Category Archives: Inspiration

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, selling, tips, wifi

Face it! We are up to our eyeballs in the digital age.

Image August 19, 2020 Bettina Settles

Face it! We are up to our eyeballs in the digital age, and your house needs to be become part of the adventure. Everyone is looking for “Hey Google” this, “Alexa” that “Cortana” help, or “Siri” that. This trend is one that will not go away. It is here to stay.

Many older homes are not fully wired for internet or any other digital gadget that the world of communication is throwing our way. Sure, some of them come with the alarm system, wired smoke alarm, or internet accessibility in every room, but for today’s buyer that may no longer be enough.

Rewiring the home properly for internet could be an expensive and time-consuming undertaking and the price will vary depending on how large your home is, such as a two story and the type of foundation. That is why many of the internet providers just string your internet/TV service wire on the outside of the house and not through the walls, ceiling, or crawlspace/basement. It would be better to have someone do it properly for you prior to scheduling your cable and/or internet service.

We chose to have our house rewired properly. If the cable provider wants to make any cable upgrades, they must come down the wall like all the others. We only have one main entry point from the outside of the house and on the inside the wiring will remain the same. That means if the interior wiring also needs upgraded, the installers will have to make a trip into the attic.

Also, changing out some of your electrical outlets for outlets with USB charging connectors is a low-cost way to add to your device charging stations.

Another reasonably priced gadget to install is the keyless entry door locks. These upgrades are convenient and will also prevent you from being locked out of you home. The lower priced units do not have wify access, but the more expensive one do. When you would like to open your house remotely you would have to get the internet enabled keyless entry units and the price will vary depending on the brand and features you are looking for.

In this day and age you have all kinds of toys you can add to your home that are Wi-Fi enabled and fun to play with. Lights, heating/cooling, ceiling fans, vacuum cleaners, appliances, faucets. They sky is the limit.

The bottom line is you might have to be prepared that today’s buyer is at least looking for some smart-home tech that is included in the deal: smart thermostats, smart smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, smart home security cameras, and smart locks.

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, planning, Team work, tips

Stop trying to buy a home you can’t afford!

June 16, 2020 Settles Team

Just because your best friend just bought a home does not mean that you are financially ready to purchase one yourself.

You do not know their full true financial situation and unless you have set down and written down all your own expenses and income, you do not know if you can afford buying a home yourself. Just because you think you can make a certain house payment does not mean you can.

Moving Day — So, before you start looking for your dream home you need to look at your personal financial information.

Yes, I understand you want to move out of your apartment or parents’ house and finally have your own house, but you first need to look at your own financial plan before purchasing your brick and mortar home. So, before you start looking for your dream home you need to look at your personal financial information.

What are my bills? This includes your monthly expenses like utilities, rent, insurance, credit cards, food, gas, clothing, automotive repair and maintenance expenses, and any other monthly expense you have. When you need to pay child support or have judgments you are paying on, you need to include them. Garnishments will show up on your paycheck as deductions.

What is my income? Pull up at the minimum 3 months of current and consecutive paychecks. This will give you a good average of your income situation.

Have you looked at your current credit report? I don’t mean looking at your credit score. I mean looking at the things that are listed in your credit report. Every time you are late with any form of payment it is being reported to the credit reporting agencies.

After looking at your entire financial situation, you can then determine if you can afford a mortgage payment of no more than 25% of your monthly take home pay. That mortgage payment needs to include the insurance and taxes on the home you are planning on purchasing. If the proposed payment of a house you are considering causes you to need a 30 Year mortgage, you may need to consider the size of home you will purchase, or you need to pay off some of the current expenses you may have.

Why should anyone try to acquire a 15-year mortgage for your home purchase? Very simple. You should be able to own your home free and clear and not have a mortgage payment for the rest of your life.

education, Inspiration, planning, tips

A forbearance will not forgive a loan

May 18, 2020 Settles Team

I have daily headlines coming over my news subscription feed about more and more consumers asking their mortgage companies for a forbearance.

First, what is a forbearance? In simple terms, and per “The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition”, a forbearance is “The act of giving a debtor more time to pay rather than immediately enforcing a debt that is due.”.

In short, you’re asking to postpone paying the monthly debt you owe your mortgage company. You still owe that money and you’re just asking the mortgage company for more time to make that payment.

What I am finding is that many confuse forbearance with debt forgiveness, or loan modification.

Debt forgiveness is a cancelation of all or part your debt. Your creditor, in this case the mortgage company, relieves a debtor from a debt obligation.

A loan modification in simple terms is when a change (modification) is made to your current loan. This change could be temporary or permanent. It could be a reduction of the interest rate, longer repayment plan, or even a different type of loan.

To find out what options you have, you need to contact your lien holder directly. The one thing not to do is nothing, especially when you cannot make your debt payment in time.

commitment, education, Inspiration, tips

Why it is a good idea for renters to have renters insurance

June 24, 2015 Settles Team Leave a comment

Let me first throw in that I am not an Insurance professional and this is not to be considered professional insurance advice. This is just collected from years of experience within the rental field.

Having insurance on your car, truck, boat, or motorcycle is a necessary evil and we have no problems getting our wheeled toys covered. We might not to be able to replace them when something drastic happens, or when we have a mishap on the road.

Face it, it could happen to the best drivers.

So, why do many of us who are renting a home feel that insurance is not needed for their personal possessions they have inside their house or apartment that they rented? Continue reading Why it is a good idea for renters to have renters insurance →

commitment, Communication, Inspiration

Look at this ugly house in our neighborhood

June 12, 2015 Settles Team Leave a comment

While driving through several neighborhoods, many times you can spot the homeowner who cares about their property and the ones who don’t.

Just because a property looks like it is not very well cared for does not mean it is owned by an investor who does not care, or is overwhelmed. There are also many homes that are owned by owner occupants who may be either physically or financially are no longer able to care for their home. Continue reading Look at this ugly house in our neighborhood →

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, planning, tips

Not every home renovation is building equity.

June 3, 2015 Settles Team Leave a comment

When you are renovating or rehabbing a home consider reusing and recycling some of the original materials. It will many times save you money in the long run.

When buying a home many of us are looking to make changes to turn that house into our home. We need to ask ourselves some questions prior to making these changes because these changes may have a negative effect on our long term goals.

For instance:

Are we planning on living in this house for a longer term or do we plan on moving in 2 to 3 years? Continue reading Not every home renovation is building equity. →

education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, tips

Wide and open spaces

April 13, 2015 Settles Team Leave a comment

The open floor plan has been a housing trend for many years already and it looks like it is not going to disappear anytime soon.

The open floor space layout is really nothing new but has evolved over the years back to the one room living space where everything is done in one room. The only exemption from the past is that we no longer sleep, cook, and live in the same room. Continue reading Wide and open spaces →

education, Inspiration, planning, tips

The smart home

April 10, 2015 Settles Team Leave a comment

Due to our ever changing lifestyles, our home needs to be more reflective of us and not our past, including the older homes. Only a few years ago it was ok that our home served our basic needs for sleeping, entertaining, and some cases business. Today our home needs to be more versatile.

It is no longer enough for the home to serve as a place to sleep and entertain. More and more of us now work only from home now need a home that serves not only as a home, but also as a company headquarters with a separate working space.

With a separate working space in your home, todays needs now require our home be more equipped with modern features rather than those that are out dated. Homes need to be more and more web controlled, including security systems, keyless entry, lighting, multiple charging stations for devices, and all the other conveniences many of us are using on a daily basis.

Even furniture manufactures are recognizing the trend and have started offering furniture that includes convenient charging stations into their design. Based on my personal electronic lifestyle, I have several charging stations that are conveniently located throughout my house, including in several pieces of furniture. At the time I bought them they were hard to find but more and more companies are recognizing the need and they are becoming easier to find in local stores.

Communication, education, Inspiration, tips

Facing the muddy waters of a divorce as a women

April 8, 2015 Settles Team Leave a comment

Divorce is a really stressful time for those women who experience it. Overwhelmed with decisions on child custody, support, property division, and settlement agreements can leave you disoriented. In addition to all of this are feelings of defeat, anger, and grief as you find yourself battling the very person you vowed to love for the rest of your life. Continue reading Facing the muddy waters of a divorce as a women →

commitment, Inspiration, recycle, selling, tips

Why do you have a garage when you cannot park your vehicles in it?

March 13, 2015 Settles Team Leave a comment

Why do you have a garage when you cannot park your vehicles in it? That is the question I am asking myself every time I am looking at some of the garages when I drive through neighborhoods. Some of them are so packed full that the garage door only can be opened very, very, very slowly. Otherwise the boxes still fall out into the driveway. I have a neighbor like that.

We all like to keep mementos and precious things, but then you have so much stuff that fills your garage from front to back and top to bottom that you have too much. It is time clean house.

Continue reading Why do you have a garage when you cannot park your vehicles in it? →