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Take risk out of second-home rental

By Tom Kelly, Thursday, August 6, 2009.

While rent-by-owner agencies say it's a snap to find renters for your family cabin on the Internet, the best way to ensure your sanity -- and your second home's safety -- is to first consider renting only to family, friends and neighbors.

It's simply human nature. In most cases, consumers choose familiarity over the unknown almost every time. For example, borrowers historically have selected fixed-rate loans instead of adjustable-rate mortgages because they are predicable and not as risky.

When you consider family and friends first, you usually get the renter that you know and hopefully trust, who will give you less hassle and who is most likely to leave your getaway in the condition they found it. more...

Renting out the family getaway

By Tom Kelly, Thursday, July 30, 2009.

Howard Craft is one of four adult children who inherited a lakeside cabin from their parents. Every year, the kids gather for a dinner meeting to decide the dates that the individual families will use the popular getaway, assign cleanup chores and discuss possible improvements to the aging structure.

For the first time since the parents stopped their summer residency at the lake place, none of the four children could schedule vacation time to take advantage of the family cabin. Two of the siblings had moved out of the area to take different jobs and could not justify the costs to return to the North Cascades for vacation.

Another, Howard, had accepted a teaching job in New Zealand for a semester, and the fourth felt pinched by the economy and had decided to postpone any vacation time away from work. more...

Seattle ranks No. 1 for fun

By Tom Kelly, Thursday, July 23, 2009.

Twenty-five years ago, when high technology was first introduced into real estate, a Portland, Ore.-based researcher developed a software program that allowed consumers to enter personal preferences to help them locate "their own best place."

I have been following Bert Sperling's work ever since, mainly because his "best places" concept caught the eye of officials in cities and counties across the country, helping them understand where they stand in the eye of the consumer. Sperling has offered in-depth analysis of crime, climate, local economy and jobs, cost of living, education, transportation, leisure, arts and culture, and quality of life. more...

Priorities for relocating seniors

By Tom Kelly, Thursday, July 16, 2009.

Not all seniors want or are able to remain in the same house, especially after the loss of a spouse. While some do choose to stay and "age in place" alone, others opt to head to a community near an adult child.

Many older folks want to remain independent and choose a small, single-family home, while others choose to try out an apartment. They often have specific issues and needs -- the same issues and needs baby boomers will face in a short few years.

After living so many years in the same place, these decisions are huge. Some don't know where to start, and neither do their adult children. more...

Global MLS to fill several voids

By Tom Kelly, Thursday, July 9, 2009.

The need to accommodate the international real estate market continues to be a priority for industry providers and the reasons to do so mount nearly every day.

The number of immigrants and foreign investors coming to the United States is increasing, more and more Americans are looking outside the country for a lower cost of living, and wealthy citizens with disposable income still dream of an exotic getaway abroad.

According to the National Association of Realtors, approximately 178,000 of its members closed a transaction with a foreign buyer in 2008, including approximately 61 percent of all Florida Realtors. About the same number of agents had a deal fall through with a foreign buyer due to price, immigration laws, or higher-than-expected property taxes and home insurance costs. more...

Empty house may cost more to insure

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, July 1, 2009.

Homebuyers are finding tougher guidelines and higher premiums from insurance carriers, and there certainly aren't any bargains for sellers who need to move or would simply like a change of scenery.

In a recent case, owners decided to sell a three-bedroom, three-bath primary residence and move into a nearby rental property they owned that better fit their needs. The primary residence, on a gorgeous acre with wonderful landscaping and a couple of ponds, demanded more time and maintenance than the owners had to give. more...

Tips on taking the homebuyer tax credit

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, June 24, 2009.

The down payment remains the deepest chuck hole on the road to home ownership. First-time buyers and folks starting over after divorce or bankruptcy, however, now have more workable, flexible loan programs than any other borrower category.

And now, as they say on television, "for a limited time only" first-time homebuyers are eligible for a huge bonus -- an $8,000 tax credit, thanks to the recent housing stimulus package. It's called a "tax credit," but if you read all the details, even if you pay less than $8,000 in taxes, you would get credited back the difference with a check from Uncle Sam next year. more...

Can updated tax credit stoke housing?

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, June 17, 2009.

The primary reasons first-time homebuyers have been driven to considering a home purchase during the past few months are the attractive loan programs targeting first-timers and the generous $8,000 tax credit offered by the federal government.

Recently, the tax credit has been loaded with new angles allowing first-time buyers to add it to their down payment after the required 3.5 percent of the purchase price has come from their own funds. As of May 29, 2009, the $8,000 federal tax credit can be used as "an additional down payment or closing costs" for buyers who apply for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration before Dec. 1, 2009. more...

Vets rescued by VA refi

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, June 10, 2009.

One of the best -- and easiest -- streamline refinance programs is available to consumers who now have a loan guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The VA streamline, known as the Interest Rate Reduction Loan, has no "season" requirement, meaning that borrowers who refinanced recently still are eligible. In addition, the loans entail very little documentation and usually do not require an appraisal. more...

Converting home to rental more difficult

By Tom Kelly, Thursday, May 28, 2009.

The housing market has been as uncertain as the next monthly unemployment figures. Families have put home purchases and remodeling projects on hold, waiting for a positive sign in consumer confidence -- or an upward, consistent move in the stock market -- to make a big-ticket decision.

A friend of mine, whose two daughters are grown and gone, would like to remodel a home in the neighborhood, sell his present residence, and then move in to the remodel. Given the present conditions, he doesn't feel he can do either. He's uncomfortable with investing a ton of dollars on the remodel that he may otherwise need for day-to-day expenses, and he's afraid there's already too much inventory now on the market to list his home for sale. more...

Boomer dilemma: sell or stay?

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, May 20, 2009.

Climate change, family change, attitude change.

For the first time anybody can remember, we've had snow in six consecutive months, including two separate weeks when we could not get out of the driveway (unheard of in the Puget Sound). My wife refuses to get behind the wheel at the sign of a snowflake, and my arthritic knees seem to lock up at the mere mention of "overnight accumulation."

Our four kids are grown and gone. If you've ever experienced a child's first birthday away from home, you've got a twinge of the emotional package headed your way. more...

Mexico: land of guaranteed appreciation?

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, May 13, 2009.

LA PAZ, Mexico -- As we headed out for a special day of snorkeling -- sharing the water with a group of baby sea lions off Espiritu Santo Island in the southern portion of the Sea of Cortes -- I thought about the headlines that keep some north-of-the-border residents from visiting Mexico.

The reports of crime in Mexico has slowed the flow of U.S. and Canadian residents to southern Baja and many other destinations south of the border, but it has not stopped the steady stream of Europeans, South Americans and Asians. Though much of the violence occurs in border towns, Mexico City has had major problems, as has the community of Culiacan, two hours north of Mazatlan. (Recent reports of swine flu in and around the capital have also slowed recent visitor traffic.) more...

Despite scares, Mexico still lures buyers

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, May 6, 2009.

In recent weeks, the question has become common. Curiously, U.S. and Canadian citizens living in Mexico have retained the "manana" attitude even when it comes to crime.

"You think Americans really are not visiting Mexico because of crimes in the papers? Don't they realize it's basically a border deal among drug gangs?" asked Jerry Kerr, a native of San Francisco who spends his winters windsurfing in the warm waters of the Sea of Cortes. more...

Lost equity puts boomers' future in doubt

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, April 29, 2009.

Baby boomers -- the largest, healthiest and wealthiest group ever appearing on the U. S. growth landscape -- never met a loan they didn't like. After leveraging appreciation and location in their starter and move-up homes to pay for cars, college tuitions and trips, their home probably holds most of the equity in their lives.

According to a new report by Washington, D.C.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), that home is not worth what it used to be. Coupled with the recent turmoil in the stock market, many boomers will be completely reliant on Social Security and Medicare to support them in their retirement years. more...

Some homeowners 'ARMed' and ready

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, April 22, 2009.

Adjustable-rate loans, especially those with an interest-only component, recently have been shunned and criticized, hammered and nailed. If you are looking for sympathy in your daily life, simply mention at your kid's weekend basketball game that you have an ARM (adjustable-rate mortgage) set to adjust in May.

Ever since the mortgage mess began to unravel, consumers have raced to fixed-rate loans, reportedly with a newly found "pay-it-off" mindset. While this appears to be great news, it does not ensure that these same folks will not dip into their home's equity when the housing market eventually returns. That sort of discipline has yet to be proven among the baby boomers that have showed a tendency to refinance or take out a home equity loan for cars, vacations or a hot stock tip. more...

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