10 Things to Inspect Before You Rent

10 Things to Inspect before You Rent

Are you or a family member in the market for a rental? Make an informed choice by following this inspection checklist from the experts at RentHop:

1. Cellphone reception
In today’s world, we tend to assume we can get great coverage anywhere and everywhere. That’s not necessarily so. When you’re touring a potential apartment, make a call or two on your mobile device from a couple of different rooms. While you’re at it, ask the landlord about WiFi. Some include it in the utilities as a rental incentive.

2. Water pressure and temperature
While you can’t climb in and take a shower during a walk-through, be sure to turn the shower on and test the pressure and temperature with your hand. If it’s not up to par, find out why. Perhaps it’s a temporary situation due to work being done in the building, or something that the building management can repair.

3. Pests
No one wants company when they move in. The best way to check for pests is to open cabinets and drawers and look for droppings, and check walls, baseboards and around plumbing pipes for cracks and holes. You can also ask the landlord for confirmation of when the last pest-control treatments were completed. Be proactive and ask questions—you have every right to.

4. Power outlets and electrical work
When visiting an apartment, bring something small to test as many outlets as possible. Or, pick up an Electrical Receptacle Wall Plug AC Outlet Ground Tester from your local hardware store. It should cost about $5 - 10 and will check the circuit status for each individual outlet in the apartment. While you’re at it, check all the lights in the apartment to make sure they turn on and off properly.

5. Appliances
Just as you’re checking the outlets and the water pressure, test the appliances as well. Open and inspect the fridge, microwave, dishwasher, oven, garbage disposal and any other gadget that comes with the apartment. If something isn’t in working order, ask the landlord what the plan for repair or replacement is.

6. Night-time vibe
Neighborhoods can be very different once the sun goes down, so make sure you visit your potential new location at night. Is it lively or desolate? Well-lit or dark? Are businesses still open, or has everything shut down? Make sure you’re comfortable with how the area feels at night.

7. Parking
If you’ll be dependent upon a car for your daily commute, find out about the parking situation. Is there a lot with assigned spots? If not, visit the lot during the morning and evening rush hour and see how easy it is to get a spot. If you have to rely on street parking, find out if there are alternate side rules to contend with. Your best bet here is to ask other tenants, as they’ll give you the skinny on parking pros and cons.

8. Neighbors
One of the most important factors to check into is who your neighbors will be. Talk to as many other tenants as you can, not only to get a feel for the vibe of the building, but to ask questions about landlord and building maintenance. Ask them what they like best about living there and what they can’t stand. This will go a long way in helping you make the right decision.

9. The lease
The item you should inspect most carefully of all is the lease. Take your time and read it from top to bottom, asking questions whenever something is unclear. You don’t want to be unpleasantly surprised later on by something you unwittingly agreed to in the lease. Look for policies on subletting, renovations, security deposit, renewal and pest control.

10. Damage
Make sure you take photos and document anything that is wrong with the apartment before you move in—a hole in the wall, a tear in the carpet, a cracked window. You need evidence that such damage was not caused by you, otherwise, it could jeopardize your security deposit when it comes time to move out.

Contact me today for more tips on how to choose the perfect rental property.

PreFab Homes - 3 Items To Know Before You Buy

3 Things to Know About Prefab Homes Before You Buy

 From Albert Clark'sHomeActionsBuy

Modular home building is one of the fastest-growing segments of construction, with modular housing production increasing every year. Modular homes are becoming increasingly popular because they take less time to build and are cost-efficient options for first-time buyers or seasoned investors. If you're interested in a prefab home, you know all the benefits, such as low cost, fast construction and pristine craftsmanship, but before you make a final decision, consider the details.
 
The process

Building a modular home is very different from building a traditional home. The homes are built in a factory in programmed stages — from the walls to the finished product — and then set in place at the home's location. Framing, insulation, floors, drywall, roofing, windows, plumbing and lighting fixtures are all installed and finished by experienced craftsmen using state-of-the-art production technology. The home is shipped 90 percent complete and is assembled on the foundation. This process brings forth very different issues than the traditional homebuilding process.
 
How to find the right manufacturer

The quality of your modular home will depend on your manufacturer. There are plenty of high-quality companies building incredible modular homes, but these companies may have a higher price tag. Don't automatically go with the manufacturer that has the lowest prices, though, because you can get burned with a bad modular home that was built with cheap products. Find the right manufacturer by looking at its finished homes and talking to other clients who've used that manufacturer. 

How the home looks when it is done isn't everything — you should choose a builder based on the company's range of designs, geographical reach, and reputation. The price tag is just a small factor in the overall picture.
 
Be mindful of the foundation

With a conventional home, it is easy to make adjustments for foundations that aren't perfectly level. Since a prefab home is built in a factory and shipped to the location, making changes to adhere to the foundation is next to impossible. The foundation has to be perfectly square within a half-inch for the modular home to work. 

This is something that buyers interested in a modular home should take into consideration. Before you ever purchase a modular home, you need to ensure that the land you want to build the home on has the means to provide a perfect foundation setting.

What makes you interested in purchasing a prefab home?

Building Codes & Permits - Know What To Do

Do I Need a Permit to Do That?

 From Albert Clark HomeActions

Renovating your home can be an exciting undertaking, but it is important to slow down and make sure you check all the boxes before you proceed with your project. Building permits primarily exist to protect the health and safety of the home's residents, so while it might be inconvenient to apply for a building permit, it can be worth it in the long run. But how do you know if you need a building permit for the project you are planning?
 
1. Do I need a permit for the project I am about to start?
 
A few general guidelines can give you an idea of whether you will need a building permit. In most cases, you will need a permit for any modifications you would like to make to your existing home. These include electrical, sewer or plumbing updates and mechanical installations. They also include changes to the roof line, the addition of fireplaces and the expansion of pre-existing windows.
 
On the other hand, there are some situations when a permit is usually not required. Cosmetic changes, such as new flooring, trim or paint, typically do not require a permit. Other types of modifications, such as building a deck, replacing the siding on your home, or building a new fence or retaining wall, may or may not require a permit depending on your location.
 
2. Why do we have building codes?
 
Building codes are put in place to protect the home's residents as well as the community at large. One commonly cited example of a building code applies to stair railings. Stair railings are required to have sturdy hand holds to help occupants traverse them. In general, railings are also not permitted to have any gaps that are larger than 4". This regulation was put in place in order to prevent small children from getting stuck while trying to climb through the gaps.
 
Building codes can also help make the community safe and clean for everyone. Examples of this include environmental efficiency regulations.
 
3. Is a building permit my responsibility or my contractor's?
 
If you choose to hire a contractor, make sure you discuss with the contractor who will be pulling the building permits. In some areas, you have to be a licensed general contractor in order to pull building permits, but in many other jurisdictions you are able to pull building permits for your own private residence.
 
4. How can I find out if I need a permit?
 
Check with your local jurisdiction. Different areas have different laws surrounding building permits and building codes. In general, urban areas are more strictly regulated while the requirements in rural areas tend to be more lax. Make sure that you check the most up-to-date versions of all the guidelines. For example, requirements for energy efficiency have changed drastically over the past decade, causing building codes to adjust accordingly. It is always best to make sure that you are up to date on the local building codes and guidelines.

Home Renovations That Can Hurt (and Help) Property Value: The best remodels will increase both quality of life and listing price, so take care to invest in projects that will net the biggest returns.

Home Renovations That Can Hurt (and Help) Property Value

Posted on Feb 23 2017 - 10:57am by Housecall

By Brooke Nally

If you’re into renovation projects, then updating and revamping your home can be a lot of fun. But before you get too excited about knocking down walls and setting up a custom movie room, you might want to consider resale value. Flashy renovations don’t always yield the best returns, so you’ll need to take care when picking projects.

To make things easier for you, here are four remodels to avoid and four to invest in.

Remodels to Avoid

Luxury RoomsAn indoor basketball court, wine cellar, sauna, or even a movie theater won’t often recoup the high building costs. Luxury add-on rooms are hard to pitch to buyers unless you’re living in an upscale housing market—the average homebuyer won’t be willing to pay for them. Further, rooms that depend heavily on wired electronics, like home theaters, are hard to keep current because TVs and speakers are constantly advancing.

Swimming PoolThe average cost to build a pool is $39,084, a hefty price tag that is seldom recovered once the home is sold. It’s widely accepted throughout the industry that a homeowner will lose money by adding a swimming pool. Homebuyers don’t want to deal with the maintenance cost of a pool (which can cost as much as $2,000 a year), the added insurance premiums, and—if they have young kids—the safety issues.

Gaudy AccentsThough gold-plated crown molding or mosaic-tile backsplashes may feature prominently in your ideal vision for your home, they often turn out to be the average homebuyer’s worst nightmare. Passing fads or niche trends rarely stick around long, so if you miss the brief window when your remodeling choices are in, you’ll end up paying for it later.

Changes Contrary to Area StandardsIf you aren’t watching the trends common to your area, you could end up losing a lot of money. A home that totals $600,000 after all the renovations won’t sell in a neighborhood where homes are netting half that price. Likewise, knocking down the walls of extra bedrooms for an open layout won’t be appealing in a family-oriented neighborhood.

Remodels that Pay

Steel Doors
You don’t want to go cheap on a standard front door. At roughly $1,000, steel doors are comparatively affordable, durable, low maintenance and burglar resistant. As an added bonus, theNational Association of Realtors® reports that steel door upgrades show the highest return on investment of any home remodel, at over 100 percent of the cost.

Solar PanelsAs the price of solar panels continues to drop, the energy payback on installing them is becoming greater and greater. The average rooftop solar system is now paid off in seven and a half years. After that, panels are a big money-saving asset. A study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory notes that homebuyers “consistently have been willing to pay more for a property” with solar panels—a premium of around $4 per installed watt, on average.

Related: Will Your Homeowners Insurance Cover Solar Panels?

New SidingThe exterior of your house is the first thing potential homebuyers see when they come to your home, and you want to make the best first impression. This is part of the reason redoing your siding is so profitable. New siding recoups around 80 percent of the initial cost, according to the National Association of Realtors®, thanks largely to the increased curb appeal and improved energy efficiency it provides.

Broadband Access
Access to broadband speeds is considered an essential utility for today’s connected homebuyer. Research shows that faster internet speeds increase your home value by as much as 3 percent. Homeowners can prepare their homes for higher broadband connectivity by working with area providers to install requisite equipment and wiring. Building out wall ports and cable-hiding baseboards is a good move to attract buyers, too.

Even if you’re not considering selling your home just yet, keep potential selling benefits in mind. Intrepid homeowners know that the best remodels will increase both quality of life and listing price, so take care to invest in projects that will net the biggest returns.

10 Things to do Before Selling Your First Home

MARCH 6, 2017

Ten Things to Do Before Selling Your First Home: Part 2

                                         In last week’s blog post, we shared with you five tips to get ready to sell your first home. Here are five additional tasks we recommend you complete before listing your house for sale with an experienced agent.

Estimate your timeline and budget. Your real estate agent can help you decide what to fix and what to leave alone to maximize your profit from the sale. While there’s no guarantee of how quickly your home will sell, an experienced agent can estimate how long it will be on the market and the profit from your sale so you can budget for your next home. Your agent also can help you evaluate market conditions and advise you whether to sell your home first and then buy a new property or vice versa.

Consult a lender. A lender can help you determine the best way to make the transition from one home to another. Depending on your assets and home equity, you may want to consider a bridge loan or opening a home equity line of credit on your current home before you put it on the market to use for a down payment on the next property.

Start packing. While you don’t want your house to be full of boxes when you put it on the market, you can start packing the contents of your closets, storage spaces and garage as early as you want. To showcase your home at its best, you’ll want to remove as much clutter as possible. Getting rid of possessions, donating them or packing them can jump-start that process. You may even want to rent a storage unit to hold excess stuff until you move.

Clean and repair and clean again. Making small repairs throughout your home, such as caulking your tub and replacing fixtures like worn-out door knobs, goes a long way to improving the appearance of your home. Deep clean yourself or hire professionals to get every surface sparkling, including your windows. Don’t forget to change your light bulbs and open or remove your window treatments to allow for the maximum light in your rooms.

Don’t forget curb appeal. No matter what season it is when you list your home, remember that first impressions count. Paint or replace your front door if it needs it, trim and neaten shrubs and flower beds, put down fresh mulch and add some color with a potted plant to entice visitors to come inside.

High-Resale Value Projects You Can Tackle In A Weekend

High-Resale Value Projects You Can Tackle In A Weekend: Always thinking about your home's resale value? Here are five weekend projects you can tackle yourself!

“There’s no place like home,” as the old saying goes. That’s especially true when it comes to an investment.

You live in and love your home, but there might come a time when you have to leave it. And when that time comes, you’ll want to get as much money as you can for your property so you can move onward — and upward.

In order to increase your abode’s value, you might think you have to put in a ton of time, effort and money, but that’s not entirely true. Instead, you can take on weekend projects over time to spruce the place up so when it’s time to sell, you have a completely updated property that’ll end up selling itself.

Ready to get to work? Roll up your sleeves and start on one of the following five weekend projects.

1. Repaint Your Kitchen Cabinets

When it comes to smart investment in your home, the kitchen is one of the best places to start. Buyers expect kitchens to be updated. Stone countertops, stainless appliances and sleek flooring all make a space feel modern. Obviously, these changes require a lot of money and, sometimes, a lot of time. That’s why you can tackle it in bits and start first with your cabinets.

Old wooden cabinets with equally dated hardware — think oak doors with shiny brass handles — don’t require a complete gut job. Instead, spend a weekend repainting them a more neutral hue. Finish the project off with new metallic knobs and pulls to complete the modernized look.

2. Make the Eye Go up With Crown Molding

Most homes have roughly the same ceiling heights, but there’s a little trick to make yours look bigger — crown molding. Yes, that white line at the top of your painted walls will draw eyes upward, making the room appear airier than it may very well be.

The project is easy enough to complete, too. You might not be able to install molding throughout your entire home over a single weekend, but you can certainly tackle the project on a room-by-room basis. Again, start with the spaces likely to draw in the most moolah:

• Kitchens
• Bathrooms
• Living spaces
• Master bedrooms

These tend to be the make-or-break rooms when it comes to a big purchase. Crown molding adds a bit of detail, a feeling of luxury that’ll certainly add to the bottom line.

3. Boost Curb Appeal — and Backyard Bonuses

No one will come in your home unless the first impression is stunning. Another DIY project should be a landscape overhaul of your front yard. It can be something as simple as adding a path of pavers to your front yard or sprucing up your flowerbeds with colorful blooms. All of this will catch the eye of potential buyers — and fatten up the bottom line of the offers they make.

Another easy fix — your garage door. If it’s street-facing, it’s another area for prospective buyers to look at, and it has a great return on investment.

You don’t have to stop with the front of your home. Especially if you live in a climate that permits lots of outdoor activity, you’ll want a backyard to match. Some may require you rent or buy tools for landscaping and other applications, but imagine the payoff with, for example, the beauty of a functioning fire pit in your backyard. Not only will you be able to enjoy it while you’re still living in your home, but potential buyers will easily be able to envision themselves sitting around a fire.

4. Beautify the Bathrooms

Bathrooms have a big effect on buyers. They expect clean, modern updates, just like in the kitchen. Overhauling your powder room is an easy weekend task that might require small swaps, such as a new modern light fixture over the vanity or a new vanity altogether.

Your full bathrooms will require a bit more attention if you want them to be up to snuff. Again, look in the familiar places:

• Lighting fixtures
• Cabinets
• Hardware
• Countertops
• Tile

You don’t have to shell out a ton of money to have someone else re-tile a wall or backsplash in your bathroom, either, if you have the patience to demo and tile the space yourself.

5. Out With the Really Old

Some accents once considered fresh and fashionable now give your home a dated appearance. You probably already know what in your home screams 70s, 80s or 90s. Whatever it is should go in due course.

The list of outdated design elements is truly endless, but some of the biggest offenders are old-school wallpaper, the floor-to-ceiling wood paneling that may or not be actual wood, and, of course, popcorn ceilings. By removing these three offenders alone — a popcorn ceiling doesn’t take much effort — your home will snap right back into 2017.

Once people start envisioning themselves living in your home, you won’t have to envision offers pouring in — they’ll start coming thanks to your hard work. You go, weekend warrior.

5 Ways to Reverse Signs of Smoking in Your Home

5 Ways to Reverse Signs of Smoking in Your Home: A smoker’s home can be a massive deterrent to potential buyers. Here are 5 ways to get rid of signs of smoking from your home.

By Fatima Puri

A smoker’s home can be a massive deterrent to potential buyers. Not only does smoking leave strong smells in your house, it can also stain walls, cause wallpaper to peel, and stick to furniture. Trapped nicotine residue, known as thirdhand smoke, can pose a threat to anyone living in the home. Here are five ways to get rid of signs of smoking from your home to make it appealing to buyers.

Steam clean carpets
Carpets trap nicotine residue more than anything else in the home and can protrude lingering odors. If you have a carpeted home, take the time to deep clean it with a powerful steam vacuum. Use carpet shampoo and routinely go over areas where smoke stains and odor are most prevalent. Hire a professional steam vacuuming company if you need help.

Replace old wallpaper and paint over walls
Stained, peeling wallpaper discourages people from buying your home. Replace old wallpaper with an elegant new design. Pick a print and color that complements any aesthetic. If your wallpaper is slightly stained and salvageable, spray a mixture of vinegar and water on your wall and wipe away with a clean, damp sponge. Clean walls before painting them if they need a fresh coat. Use a paint primer to create an extra layer to cover old smoke stains.

Purify the air
Smoke travels through air vents and fans. Clean out your air vents and replace HVAC filters to optimize clean air flow in your home. Air purifiers can be a costly but provide both a quick fix and a long-term solution for removing smoke odor from the home. High-end air purifiers can eliminate the particles and chemicals that create smoke odors down to the molecular level. Invest in an air purifier with an HEPA filter designed to deal with chemical odors for immediate relief. Most such air purifiers will include a thick bed of activated carbon.

Wash upholstery and curtains
Like walls and wallpaper, smoke toxins can be entrapped in fabric furniture. Consult an expert before cleaning your upholstery as some pieces may be ruined if washed. Most furniture tags include labels which let you know how to handle cleaning them. If you cannot vacuum or wet your furniture, try placing it outside in a dry and sunny environment. Wash curtains to remove smoke smells or replace them.

Don’t smoke inside
Practice smoking outside the home if you are an avid smoker. Indoor air is 3-5 times more polluted than outdoor air, which means smoking indoors leads to greater toxic buildup and pollution. Smoking outdoors can disperse the smoke and odor and will be worth it in the long run.