Happens After Your Offer Is Accepted? Learn the basics of escrow and the closing process, so you know what to expect after you come to agreeable terms with the seller https://youtu.be/D1VMDFtB76E Guillermo "Bill" Sanjurjo Realtor® Cell: 786-232-1400

Refinancing” is a scary word for many people, but that shouldn’t be the case for you. For many homeowners, refinancing can not only lower your monthly payments and help with your monthly budget, but it can save you thousands of dollars in the long run. YOU’RE NOT TOO LATE. For years now, we’ve been hearing that interest rates will be on the rise, and although there have been some small increases, you’re still in a great position to drastically lower your interest rate. The general rule is if your mortgage interest rate is more than one percent above the current market rate, you should consider refinancing. IT’S NOT TOO TIME CONSUMING. Don’t brush off refinancing just because it seems like a long and daunting process. An informational call with a lender to see how rates compare will only take a few minutes. There are also some programs for streamlining the application process. And besides, isn’t the amount of money you could save worth the time and effort? ARMS CAN BE R...

If Maxine Waters Takes Over the House … It's a week since the midterm elections results were declared and the Democrats took over the House of Representatives. Now, come January 2019, the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees the United States banking system, is also likely to get a new Chair in the form of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California). A vocal critic of the current administration, Waters is expected to get tough on big banks calling for more regulations on financial institutions. Right after the elections, Waters released a statement indicating that she would make it a key priority to ensure “that [the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection] can be allowed to resume its essential role of protecting consumers from harmful practices without interference from the Trump Administration.” This could put her on a course to butt heads with BCFP Acting Director Mulvaney, or his appointed successor, Trump nominee Kathy Kraninger, assuming she is confirmed (...

"When  life gives you lemons ,  make  lemonade" I think most people understand that you can make lemonade out of lemons by adding a little sugar and water. But most of us fail at finding  the water and sugar. Finding the sugar to turn the market sweet is extremely important.  We are bombarded every minute with statistics, figures and projections but most of them are global in nature, either national, state, county or very few on  municipalities . Its good to have an overview of the market but Real Estate is local in nature, down to your neighborhood and often to the block level. It does not matter is your selling or buying having the right information, accurate, timely information can make or break many transactions. It used to take many months and maybe a year or two for the market to change significantly, now changes are much faster leaving little time to react. Everyone hears phrases like, I should have bought then..,or I waited too...

Knowing the reasons why homeowners choose to remodel can show how they influence today's housing market. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) conducted a Remodeling Market Index (RMI)  for the first quarter of this years. The RMI survey asks remodelers to rate market demand for the remodeling market at the present time as compared to 3 months earlier. In addition to the questions that provide the data needed to compute the RMI, the survey often also includes a set of “special” questions on a topic of current interest to the housing industry. Included a special question asking remodelers to rate their customer’s reasons such as desire/need for more space, wanting to avoid moving/buying  etc., as a motivation for remodeling their home. Remodelers where asked. Please rate how often your customers cite the reasons below as a motivation for remodeling their homes. Desire for better/newer amenities 4.3 Need to repair/replace old ...

The “American Dream” could differ depending on who you ask, but firmly on top of most lists there are two that out rank the rest. Home ownership is probably number one, closely followed by “ being your own boss” , this entrepreneurial desire affects the home ownership more forcefully than we can imagine. Why is being your own boss so entrenched? The promise of unlimited earnings and progress in a short time motivates and attracts the potential new entrepreneurs.  But another reason as powerful is that a great number are not new to the labor market. Many have years of experience, training and in a lot of cases college degrees, but, they don’t speak enough English to be hired in the regular job market for opportunities with higher wages to match their skills.      There is one exception, the Real Estate industry is probably the only profession that allows to train and take the State Licensing exam and obtain the license all in Spanish. Th...