William Raveis - The Dolores Person Group
12 Federal Street, Newburyport, MA 01950
978-609-1041 | [email protected]
12 Federal Street, Newburyport, MA 01950
978-609-1041 | [email protected]
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
When you’re looking into buying a new home, one of the decision you’ll need to make is if you want to live in an HOA community or not. Homeowners association (HOA) communities offer certain advantages and disadvantages compared to non-HOA communities. Knowing more about these pros and cons can help you make the right decision on where to look for your new home.
Being part of an HOA community means that you’re less likely to have to deal with unkempt properties or unusual yard decor around you. HOAs generally have a set of rules that homeowners must follow, or they face being fined. The goal is to ensure that the community maintains a tidy, visually appealing appearance. You might also have access to community amenities as part of your HOA membership, such as a pool or clubhouse.
Living in an HOA community means that you’ll be expected to follow the association’s rules and restrictions. Your experience with this will depend on the HOA’s specific rules and restrictions, which can vary widely from one association to the next. Some HOAs have strict rules or a long list of restrictions, while others are more relaxed. For example, you might only be allowed to use specific colors for your home’s exterior. You might also have to check with the HOA and get approval for any changes you plan on making to your home’s exterior or your yard.
When you choose to live in a non-HOA community, you are free to style your house and yard to meet your preferences and lifestyle. This provides you with more freedom to remodel your home exterior or make changes such as planting certain trees or installing a swimming pool or trampoline. When you’re not part of an HOA community, you only have to worry about following local property laws. You don’t have to keep track of HOA rules and restrictions or worry about being fined for breaking them.
While having more freedom to do what you want with your property might seem better, it’s important to consider the disadvantages of non-HOA communities. When you’re in one of these communities, you might have unsightly properties nearby that affect your home value and curb appeal. You might also have neighbors with an overgrown yard near you, which can raise your risk of having pest problems on your own property. HOA communities have rules in place to prevent these problems from happening.
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When you find the perfect home, you will probably make some changes in the décor since not everyone has the same tastes in colors and textures. Painting the interior, changing carpets and flooring and updating fixtures such as the showers, sinks, tubs and toilets are all updates many people make when moving into a new house.
If the house had a plain front door, upgrade to a door with sidelites. If the door is plain white and another color matches your home, you might change to another color at the same time. Adding a decorative door makes your home look more inviting and adds more value to the property as a whole.
If your home does not have a porch or a decorative entryway, adding one also increases the value of your home and makes it more inviting to your guests. A porch also allows you to decorate for the holidays, gives you a place to put shoes and boots if they are muddy or dripping with snow and ice melt. And, it allows you to do one of the most relaxing activities on the planet: Porch sitting. Whether you sit on the porch with a good book or a good friend for an in-depth discussion, you will find yourself relaxed and less stressed.
If you want to make the interior more luxurious, change the crown molding and the baseboards. You can choose from many designs. The taller the crown molding, the more luxurious it looks. Most baseboards are just flat boards, but you can find them with a beveled cut or other cuts that make them more decorative.
If you plan on replacing the flooring, replace the baseboards at the same time. That way, you won’t have to worry about damaging them when you remove them since you are putting another type there. Painting the baseboards and crown molding before you install them makes the job much easier – if you plan on doing it yourself.
Look at some of the new generation vinyl now available if you are looking for something that looks great, but is easy to maintain. It looks like real tile or wood – depending on what you choose – and it is very easy to keep clean. And, when you are ready for different flooring, it’s easy to remove and replace. Vinyl is also waterproof, so you don’t have to worry if the kids spill something on it. If you install it without gluing it down – as a floating floor – it’s even easier to replace when you decide to change the flooring.
A little paint in the trendiest colors, new flooring, exterior paint, a new front door is sometimes all it takes to make an almost-perfect luxury home into the perfect luxury home.
Most homeowners would love to be able to pay off their mortgage early. However, few see it as a possibility when they take into account their earnings and other bills.
There are, however, a few ways to pay down your mortgage earlier than planned. But first, let’s talk about when it makes sense to try and pay off your mortgage.
If you recently got a promotion, have someone move in with you who contributes to paying the bills, or recently got a secondary form of income, you might want to consider making extra payments on your mortgage.
However, having extra money doesn’t always mean you should spend it immediately on your home loan.
First, consider if you have a large enough emergency savings fund. It might be tempting to try and throw any extra money at your mortgage as soon as possible, but there are other financial commitments you should plan for as well.
If you have kids who will be applying to college soon, remember that student aid takes into account their parents’ finances. If your children plan on applying to institutions with high tuition, then your equity will be counted against you.
Refinancing your home loan is one option if you’re considering increasing the payments on your mortgage. If you can refinance a 30-year loan to a 15-year loan with a lower interest rate, you’ll save money in two ways--your lower interest rate and the fact that you’ll be accruing interest for less time.
There is a downside to refinancing. Once you refinance, you’re locked into your new payment amount. So, if your higher income isn’t dependable, it might not make sense to commit to a higher monthly payment that you aren’t sure you’re going to be able to keep paying.
There’s also the matter of refinancing costs. Just like the costs associated with signing on your mortgage, you’ll have to pay closing costs on refinancing. You’ll need to weigh the cost of refinancing against the amount you’ll save on interest over the term of your mortgage to see if it truly makes sense to go through the refinancing process.
Even if you aren’t sure that refinancing is the best option, there are other ways you can make payments on your mortgage to pay it off years sooner than your term length.
One of the common methods is to simply make thirteen payments each year instead of twelve. To do this, homeowners often use their tax returns or savings to make the thirteenth payment. Over a thirty year mortgage, this could save you over full two years of added interest.
A second option is to make two bi-weekly payments rather than one monthly payment. By making biweekly payments you have the ability to make 26 payments in a year. If you were to just make two payments per month then you would make 24 total payments. Over time, those two extra payments per year add up.
As a home seller, it is important to do everything possible to ensure your residence makes a positive impression on buyers. Because if your residence fails to impress buyers during a showing or open house, your home may linger on the real estate market for an extended period of time.
Ultimately, there are lots of things you can do to ensure buyers feel good after they view your residence, such as:
1. Bolster Your Home's Curb Appeal
When buyers view your home for the first time, you likely want them to fall in love with your residence. If you allocate time and resources to enhance your house's curb appeal, you may make it simple for buyers to see your residence's full potential and envision what life could be like if they purchase your home.
To upgrade your home's curb appeal, you should perform lawn care tasks like mowing the lawn and trimming the hedges. You also should repair any cracked or chipped home siding, as well as correct any other property exterior issues that could negatively affect a buyer's perception of your house.
2. Remove Clutter
Clutter is a problem that may make it tough for buyers to picture a future in your home. If you have excess items scattered around your home, there may be no time like the present to get rid of these items.
To eliminate clutter, you may want to host a yard sale or list excess items online. In addition, you can always donate any items you no longer need to a local charity or give them to family members or friends.
3. Clean Each Room of Your Home
For homebuyers, nothing beats a pristine, tidy home interior. If you clean each room of your house from top to bottom, you can help your home's interior make an unforgettable impression on buyers.
Taking a room-by-room approach to home cleaning may be ideal. Furthermore, if you need extra assistance, you can hire a professional home cleaning company.
Of course, if you are searching for ways to streamline the home selling journey, you may want to hire a real estate agent as well. A real estate agent is happy to teach you the ins and outs of selling a house and ensure you can maximize your home sale earnings.
A real estate agent can guide you along each stage of the home selling journey. First, he or she will learn about you and your home selling goals. A real estate agent next will help you list your residence and promote your home to dozens of prospective buyers. Finally, if you receive an offer to purchase your home, a real estate agent will help you determine whether to accept, reject or counter this proposal.
Clearly, there is no shortage of options to upgrade your residence and ensure it garners buyers' attention. If you take advantage of the aforementioned tips, you could simultaneously help your house stand out to buyers and speed up the home selling cycle.
