Shopping for a Home in Winter

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A strategy for bargain hunters

If you've been thinking about buying a new home, winter is the time to start getting serious. Here are a few reasons to brave the cold and go on a house hunt:

The winter season has fewer units on the market, and sellers tend to need to move from their property. You can use that to your advantage to get a favorable deal.

Winter has fewer buyers in the market. Looking for a home in the winter can be inconvenient, and people are less likely to move. Families also tend to be on a September to June cycle because they are unwilling to move their children to a new town in the middle of the school year. Fewer buyers means less competition.

Lenders also usually have fewer loans to process and less paperwork to deal with (though this can change quickly if rates fluctuate). With lenders less hassled, you can expect a smoother process to get approved for a mortgage. But, as reported in Bankrate.com, there are exceptions to this rule, most notably in warmer parts of the country (especially Florida), ski towns, and in parts of the country where demand is so strong that it will not slacken during the winter months.

Finally, as all savvy shoppers know, after the holiday season comes the season of bargain opportunities. This includes houses, as well.

 

This article came from http://www.realtor.com/home-finance/real-estate/buyers/buying-a-home-in-winter-benefits.aspx?source=web

Thinking of Selling Your Home "For Sale By Owner"?

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Prevent Frozen Pipes!

Preventing Frozen Pipes

Feb 15, 2011
By Staff writer State Farm™ Employee

What’s worse than a major home maintenance disaster? How about several major home maintenance disasters at once? For the quarter-million families who have their homes ruined and their lives disrupted each winter because of frozen water pipes, frigid nights can very quickly turn to ongoing, inconvenient, extremely expensive ordeals.

In cold and warmer climates alike, pipes freeze for a combination of three central reasons: quick drops in temperature, poor insulation, and thermostats set too low. Both plastic and copper pipes can burst when they freeze, and recovering from frozen pipes is not as simple as calling a plumber. A 1/8-inch crack in a pipe can spew up to 250 gallons of water a day, causing flooding, serious structural damage, and the immediate potential for mold.

In the United States, frozen pipes cause a huge amount of damage each year; unlike natural disasters, this disaster is largely preventable. By taking a few simple precautions, you can help save yourself the mess, money, and aggravation frozen pipes cause.

 

Your Best Bet: Don’t Let It Happen

There are a number of preventative steps you can take to keep your pipes from freezing. Here are a few simple tips:

 

Before The Cold

 

Remember the three central causes of frozen pipes? Quick drops in temperature, poor insulation, and thermostats set too low. You can prepare by protecting your home during the warmer months. Here’s how:

• Insulate pipes in your home's crawl spaces and attic, even if you live in a climate where freezing is uncommon. Exposed pipes are most susceptible to freezing. Remember: The more insulation you use, the better protected your pipes will be.
• Heat tape or thermostatically controlled heat cables can be used to wrap pipes. Be sure to use products approved by an independent testing organization, such as Underwriters Laboratories Inc., and only for the use intended (exterior or interior). Closely follow all manufacturers' installation and operation instructions.
• Seal leaks that allow cold air inside near where pipes are located. Look for air leaks around electrical wiring, dryer vents, and pipes, and use caulk or insulation to keep the cold out. With severe cold, even a tiny opening can let in enough cold air to cause a pipe to freeze.
• Before winter hits, disconnect garden hoses and, if possible, use an indoor valve to shut off and drain water from pipes leading to outside faucets. This reduces the chance of freezing in the short span of pipe just inside the house.

When The Mercury Drops

Even if you’ve taken the right preventative steps, extreme weather conditions can still harm your pipes. Here are a few more steps you can take:

• A trickle of hot and cold water might be all it takes to keep your pipes from freezing. Let warm water drip overnight, preferably from a faucet on an outside wall.
• Keep your thermostat set at the same temperature during both day and night. You might be in the habit of turning down the heat when you’re asleep, but further drops in the temperature – more common overnight – could catch you off guard and freeze your pipes.
• Open cabinet doors to allow heat to get to un-insulated pipes under sinks and appliances near exterior walls.

Before You Leave

Travelling in the winter months might be good for the soul, but don’t forget to think about your pipes before you leave. What can you do?

• Set the thermostat in your house no lower than 55°F (12°C).
• Ask a friend or neighbor to check your house daily to make sure it's warm enough to prevent freezing.
• Shut off and drain the water system. Be aware that if you have a fire protection sprinkler system in your house, it may be deactivated when you shut off the water.

If Your Pipes Do Freeze

What do you do if your pipes still freeze, despite your best preventative measures? First step: Don’t panic. Just because they’re frozen doesn’t mean they’ve already burst. Here’s what you can do:

• If you turn on your faucets and nothing comes out, leave the faucets turned on and call a plumber.
• Do not use electrical appliances in areas of standing water: You could be electrocuted.
• Never try to thaw a pipe with a torch or other open flame because it could cause a fire hazard. Water damage is preferable to burning down your house!
• You may be able to thaw a frozen pipe with the warm air from a hair dryer. Start by warming the pipe as close to the faucet as possible, working toward the coldest section of pipe.
• If your water pipes have already burst, turn off the water at the main shutoff valve in the house; leave the water faucets turned on. Make sure everyone in your family knows where the water shutoff valve is and how to open and close it.

Find out more at http://learningcenter.statefarm.com/residence/maintenance/preventing-frozen-pipes/index.html

6 Must Have Features For Your Next Home

What's missing from your current home? Storage space? Decent parking? Privacy? Chances are, you might not have noticed these missing features when you and your home were in the honeymoon phase. But, sometime in the first few months, that deficiency became glaringly obvious.
When you tour a home, it's normal to get so caught up in the granite kitchen countertops that you might not notice there's insufficient square footage to butter your morning toast. And while that master bedroom looks stylish and neat, you don't realize that it's the size of a postage stamp.
Sometimes, there's a fix. You can downsize the bedroom furniture. You can install shelving or buy bookcases to add storage. And for privacy, you can put up curtains or a fence.
And sometimes you just have to learn to live with it. Or vow that next time around, you won't make the same mistake.
Read on for six make-or-break features for your next home.

There's no such thing as too much storage

No one ever walked out of an open house thinking, "Nice place, but too many closets." On the other hand, a good staging job can disguise that a home has precious little storage.
This is where it pays to use your X-ray eyes. Visually strip away the furniture in a for-sale home and place your furniture and belongings. Or simply measure -- both the rooms and the closets -- and compare it to what you have now, says Eric Tyson, author of "Home Buying for Dummies."
Ditto for kitchen cupboards, pantries and counter space, says Michael Corbett, author of "Before You Buy." Those countertops may look spacious until you get out all of your kitchen toys and discover there's not enough room, he says. Really look at a kitchen in terms of what you need when you cook to make sure the home offers the counter space you need.

Test the commute before you commit

You're only 15 miles from work. How long is that in traffic time? That daily commute factor is "a really big one that a surprising number of people don't properly research before they commit to a house," Tyson says. He advises trying the commute a few times, driving both ways, before you buy.
"If you wait until you move, it's kind of too late," Tyson says. "You're stuck with the house at that point." Instead, "do the actual commute during the actual time of day -- to and from -- that you'd be doing," he says. And talk to people with similar commutes. You may discover that it ebbs and flows at various times of the year.
Some buyers shop for homes where "commute" doesn't automatically mean "car," says Ron Phipps, immediate past president of the National Association of Realtors and principal broker with Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I.
"We're seeing a lot more urbanization and a lot more people moving toward public transportation links," he says. One college professor wanted a home that was a comfortable walking distance from campus, he adds. "Five years ago, that wouldn't have been a priority."

How well will you fit in with the neighborhood?

It could be the Saturday night party house, the guy who believes Sundays were made for leaf blowing or the kid who practices the tuba 24/7. Every neighborhood has its eccentrics, and you need to know if you can live with them.
One of the best ways to find out what's going on in the neighborhood is to chat up the neighbors, Corbett says. "You must find out if there are any existing neighborhood problems."
From the minor issues (such as one neighbor's casual mechanic "shop") to the major (a string of crimes in the area), you want to know the concerns of the people who live there. "It's really about asking questions upfront," Corbett says. Ask the seller, and do your own research, too.
One smart move is to visit during morning rush hour, afternoon and evening rush hour, adds Corbett.
One prospective buyer who planned to work from home even toured a home with a phone app that measures ambient noise, Phipps says. The place was quiet, "so it wasn't a problem," he says.

Make sure you have enough power and water

Most people flip lights and faucets on and off when they tour a home just to make sure they get the expected result.
But that's hardly the test of whether the water pipes or electric wiring will meet your needs, Corbett says. You'll need to determine if the plumbing and wiring can accommodate your lifestyle.
Flipping a bedroom light on and off doesn't compare to a busy morning with two blow-dryers and an electric shaver running while the microwave heats breakfast, the air conditioning clicks on and the TV blasts the traffic report.
And if you are showering while someone does laundry and a third person flushes the toilet, will you feel a drop in pressure or a blast of cold water? With water, you can run a few things at one time and see how the home handles the pressure, Corbett says.
As for the electrical systems, you might want to talk to your home inspector, he says. Just explain that there are X number of people in the family who may use electricity simultaneously and ask if it will hold up, Corbett says.

Don't forget a home for your car

It's a great home for you, but does it fit your car? Tyson remembers one home he owned came with street parking. It was great, but simple errands such as a trip to the market required a little more planning and a few extra steps. "In retrospect, we wouldn't have done it differently," he says. "But you have to make sure you understand the ramifications of not having a garage in the city."
Likewise, Corbett has seen buyers in condos or town houses realize they don't have a space usable for their car. Especially if the designated spot is against a wall or post, he says.
Some neighborhoods have rules about parking in the driveway or on the street. So if you have a preference or other plans for your new garage, it's smart to check any covenants before buying.

How much do you love your neighbor?

Privacy is a factor that some buyers overlook until it's too late. "If you're in the bathroom, are you staring into your neighbor's shower?" says Corbett. "You really have to be smart. Try to spend some time in the house." The goal is to get the feeling of what it's like to really live in the house before you actually buy it, he says.
Do a quick test run and think about the home and what you plan to do there. Then take an hour and "walk through your experience of how you live in the house in a day," he says. You should ask yourself if the home suits both you and the way you plan to live.
"I think the biggest mistake that people make is they have to see not only do they fit," says Corbett, "but does their lifestyle fit?"

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Read more: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/real-estate/must-have-features-home.aspx#ixzz2HhH6ZH5f
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Organize your Christmas Decorations Video

If you haven't put away those Christmas decorations yet, here is a great video from HGTV.com to help you organize in a way that will make next year's decorating much easier!
Check out the video at:
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