Tips About House Inspection

Owning a new home is quite a task. Countless brainstorming sessions, negotiations as well as disagreements may occur between couples from house search to house viewing to reserving a unit and ultimately inspecting if the unit adheres to house plan and delivered in excellent condition. Below are some specific tips about house inspection which is particularly important for first time homeowners.

EXTERIORS

Walls

Cracks, unevenness, or holes are symptoms of a house with a not quite sound foundation or worse, an insect or rodent infestation. If you’re noise-conscious, examine wall thickness as they indicate how solid the house is built. This applies especially for condos and apartments, where the common walls give a clue on their soundproofing capacity.

Roof

Admittedly, checking the roof for damage is not that easy, which precisely why it’s crucial not to overlook it as it can be easily missed from ground level. When inspecting a house, be sure to ask help for a roof inspection. Bring a camera and a ladder if you have to. If it’s a pre-owned home, ask the broker or previous owners it had leak problems due to poor roof installation, weathering, or other damage.

Elevation

Flooding is a common problem in our tropical climate. Make sure the home you’re eyeing to buy is elevated enough or located in a flood-free area. Check the Department of Science and Technology’s Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment Hazard) to see if your potential home location is in danger of flooding or in a flood-free area in the city.

Locks/Gates

Security and safety are big factors to keep in mind during home inspection. If you’re inspecting a house, be sure it has a gate and door locks that are hard to break into. With condos, lobbies with concierge, tight security, and CCTV cameras are preferable. Invest in and install a private home security system if you need to.

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INTERIORS

Indoor wiring can get pretty complicated. Be sure you have a professional electrician to help you out.

Electrical

Avoid the dangers of electrocution, electric shock or burn, and fire hazards due to faulty wiring, defective outlets, and poor circuitry design. Have a professional electrician test out outlets and identify electrical hazards.

Plumbing

Because the plumbing system is mostly unseen, plumbing problems can be like ghosts; you won’t notice them until something unpleasant or downright scary happens. Common issues to check are pipe leaks, clogged drains, and unnatural water pressure. A damaged plumbing system can turn the mundane task of flushing the toilet into a nightmare.

Flooring

Your new home flooring should be solid and durable. Inspect if the flooring sags, makes a lot of unnatural squeaky noises, or has uneven parts which can cause accidents. Flooring jobs can be hugely expensive, time-consuming, and of course, inconvenient.

Ventilation

Unless you want to live in an inferno or smell like your home-cooked meals, you’d also want to check the house ventilation system. A kitchen and dining area with windows or dedicated vents can defuse the buildup of gas, smoke, chemical contaminants, and prevent mold or bacterial growth that may cause health or comfort problems. In terms of energy efficiency, a house with good airflow distribution can reduce your Meralco bill.

Ideally, home inspection is a systematic and comprehensive examination of its features to identify and prevent hazards. Its findings can greatly help you determine if you’ll want to push through with the sale or not. In short, they can make or break a deal. You might have to do it more than once and it can get expensive if you’re consulting professionals. However, a thorough home inspection that saves you a lot of future horrors is well worth an investment.

SOURCE: Zipmatch.com

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Tips on How to Increase your House Resale Value

If you are looking for a business that earns big profits instantly, buying and selling house and lot is worth a try. I know some individuals who started to accumulate their fortune by doing this business that’s why it has been my dream to be involved in this business someday. Though it’s a very expensive business to start, having the right attitude, proper mindset and proper planning can still get the job done.

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So if you want to start to buy and sell house and lot in the Philippines, here are the things that you can do to increase the value of your property:

Basic Updates/Renovations

This is the most important upgrade to start with. Typically, as a buyer one of your main questions are the basic things like: Is the roof leaking? Does the house look good? Is it properly painted? Is the wood still sturdy enough? Does it need replacement? Are there termites that should be treated? Are the pipes in a good condition? Are the wiring still safe for use? We all know that buyers want a healthy, safe home that can be lived with the most minimal maintenance. Addressing these problems earlier, will help you increase or at least maintain your house’s value over time and save money.

Create Space

Houses with a wide open floor plan are attractive for buyers. Maximize the current space that you have to add additional space inside the house. If you have an attic, present it as an additional work area, study room, bed room, family room or even a library.

Also, under-utilized spaces like under stairways spaces can be converted into storage spaces for shoes, bags or even kitchen supplies.

Upgrade your Bathroom and Kitchen

In the US, almost all brokers agree that enhancing your kitchen and bathroom is good way of increasing your house’s value.

For the bathroom, replace old, dripping and rust faucets, clean the grout, change the seat cover, replace or repair the non-working flush, paint the cabinets and clean everything as if it would look as new as possible.

For the kitchen, repaint or re-varnish kitchen cabinets, clean or paint the walls, replace old faucets and make sure that the pipes do not have leaks.

Outdoor Upgrades

The façade of a house is the most important upgrade here. If you will put yourself on a buyer’s position, the front door or the façade is the first thing that you will notice. Before putting your house on sale, make sure that everything outside the house looks good and ready for selling. Make it look like that the house looks vibrant and inviting.

For a vibrant and inviting house, you can do the following:

Replace the front door if needed, if not repaint or re-varnish it. You can also consider repaint jobs on your front gate.

Make sure that the lights and door bell outside the house is working.

Invest on landscape. If you have a garden outside, make sure that the trees, plants, mini pond looks desirable.

Doing these things will greatly increase the appeal of your house to potential buyers. With a properly maintained house, everything will be in place. You will sell your house instantly at a high reasonable price.

Source: blogspot.com

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Donts for a New Home owner

If you’re new to homeownership, you’ll definitely want to avoid these easy-to-prevent mistakes that could cost you big time.

We know so well the thrill of owning your own house — but don’t let the excitement cause you to overlook the basics. We’ve gathered up a half dozen classic boo-boos new homeowners often commit — and give you some insight on why each is critically important to avoid.

1.  Not Knowing Where the Main Water Shutoff Valve Is

Water from a burst or broken plumbing pipe can spew dozens of gallons into your home’s interior in a matter of minutes, soaking everything in sight — including drywall, flooring, and valuables. In fact, water damage is one of the most common of all household insurance claims.

Quick-twitch reaction is needed to stave off a major bummer. Before disaster hits, find your water shutoff valve, which will be located where a water main enters your house. Make sure everyone knows where it’s located and how to close the valve. A little penetrating oil on the valve stem makes sure it’ll work when you need it to.

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2.  Not Getting Familiar with House Plan Before Digging a Hole

Ah, spring! You’re so ready to dig into your new yard and plant bushes and build that fence. But don’t — not until you know where your pipes and underground cables are placed.

3.  Not Checking the Slope of Foundation Soil

The ground around your foundation should slope away from your house at least 6 inches over 10 feet. Why? To make sure that water from rain doesn’t soak the soil around your foundation walls, building up pressure that can cause leaks and crack your foundation, leading to mega-expensive repairs.

This kind of water damage doesn’t happen overnight — it’s accumulative — so the sooner you get after it, the better (and smarter) you’ll be. While you’re at it, make sure downspouts extend at least 5 feet away from your house.


4.  Carelessly Drilling into Walls

Hanging shelves, closet systems, and artwork means drilling into your walls — but do you know what’s back there? Hidden inside your walls are plumbing pipes, ductwork, wires, and cables.

You can check for some stuff with a stud sensor — a battery-operated tool that detects changes in density to sniff out studs, cables, and ducts.

But stud sensors aren’t foolproof. Protect yourself by drilling only 1¼ inches deep max — enough to clear drywall and plaster but not deep enough to reach most wires and pipes.

Household wiring runs horizontally from outlet to outlet about 8 inches to 2 feet from the floor, so that’s a no-drill zone. Stay clear of vertical locations above and below wall switches — wiring runs along studs to reach switches.

5.  Cutting Down a Tree

The risk isn’t worth it. Even small trees can fall awkwardly, damaging your house, property, or your neighbor’s property. You have to obtain a permit first. Cutting down a tree is an art that’s best left to a professional tree service.

Plus, trees help preserve property values and provide shade that cuts energy bills. So think twice before going all out.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Real Estate Investments

Real estate is like gambling - It is suitable for almost everyone and everyone loves it. It gives a better living standard to some and on the other hand the risks take you on a roller coaster ride. It makes or ruins lives. People are skeptical about investing in real estate as they believe that investing in real estate is a sure shot recipe for disaster. But, after careful observation and learning about real estate investments, you might find quite the opposite.

There are both the possibilities with real estate and it depends on many factors. Let me discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this buisness which will give you a better ideas before investing your money.

The advantages of real estate are:-

1. Income stream: - The best way to earn quick money is investing in real estate .It is a secure path to choose which gives you huge benefits. Investment in real estate is good and rental property is in great demand, so through renting property, you can earn money in no time.

2. Secure: - It is very secure to choose real estate because real estate there are not many risks that one needs to handle - like in other businesses .No other business will give that much opportunity.

Investing in real estate is secure because the value does not tend to fluctuate as much as other assets such as stocks and bonds. However, this does not mean that the investor will always break even or earn a profit on their investment. But, the thing about real estate is that once you have a property in hand, you will not need to be worried that its value will change anytime soon.

3. Two ways to earn: - There are two tricks to earn in real estate. As a smart investor, you can own rental houses and rent them out. Then, hopefully you are collecting the differences in your rents and your expenses as profit.

In addition to profiting from renting out your properties, you are also benefiting from its gradual increase in value. So, it is a win-win situation for you at each level.

4. Real Estate Investments are Less Risky: - Without a doubt, real estate is less risky than other investments. Once, the investment done everyone have the fear of losing their money in other businesses. But, real estate investment is a one-time thing which will ensure results even after long periods of time. One just needs patience. Because, the longer you kept your property, the more you will get good amount of benefits and deals. Risk is there in every business. Real estate is less risky because you have to focus on smaller factors which are not at all risky.

The steps which must be follow before investing in real estate:-

Plan it out: - Everything with a plan will always give you a better ideas of benefits.

Suggestion:-Ask for suggestion from an experienced person in real estate investment.

Never hesitate:-Never hesitate to take chances and risk .Because real estate is a game of chances. If you hesitate to take chances you might lose the opportunity to earn big.

Expert advice: -There is always a need to take expert advice before taking any decision. It will always help you to take fast and beneficial decision.

VALUE:-You need to give value to your work money and time. Real estate is based on all of these three factors to get more benefits and earn a good amount of money.

Research:-Before selling or investing in real estate, it's a good idea to search online market about the best value of the place. Do your homework before investing in real estate.

The disadvantages of real estate are:-

Maintenance: - It requires time for maintenance, repair etc. if you have purchased a not so well piece of property. It always seems to be different than what you had planned.
Legal difficulties:-Investing in real estate is easy .But you need to be fully aware about the rules and regulations issued by the government of your country.

3. Property Taxes:-If you want to invest in real estate, taxes is going to be a headache to you. Because the taxes varies on rural and urban areas, it really effects your profit. So awareness about the taxes will be a real life saver.

4. Involvement of Time and money: - Real estate needs a big amount of money for investment and demands attention to property. It sometimes needs more efforts to sell a property with greater benefit. It needs TIME. Real estate Investment is easy to make, but for more benefits and better results it needs your patience. It is sometime costly to manage re-selling and owning a property.

Conclusion: -The only tough part in real estate is that it requires a huge investment of your time and money. Real estate is risky only if you neglect doing a little research on the official government rules and research on the value of your property.

If you want real benefits in real estate, you need to play the game. Every business is like gambling and there is fear of losing. But in this buisness that fear factor is next to nothing and benefits of it are really high. So, make the smart choice and invest in real estate TODAY!
Source: Sooperarticles.com

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