In the previous post, we looked at how bank web sites and government agency web sites can be your main sources of information on foreclosed homes that are for sale. Are there any other options open to you if you are in the market for a new home? The answer is a resounding YES. Aside from these web sites, you can also do the following.
Real estate signs
This option requires more physical activity on your part. As opposed to the options presented in the previous post (where you just have to turn your PC on and browse), you have to drive around the neighborhood wherein you want to buy your home. When you drive around, look for FOR SALE signs and pay particular attention to the information on them. Look for signs that say FORECLOSURE and then contact the real estate agent on the sign.
Real estate agents
If you do not have time to go running around neighborhoods, then you might as well get in touch with a real estate agent. After all, this is their business and they will have top information on property for sale. You just have to indicate that what you are looking for are foreclosed homes which present a good deal.
Asset management companies
You can also contact asset management companies in your area to inquire about foreclosed homes. Oftentimes, banks or lenders hire these companies to handle foreclosures. As such, they will have information of foreclosed homes that you can buy. You can do this by looking at their web sites or even calling them on the phone.
Photo courtesy of sfadden
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I am a firm believer in respecting others and not benefiting at the expense of others. Yet as in many things, this could be quite relative. As sad as the situation may be with many homes being foreclosed, those who are in the market for a house today could actually benefit from the situation.
What happens when a house in foreclosed? They are normally put in the market for very low prices. This is where you can benefit. However, you also have to remember that not all foreclosed houses are good deals. Some of them may come dirt cheap but they may have attachments such as liens or mortgages.
The best thing to do would be to look around and find a good bargain. How do you go about that? Here are some ways by which you can hunt for a foreclosed home to buy.
Bank web sites
Banks lend money to homeowners so that they could purchase or build their houses. They also lend money using the property as collateral. When the borrower fails to pay back their loan, the property is reclaimed by the bank. It is then left to the bank to liquidate the property that they have repossessed. You can usually see these properties listed on the bank’s web site.
Government-owned listings
Banks are not the only institutions that lend money using homes and properties as collateral. There are government agencies which function much in the same way. They also foreclose properties and then put these properties up for sale. You can visit the web site of the Department of Housing and Ubran Development for more information.
Photo courtesy of nep
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When it comes to buying a real estate investment property, the first deal is the hardest.
I know that financing your first investment property can be a major pain. The first time is by far the scariest and hardest. After you get over this fear and hump it you are on your way to success. It’s like this with lots of things in life. Travel,girls, and just about everything worthwhile. You have to take a risk, put yourself out there and be prepared for success.
Check your credit score early and often to make sure there aren’t any mistakes or issues you need to address before hand. This will save you many headaches going forward.
Next decided what kind of property you are looking to purchase. I would recommend the under 10k variety near a big city like Louisville,Kentucky or Detroit,Mi.
Get your paperwork in order.Your bank or credit union will need all your paperwork such as bank statements, paycheck stubs, and all your financial records. So go ahead and get it all organized so they can look it over. Keep this all together and up to date.
I’d recommend hiring a real estate attorney to get all your paperwork organized and give you strong advice on moving forward.
Next, get prefinanced.
This will save you time and headaces with realtors. Next head on out and get your fixer upper.
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There are home upgrades which will add value to your house when you do decide to sell it. However, there are certain upgrades which might not make your house more valuable come selling time. Here are some of these upgrades. If you can do without them, then I suggest forgetting it.
Home Office
Let’s face it, not everyone needs a home office. It is nice to have one, though. However, come selling time, you might regret converting a bedroom to a home office. This means that there is one less bedroom to sell, and while the potential buyers can convert it back to a bedroom, they probably won’t want that job.
Colorful marble counters
You might be taken over by a colorful fit – one which “forces” you to spruce up the house with lots of bright color. Paint walls if you must, but when it comes to counter tops, avoid colorful marble or granite counters. These are not cheap to change, and what are the chances that potential buyers would love to have a bright green counter top?
Wall to wall carpets
Not everyone is into carpeting. For one, it is such a head ache to maintain. More so, you will probably have a stain here and there after years of living in the house. Come selling time, your wall to wall carpeting job might prove to be more of a liability than an asset.
The bottom line is this: upgrade your house the way you want to if you – it’s you who will enjoy the upgrades. However, if you are upgrading with the aim of selling later on, then think hard and carefully about the changes you make.
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This consumerist culture tells us that we can not be happy without our creature comforts. It tells us that we simply can not do without a newer car, or phone, or whatever new gadget that just came out. It tells us that we do not look acceptable without the latest clothes for the season. It tells us that we have to buy and buy in order to have a fulfilling life.
Well all that simply isn’t true. However, the pressure society imposes on us and our own wants make us keep on buying. This is understandable but if you can live a fulfilling life, get what you want, and do all this without being enslaved by consumerism, wouldn’t it be so much better? Of course it will be. This is why I’ll be doing a series of posts that will hopefully help everyone (including me!) beat this consumerist thinking.
Tip # 1 – Understand what consumerism is and recognize its negative effects.
In order to beat something you have to know that you need to beat it! You also need to realize that it is not a good thing because if you don’t see anything wrong with it then why even try to change things. My previous posts should hopefully help you realize the negative effects of consumerism.
Tip # 2 – Resolve to fight against it.
How corny. But it is true you should decide not to be a victim if you don’t want to be one.
Tip # 3 – Change one bad habit or start a good one.
It is easier if you do things one at a time. Pick a habit that reflects your consumerist attitude and that is pretty easy to kick so that you can get a sense of fulfillment. This way you will feel like you can do it and be encouraged to continue being less and less of a consumerist each day. A few example of bad habits you might want to kick include:
drinking bottled water – It goes without saying that this is only for people who live in areas with clean tap water. Will save you lots of money and will also lessen all those waste from the plastic bottles you use and throw away each day.
take out food – Dine in the restaurant or bring a packed meal with you. This will lessen the packaging thrown away. Packed meals/snacks are also great for the budget.
newspapers – What? Newspapers are not bad but if you login to your computer every single day you might as well read the news on the internet. Less waste and no need to pay for the news. Lots of varied resources too.
It’s little things like these that count. More tips for you next time!
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The environmental impact consumerism brings is clear and is definitely not pretty. Since a consumerist culture makes people want more and more the level of consumption grows exponentially. Add to that the exponential growth in population and it brings us to where we are now – a planet on the brink of disaster.
Two of the environmental issues brought about or at the very least contributed to by consumerism include:
Depletion of natural resources – The consumption of the resources to create products is just so rapid that it just isn’t sustainable.
Massive amounts of waste material – From the production phase to the consumption phase waste is produced resulting in all kinds of pollution (air, land, water, and even noise pollution). It is not only the big factories spewing noxious gases that are guilty of this but every individual who take out purchases from their packaging, discard old things, etc.
Even though resources will be used and waste material will naturally be produced even in a non-cosumerist society, consumerism can still be blamed simply because the amount that would other wise be used and produced can be sustainable apart from the consumerist culture.
Clearly consumerism’s negative effects to the environment has a global effect and leads (and has lead) to more serious issues than just getting into credit card debt.
With all the bleak scenarios I have painted I will be tackling ways on how to beat consumerism in your own personal life and thus help counter or, at the very least, avoid its negative effects.
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Feeling pleasure over material things is not a bad thing and in fact natural, however if your personal happiness depends a lot on the acquisition and use of material things then you belong to the ever growing number of victims of consumerism.
According to National Geographic consumerism has been existent and is pretty pervasive among Americans and Western Europeans for decades now and sadly they do not have a monopoly on it since developing countries are rapidly catching up with the “trend”. The problem with this is that it has a lot of far reaching negative effects ranging widely from the personal lives of the consumer trickling down to the environment. Just to illustrate the impact that consumerism brings let me list down a few of the personal problems it contributes to.
1. Overspending – Specially a big problem for shopaholics. Note though that thanks to the advent of credit cards even the average person (non-shopaholics) makes purchases that are not in their budget and that they have to scramble to pay for.
2. Debt – Obviously a result of overspending.
3. Self-esteem issues – More and more people are falling prey to having their self-esteem tied to brand names and other expensive status symbols.
4. False perception – Number three is actually linked to this false perception problem because people’s self-esteems are affected since they tend to believe that the more expensive the better something is. Just recently the Tyra Banks Show did a segment on “Label Mania” which showed how “label-obsessed” people felt better about themselves wearing ordinary off-the-rack clothes simply because they thought they were wearing an expensive designer label clothing.
As you can see overcoming the pull of consumerism is important because not only will it help your self perception but also because it will help save your wallets!
On my next posts I will list some of the environmental impacts of consumerism and also give some tips on how to beat it but still ensure that you live a fulfilling life surrounded by beautiful things you love – both material and not.
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In my early teens Popular Mechanics and I had a short lived romance. I was exiting boy scouts and was enthralled with all things science and guru related. This article would have really been a favorite of mine then, and well it really hits home today.
25 Tips Every Man Should Know. included in this list is one of my favorite DIY activities which is Painting A Room
17. Paint a Room
Good paint jobs start before the first can of paint is opened.
Prepare the room by removing all hardware (door latchsets, receptacle and switch plates). Don’t just fill small holes in the plaster or drywall; enlarge them first so the compound can be pushed in place, and wet the hole to slow drying. Sand rough spots, wash dirty areas, then prime.
Paint the ceiling, then the walls. Use a 212-in. brush to cut in the finish color at all corners and against the trim. Switch to a roller, apply paint in a W pattern and fill it in. After you dip the roller in the paint tray, 70 percent of the paint comes off on the first downstroke; avoid splatters by starting at least 9 in. from the corner. Apply two coats.
Growing up I didn’t realize the things I was doing would later be neccesary skills in everyday life but it’s true. That’s what makes this a great article. I can imagine not everyone has a handy Dad to show them how to do all these things.
Finish by painting the woodwork and trim with a gloss or semigloss paint. It’s safest to mask off the walls beforehand, although pros often skip this step. If you do mask, use a tape designed for the purpose so the adhesive doesn’t pull the paint from the wall. Once the final coat dries, reinstall hardware.
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1. Pick up a part time job consulting in your field.
2. Have a garage sale and sell anything you don’t need.
3. Cut up your credit cards and just use cash.
4. Make money online in your spare time.
5. Eat out less.
While these five ideas might seem like no brainers to most of you. They are really not the norm in our society of spend more than what we have. Keeping things simpler and living more like our grandparents did during the depression is definetly a step in the right direction.
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It’s on again. That darn infomercial. It keeps calling me telling me how I can make all that money. Money investing in real estate. Seems like we are in a great time to become a real estate leader just because the mortgage market is tanking, and there should be a great number of homes that will come available at below market rates just so the bank can make back some of the money on their investments.
One thing I’ve found is a great place to buy cheap automobiles is Credit Unions. A credit union is a cooperative which operates similarly to a bank, but is owned and controlled by people who use its services.
If you aren’t already a member of your local credit union you should be. Head on over to a credit union, develop a good working relationship with your local loan rep, and have him keep foreclosed property in a certain range in mind for you. It’s a great way to find cheap, undervalued homes that they are looking to sell quickly in order to keep the Credit Union profitable. Unlike a bank it’s about keeping the shareholders happy and keeping the nonprofit open. You can also use this to find other investment deals like automobiles that have been repossessed.
Here’s a great site you can use to find credit unions .
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