Category Archives: tips

The smart home

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.

Facing the muddy waters of a divorce as a women

gavelDivorce 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

Residential home styles

While driving through neighborhoods you easily can see that every home has a style. In many cases a home may have more than one style. Sometimes it very difficult to categorize a home. Due to updates, past owners taste differences, needed upgrades, and necessary remodels, a cookie cutter home can develop its own unique style and may not fit into a particular style.

HomeI am for certain not an expert on architecture, and I have several personal favorite styles I prefer just due to the unique lines, but it sometimes does hurt a little when I see a true Colonial Home being classified as a Contemporary Home, or a true Shotgun Home being categorized as a Bungalow. Continue reading Residential home styles

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

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?

Purchasing homes for less by purchasing fixer-uppers.

4824 E WIn many areas there are still many homes on the market that are bank owned. They would need some small repairs to bring them back alive. Homes like that would be great for buyers who would like to save some money when purchasing their home and are not afraid to roll up their sleeves.

Continue reading Purchasing homes for less by purchasing fixer-uppers.

Smaller down payments pave the way for first-time home buyers

Smaller down payments pave the way for first-time home buyers
Smaller down payments pave the way for first-time home buyers

2015 has again signaled the willingness of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase loans with a 3% down payment. Until just recently, most mortgage brokers asked for a 5% down payment, unless you are in a USDA area. You could then apply for a VA loan, or your state offered local housing down payment assistant help.

Continue reading Smaller down payments pave the way for first-time home buyers

Mastermind, a tool in your toolbox to achieve your goal.

Mastermind, a tool in your toolbox to achieve your goal.
Mastermind, a tool in your toolbox to achieve your goal.

A mastermind group can be an effective tool to help you accomplish your goal, virtually any goal. It does not matter if it is a business or personal goal.

Many of the Mastermind Groups consist of two or more people, who work together in perfect harmony, to help each other to attain a specific goal. If two heads are better than one, five or six can kick it into high gear.

Members are committed to each other

The key to a great Mastermind Group is that members are committed to each other and are willing to hold each other accountable. Meaning that you will do what you commit yourself to do and that you are attending the scheduled mastermind group meetings. Depending on the group, a meeting could be in person, video, or a phone conference call, monthly or quarterly.

The group members need to be committed to meet. Less than that will be a waste of everyone’s time and effort. One of the main goals for all the mastermind group attendees is to help each other to get things done.

Attending a mastermind group can be a time commitment depending on the group size.

Each of the members should be given 15-20 minutes of time to discuss challenges, progress, or goals. They should have another 10-15 minutes to give their feedback, thoughts, and possible discussions about the given information. The larger the group, the more diverse the discussions or exchange of ideas could take. Due to that it is good to keep the group small. Maybe 5-10 members.

It is all about accountability and trust

To keep the flow going, make one of the members a facilitator. Make certain that no one member gets stuck in the facilitator role. Have the facilitator role rotate between members.  The facilitator will keep everybody on track and make certain that no one member dominates the conversation.

When a Mastermind group is formed or new members are added, the facilitator also gives everyone the ground rules the group will work under. This should include attendance, format of the meeting, confidentiality, making decisions, and dealing/settling conflicts. When needed, outline grounds for dismissal from the group, such as after missing a certain number of meetings or violating confidentiality.

You also should meet in an area where outside distractions are limited.

Chemistry of a Mastermind Group

Many times a mastermind group is formed without it actually being called a Mastermind group. This happens through casual networking or you happen to bond and feel comfortable and great around or with certain individuals. When you are looking for a mastermind group, look for groups who give you that exact feeling and when you cannot find a group like that start your own.

You might start with one person that fits the criteria you are looking for in an individual and together build your group.

Investing in Notes

Investing in NotesFirst let me quickly explain what notes are. A note is a legal document and the explanation per the free legal dictionary is as follows: “The mortgage note, in which the borrower promises to repay the debt, sets out the terms of the transaction: the amount of the debt, the mortgage due date, the rate of interest, the amount of monthly payments”.

Continue reading Investing in Notes

“Do Not Know” Residential Real Estate Sellers Disclosure

Just the other day I ran across a sellers disclosure from a property that was listed for sale. The seller had just marked one line through all the items that needed to be disclosed as “Do Not Know” and in a small memo box indicated that the seller never lived in the property. Continue reading “Do Not Know” Residential Real Estate Sellers Disclosure