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Prepare
Your Home to Welcome Old Man Winter
Ice,
snow and wind can have devastating consequences on
the coziest of homes. Last winter alone there was
over $1.5 billion dollars in insured losses due to
burst pipes, frozen gutters and other
weather-related disasters, according to the
Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).
"It is when
the leaves start to turn and not when the snow is
beginning to fall that homeowners need to get
ready for severe winter weather," says Jayna
Neagle, spokeswoman for the I.I.I. "A little
time and effort in October or November can prevent
the heartache of
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burst
pipes and other disasters when Old Man
Winter brings snow, freezing temperatures
and arctic winds.
The I.I.I.
suggests that homeowners
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Credit-Damaged
Buyers Can Obtain Home Loans
It's
credit called by many names ranging from sub-prime, it's
technical name to damaged, it's operative name. But in
essence it means that even though a buyer has
less-than-perfect credit, he can still obtain a less-than
"A" grade loan---about the only type of
risk-level mortgage available until a decade ago. Today,
it's a whole new world. Many lenders have the ability to
offer B, C, even D grade loans to credit-blemished
borrowers' with a range of glitches from slow pays to
bankruptcy!
Why are these loans vogue
today and how do they work? The lending community, in a
move to seize other streams of income, realizes that
sub-prime loans are a potential customized growth industry
(if the lender has the knowledge and desire to take them
on since they can be problematic to rate and to package to
sell to investors.) And second, lenders realize that heavy
credit coupled with life situations out of a borrower's
control like illness, divorce and death have made
picture-perfect credit all but non-existent. Wanting to
make loans to all types of borrowers, customized credit
lends flexibility and greater "rule-of-thumb"
reliability when evaluating
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Beating
Sellers' Stress
Three
things are certain in life: death, taxes ... and undue
stress caused by moving. And we're not just talking about
packing and paperwork. Moving is an emotional process. If
you're not calming down your nervous children, you're
trying to reassure yourself that you bought the best house
within your means and that your kids' new schools will
measure up.
Depending upon your
relationship with your Realtor, you should be able to rely
on him or her for more than just closing the deal. Your
Realtor also should be able to calm your trepidations by
giving you the support you need -- giving you the facts
about that new school district, reassuring you that your
jitters are perfectly normal, and giving you as much
information about your new hometown as possible,
increasing your familiarity with the previously unknown.
Reserve time for yourself
and your family. It's an insurance policy for your sanity
and continued happiness. Stress is sneaky. It can eat away
at us during what are supposed to be the happiest of
times, because after all, any major change in life is
stressful. If it's supressed, it can wreak havoc both
emotionally and physically and spread throughout the
family. And there's nothing worse than moving a grumpy
family across the country. For family unity's sake, keep
in mind the following stress-relieving measures:
1. Remember that it's
perfectly
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Moving
Day Etiquette
Moving
day stinks. There's no two ways about it. You've spent hours
packing up and preparing for the arrival of your movers. Then you
hold your breath as they begin the arduous process of transporting
all of your worldly possessions from one place to another. You
hope your furniture survives the journey and that your new home
survives the move-in process unscathed. Few of us are able to
claim that our homes or furniture didn't suffer a single scratch,
that a mirror didn't break or that at least one item wasn't
mysteriously lost in transport.
Amidst all of the stress, we often
overlook a few details of varying importance. You can't clone
yourself or your family on moving day, but you can create a
checklist of reminders. In fact, even if you're not a habitual
list-maker, it's high time you started. Because a list is probably
the only way you're going to get through your move without
overlooking something you shouldn't.
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News and Advice
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