How Can Home Renovations Protect You from Natural Hazards

Home renovations can be an effective way to protect your home and family from natural hazards. Start by identifying the potential hazards in your area. This can include natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and tornadoes, as well as man-made hazards such as gas leaks and fires. Once you've identified the potential hazards in your area, create a plan for how you will respond to them and prepare your home to take on these natural disasters and keep your home and family safe. Here are some ways home renovations can help protect you: Reinforce Your Home's Structure: One…
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Case-Shiller Home Price Indices: Home Prices Grow at a Near-Record Pace

U.S home prices grew at a near-record pace in January according to the National S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index; year-over-year home prices rose by 19.20 percent in January as compared to December’s reading of 18.90 percent. Home prices rose 1.80 percent on a month-to-month basis from December to January. While home prices continued to grow at near-record rates, home price growth slowed in some areas during  December but picked up in January. Craig M. Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said: “Last fall we observed that home prices, although continuing to rise sharply, had begun to decelerate. Even…
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Why Did My Application For A Refinance Get Turned Down?

If you want to save money on your home loan, you might want to refinance. During the refinancing process, you could secure a better interest rate on your home loan. You could also withdraw cash from your home’s equity value to cover other expenses. Similar to a regular mortgage application, some refinance applications are denied. Why is this the case, and what should you do next?  Your Debt To Income Ratio Is Off One of the most common reasons why an application for a home refinance is turned down is that the applicant has too much debt. The lender will…
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Home Values Are Impacted By School Zones: Is The Move Worth It?

If you are looking for a home, then you probably have a budget in mind. You also need to know about the most common factors that influence the price of a home. One factor that always seems to play a role in the price of a home is the quality of the school system. This makes sense. After all, a lot of people who are looking for a home have children (or are planning on having children) and want to make sure they have access to a quality education. At the same time, is it truly worth the price increase…
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Tips For Deciding The Value Of A Home

Homes are more than just a building. They are filled with memories of children taking their first steps, holidays that were celebrated with family members and friends, and Super Bowl parties filled with smiles and cheers. These memories are priceless; however, people cannot let emotions cloud their judgment when they are trying to sell a house. Instead, it is important to focus on the building. There are a few tips that everyone should follow as they try to figure out how much their home is worth. Be Reasonable The first tip is not to price a home too high out…
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The Healthy Home? Selling The Wellness Value Of A Home

A study by the World Health Organization says that 90% of our health comes from where and how people live. Homeowners are paying more attention to wellness. These considerations extend to the home that they want to buy. Do you want to get a great price when you sell your home? Go green and go healthy. Going Green Homebuyers are looking for more than just a quality home in a safe neighborhood. They also appreciate energy efficiency. Energy efficiency includes new appliances that use less electricity, smart-home technology that manages usage and climate zones, and better insulation as well as new…
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