5 Things to Consider About a Neighborhood Before Buying

Buying a home is a long-term, important investment, so take the time to discover what makes your targeted neighborhoods tick. There are a number of ways to check the pulse of a community; talking to neighbors can give you a great snapshot of what it’s like to live there. Here are five other ways to determine whether a neighborhood is the right fit for you.

1. Is it an up-and-coming area or still in transition?
You might start by researching local home values and foreclosure rates. Consider such factors as crime rate, development plans and proposed or new businesses. You can even contact local officials, such as the county property appraiser or the HOA manager (if applicable) for better insights. Sometimes buying a home in a transitional area may prove to be a good investment, but you probably want to make sure you'll feel good about your home in the interim, too.

2. Do the schools make the grade?
Even if you don’t have school-age children, you should be interested in how the schools in your potential neighborhood perform. Homes near high-ranking schools tend to maintain higher resale values. Start your research by visiting GreatSchools.org  or using the SchoolFinder tool at education.com.

3. What’s nearby?
Consider what’s important to you in your future neighborhood, and then explore the surrounding areas near your targeted home. Among things to keep in mind are proximity to stores, schools and green spaces. Aside from being practical, these amenities make it easy to mingle with neighbors, set up kids’ play dates or just play fetch with your pup. WalkScore.com is a great place to search for nearby amenities – all you have to do is plug in an address and mode of transportation.

4. How far is it from work?
Try the new INRIX Drive Time tool on remax.com to determine how long it will take you to drive to work, school or area stores from your new home. You can also time a potential commute by doing a test drive during the time of day you’re most likely to go to and from work. Explore mass transit options. In addition to offering an alternative to driving, good public transportation near your home can have a positive effect on your property value.

5. How safe is it?
A neighborhood watch, well-lit streets, walkways, security systems and little to no signs of vandalism are signs of a safe neighborhood. You can see a picture of the types of crimes that occur in the neighborhood by researching on city-data.com or FBI.gov and the local police department’s website.

A RE/MAX agent is one of the best helpers you could have on your quest to find the right neighborhood – and the right home – for your needs.

For the information you’re looking for, give me a call at 832-570-5726 or visit me online at CallJared.com.

Celebrate a World Cup of Your Own

Scorrrrrrrre!!!!!!
 
Celebrate a World Cup of Your Own
 

Word Cup Wonder!

You may not make it to the FIFA World Cup this year in Brazil, but you can still score big by improving your FICO or Vantage credit score.

There’s no way around it, if you want to buy a home with a mortgage, you’ll get a better rate with a higher credit score. Unfortunately, your credit score takes into account several years of your past financial decisions and missteps in addition to your current situation. While there is no easy “fix” to your credit score, practicing these five suggestions can help you move it in the right direction.

Keep Paid-Off Debt on Your Report
While negative debt on your report is bad, paid-off debt is a positive contributor to your credit score. Most of your negative debt falls off after seven years, but keeping positive debt in place can help. If you’ve paid off that line of credit, keep it open (just don’t use it) and when you switch to a different credit card because it has a lower interest rate, keep the old one (again, just don’t use it) so that your “available credit” is higher.

Revolving Credit
Your score reflects how much credit you have versus how much you are using at any given time. The lower the credit usage to credit available, the higher your score. To increase your credit available, pay down your balances. Even if you pay your entire balance off every month, you may appear to have a higher usage to available ratio. Since it is your statement balance that many card issuers report to the credit bureaus, consider paying ahead of the statement date.

Small Balances on Several Cards
When you have several cards in use at once, even if they have small balances, your score reflects the number of credit accounts in addition to the total balance. Pay off the small balances. Use your lowest interest-rate card for most of your purchases.

Avoid Unnecessary Credit Report Dings
When you apply for credit, it may cause a slight dip in your credit. When shopping for the best rate, you may apply for several loans in a short amount of time. According to Bankrate, the FICO scoring system ignores multiple requests for the same type of loan, treating them as one request within a scoring timeframe (typically 30 to 45 days), but with other systems you have only 14 days. In very old systems, student loans in particular may not appear as one request, so avoid applying for student loans when also applying for a mortgage. The Vantage Score model uses a rolling 14-day window for duplicate loan inquiries, so shorten up your shopping time accordingly.

Nuisance Bills
When trying to pull together a down payment for a big-ticket item (car, home, etc.), take care to pay smaller bills that can hurt you later. For example, that library fine or leftover medical bill that ended up in collection and remains unpaid can hurt either your FICO or your Vantage Score, but if you’ve paid them, your Vantage Score does not factor them into your score.

Credit scores move up slowly over time. Start working to improve your credit score immediately so that when you’re ready to shop for that home loan, you’ll already have a great credit score.

Compliments of Virtual Results

Jaredanthonycox.com

#Houston #Realestate #Condos #Galveston #Homes #CreditRepair

Create an outdoor sanctuary in your backyard

(BPT) - Coming home from a long work day to a place of peace, quiet, relaxation and even harmony is a dream for many homeowners. And by creating an outdoor sanctuary in the backyard, this private place of solace will become the first destination for all members of the family when they need a break.

Backyard sanctuaries incorporate peace of mind with a spa-like atmosphere. Some do this with plant features, others with water. Here are some tips to build an outdoor sanctuary in your own backyard.

1. Create a walkway - A beautiful walkway around your backyard, through different scenic zones, can help you to clear your mind of troubled thoughts. This walkway can be a paved path, or composed of stepping stones or gravel and woodchips. Consider planting different gardens close to the walkway, inviting walkers to immerse themselves within the blooms and scents wafting from the flowers.

2. Incorporate a seating area - This space doesn't have to be large, but give it a sense of ambiance with an arbor made of cedar to allow plants to grow taller, or a pergola to provide shade and that wonderful natural aroma that cedar gives off. Natural materials like Western Red Cedar weather naturally, and are rot-resistant, giving homeowners a durable and long-lasting material to enjoy for years to come.

"Using Western Red Cedar for backyard sanctuary seating areas gives homeowners a variety of design options to work around," says Mark Clement, a building expert and co-host of "My Fix It Up Life" which airs nationally on iTunes, Blog Talk Radio and myfixituplife.com. "This wood is sustainable, environmentally friendly, easy to work with, ages beautifully, and, when incorporated into an arbor or pergola design, makes a stunning visual element to the space."

In this seating space, place a bench, outdoor patio furniture or even comfortable lawn chairs to encourage family members to stop for a rest and settle their thoughts for the day. If the family is into yoga or meditation, consider keeping mats in a nearby storage container for quick and easy access.

3. Design for both night and day - Sometimes a sanctuary space is most needed when the moon is shining brightly. Plan for this with a lighting design in the backyard. Provide illumination to pathways, the deck area, and in garden clusters to give a new sense of beauty to the plants. When designing your lighting scheme, be careful to avoid creating any scary shadows. If you notice this occurring, adjust the lighting to come from a different direction, or try using a different light. Also consider what form of light you would like. Would you prefer low watt electric lights, or candlelight, which would require a person to spend time preparing?

Once your backyard sanctuary is built, your family will have a place handy where they can escape for some peace of mind.

Courtesy of BPT

jaredanthonycox.com