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How
To Prepare Your
Kids for Moving Day
Amid
the stacks of legal documents waiting to be
signed, the stresses of last-minute
negotiations, and the unappealing prospect
of packing up all your belongings, sometimes
the children -- and the feelings they're
encountering -- get lost in the shuffle.
As you
prepare to move, you'll want to make a
concerted effort to ensure your children are
in the loop. While they may be going about
their normal routine with no visible sign of
anxiety, it's there -- or will be there --
once the big day arrives. After all, moving
means change -- new friends, a new school,
new places to go,
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and
a new set of concerns and worries.
There
are many things you can do to help
your child -- whether you have a
3-year-old or a 16-year-old -- ease
the transition.
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Do
You Have Valuable Papers?
While
there is much talk of a paperless society, the
reality is that you do have important papers
-- especially if they can't be found. So before the
moment of need arises, now is the time to review
what you've got and create a checklist of important
papers for you and for family, friends, and business
associates.
Why should you gather
such paperwork together? It will help you
when it comes time to buy or sell property, figure
taxes, or create wills and estates. It will also
allow others to follow your wishes and directives,
make their lives far easier, solidify insurance
claims, reduce estate taxes, help children better
understand your health history -- and theirs, and
prevent the needless dissipation of assets that took
decades to acquire.
Some 2.5 million
people will die in the U.S. during the coming year,
according to figures from the National Center for
Health Statistics. This is not the world's
most-comforting thought, but
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Home
Staging Equals
Quick Sale
One
of the most important things you can do to help sell
your home quickly is to "stage" it.
Basically, there are five steps to home staging.
- Cleaning
- Getting rid of clutter
- Depersonalizing
- Decorating and accessorizing
- Maintaining
Cleaning:
When I say, "cleaning" I don't mean
your ordinary, weekly house cleaning. I mean a
deep cleansing in which every surface, every
window, every nook-and-cranny sparkle and shine.
Clean windows, ceiling fans, curtains and
blinds, carpet -- in short, everything.
Eliminate unpleasant pet odors and even consider
having someone else care for pets until the
house is sold.
Getting Rid of
Clutter: You're to be moving anyway so go
ahead and start getting rid of the things you'll
never need again and box up the things you can
live without for a couple of months. Clean out
about 50 percent of the things in closets, most
of the knickknacks displayed around the home and
enough furniture so that rooms look open and
inviting. Kitchen and bath counters should be
clean and uncluttered. Even the cabinets and
drawers should contain only a few items, because
prospective buyers will
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Why
Lenders Have
So Many Charges
The
mortgage lending procedure is, shall we say, not always a
walk in the park. If you're a borrower, you likely face such
commands as "document this," "apply
here," "provide that," and "sign here --
and here and there." Meanwhile, lenders also keep
talking about fees -- a fee for this and a fee for that.
Lots of fees.
- Administration fees.
- Document fees.
- Application fees.
- Processing fees.
- Underwriting fees.
- Wire fees.
- And -- who knows -- maybe "fee fi fo fum"
fees.
Fees are a by-product of
marketplace realities. A 30-year fixed rate mortgage is,
well, just a 30-year fixed rate mortgage and similar
loans tend to have similar prices -- especially in an
era when borrowers can increasingly compare
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