Choosing a Location

House in Lipsk.

Image via Wikipedia

When you’re trying to decide where to put down some roots and live for awhile, which house or apartment you choose to rent or purchase isn’t the only concern. Location is also extremely important. Before you go signing a rental contract, you should always take the location into consideration, even if the house itself seems like your dream home.

Theideal location for you really depends on what kind of lifestyle you lead. Somebody who loves to kayak on the weekends doesn’t want to live too far from a body of water, for example. Hobbies aside, if you don’t own a car, you’ll probably want to stick to living close to town or at least close to a bus stop, for ease of travel. A remote location for someone who has no car just wouldn’t be practical.

Your safety also comes into play when you choose the location that you want to live in. For example, some locations have hazardous weather. If you aren’t prepared to deal with the very real possibility of tornadoes mowing your rental home down, don’t rent anything in Kansas. If you can’t handle extreme cold, stay away from Alaska.

It’s really mostly common sense that dictates what location you choose — and since you know yourself and your lifestyle the best of anyone, you should be the one to decide where exactly it is that you want to live. Provided that they don’t have a hobby that limits them to a specific climate, such as skiing, most people have more than one location where they could live and be perfectly happy. And if one doesn’t work out, you can always move!

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Renting/Buying Tagged With: , ,

Things to Consider Before Signing a House Rental Lease

You’ve found the perfect house to rent, you get along well with the landlord, and you’re about to sign the paperwork. Hold it a second and read on before you scrawl that signature — you could be signing yourself on for months or even a year’s worth of trouble!

Rental contracts may all seem the same, but renting a house is decidedly different than renting an apartment or other residence. Read the agreement carefully, and watch out for the following in particular:

  • Yard care responsibilities. Read and see who is responsible for the upkeep of the lawn and yard. Most often homes for rent expect you to maintain the lawn and yard, including lawnmowing, snow shoveling and autumn leaf-raking, so don’t agree to that if you don’t think you’re up to it. Alternately, you can hire someone to care for the yard for you
  • Privacy. Check the rental contract carefully to see if the landlord is allowed to enter the home without your permission, or if they have written it into the contract that you have a right to privacy. Since the home is not your property, landlords can enter unannounced if the contract says so.
  • Appliance maintenance. Read to see if you or the landlord is responsible for maintaining the fridge, washer and dryer, dishwasher and any other large appliances in the house. If the responsibility falls on you, you must pay to repair these if they break!
  • Existing damage. Do a walkthrough right away. Document any existing damage with photos and a written list to prevent losing some or all of your deposit later if the landlord believes thatyou caused that damage.
Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Renting/Buying Tagged With: , ,

Using Low-ball Offers to Get a Home For Less

Picture of the

Image via Wikipedia

In real estate, the term “low-ball offer” refers to an offer to an offer to purchase a property for less than the listed price — typically at least ten percent below the asking price of the home or property. If you are in the market to sell a home or property, this is bad news, because the only offers you may receive are low-ball offers — and the people offering them know it, so they are fairly confident you’ll pick one of them rather than rejecting everyone.

If you are in the amrket o purchase a home or property, however, then things work in your favor. Your low-ball offer could well be the best deal a homeowner is going to get for the property they have on the market. Homes that have been on the market for a long time tend to work even better for low-ball offers, because the seller is getting more and more frustrated with waiting for the home to sell, and may accept a lower price than the asking price.

To use low-ball offers to your advantage to acquire the home you have your eye on, do a little homework first. Investigate the going price of houses similar to or identical to the one you want to purchase, and then calculate your ten percent less (or lower) offered price based on the information you collect. Be aware that low-ball offers are almost always received badly; even if the seller accepts your offer, it’s below the asking price, so they aren’t going to be enthusiastic about the sale. Some will reject the offer outright — but one acceptance wins you a home.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Renting/Buying Tagged With: , ,