Wedding Registries for Home Downpayments

Great article from Realtor Magazine. As with anything, please check with your lender!

Wedding Registries for Home Downpayments?

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2011

Forget the toasters and champagne flutes: More engaged couples are doing a different type of wedding registry that allows them to collect cash for a down payment on a home, according to a recent article in The Washington Times. 

Dana Ostomel, founder of Deposit a Gift in New York City, says that about 15 percent of their registries are to raise down-payment funds for a home and another 15 percent are for home-improvement funds to pay for upgrades like a new roof or furniture. 

"Given that 75 percent of today's engaged couples already live together and are older, very often they are already established with the household basics that you find on a traditional registry," Ostomel said. "What they want is the gift of big-ticket items and longer term goals, like the gift of home ownership.”

The FHA permits gifts from a wedding to be used as a down payment, but lenders are required to document that the funds are gifts. About 27 percent of first-time home buyers use gift money from relatives and friends for a down payment, according to a 2010 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers survey.

Source: “Registries Raise Cash Gifts, Avoid Etiquette No-No,” The Washington Times (Oct. 20, 2011)

Winterize Your Home

• Courtesy of NBC Action News & GetButtonedup.com
• By SARAH WELCH and ALICIA ROCKMORE, getbuttonedup.com

Winter will be here within a few short weeks. Cooler months bring a unique set of challenges for keeping the house warm and safe from the elements.

Winterizing a home can seem daunting. But the minute you take a step towards the goal, you realize your perception of the job was much worse than the reality.

Here are 10 simple things you can do to button up your house for winter. We recommend picking one or two related to keeping your house warm (tips 1 through 5) and checking off all the tasks related to keeping it safe (tips 6 through 10).

1. Invest in a draft snake. Drafts can sap anywhere from 5 to 30 percent of your energy use, the U.S. Department of Energy reports. A draft snake or a rolled-up towel under the door can keep the cold air out and seal the heat in. There are lots of cute empty cases available on Etsy, like this cheery striped one for $18. Fill a case with orphaned socks and old t-shirts, or rice and beans.

2. Swap out summer curtains. Your windows can let cold air sneak in. Solve this problem by putting up heavier drapes in place of breezy summer curtains. Use weather stripping on the bottom of windows. Focus on the handful of windows that cause the bulk of your problem.

3. Test your furnace before your need it. You don't want to be stuck on the first cold night with a malfunctioning furnace and no available appointment times. This week, give your system a workout. While you're at it, swap out old filters. It takes two minutes but makes a difference in air quality as well as the system's efficiency.

4. Replace window screens with storm windows. If you've been procrastinating on this front, break the task down into smaller ones. Swap out two per day over the next week. If you're lucky enough to have helping hands, line the family up this weekend and turn the process into a contest. The person who changes the most screens in 20 minutes wins something (an ice cream treat, control of the remote for the week, relief from chores for the next week, etc.).

5. Tweak ceiling fans. Reverse the switch so your ceiling fan blows upward, towards the ceiling. It will circulate the warm air that has risen and save money on your heating bill.

6. Clean your gutters. Remove autumn leaves, which can cause problems when winter arrives. Clogged drains can create ice dams, which can back up and leak into your house. Skip the gym and get a workout the old-fashioned way.

7. Check your winter tools. Did you slog through last winter without an ice scraper in your car? Do you have a functioning snow shovel or snow blower? Take inventory of what you have and ensure it is in good working order.

8. Stock up on salt or sand for traction. You do not want to be caught empty-handed during the first snowstorm of the season.

9. Trim tree branches. While this is a good thing to do in general, this is especially true for those hanging close to the house or electrical wires. Remember, ice and snow can easily weight them down.

10. Put fresh batteries in alarms. We recommend swapping out batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors the same day you set the clocks back. Make an appointment with yourself for Nov. 6 to do just that.

Read more: http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/lifestyle/frugal_living/buttoned-up%3A-winterize-your-house#ixzz1bpK3rAKa

Re/Max State Line Vendor Fair

We had some awesome vendors at our office this morning for a vendor fair & omelette bar. Here is the contact information for these great service providers:

The Lucky Day Omelette Co. - Adriana Swafford
913.940.7919
LuckyDayOmelette@gmail.com
LuckyDayOmelette.com

At Home Cleaning - Tina Trenary & Amber Sibley
913.558.3885 or 913.221.1492
AtHomeCleaningAmber_Tina@yahoo.com

Great Day Moving
877.541.1015
GreatDayMoving.com

Carpet Direct - Lisa Osborne
913.671.0524
LisaO.CarpetDirect@yahoo.com
CarpetDirectKC.com

Bock's Steam Star - Brian R. Bock
913.438.7767
bb@steamstar.net
Steamstar.net

Beth's Wallpaper Magic - Beth Jelinek
Wallpaper Installation & Removal
913.486.4744

Faux Couture - Emily Andrews
Custom Finishes for Walls, Cabinetry & Furniture
816.729.5337
faux.couture@yahoo.com
fauxcouturefinishes.com

Details Innovative Home Staging Solutions, LLC
913.488.6471
detailsihss@gmail.com
Detailshomestagingsolutions.com

AB May Home Warranty - Joe Gurera
913.ABMayKC
joeg@abmay.com
ABMay.com

Chaney Pest Management - Sandy Chaney
913.438.7437
sandy@chaneypest.com
Chaneypest.com

10 Must-Have Mobile Apps for REALTORS(R)

(courtesy of American Home Shield)

10 Must-Have Mobile Apps for REALTORS®

Apps are great—especially the ones that help you get your job done better and faster. Take a look at these favorites and see how they could help make your day a little less hectic.

1. AroundMe (FREE)
This program quickly identifies your location and allows you to choose the nearest bank, bar, gas station, hospital, movie theatre, restaurant and much more. It shows you a complete list of all the businesses within each category, along with the distance from your location. It’s helpful to show buyers what conveniences are close to the property.

2. Suburb Scout for Android ($1.99)
Suburb Scout allows real estate agents, investors and homebuyers to search for possible nuisances in the area of a potential home purchase. It will show sewage plants, airports, nuclear plants, landfills, prisons and rail crossings. This handy app highlights anything that might affect the property value of a home.

3. Yelp (Free)
The app for this online local guide lets you search easily for nearby restaurants, banks, mechanics, gas stations and more. At-a-glance star ratings and customer reviews help you and your clients decide where to take your business. 

4. Open Home Pro for the iPad (FREE)
Open Home Pro offers a great way to collect information about potential clients that visit your open homes. Within seconds you can input their name, email address, number of bedrooms they are seeking and more. It saves all of the data in an address book and even sends a personal thank-you email to every client entered.

5. Dropbox (FREE)
Dropbox makes is easy for you to store, sync and share files online. There’s no complicated interface to learn, and you can access it from multiple computers. It’s one of the easiest ways to transfer files from computers and phones.

6. DocuSign (FREE)
Now, you have the power to send, track and e-sign documents while on the go—anytime and anyplace. View real-time business document status so you instantly know what has been completed and what still needs your attention. Create, tag and modify documents for e-signature. This free app is simply a must for any real estate agent.

7. Documents To Go® Office Suite ($9.99)
This is the only app you need to edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files. It gives you access to all of the standard features and editing tools for making changes from anywhere.

8. GoodReader for iPad or iPhone ($4.99)
GoodReader allows you to annotate PDF’s in a variety of ways. You can edit text, move notes with your finger, add a personalized signature and so much more. This will make communication between your clients a breeze.

9. Loan Calculator Pro ($0.99)
This app calculates the monthly payment for different types of fixed rate loans such as home mortgage, auto and credit cards. You can calculate "what if" scenarios to determine how additional monthly and yearly payments will help you pay off your loan earlier and save money in interest.

10. Keynote ($9.99)
It’s not free, but it’s well worth the money. Keynote works like PowerPoint, but it’s more intuitive and easier to use when you need to create a listing presentation. You can also use Keynote to open PowerPoint files, if you use both programs.

A Cooler Roof

Courtesy of Premier Inspection Services