Home Buying Walk Through for First Time Homebuyers

01/08/2014

Being a first time home buyer and going through the process, its highly stressful, there is SOO much to do, and money you pay out that you will NEVER get back if your loan falls through for ANY reason (seller, house, or loan approval).

1. Figure out your house buying budget. Just because your lender will give you x amount of money doesn't mean you should borrow x amount.

• When thinking about your budget consider how much monthly outlay you and your husband are willing to pay on housing, for us I wanted a payment around or cheaper than our current rent (cause you have to make all repairs).
•  Don't forget to factor homeowners insurance and estimated taxes into your monthly payment. Zillow often will let you know what the homeowner paid in taxes last year and this is different for every house, take that amount and divide by 12 for your monthly tax cost. Homeowners insurance is almost impossible to guess since the insurance is based on the replacement cost and not market value. 
• If you know your credit score go on myfico to estimate your interest rate on your mortgage.
• Use Bankrate.com to estimate base mortgage payments (minus taxes and insurance) based on home price. Just put random amounts in there and remember the higher the value of the home the higher the cost of tax and insurance!

2. Get Pre-qualified/ Pre-Approved before starting your home search. This will give you your credit score, and your lender will let you know if there are any potential problems.

3. Sit down and make a list of must haves and would be nices, do this with your spouse or co buyer if you have one.

• You need to be realistic for your budget, most people over estimate how far their $ goes (my husband is one of them). Looking at houses online isn't always useful in getting a realistic expectation because many houses that look great in those photos are hiding major noticeable flaws that you see as soon as you get to the house!
• Make sure your being realistic about what is a need and what is a want. You want this to be a house that you can be in for at least 6 years, therefore if you want to have a family then make sure the house is big enough for YOU. Needs are things you won't be happy without not live or die. For us 2 FULL bathrooms was a need! 
• Be honest about your needs, because there is no point viewing houses that don't fit your needs!

4. Find a Realtor or Real Estate Agent, these are actually different although they serve the same purpose. You want one you can trust to look out for your interests and that will work with your budget.

5. Look at houses, you can team up with your agent and email mls listings back and forth that you would like to see (keep in mind the house NEVER looks quiet like the mls pictures). My agent added two houses to our viewing and we are in the process of buying 1 of her picks!  

• when your viewing multiple houses in one day it helps to bring a notebook and write thoughts about each house while your viewing them, it is easy to forget what features were in what house! You should also put any repairs/upgrades you intend to make (figure out $$ you will be putting in the house).

ONCE YOU FIND YOUR HOUSE

1. Make an offer- NEGOTIATE! Unless your in a hot market (where houses go for more than list and fast) then I would always recommend asking for things. We got $3,200 in closing costs, $3,500 off of list price, and appliances on a house that was listed below market value for a quick sale!

2. If you have a good agent then she/he will talk you through the process. You will need a Broker/Lender, Title Search Company, Insurance company, and you will want to get a home inspection. 

3. In your contract their should have been an inspection clause, if something comes out in an inspection then you should be able to re negotiate. 

4. After this point it is largely out of your hands. Your lender and the Title Search Company will let you know what if anything they need (documents, bank statements). 

5. You will get the keys at close and you can move in!!!

TIP- As a 1st time homebuyer the process is stressful enough. I would say find people to work with you trust and stick with them! I know conventional wisdom is to "shop around" for brokers, title companies, etc but since everything is new you want to make sure you are working with someone you can trust! That discount broker who doesn't close on time isn't worth it!

7 recycling practices we should adopt from other countries

01/07/2014

I did NOT write this article, I just wanted to share it with my readers. Any and all credit goes to author Nadia Carriere!

 Although the United States is getting better at finding innovative ways to reduce waste and recycle, we still lag behind several other countries around the globe. Here are 7 countries doing something better and more innovative when it comes to reducing waste and recycling. Perhaps we can learn a few things!

Sweden
Known for their passion for recycling, Sweden goes one step further than anyone else, powering a quarter of a million homes with waste. The city’s garbage is used to create heat and electricity, but they’ve recently found themselves in a bit of a pickle: they’ve run out of garbage! Thankfully Norway has come to the rescue and is not only paying Sweden to take their garbage, but is importing it over for their use.

Japan
Japan has had their own Home Appliance Law that’s been in effect for over 10 years now. It places the responsibility of recycling on everyone from the consumers to the manufacturers. If you need to get rid of a large appliance, you are required to pay a recycling fee and purchase a ticket. The fees depend on the appliance, brand, and size of the unit. The cost of recycling a small television, for example, would run you about $19.30 USD, while a refrigerator is a higher fee at $32.16. Facilities such as the Panasonic Eco Technology Centre then shred the appliances into small bits for recycling. You can even watch the process if you choose to!

Italy
Rome has become quite strict regarding the whole recycling issue: if you don’t separate your recycling from your waste and you have a recycling bin within 500 meters from your front door, you can be fined up to 619 Euros ($833 US dollars)!

Germany
Germany is very diligent with their bin system. In fact, they even have a separate recycling bin for dead animals. Dead dogs, deer, or other creatures that are found on the side of the road or die from other causes are taken to nearby facilities and are then rendered down for their fat. The fat is then used for lip balms and other products. The country is yet another that charges for garbage disposal. The cost of emptying a 60-liter bin will run you at $8.87 USD. That definitely adds up, and the larger your bin, the higher the cost, but recycling is always free.

Belgium
Belgium has a recycling rate of 91% when it comes to scrap cars, thanks to their state-of-the-art post shredder technologies and their goal is to hit the 95% mark by 2015! Once a car is recycled, shredder waste is what remains and that in itself is a difficult material to recycle as it’s a mix of all kinds of different materials. Post shredder technology makes it possible to recover useful raw materials from the shredder waste by using mechanical separation techniques.

Switzerland
Switzerland’s recycling rate is one of the highest in the world – and for good reason. The country charges for their disposal of junk; you must use an official (expensive) refuse bag to dispose of your garbage. Prices for the bags range from $1.64 to $9.60 USD each, depending on the size. Because of this, the Swiss are very diligent with their recycling. Switzerland has also introduced a landfilling ban, demanding that all non-recycled combustible waste be incinerated.

Canada
Canada has the standard box collection system for recycling. In Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, there are blue bins and blue boxes. Blue bags are used in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and Labrador. One of the most interesting ways Canada recycles materials is how they treat their tires: tires are re-used in playgrounds and mixed with asphalt for road resurfacing. Vancouver has just launched a pilot program to recycle cigarette butts … yes, you read that correctly! These recycling bins will be posted around the city and once collected, they will be recycled into different products including plastic pallets. This is a huge deal, as cigarettes are one of the most littered items in the world.

What are your thoughts on this? I am all for charging a fee for plastic bags and charging people more based on how much trash they create and making recycling free. I think by charging people by waste and making recycling free we are encouraging people to do what they already should be doing, whats best for our environment and the world. Sweden using garbage to make electricity is also great because it is getting a final use out of it and getting rid of it, I just wonder how eco friendly it is?

Skin Below the Chin Exfoliating Body Scrub Review

01/07/2014


The picture above is the same product as mine only a different label design (newer than my label?). Let me just begin by telling you that this product smells delicious! It is seriously an amazing scent!

This product made it on my blog (and in my house) for a couple of reasons:

• Cruelty Free
• No Harsh Chemicals (No sodium lauryl sulfate or parabens!)
• Moroccan Argan Oil (I love that stuff!)
• Mostly plant based and natural ingredients

I do like this product. I don't think its amazing as an exfoliating scrub, because its gentle. It being gentle is probably better for your skin but I would say you could use body wash on a loofah and get the same exfoliation.. 

This product is sold at Kmart for $4.99, I'm not sure where I bought it so I just ran a google search to find it. I'm sure you can find it at other stores as well and amazon marketplace has it!

Ultimately I am a fan of this product, the scent and the fact that it is a product you can consciously feel better about buying are great, it is also a good price so I have to give it a thumbs up! I think this is a product that should be tried out if you can manage to get your hands on one! As far as me personally, well I don't plan on keeping a running stock of this product I would definitely buy it again!

Home buying, putting our offer in and negotiating.

01/06/2013

Our dream of home ownership looks like it is coming true. We have a pre approval for a loan, we have found and put an offer in on a house and we will hear back from them in an hour and a half officially! Our agent has already heard back and the listing agent told her they are doing a counteroffer.

When searching for a home we put safety and schools as the top criteria, price as well, being young and having a smaller budget. I am pretty frugal, I wanted our monthly mortgage payment (including taxes and insurance) to be around our monthly rent payment or lower. I wanted a fixer upper, nothing too bad but I am more than willing to tackle a house that needs some cosmetic work... and that is exactly what we found and are placing an offer on.

The house is a one owner, built in 1975, with three bedrooms and two baths. It has 1,523 sq ft, a two car garage and a unfinished sunroom (it isn't heated or drywalled). The house has had functional updating done but not so much any cosmetic updates. It still has 1970's wallpaper in some rooms, wood paneling, popcorn ceilings, some strange flooring in some rooms, even a orange counter!

We made our first offer yesterday morning with a deadline for of a response by four today. The list price on the property was $89,000, already below the comps and well below the median for the town. They also were including the stove, fridge, washer, dryer, and oven in the list price. We offered $85,500 and asked $3,600 in closing costs, for them to pay for a survey and a one year warranty, oh and asked them for a stand up freezer.


They just countered back. They accepted all the terms but the survey, warranty, and freezer. We are saving $6,700 off the list. ALWAYS NEGOTIATE! The house was already priced to move, below market value, and we are getting it even lower. It is helpful to know how motivated the sellers are and information about them as well.

We are planning on accepting their counter, I have already started planning out my renovation projects! DIY here we come!