Getting An Appraisal On Your Home Or Property

Getting an appraisal done on your home or property is one of the first things you want to take care of when you decide to sell. Just because you think you have some idea of what your home or property is worth, the dollar amount that you come up with is most likely drastically different from the dollar amount that a professional appraiser would come up with.

An appraisal on your home is basically a professional opinion of the worth of your home or property from someone who is trained to analyze such things. Small factors such as a sun room, porch or deck, number of bathrooms and whether they are whole or half bathrooms are all factors that play into the net worth of your home. Good appraisals also take neighborhood characteristics into consideration, such as proximity to local schools, hospitals, and grocery stores. Especially when families are concerned, convenience is something that people are willing to pay for, and the closer a property is to these things, and the better quality of the schools, markets, etc, the more value added to your home in that respect.

An appraisal is a professional opinion and is to be respected, but keep in mind that it is just that--an opinion. Opinions are not set in stone, no matter who they come from whether it be your disapproving mother, a circuit court judge, or a professional appraiser. If an appraisal is too high or low, a bank or mortgage company may reject the estimate, there by causing problems and delays for your prospective home buyers, yourself, and any body else that is involved in your real estate transaction.

Depending on the nature of the property, a professional appraiser may take one of several approaches to determining the value of your home. The cost or replacement approach is, in essence, a determination of what the home would cost to rebuild should it burn to the ground. This includes everything; your windows, porch, pool, and even any money you have invested into your landscaping, yard or garden are all taken into consideration. The comparison approach to the appraisal takes into consideration all of the houses that are similar to yours that have sold in your particular area in a given set of time, usually the last six months.

From there, the appraiser adds value and takes away value in accordance with the specifics to your home. If you have a basement and most of the other homes similar to yours that sold in the past few months didn't have basements, the appraiser would be able to estimate the value that having the basement adds to the property. If everyone on the block with homes similar to yours had basements, but theirs are finished and yours is not finished, or partially finished, then the appraiser should have some approximation of how much value to take away from the house in accordance with that. The last approach is the income appraisal approach, and it is used more commonly when commercial properties are in question.

About The Author
Richard Rigor sells residential real estate in Birmingham, Alabama. As a REALTOR and mortgage consultant, he can help you in the buying and selling process. http://HomeBuyersReview.com

Land Records in the National Archives

To search for land records at the National Archives, here is some of what they have.

There are partial indexes at the National Archives, as well as in the Bureau of Land Management, as follows:

Warrants under the Act of 1788 (incomplete)

Virginia Military Warrants

Private Land Claims

Coal and Mineral Entries

Name indexes of land entries arranged by District Land Offices in the states of Alabama, Arizona, Florida,

Louisiana, Nevada, Utah and Alaska.

Among the records of the Veteran's Administration in the National Archives, there is an alphabetical index to applications for military bounty land warrants issued under the Acts of 1847, 1850, 1852, and 1853. (Applications for warrants before 1880 were lost by fire; the National Archives has only cards for such entries).

If you want to locate any other land entry file in the National Archives, you need to have the legal description of the land or the date, or approximate date of entry, and the name of the land office through which the entry was made.

Revolutionary War veterans were granted land according to rank (Acts of 1788, 1789, 1803 and 1806). A Major?General was tranted 1100 acres; a Captain 300; Lieutenant 200; Ensign 150; Private, 100.

After 1855, there were no bounty land grants. Union veterans of the Civil War could take Homestead Land, or

Donation Land in Oregon and Washington. Confederate soldiers were not allowed to file for land.

Jeannette Holland Austin

About The Author
Jeannette Austin
I have traced personal genealogies for over 40 years, mostly on those ancestors from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. As a result, huge databases emerged. Additionally, in order to share the information, I have written over 75 books pertaining to family genealogies and research. These books may be found in regional libraries and State Archives in the United States. My current websites also house tons of genealogical data. www.georgiapioneers.com, a subscriber website, houses millions of pages of genealogies, notes, county records, bible records, births, deaths, marriages....simply a growing collection from my continuing files. My ultimate purpose is to provide the ultimate website for Georgia research.
jeannette@georgiapioneers.com

Residential Investing with a Lease/Purchase

One of the most efficient ways to invest in residential real estate is to do a lease/purchase. The reason a lease/purchase is so effective, is because it provides a win-win situation for both the seller/landlord and the buyer/tenant. For the owner, it provides a potential buyer and a tenant that will be willing to take care of the home. For the buyer, it provides the right to purchase the home for a fixed price, and time to save money and improve their credit. Here's how it works.

The owner and the buyer enter into a contract whereby the potential buyer agrees to lease the home for a set amount of time. At the end of the lease, the buyer then has the option of buying the home for the price agreed upon in the contract. In order to secure that price, the buyer pays an option fee up front. If the buyer chooses to buy the home at the end of the lease, he can apply the option fee and any other money saved toward the down payment. If the they choose not to purchase the home, the owner keeps the option fee.

For the owner, the lease/purchase offers several different ways to make money from the home:

- the goal is to buy the home for 10-20% below market value

- the monthly rent you collect will exceed your mortgage payment

- you can right off mortgage interest and other expenses on your taxes.

- you pay down the principle on your mortgage and build equity in the house

- the price of the home will appreciate

- if the potential buyer decides not to buy, you keep the option fee

This is just a basic outline of how a lease/purchase works and the opportunities it presents. It is still a real estate investment strategy that is unknown by many and discussed by too few. For more detailed information, a recommended read is "Buy Low, Rent Smart, Sell High" by Scott Frank and Andy Heller.

To apply this investment strategy in a growing real estate market, visit http://www.buyandsellnorthtexas.com.

About The Author
Michael A. Stazko is a real estate assistant and founder of http://www.buyandsellnorthtexas.com a website that provides realtor, mortgage, new home, and real estate investing information for North Texas.
Mike@buyandsellnorthtexas.com

The Home Warranty Doctor Is In!

Would you go to your real estate agent for advice on the stock market? Probably not. While your real estate agent does help you with a different kind of investment – your home – that doesn't make them automatically qualified to give you advice on the latest IPO from Wall Street.

When you want good information you go to the authority. You go to the expert on the topic! Want investment information? See an investment specialist. Got a cough and fever? See a doctor. Want to buy a car? Go to the dealership.

But when you're looking around at many choices, which is the right one to choose? Which one, among your many choices, is the authority on the information you want?

In the home warranty industry it's hard to tell. You type in "home warranty" in a search engine and several companies come up. Who do you choose? Which one will tell you the information you need to make good decisions... and which ones will try to sell you something you don't need?

Here are a few ways to help you discover which home warranty company is the authority on the home warranty industry. Search for home warranty websites and compare them. What do you notice?

Many home warranty companies try to "straddle the fence" and cater to their paying customers AND their service providers AND realtors all at the same time. When push comes to shove, how much of their time are they going to spend on you? (Hint: if only one-third of their website is spent on you there's a good chance that only one-third of their attention is focused on you). How can a home warranty provider be an authority in the industry when they're so busy trying to be all things to all people?

Most home warranty companies tell you what kind of policy you should have. They'll tell you that you need all your ceiling fans covered... even if you don't own any ceiling fans. And they'll make you pay for them. How can a home warranty provider be an authority in the industry when you're the expert on your home... but they're telling you what should be covered?!?

How many home warranty companies provide you with unbiased industry analysis in the form of reports, RSS feeds, and whitepapers to help guide you through the decision-making process? A site that does that is an authoritative site. Met Home Warranty provides homeowners, home buyers, and home sellers with more than just home warranties. Through their authoritative site they provide industry information with current technology, an innovative Design-A-Plan system that caters to your specific needs, and a downloadable PDF whitepaper to help you understand everything you need to know about a home warranty.

So for a new home, go to a real estate agent. For a home warranty, go the industry-leading authority: Met Home Warranty. The home warranty doctor is in!

About The Author
Aaron Hoos writes for Met Home Warranty. Met Home Warranty is an industry-leading authority on home warranties for home owners, home buyers, and home sellers. Their website, http://www.methomewarranty.com, provides information, resources, and a whitepaper.

Cedar Village – Apartments of Choice

There are rumors and opinions that the Las Vegas real estate market is heading for a crash. I beg to differ. I agree that the rise in rates has not been as high lately as it was in the dizzy days of the past two years, but that is because certain projects were overpriced and if there is a drop, it is only making the prices more realistic. Investors in Las Vegas properties will still make a decent profit because the number of people coming to Las Vegas is only increasing everyday. Las Vegas real estate investors should expect a lower rate of appreciation compared to the last two years.

Nevada has shown the fastest population growth in the nation for the past eighteen years and in 2005, about 7,200 people moved here every month making that almost 86,500 in just one year. The number of tourists in 2005 touched a staggering 40 million.

The economy is booming here because of tourism and the construction jobs available. A growing economy and population will continue to drive real estate prices upward. Inflated prices have created a demand for housing under $200,000 and there are over thirty high-rise condominium projects currently under construction. This has also led to the conversion of 15,000 apartment units to condos. Out-of-town buyers will pick up most of these condominium units that range in price from the low $200,000s to several million dollars.

The high-rise development has not had a direct affect on the local housing market. The strong economy has seen to that but the dramatic increase in price of starter homes has resulted in many young families and retirees seeking rented accommodation. The city has a growing labor force of construction workers and workers to fill new positions in the growing entertainment and hospitality industry. Most of them seek rental housing at least to begin with. There is an acute shortage of apartments in Las Vegas and apartment demand is expected to increase rapidly. One of the most incredible rises in the real estate market was the 346-unit apartment complex that sold for $12,750,000 in April of 2004 and then resold in January for $40,500,000.

There is very little land available for development in the central part of Las Vegas and if you are working in the city, you may not want to move too far out. In east central Las Vegas near Stewart Avenue and Mojave Road, you could find just what you are looking for in Cedar Village Apartments on East Cedar Avenue. This is a gated community with a gated entrance having remote controlled access. Security is further enhanced by the presence of foot patrol. The apartments range from one to three bedrooms and have large eat in kitchen, well equipped with dishwashers etc. The rooms are fitted with vertical blinds, air conditioning and free satellite TV. Most have either a balcony or a patio and there is laundry facility as well.

Common facilities include playgrounds, a swimming pool and hot tub and spa and there is convenient public transport as well. The only snag for animal lovers is that they have a no pets policy. Nevada Housing Division recommends the complex and assists in finances.

About The Author
Tony Sena of http://www.las-vegas-nevada-real-estate-relocation.com is a full service real estate agent specializing in relocation to the Las Vegas Valley. Tony has lived in Las Vegas for 29 years and is a former Henderson Police Officer. He is very know­ledge­able of the area and has over 5 years experience, making him an experienced real estate agent you can count on.
clasione@gmail.com

How Creating Curb Appeal Will Help You Selling Your Home

You may not know and realize how important of curb appeal to your home. It is a common sense that if you have an attractive and clean home on the outside, this will make someone want to see the inside. This strategy is very useful when you are attempting to sell you home; great curb appeal is just as important as having a home show beautifully on the inside. If the outside is not clean this can deter a potential purchaser from even booking a showing to see your home, even though the interior could be spectacular.

It is better to get others’ opinions in order to take an objective look at the outside of your property. To enhance the appearance of your home there are a few inexpensive things you can do. The most important consideration is the state of repair of the property. You must repair everything that needs repairing, which includes any cracked windows, broken railings, loose screens, crooked shutters, loose awnings, broken light bulbs, etc.

When finishing with repairing, you then turn to cleaning and unculttering processes. The garage should be cleaned out and items thrown out that have not been used in a year. Remove old tires, paint cans, bicycles, loose shrubs and broken lawn furniture from the yard.

Clear all pathways of any debris. Trim all shrubs and remove dead branches. Clean out the eaves. Don't forget the back yard! A new paint job can add tremendous curb appeal. Paint front doors, garage doors, trim and shutters a contrasting color to the brick and siding for a dramatic effect. Use only one color for uniformity and balance. Too many colors look busy.

Siding can be power washed to refresh the appearance. Flowers and flower pots can add tremendous color to a boring front yard. Place flower pots and large outdoor plants in a variety of colors on the front steps, walkways, or porches. Hang flower pots from the ceilings of verandas or hang on railings. Buy plant hooks and hang flower pots from them, which can be placed on the sides and front walls of your home. Plant a few flower beds with some green perennial plants for contrast. This is fairly inexpensive, but can add a lot of appeal to your yard. There are many books on landscaping at the library that can help you with this. Nurseries can offer helpful suggestions as well.

Spotlights focused on your flower beds can brighten up the yard at night giving it a very homey and welcoming feeling. This is also good for safety. A well lit home is a deterrent for burglars.

Lastly, add a decorative wreath and outdoor floor mat to the front of the door. This just adds the finishing touch and offers a welcoming appearance.

About The Author
Susan Wong maintains many interesting contractor websites, including http://www.generalcontractorsecrets.info , http://www.generalcontractorsguide.info , and http://www.paintingcontractorsecrets.info. Please visit her websites and read more useful articles.