Americans are falling out of love with the idea of owning their own home. Find out why.

My friend and her husband have been looking to buy a home for about 6 months now that they are at the point in their lives to do so. This should be a happy time for them, however most of their posts on Facebook are nothing but frustration at the process. Their last post about the situation states they have lost out on their 9th house. In their frustration, she posted this article about their troubles. They have been consistently getting bought out of homes with cash offers. While they are not giving up on finding their dream home, it can make a person think twice on if it’s worth the hassle. As a Real Estate agent in the article explains, “It’s just not fun anymore”.

Below are the four reasons given as to why Americans are choosing to not own a home:

1. Americans now view a home as a poor investment. With the mortgage rates as low as they are, still the appreciation value of owning a home is lower. This means that the home will offer a negative amount of equity in a decade. Americans see this as throwing money away. Owning a home has always been one of the major factors of having financial security and being able to sell the house when the time came for more than its worth.

2. More young people may prefer renting. Due to the economy, younger people are finding it harder to find employment once out of school. Some may still live at home or be under crippling student debt. Even if they had a sense of homeownership pride, that may not be possible until much later in life. The article mentions that homeownership may see a downfall because of this notion.

3. Institutional buyers may be largely responsible for the housing rebound. We are all aware of the lower interest rates in the housing market, as it has been all over the media these last few years. This has lead to investors being able to buy up more properties than usual. With this added increase to the housing market, it is given a false hope that the housing market was being flooded with ordinary people (such as my friend listed above). Once the interest rates start going up, however, and the investors are not buying so many properties, the market may show that there are actually less ordinary people looking to buy a home than originally thought.

4. Americans are spooked about the entire economic outlook. Between politics, the housing market, the recession, and overall negativity of the economy, Americans aren’t seeing owning a home as the right move for them. They feel a sense of insecurity owning a home during these unstable times. The author mentions, “buying a home generally requires a sense of optimism about your own circumstances and, more broadly, the economy in general. Americans aren’t feeling it.”

Along with the negative aspects of owning a home due to these factors, one can get a sense of insecurity and failure due to the increased numbers of home foreclosures these past few years. It’s not just the unease of buying the home, but the fear of not being able to keep it.

I know my friend will continue to search for the home her and her family are so desperately searching, but I can understand why she is upset over the situation. What started as an adventure for her family and the next step in their lives has only been met with roadblocks and letdowns. Hopefully soon they’ll be able to find that one perfect home for them, but for everyone else, there’s the rental market to bide the time.

With the continuing drought, it is time to start conserving water. Here are 10 Creative Steps to save our beloved H2O

Though most of the tips in the links below will need to be done at your place of residence, there are a few here that a landlord can do to promote water conservation, even with a tenant occupied property. I will start with five steps a landlord can take to make their home more water efficient, and follow that up with five more ways both landlords and tenants can reduce water consumption by changing a few daily habits.

5 items you could install to reduce water consumption:

1. Install water-efficient appliances. A high efficiency toilet can save 20-25 gallons of water per day while a high-efficiency washing machine can save up to 20 gallons of water per load. As a landlord you may want to look into high efficiency items when it is time for a replacement in your income properties.
2. Install low flow showerheads and faucet aerators. This can reduce water consumption by 10-15 gallons per day.
3. Fix any water leaks as soon as they are noticed. Not only will this reduce the chance of water damage and mold growth, but it will also conserve the water that would be wasted. Even a small leak has the potential to waste gallons of water each day.
4. Install water efficient landscaping. Use “water-wise” plants. Reduce the size of the lawn with water-free items like bark, rocks, cement, or stone.
5. Install drip irrigation systems for your plants and shrubs. Drip systems could reduce water usage by 20 gallons of water per day.

5 daily habits to reduce water consumption:

1. Take quicker showers. By reducing your shower time by just 5 minutes you can save 15 gallons of water.
2. Turn off the faucet while cleaning dishes, brushing teeth, and shaving. Only have the water running while you are using it.
3. Only wash full loads of dishes or laundry. Only washing half a load at a time could be wasting 20 gallons of water per load.
4. Water your lawn early in the morning and only when needed. By monitoring the time and amount of water used on the lawns you can save 20-40 gallons of water and still keep your lawn green and healthy.
5. Use a broom to clean your sidewalks and drive way. Avoid gaziantep escort using the hose to clean off these areas whenever possible.

So there are just a few easy tips to conserve water. There are many more ways to conserve water. Below are a few links discussing water conservation where I found the tips I listed above and other ideas.

Have you received notice that the home you rent is going into Foreclosure? See below for information that may ease some of the worries…

So you come home one day to find in the mail a letter regarding a Notice of Trustee Auction. This letter states all the legalese regarding the home you rent being put up for public auction. What this means is that the current owner of the home is in default of their mortgage payments to such an extent that the bank is willing to sale the home to another buyer to recoup their costs. What does this mean for you as the tenant?

The natural thing to do is freak out thinking you have to move immediately. It is not the case that you have to vacate before the auction date. Actually, it is quite the opposite. There are federal laws that give guidelines about tenants staying in rental homes after a Foreclosure. Most specifically, the main federal law is titled “Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009” (PROTAFA). This law protects tenants from being evicted from rental homes sold at a Foreclosure Auction. It allows the tenants at least 90 days to find other living arrangements before eviction proceedings can commence. Furthermore, if there is a lease in place at the time of the auction, tenants may be able to stay the remainder of the lease term, unless the buyer of the property intends to occupy the home for at least a year. Tenants on the Section 8 Housing Voucher program and those in rent-controlled cities are also protected by this Act.

Another option that is available after a Foreclosure is known as “Cash for Keys.” What this means is that the tenants are offered a sum of cash for moving out quickly and turning over the property. Some tenants choose to take this offer to help move them into a new place.

Regarding your security deposit after a Foreclosure, there should not be any need to worry about getting it back. The new owner is held just as liable for returning the security deposit to you as the old owner. The old owner can make deductions from the security deposit as legally allowed, remit the remaining amount over to the new owner, and provide you with a list of deductions. Some owners may just transfer gaziantep rus escort the whole security deposit to the new owner and let them handle the disbursement once you eventually move out of the home. Any way that it happens, you should rest assured you will get your security deposit back minus any necessary, legal deductions.

If you would like to read more on topics I have discussed regarding being a tenant during a Foreclosure, you can visit housing.ucsc.edu, stevebeede.com, trulia.com, or google.com.

Learn to gain control over your time while getting the job done.

As a broker and property manager, there doesn’t seem to be a quiet moment around the office for you. You are always hearing,” You have a minute?”, or solving inner office conflicts with the employees. Most managers find that their schedules control them instead of the other way around. For them, it results in late hours at the office, discord at home, stress and other problems.

Those who have the most difficulty handling their time are those who try to take everything on themselves. The main key here, that any successful manager will tell you, is it’s all in how you manage yourself. If you can manager yourself, you will start seeing results in control, time, tasks, and employees. Here are 8 Ways to Stay Ahead of the Curve.

1. Create office systems: Create a system that can help your team work better and more efficiently. By having a checklist, for example, is a small way to start setting up a system so everyone knows what needs to get done and who does it.
2. Use time blocking: Make appointments for things you need to get done. No matter how small or insignificant it may be. Having time set aside to do it will enable you to get it done. This also works with family time – just set aside 2 hours a day, every other day, and you will become more efficient with managing your time appropriately.
3. Create resources that answer questions: having a binder of frequently asked questions will help your sales team with their questions. It helps people know that there are other resources, other than you, to help answer their questions. Sometimes they can find answers to their questions faster then if they were waiting on you.
4. Texting: Have your employees text you a question instead of waiting for you to get to the office. This saves office time for you and gets them the answer they need while out on the job. You can also utilize email and voicemail to rely messages and to let employees know you are out of commission for a certain amount of time. Most of the time, your employees will figure the answer out by themselves if they are left to their own devises.
5. Allow your associates to solve their own problems: Every manager wants to be a good manager and sometimes they feel the need to solve every problem their associate puts in front of them. But what most managers fail to realize is that you need to train your associates to trust their instinct and to utilize other resources to answer questions.
6. Have backup: When you are out of the office, make sure to have a trusted employee to oversee operations while you are recouping. You want to make sure you put in charge someone who likes to be involved and are respected by others.
7. Schedule time to think: No, seriously. Some of the greatest thinkers know that having a time set to think is the best thing you can do for yourself. It doesn’t have to be for 5 hours or even 2 hours. As long as you set aside at least an hour to go over new ideas, and to analyze old ideas, you will thank yourself.
8. Commit to your personal time: Don’t become so busy taking care of business that you don’t have time to take care of yourself. You may have to force yourself to leave your cell phone behind, or to be home by 5:30. You can do a lot of damage if you do not take care of yourself.

When Shopping for the Best Rental, Give Yourself Some Wiggle Room

America is becoming a Nation of Renters. Home Ownership is no longer a part of the American Dream (at least for now).

Notice to Property Managers and Rental Property Owners: There are two statistics in this article that I believe will greatly affect our industry.

1. 54% of Americans believe that renting has become more appealing than homeownership.
2. 61% have delayed home ownership and plan to stay longer in their rental.

What this means to Renters and Tenants:

It is now more difficult to find your perfect rental home. You are competing with every other renter looking for the perfect home, and landlords are less likely to negotiate terms and offer concessions. Niccole Shreck offers some useful insight into finding the right home in today’s rental market.