One important decision homebuyers face is whether to secure a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage or go for a 15-year one, which carries a lower interest rate.

“All things equal, a 15-year mortgage allows you to pay off your mortgage twice as fast while saving a significant chunk of money on interest,” explains Mark Crosby, a mortgage expert in Wilmington, Del. Still, “I think the 30-year mortgage is a logical choice for most people because it has more advantages.”

For starters, mortgage payments are less expensive with a 30-year mortgage, enabling more consumers to qualify for home purchases. “With a 30-year mortgage you are almost always free to make additional principal payments necessary to pay off your loan [faster] without penalty,” Crosby says. “With the 15-year loan, you are committed to giving that extra money to your lender each month, whether you can really afford to at the time or not.”

Higher payments that come with a 15-year mortgage make little sense if they keep you from building savings or contributing to a 401(k) plan, IRA, and perhaps your kids’ college funds, adds Dan Green, a loan officer with Waterstone Mortgage in Laurel, Md. “You could be needlessly tying up too much of your money into your house.”

Green said another reason people favor a 30-year fixed mortgage is the tax benefit that can be achieved. “This is because the amortization schedule of 30-year fixed is back-heavy, with early-term payments big on interest and light in principal,” he explains. “By contrast, the 15-year fixed is always light on interest which lowers its taxpayer benefits.”

While it’s true you gain more of a tax break from a 30-year loan, it shouldn’t be the main consideration when deciding on a term. The 30-year borrower pays less in yearly taxes because he or she pays significantly more in interest.

So it all comes down to choice and circumstances. Choose the 15-year loan if you have the financial wherewithal to assume the payments. Your interest savings will be substantial and you’ll own your home faster. Opt for the 30-year loan for lower payments and greater flexibility. You can always choose to pay more on your mortgage when the money is available.

One important decision homebuyers face is whether to secure a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage or go for a 15-year one, which carries a lower interest rate.

“All things equal, a 15-year mortgage allows you to pay off your mortgage twice as fast while saving a significant chunk of money on interest,” explains Mark Crosby, a mortgage expert in Wilmington, Del. Still, “I think the 30-year mortgage is a logical choice for most people because it has more advantages.”

For starters, mortgage payments are less expensive with a 30-year mortgage, enabling more consumers to qualify for home purchases. “With a 30-year mortgage you are almost always free to make additional principal payments necessary to pay off your loan [faster] without penalty,” Crosby says. “With the 15-year loan, you are committed to giving that extra money to your lender each month, whether you can really afford to at the time or not.”

Higher payments that come with a 15-year mortgage make little sense if they keep you from building savings or contributing to a 401(k) plan, IRA, and perhaps your kids’ college funds, adds Dan Green, a loan officer with Waterstone Mortgage in Laurel, Md. “You could be needlessly tying up too much of your money into your house.”

Green said another reason people favor a 30-year fixed mortgage is the tax benefit that can be achieved. “This is because the amortization schedule of 30-year fixed is back-heavy, with early-term payments big on interest and light in principal,” he explains. “By contrast, the 15-year fixed is always light on interest which lowers its taxpayer benefits.”

While it’s true you gain more of a tax break from a 30-year loan, it shouldn’t be the main consideration when deciding on a term. The 30-year borrower pays less in yearly taxes because he or she pays significantly more in interest.

So it all comes down to choice and circumstances. Choose the 15-year loan if you have the financial wherewithal to assume the payments. Your interest savings will be substantial and you’ll own your home faster. Opt for the 30-year loan for lower payments and greater flexibility. You can always choose to pay more on your mortgage when the money is available.

It’s astonishing how many people believe they are the next Mario Batali and have taken to the kitchen in a serious way.

Ratings for cooking shows are at an all-time high as viewers are enamored with the idea of being culinary masters. Home sellers are upgrading to professional-style kitchens to capitalize on the craze, and their investments are paying off in more potential buyers and attractive returns when their homes sell.

One of the easiest steps appealing to today’s tastes is adding stainless steel appliances and sinks, as sleek stainless resists scratches and is easy to maintain. Cast iron is another attractive choice for sinks, as they add color and are large enough for the pots and pans most chefs require. Still another popular amenity for the kitchen is pot filler, which serve as extendible faucets and can be installed next to your stovetop or prep sink for easy water access.

Granite and quartz countertops are among the favorites of home chefs, who require proper working space and cool surfaces for rolling out dough. The surfaces attractive, durable and popular. Consider adding moveable cutting boards, rinsing baskets and various trays. These features are not too expensive and will help open the eyes of potential buyers.

Take advantage of the gourmet explosion with kitchen upgrades that appeal to the home chef. Your effort and investment may yield some tasty results.

It’s astonishing how many people believe they are the next Mario Batali and have taken to the kitchen in a serious way.

Ratings for cooking shows are at an all-time high as viewers are enamored with the idea of being culinary masters. Home sellers are upgrading to professional-style kitchens to capitalize on the craze, and their investments are paying off in more potential buyers and attractive returns when their homes sell.

One of the easiest steps appealing to today’s tastes is adding stainless steel appliances and sinks, as sleek stainless resists scratches and is easy to maintain. Cast iron is another attractive choice for sinks, as they add color and are large enough for the pots and pans most chefs require. Still another popular amenity for the kitchen is pot filler, which serve as extendible faucets and can be installed next to your stovetop or prep sink for easy water access.

Granite and quartz countertops are among the favorites of home chefs, who require proper working space and cool surfaces for rolling out dough. The surfaces attractive, durable and popular. Consider adding moveable cutting boards, rinsing baskets and various trays. These features are not too expensive and will help open the eyes of potential buyers.

Take advantage of the gourmet explosion with kitchen upgrades that appeal to the home chef. Your effort and investment may yield some tasty results.

It’s astonishing how many people believe they are the next Mario Batali and have taken to the kitchen in a serious way.

Ratings for cooking shows are at an all-time high as viewers are enamored with the idea of being culinary masters. Home sellers are upgrading to professional-style kitchens to capitalize on the craze, and their investments are paying off in more potential buyers and attractive returns when their homes sell.

One of the easiest steps appealing to today’s tastes is adding stainless steel appliances and sinks, as sleek stainless resists scratches and is easy to maintain. Cast iron is another attractive choice for sinks, as they add color and are large enough for the pots and pans most chefs require. Still another popular amenity for the kitchen is pot filler, which serve as extendible faucets and can be installed next to your stovetop or prep sink for easy water access.

Granite and quartz countertops are among the favorites of home chefs, who require proper working space and cool surfaces for rolling out dough. The surfaces attractive, durable and popular. Consider adding moveable cutting boards, rinsing baskets and various trays. These features are not too expensive and will help open the eyes of potential buyers.

Take advantage of the gourmet explosion with kitchen upgrades that appeal to the home chef. Your effort and investment may yield some tasty results.

The addition of rugs to a home can go a long way. They help warm a dreary room, add a splash of color to a dull space, tone down a room with strong and bright colored furniture and create a new look to almost any room. Plus, it’s a quick fix to any floors that may need replacing.

While there are Persian rugs that can cost thousands of dollars, many rugs can be purchased for prices in the hundreds. Leather rugs can add depth to rooms and complement traditional, rustic styles. Wool rugs are warm, sustainable and a great way to add a natural accent. Shag rugs add dimension and coziness to an otherwise flat room.

If you anticipate lots of traffic and wear, consider a patterned rug that will hide stains. A wool rug is easier to clean than other fabrics. Pricey Oriental rugs are a great eye-catcher. To avoid fading, they should be kept out of direct sunlight. They must also be specially cleaned. A jute rug is a perfect indoor/outdoor fabric for enclosed patios and outdoor rooms.

One quick, inexpensive way to dress up a room is to add area rugs. They come in a wide range of colors and designs and provide warmth and comfort. They can also help absorb sound in a room.

The shape of the rug should mirror the furniture or room size. For example, a rectangular dining table should have a rectangular rug underneath. Likewise, a round dining table should be paired with a round rug.

Interior designers say to never cover the entire floor with an area rug; leave at least nine inches of the floor exposed. A small rug right in front of the entry door is acceptable. A dining room rug should be large enough to accommodate the legs of all chairs. As a guide, the rug should extend 24 inches from the edge of the table. Be sure rugs don’t cover vents or keep doors from opening. For safety, avoid placing rugs so that traffic patterns have people walking along carpet edges where they can catch a toe or heel.

Colorful rugs, placed correctly, can give your home a distinctive look and added dimension that potential buyers will remember.

While you may not give thought to your home-heating devices until the first frost pulls ill, it’s actually best to inspect them before they are needed, according to Jimmie Cho, vice president of services for SoCalGas.

“Now is the time to perform maintenance on your home-heating appliances to check that they can be operated safely and efficiently,” says Jimmie Cho.

Why should you check your furnace now? Failure to perform annual maintenance on gas appliances may result in exposure to carbon monoxide, which can cause nausea, drowsiness, flu-like symptoms, and even death.

Since home heating typically accounts for more than half of the monthly winter gas bill, the best way to keep bills lower is to get gas appliances serviced, Cho says.

Cho offers these tips for a safe, warm, and energy-efficient winter:

• Have natural gas furnaces checked at least once a year by a licensed heating contractor.
• Vacuum and clean regularly in and around the furnace, particularly around the burner compartment to prevent a build-up of dust and lint.
• Never store items in, on or around the appliance that can obstruct airflow.
• Most forced-air units have a filter that cleans the air before heating and circulating it throughout the home. Check furnace filters every month during the heating season and clean or replace the filter when necessary.
• When installing a new or cleaned furnace filter, be sure to re-install the front panel door of the furnace properly so it fits snugly; never operate the furnace without the front-panel door properly in place because doing so may create the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Check the appearance of the flame. If the flame is yellow, large and unsteady, the furnace needs to be inspected immediately by a licensed heating contractor or SoCalGas to have the condition corrected.
• Using an unvented gas heater in your home is dangerous and a violation of the California Health and Safety Code.
• Never use your oven, range or outdoor barbecue to heat your home because these appliances are not designed for this purpose.

Source: http://www.socalgas.com

There’s nothing worse than finding a great home only to discover that it’s a money pit waiting to happen. Let’s face it, sellers won’t always disclose everything that’s wrong.

No house is ever as “perfect” as it may appear, and with an inspection and due diligence on the part of you and your agent, you will learn about most potential problems. Watch for red flags.

Start by looking around the neighborhood. Are there many homes for sale? Are local stores and restaurants closing?  If you notice that a lot of people are looking to leave the neighborhood, there’s probably a reason why. You may have found a great home, but if it’s in a bad neighborhood, it’s going to affect the value.

You also need to pay close attention to the way the exterior of the home has been treated. If you see extra layers of roofing, boards near walls, plants growing out of the gutters or lots of cracks in the pavement, chances are not much care went into maintaining the property.

While you’re outside, look at the yard grading. If the yard slopes toward the house, it could cause a serious water problem with water running down the foundation walls or into the basement. Scour the foundation for damage as bulges or cracks bigger than one-third inch can mean the house has serious structural issues.

Don’t be afraid to use your nose as an indicator as well as your eyes. If you smell sewage, gas or anything else that’s unpleasant, it could be caused by serious issues. If you are getting close to a buy, hire a plumbing company to send a camera through the pipes to determine if there are any blockages or breaks.

Inside, one of the most important things to look at is the wiring. Flip the light switches in the home to make sure they work. Check out the fuse box and see if it looks like something out of the 1940s. Ask if the electric has been updated in the last 10 years, because that’s something that can be costly once you move in.

Next, check for bugs, ants and traps hidden in the corners or under baseboards. A savvy home seller won’t leave mousetraps out, but often they forget about the little roach motels. Not that little creatures in the house should immediately scare you away, but if you see lots of ants—especially carpenter ants around wood—it could be a sign that there’s a problem.

Remember, the job of the home seller is to make the house as attractive as possible and hide all of its faults. With a little detective work, you can save a lot of time and money in the long run and make sure that house is good enough to become your home.

While we spend so much time and money keeping our yard beautifully maintained all summer, we often fall short when fall rolls around. By taking just a few easy steps, you can properly prepare your lawn and garden for the winter months, so that you can enjoy its full splendor when warmer weather returns.

The experts at garden equipment manufacturer Troy-Bilt recommend taking the following steps:

• Evaluate. Before you start your preparations, take a moment to review what worked and did not work in the garden over the past season and jot down notes in a garden journal so you remember a year or two from now. Fall is the best time to move plants because roots are given ample time to establish.
• Clean up. Removing leaves and debris reduces the likelihood of future problems since they can harbor pests and diseases.
• Repair damage. Fall is the best time to reseed a lawn that’s been damaged by summer heat. Top-dressing the seed with up to one-quarter inch compost or soil will help it take root.
• Don’t put away the hose. Continue to water plants and lawns in the fall, as the rainfall tends to slow down. Plants need to stay hydrated to properly retreat to their winter states.
• Fertilize. Despite what many people might think, autumn – not spring – is the most crucial time to fertilize lawns and gardens. Renewing the mulch in flower beds, especially the top two or three inches, will protect many plants from harmful freezes.
• Go easy on pruning. Pruning promotes growth. It’s important to prepare plants to go dormant during the winter rather than growing.
• Think spring. Some spring bulbs, such as crocus and grape hyacinth, should be planted in the fall. Larger bulbs, such as tulips and daffodils, should be planted in the fall but won’t bloom until spring. Many vegetable plants, like beets, broccoli and cabbage grow best in the winter.
• Cover plots. Covering a garden bed with burlap keeps weeds at bay. Another option is to plant a nitrogen-rich cover crop, like clover, which can be easily turned under when spring arrives.
• Tune-up tools. After completing all preparations, clean, oil and sharpen tools, and then store them in a dry place to prevent rusting.
• Winterize your power equipment. Make sure to drain the gas from your lawn mower and other gas-powered equipment after you’ve finished using them for the season to keep the engine running smoothly next year.

Although you may be tempted to skip these less-than-glamorous fall tasks, keep in mind that winterizing your garden will make for less work come springtime.

Closed home sales continue to improve. August home sales were up 4.0% with Utah County REALTORS selling 573 homes this August, compared to 551 homes last August. Pending sales were up 18.3%, the fifteenth straight month of double digit increases.  If we look at closed sales year to date, we are up 6.3%, with 3,881 homes sold, outpacing 2011 by 230 sales.

Inventory levels continue to be low, with 3,062 homes on the market, down 24.9% from last year at this same time. The good news is that new listings seem to be improving, up 7.4% from August 2011. Our months supply of inventory measures how many months it would take to sell our current inventory at our current pace of sales. We now sit at 6.1 months of inventory.

With low inventory and high sales, the Average and Median Sales Prices are both up substantially. Last August, the Median Sales Price was $181,000, this August it is $190,800, a 5.4% increase. The Average Sales Price was up 2.8% to just under $214,000.

With the rise in prices, the drop in inventory and the increase in demand, we are seeing improvement in two other metrics.  The percent of original list price received is up 3.8% to 96.6%, indicating sellers are getting close to their asking price. Days on market are also down 10.9% with homes selling on average in 78 days. Sellers are getting more for their homes and selling them faster.

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