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Keep Your Home Looking Fresh All Year Long

The new year is in full swing and January has come and gone fast. With a  few months into your new year’s resolutions, it’s important to keep positive and moving forward.

Setting new year resolutions is great, but don’t leave out resolutions for your home in the process. As you begin your goals, here is a list of home improvement resolutions that will make your home the clean, efficient, and entertainment place to be this year.

New Paint

One of the most common ways people neglect their home is by not painting it. Start the year off with a new you and a new color to your home. It is a good safety practice to paint your home especially to remove any potentially hazardous lead paint that might still be hanging on.

Declutter

Fun Fact: Every year you add a lot more things to your home than you take out. Start this year off by taking time periodically to remove the ‘stuff’ that is clogging up space around the house. A great rule to follow is if you don’t use it on a daily basis store it away or clear it out.

Upgrade Your Home

Adding new technology modernizes your home. Buying new voice command gadgets can make the little things a lot easier. Amazon and Google have both released home assistants that will play music, tell you the time, and help you with day-to-day knowledge and tasks such as turning off lights.

Cleaning

Make a resolution this year to set up a weekly system to tackle tasks around the entire home. Don’t try and clean everything every day, but instead set small chores such as cleaning a room a day, or wiping the counters at the end of the night. Set goals for your family to get done and before you know it these chores will become a habit, and you’ll have a clean home every night of the week.

Having a green friendly home

Going green is not just about adding solar panels and having hybrid accessories around the house. The best cost-efficient way to go green this new year is done by adopting common-sense habits to your home routine. Save money and go green by switching off the lights when you leave a room, dial down your air conditioner, and switch to fluorescent light bulbs.

Invite friends

A resolution that is brought up every year is to be more social and connect with friends. One of the best ways to keep your home from looking and feeling dull is to invite friends and family over. The company will add a warm feel throughout the house. Make your house the place to be this year.

Posted in: Blog

Why you should love Belmont Heights

Belmont Heights is a beautiful historic area in Long Beach with roughly 11,000 residents that borders Ocean Boulevard and Livingston Drive. But, besides its historic beauty, it is a piece of Long Beach that all locals fall in love with. Here are a few reasons why.

Its homes are beautiful

Ranging from architectural styles that include Craftsman Bungalows, Victorians, Spanish Revival, Tudor Revival and Mediterranean not only are these home’s a sight to see but make up some of Long Beach’s most treasured neighborhoods. It is also the home of two historic districts.

Each home is unique

Take a walk down the neighborhoods in Belmont Heights and you won’t find two of the same residences side by side. One can find a spacious mansion next to a one-bedroom bungalow next to a condo complex. According to residents, there is a little bit of everything in Belmont Heights.

Residents preserve the area’s quality

Since most of the homes in Belmont Heights are of historic nature, residents are dedicated to preserving the area’s quality of life. The neighborhood association has more than a hundred dues-paying members. Many of whom regularly attend meetings.

Its a short walk to the beach

The ocean views are a reason why many locals love the area. The homes are a short walk from the ocean and they aren’t as crowded as other areas in Long Beach.

It’s a great escape from the city side of Long Beach

Those residents who want to escape the congested traffic and parking that Long Beach is often known for, but still live by the beach have made Belmont Heights there home. The area offers all the amenities Long Beach has to offer while still keeping a unique and small town feel to it.

Posted in: Blog

5 Tips To Give Your Home The Best First Impression

As the spring real estate market fast approaches a few house cleaning preparations need to be made in order to get your home ready. From giving your home a deep clean, organizing it and adding or taking away a few furniture pieces your home needs to be buyer presentable. Many of us have heard the phrase, don’t judge a book by its cover but in the real estate world, this is not the case. Take a look at four key staging features to make your house a standout in pictures and to buyers.

1. Paint your front door

The front door of your home is like the eyes of a face, it’s the first thing people look at. Make your home’s first impression be filled with a fresh coat of paint to give it the eye-catching effect that sellers can be fascinated with.

2. Clean up the landscape

Landscaping can be costly and take up a lot of time, but a quick landscaping hack you can do to give your grounds a fresh look is to add mulch around in-ground plants. You should also trim all overgrown trees or plants. It might not be necessary or even realistic to tighten up all the shrubbery in a short period of time, but make sure to cut down all plants and trees that obstruct any views.  

3. Greet them with fresh flowers

The day you decide to host an open house, set up fresh flowers and place them in the entryway of the home. The fresh flowers will distract your potential buyers from flaws that you may not have had time to get to. Also, keep the flowers related to the season. Spring is closely approaching, so opting for daffodils or tulips to decorate your front porch are good ideas.

4. Spruce up the mailbox

Mailboxes are one of the houses most used items and the most overlooked. Over the years a mailbox can turn into an unsightly decor and bring your houses look down in the process. Freshen up your mailbox with a new coat of paint or replace it to add a nice welcoming addition to your home.

5. Tie it altogether

Finish your homes staging by adding new accessories that will tie it all together. Installing a new welcome mat, a new doorknob, knocker, and porch light, that match will give your home a complete and finished look. You want to make your potential buyers fall in love with your home before they even walk in the door.

Posted in: Blog

4 Tips to get a leg up during your Home Buying Venture

Between getting a home loan, looking for the right house, and competing against others the home buying process is no easy task. But, rest assured, here are four ways to put yourself ahead of the competition no matter the circumstances.

Get Pre-Approved

Getting pre-approval is one of the first steps you should take when looking to buy a home. Even if you are just browsing around different homes, you don’t want to fall in love with a house and lose out on it or find out it’s out of your budget because you were not pre-approved.  

Talk to Landlords

It is always a good idea to talk to landlords around the area you want to live in. In most cases, landlords want to sell their homes but are too timid to make the home renovations needed to put their house on the market. Talking to the right landlord can get you the house you want at a low offer without competition.

Raise Your Budget

Having a budget for any purchase is always good, but being married to your budget can sometimes hinder your buying experience. When searching for a home you might run into a wall, where you just are not seeing anything you like for your budget. Being willing to raise your budget by even just $20,000 during your home buying venture can open up hundreds of new home to choose from.

Work With Mike Norton

In today’s highly competitive market it’s important to have a seasoned agent that help you look and secure the home of your dreams. Mike Norton is a seasoned agent with years of experience and good industry relationships that can help you find homes that might not be listed and negotiate a winning offer.

 

To get started with your home buying venture call 562.577.5021

Posted in: Blog

From the Credit Check to Getting the Keys: Answers for the Big First-Time Homebuying Questions

New to the home-buying process? If you’re ready to start looking for your dream home—or if you’re just looking to learn more about how buying a home works for the future—there’s a lot you’ll need to know. The process is long and can be as stressful and confusing as it is exciting. Sometimes you’ll feel like celebrating, while other times you’ll feel like you’re drowning in paperwork, but in the end, when you finally close on your new home, it’ll all be worth it. In the meantime, you’ll probably have a lot of questions come up, so here’s what you need to know.

What’s the first step in the process?

If you haven’t started doing research about homes and mortgages or saving up money, those should be your first steps. But, if you’re ready to really get into the home-buying process and have some down payment money saved up, your first step is to talk to your bank and different mortgage companies and mortgage brokers to find out your lending options and get pre-approved for a loan.

Can I buy a home if I don’t have great credit?

If your credit score is below 700, you’ll be at a disadvantage, but that doesn’t mean you can’t buy a home. You may have to pay a higher interest rate, or you may be able to qualify for a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan if you have poor credit that’s still above a score of 580, but you’ll have to pay mortgage insurance (which protects the lender) which will cost you.

What are points?

Points, or discount points, are fees that the buyer pays to the lender during closing in exchange for a reduced interest rate on their mortgage. One point is the equivalent of 1% of your mortgage amount, and while they cost money up front, they can save you potentially thousands of dollars in the long run.

What is a foreclosure?

When a homeowner fails to pay their mortgage, their home is foreclosed on—it’s a legal process in which the homeowner gives up the rights to their home. If the homeowner can’t pay the balance or sell the home, it goes to auction. Prospective homeowners can buy foreclosed homes—it’s one option for getting a great deal on a home, but it can also be extremely risky. If you’re considering buying a foreclosure, HomeFinder has a great breakdown of all the related issues.

What does a Realtor do?

Realtors handle negotiations between home buyers and sellers. When Realtors represent buyers, they help their clients find the best property for them at the best price, and navigate them through the offer and closing process. Realtors representing sellers market their client’s property, help them find qualified buyers, and help them get the best price for their property.

Who pays the Realtor?

According to Realtor.com, the seller is generally responsible for paying the Realtor’s fees and commissions, since the Realtor represents them and helps them make the sale. The seller’s realtor typically splits their commission with the buyer’s realtor—that’s how the person representing the buyer makes money on the deal.

What is earnest money?

An earnest money deposit, or good faith deposit, is a deposit the buyer makes once their offer is accepted in order to show the seller they’re committed to buying the property. The deposit means that it’s unlikely a buyer would enter into multiple purchase contracts on multiple homes at once (which would take all of those homes off the market). Once the sale goes through—a.k.a. at closing—the earnest money deposit is applied towards the down payment.

How long does it take to close?

A 2016 study from Realtor Mag shows that the average closing time is around 50 days, and the time to close depends on funding, appraisal disparities, and more. You can help speed up your closing by addressing any title issues and repairs.

What happens at closing?

At closing (also known as the settlement) the buyer provides a check for what they owe on the home, the seller signs over the deed to the home to the buyer, the title company registers the new deed to the home, and the seller receives any proceeds they earned from the sale. According to the Home Buying Institute, it’s a lot of paperwork and you’ll likely sign your (full) name anywhere from 10 to 30 times. Get your arm ready.

Who pays closing costs?

Both the seller and the buyer have closing costs to pay, but they differ a lot. According to Zillow, the seller’s costs are usually higher (since they pay the Realtor’s commission) but they cover less costs in general. The buyer, on the other hand, pays for more line items. Those items include several fees, from appraisal fees and origination fees to bank processing fees and title insurance.

How much does the inspection cost?

According to HomeAdvisor, the average cost of a home inspection in 2016 was $318, but could cost as low as $200 or as much as $470.

Who pays for the inspection?

Since the inspection is to benefit you, the buyer, you’ll pay the cost of the inspection (it’ll likely come out of pocket ahead of your closing)—although you may be able to negotiate to have the seller pay it, but it’s unlikely.

What and when is the final walk-through?

The final walk-through takes place after the inspection and is usually scheduled for the day before closing. This is your opportunity to check the house before the settlement, to make sure everything is in good shape and that any repairs the seller was required to make were completed.

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Posted in: Blog, Uncategorized

Ten Things You May Not Know About Long Beach

Although some outside the Los Angeles megalopolis lump Long Beach in with L.A., the city (yes, it’s its own city!) has its own distinct identity and history. Long Beach is also far from insular; the Port of Long Beach has the second-busiest seaport in the U.S. (after the Port of Los Angeles), which means that it’s one of the main arteries that connects L.A. to the rest of the world. And the city itself is has a history of importing/exporting things that are distinctly Los Angeles, from Art Deco architecture to Snoop Dogg and the rest of the “213” crew. Which is all to say that, while the city exists geographically at the tip of the county, it’s very much central to the L.A. ethos (it is, after all, the second largest city in the Los Angeles area). Here, we comb over some of the lesser-known trivia about the proclaimed “International City.”

It Was The Starting Point For Social Security In The U.S.

In 1933, an American physician (and Long Beach resident) named Francis Townsend penned a lengthy “Letter to the Editor” to address poverty among the elderly. That article was published in the Long Beach Press-Telegram. It struck a chord with readers and led directly to a formalized plan (developed by Townsend himself) to enact a sales tax to give everyone over 60 a pension of $200 a month. As noted in the L.A. Times, the plan “drew millions of adherents, a nationwide flood of publicity and the nervous concern of politicians in Washington.”

Ultimately, President Franklin D. Roosevelt would flout Townsend’s idea and develop his own social security system, which was decidedly less generous (it maxed out at $41.20 a month). But it’s undoubtable that Townsend had forced the issue for the U.S. government, and had popularized the idea of social security (and thus easing its passage). As cited at the Social Security Administration’s website (which offers a bizarrely thorough takedown of Townsend’s 80 year-old plan), Roosevelt was quoted as saying that “Congress can’t stand the pressure of the Townsend Plan” unless it had “a solid plan which will give some assurance to old people of systematic assistance upon retirement.”

It Has A Connection With The Birth Of Disneyland

It’s said that Walt Disney used to take his children to the merry-go-round at Griffith Park, and that the attraction had inspired him to build his own fortress of themed-entertainment (this story has been vetted by one of his daughters). While the merry-go-round was built by the Spillman Engineering Company, it’s also said that some of the horses were carved by Charles Looff, a Danish-American who, to this day, is regarded as a master builder of carousels.

Looff’s resume is unimpeachable. He’d built Coney Island’s first carousel in 1876, and would later head west to bring his attractions to Santa Cruz, Venice Beach and Santa Monica (where he built the Hippodrome and basically founded the Santa Monica Pier entirely). He also installed a carousel at (the older version of) The Pike in Long Beach, and he took up residence on the second floor of the building that housed the twirling contraption. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the carousel in 1943, and The Pike would later shutter in 1979. Today, Looff’s Lite-A-Line on 2500 Long Beach Boulevard serves as a museum dedicated to the wide bounty of Looff-created amusements from The Pike.

Coming back to Disney: apparently the horses at Disneyland’s own King Arthur’s Carousel each have a name, and you can get a list of them at the park’s “City Hall.” One of those horses was given the very appropriate name of “Looff,” according to this fansite.

The Spectacular Failure Of The Spruce Goose Happened Here

The Spruce Goose will never shake its reputation as being the laughing stock of aeronautics history, and it was in Long Beach that it cemented its place in lore.

During World War II, the U.S. government commissioned Howard Hughes and his company (the Hughes Aircraft Company) to develop a huge aircraft that was capable of hauling a large number of soldiers and equipment—it was also expected to be able to float on water. The problems rose from the start; because of wartime restrictions on steel, Hughes decided to construct the plane out of laminated wood (hence the “Spruce”). This dubious frame was then outfitted with eight propeller engines, and doused with $23 million in developmental costs. Ultimately, it took so long to make that the war had ended by the time it was completed.

Eventually, Congress demanded that Hughes demonstrate the plane to show that the money went to a good cause, and what resulted was an unannounced flight test in Long Beach Harbor on November 2, 1947. As noted in a Times article that covered the event, “an estimated 15,000 persons jammed beaches and piers along the course” to watch the trial…which turned out to be pretty anti-climactic, as the Spruce Goose flew only a mile before landing. It wasn’t quite as dull for the guys inside the plane, however, as they reported a nervy experience in which “the hull skipped from wave to wave when the speed increased,” and a “violent motion shook the cockpit,” as well as a “hollow booming of its hull.” The plane never flew again. It was later kept in a climate-controlled hanger that took $1 million a year to manage, and then moved to the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

It Was Home To One Of The World’s Most Productive Oil Fields

On June 23, 1921, an oil well that was dubbed “Alamitos No. 1” sent a geyser of “black gold” shooting 114 feet into the air. It marked the beginning of what is known today as the Long Beach Oil Field, one of the most productive in the nation’s history. According to the American Oil & Gas Historical Society, the oil field was deemed by the Paleontological Research Institution as being the largest in Southern California at that time, which is made even more impressive by the claim that, by 1923, California was supplying a quarter of the world’s entire output of oil. Within two years of Alamitos No. 1’s discovery, the field was turning out 68 million barrels in a single year. And by the mid 20th century it had the highest oil production per acre in the world, according to the Atlantic.

Not surprisingly, the city went on to have a complicated history with oil. The proliferation of oil derricks became an eye-sore (see: photo above), and the field was said to be the basis for Upton Sinclair’s Oil!, a pointed critique of oil and the dangers of unchecked capitalism (the book itself was an inspiration for 2007’s Oscar-winning There Will Be Blood). Also, recent research suggests that drilling at another site (in Huntington Beach) may have caused the Long Beach Earthquake of 1933. The 6.4-magnitude quake led to 120 deaths, including 52 in Long Beach and 17 in Compton, making it the deadliest ever in Southern California.

Sidenote: technically, Alamitos No. 1 was in Long Beach only for a brief spell. After the discovery of oil, some guys decided that they didn’t want to pay Long Beach’s per-barrel tax, so they formed the city of Signal Hill, which was incorporated in 1924. The small enclave is completed surrounded by the city of Long Beach. The site of Alamitos No. 1 is memorialized today at Discovery Well Park in Signal Hill.

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Posted in: Blog, Uncategorized

5 Secret Things in Long Beach You Didn’t Know Existed

1. This Long Beach Secret Is Anything But Dead And Buried

In the 1970s the film crew for “The Six Million Dollar Man” was filming inside the haunted house at Long Beach’s Nu-Pike Amusement Park. One poor bloke moved a “hanging man” prop for a shot, the crew soon discovered it wasn’t a prop after all. The man’s arm fell off and revealed REAL HUMAN BONE! *cue Twilight Zone music* The corpse was one Elmer McCurdy, an Oklahoma outlaw and train robber. When McCurdy died, the local undertaker who embalmed his body did a rather impressive job, and so began charging looky-loos a nickel to see the dead outlaw. After a few macabre years, carnival promoters purchased the body and displayed it on tours around the country. The undertaker must have done a bang up job, because by the time McCurdy reached Long Beach, someone assumed it was a well-made prop and hung it in the haunted house.

2. Long Beach Has Your Hangover Cure All Rolled Into One

A post shared by One Man Eats (@onemaneats) on Dec 27, 2017 at 2:38pm PST


The Attic in Long Beach is an American tavern that serves up the most intense Bloody Mary’s you’ve ever seen–for better or worse. If you’re looking to soothe that headache or upset stomach, why not try an entire slider for a garnish? How about a shrimp cocktail in your beverage? Maybe a side of BBQ rib with your tomato juice?

3. Explore The Depths Of Long Beach’s Long-Buried Tunnel

The Jergins Tunnel served as an underground pedestrian walkway from the late 1920s to sometime in the mid 1960s and then was completely sealed off with no sign of reopening. For years, mystery encircled the Jergins Tunnel and unsurprisingly it gained a few ghost stories. In 2007, the city reopened the Jergins Tunnel for Long Beach’s University by the Sea festival. The tunnel had beautiful Art Deco tiling throughout.

4. Sneak A Peek At The World’s Most Slender Abode

You can literally win a world record for anything. Long Beach also holds the world record for Most Couples Feeding Each Other Simultaneously, which is something absolutely no one cares about. Skinniest house on the other hand? That’s pretty fun. The house in Rose Park measures only 10-feet wide, but it makes up for its width by being extra long and three stories tall.

5. Breathtaking Views Await At This Hidden Vista

A post shared by V. Martinez🔥 (@sunsetpalmsandwine) on Dec 19, 2017 at 2:39pm PST


The aptly named Hilltop Park offers one of the best views of Long Beach, Signal Hill, and San Pedro. Technically, the park resides within the city limits of Signal Hill, but it’s a popular sunset picnic spot for Long Beachers too. It’s also an insanely cheap location for weddings.


This article originally appeared on Movoto.com

Posted in: Blog, Uncategorized

6 Things to Toss During the Holidays: How Many Are You Hanging Onto?

The holidays are widely known as a time when people acquire more stuff for their already well-appointed homes. But in fact, it’s also a great time to purge—in part by necessity (removing the old makes room for the new), but mainly because the holidays require you to dig through your attic, cupboards, and linen closet to deck the halls, throw together huge feasts, and basically make use of all your worldly possessions down to your rattiest bed linens and last scrap of tinsel.

In short: If you aren’t using something over the holidays, then odds are you’ll never use it at all. Here are some prime things to toss.

1. Kitchen gadgets you never use

“There is a good chance you are using the maximum potential of your kitchen tools and cutlery during the holidays,” says Lily Cameron, a cleaning expert at Fantastic Services. Between big family meals, holiday party hosting, and the special baking projects you do once a year, you’ll probably be pulling out all of the kitchen gear that’s normally crammed in the back of cabinets or sitting in boxes in the basement.And guess what? That makes this the perfect time to do a clear-eyed assessment of what you really need and what you’re never going to actually use. If that ebelskiver pan doesn’t make it into the rotation when your home is filled with highly caloric cheer, perhaps it’s time to admit to yourself that Danish pancake puffs are never going to be part of your life.

As you go through each box, drawer, and cabinet looking for your special party tray or table settings for 20, take the time to sort through everything else and create a give-away pile. By the time you’re making your New Year’s Day black-eyed peas, you’ll be amazed by how much kitchen crap you’ve Marie Kondo‘d out of your life (yes, the decluttering guru is a verb now).

2. Expired spices

Cookware isn’t the only thing you can declutter. “The holidays are also the perfect time to organize your baking supplies and spices,” says Cameron. “Check the expiration dates, and throw away everything old and/or unused.”

3. Holiday decorations you don’t put up

This may seem obvious, but once your house is decorated with lights, ornaments, and other such sundry decor, whatever holiday items you own that didn’t make the cut—and are still lying sadly in the bottoms of your boxes—should be cut from your life completely.

Broken light strand? Toss it. Ornaments that you keep meaning to repair but know deep down you never will? Get rid of them now! Giant blow-up snowman your spouse bought at a deep postholiday discount that you despise? Donate that thing. Or have a ceremonial burning. After the decorations come down, make sure to sort them neatly into labeled boxes and bins to prevent clutter from collecting again.

4. Linens and towels you don’t even give your guests

If you’re hosting guests, chances are you’ll be using your extra sheets, towels, blankets, and washcloths. Anything you don’t need when your house is at maximum hosting capacity is probably not necessary to keep. So get rid of stained or torn bedsheets and towels, ratty blankets, pillows that are past their prime, and any other linen closet clutter you’ve been ignoring. Old pillows are usually full of gross mites and should go in the trash, but most animal shelters can use donations of old towels and bedsheets, even ones that aren’t in great condition.

5. Toys your kids ignore

If your family celebrates the holidays by showering the children with gifts, you’re probably looking at a strong upsurge in the number of toys in your home this month. Why not take advantage of the impending bounty to get the kids to sort through their stuff and donate anything they don’t play with any more? If they balk, try the rule that for every new toy they receive, they must let go of one to make room.

Toys in good condition can be handed down to siblings, cousins, and friends, or donated to Goodwill. You could even host a holiday toy swap. Want to boost the little tykes’ excitement levels? Cameron suggests letting them use their creativity to make decorative labels or packaging for the giveaway boxes, so they look more like gifts.

6. Clothes you haven’t worn in a year

Odds are you’ve recently changed over your closet from warm-weather clothes to items to ward off the cold. Now’s the perfect opportunity to do the time-honored closet cull: Get rid of anything from summer you didn’t wear in the past year. And really, let’s be honest, there’s probably some winter stuff you know you can get rid of, too.

“It is pointless to get clogged with old clothes you never wear or don’t fit you anymore,” says Cameron. It’s time to let go of those way-too-small jeans you’re sure you’ll fit into again someday. Say goodbye to the sweaters with tears at the elbows that you will repair just as soon as you learn to darn. This time of year there are always coat drives and other places you can donate clothes in good condition that will help people who need help, and most cities have textile recycling for the really beat-up stuff. You’ll be giving yourself the gift of starting the new year with an uncluttered closet filled with clothes that you actually like and can wear. Now that’s one less thing to stress about in 2018!


This article originally appeared on Realtor.com 

Posted in: Blog, Uncategorized

4 Ways to Pay Off Your Mortgage Early

Homeowners with low mortgage rates may be better off putting extra money in a Roth IRA or 401(k), both of which might offer a higher return than paying off the mortgage.

Then there’s the college aid factor. If you’re applying for need-based aid for your kids, that home equity could count against you with some colleges because some institutions view equity as money in the bank.

If, after those caveats, you want to pay off your mortgage early, here are four ways to make it happen.

1. Refinance with a shorter-term mortgage.

You can pay off the mortgage in another 15 years by refinancing into a 15-year mortgage.

Let’s say you got a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for $200,000 at 4.5 percent. Then, five years later, you can refinance into a 15-year loan at 4 percent. Doing so pays off the mortgage 10 years earlier and saves more than $60,000 (if you exclude closing costs on the refi).

Those shorter-term mortgages often carry interest rates a quarter of a percentage point to three-quarters of a percentage point lower than their 30-year counterparts.

Refinancing isn’t quick or free. It requires filling out the application, providing documentation and having an appraiser visit. There are closing costs.

And even with a lower interest rate, that quicker payoff means higher monthly payments. And this method is a lot less flexible. If you decide that you don’t have the extra money one month to put toward the mortgage, you’re locked in anyway.

Unless the new interest rate is lower than the old rate, there’s no point in refinancing. Without a lower rate, you’ll get all the same benefits (and none of the extra costs) by just increasing your payment a sufficient amount.

2. Pay a little more each month.

Divide your monthly principal and interest by 12 and add that amount to your monthly payment for a year. Result: You make the equivalent of 13 payments in 12 months.

Let’s say you got a $200,000 mortgage at 4.5 percent. After five years of making the minimum payments, you add an extra 1/12 of a month’s principal and interest to each monthly payment. Doing so pays off the mortgage three years and three months earlier and saves more than $18,000 interest.

Before you make anything beyond the regular payment, call your mortgage servicer and find out exactly what you need to do so that your extra payments will be correctly applied to your loan.

Let them know you want to pay “more aggressively” and ask the best ways to do that.

Some servicers may require a note with the extra money or directions on the notation line of the check.

In any event, if you’re putting extra money toward your loan, always check the next statement to make sure it’s been properly applied.

3. Make an extra mortgage payment every year.

Instead of paying a little more each month, make one extra monthly payment each year. One way to do this is to save 1/12 of a payment every month, and then make an extra payment after every 12 months. This gives you the flexibility to use the extra savings for something else if a more pressing expense arises.

Let’s say you do this starting the first month after getting a 30-year mortgage for $200,000 at 4.5 percent. That would save more than $27,000 interest, and you would pay off the mortgage four years and three months earlier.

4. Throw ‘found’ money at the mortgage.

Get a bonus? A tax refund? An unexpected windfall? However it ends up in your hands, you can funnel some or all of your newfound money toward your mortgage.

Let’s say you got a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage for $200,000 at 4.5 percent. Then, five years later, you can make an extra $10,000 lump-sum payment. Doing so pays off the mortgage two years and four months earlier, and saves more than $19,000 in interest.

The upside: You’re paying extra only when you’re flush. And those additional payments toward the principal will cut the total interest on your loan.

The downside: It’s irregular, so it’s hard to predict the mortgage payoff date. If you throw too much at the mortgage, you won’t have money for other needs.


This article originally appeared on Bankrate.com

Posted in: Blog, Uncategorized

Making Your Ideal Home Christmas Wish List

If you’re looking to buy a home this holiday season, it’s best to know what you want before you start looking. Knowing what you want beforehand will save you time and effort, but also conveying your ideal home to your real estate agent will help him or her better serve you. Much like when you were a kid, you would create a list of items you desired for Christmas. This list is an adult version of your Christmas list, but instead of mailing it to Santa, you’ll be giving it to your real estate agent. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you begin your house hunting journey.

Location

Location is probably the single most important factor when deciding on the perfect house for yourself. Once you buy a home, the location is something you can’t change. You can live with most imperfections, you can even change them, but the location is permanent. When considering location keep in mind the proximity to your work. Also the charm of the neighborhood, along with the neighbors that live there. Also to take into consideration is the ease of access to thoroughfares and other public transportation, access to parks, pets, traffic, nearby schools, and shopping.

Indoor – outdoor flow

When living in a temperament climate such as ours, it’s important to have a home in which you can easily access the outdoors from indoors. French doors and sliding glass doors are perfect for this as they can also act as windows, letting in additional lighting. In the summer, there is nothing nicer than leaving your doors open, letting the fresh breeze of the season into your home.

Curb appeal

Curb appeal is also another important factor in deciding on a home. The exterior of your home is the first thing people are going to see when they come to your home. Make sure your home reflects your personality. If you lead a laid-back lifestyle, a Victorian or Tudor style home is probably not the right fit for you. A brick style home is easier to maintain, but are not as common here in Southern California due to earthquakes. Also, is the landscaping attractive or to your liking? Although landscaping can be easily changed, you don’t want to buy a home where you’re going to have to do a major outdoor remodel.

Size and floor plan

Is your dream home practical for you? Your dream home may be a four bedroom, four bath house, but unless you’re planning on having a family anytime soon, having that many extra bedrooms are a bit unnecessary. Remember that all that extra room is just more money spent on heating, furnishing, decorating, and taxes. Also, make sure the floor plan is to your liking. Some homes have odd layouts, which you may find fun and quirky at first, but over time can become a bit of a nuisance. Conversely, a home layout that seems untraditional can, over time, grow on you. Laying out the positives and negatives of a home’s floor plan can help you decide if the home is right.  

Decide what are your deal breakers

No home is perfect and that is ok, it’s the imperfections that make your home unique. Before looking at homes, know what exactly your deal breakers are. Also, when you begin looking at homes, make sure your deal breakers are not irrational. Nitpicking each home you see will get you nowhere. Unless the home has severe imperfections that will be costly, don’t write it off quite yet. Remember to keep your options open, you may never know which house you’ll fall in love with.

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