Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties How to Prevent Mold Mold inside a house can cause serious health problems, including sinus irritation, congestion, headaches and respiratory difficulties. The health effects of mold are more serious in children, pregnant women, senior citizens and people with respiratory problems. Mold can grow in any moist environment, which makes a home a perfect breeding ground. Mold spores can accumulate on surfaces and travel through the air in a house. Here are some strategies to control the level of moisture in your home and prevent mold from taking hold. Reduce Moisture Levels in Your House Walk through your house and look for areas where moisture tends to accumulate. The bathroom is an obvious one, but moisture is also often found in the kitchen, laundry room, basement and around windows. Remove laundry from the washing machine quickly to avoid the growth of mold. Hang bath towels to dry, ...

 

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties The Pros and Cons of Heated Flooring While you might be considering adding heated flooring to your new home, there are a lot of questions to ask before you put your money into this luxury feature. If you’re looking for another level of comfort in your home, it’s a great option—but it does come with a hefty price tag. Here’s what you need to know: Pros   Durable and reliable . This method of heating lasts longer than a regular home furnace—with proper care it can last up to 35 years. Comfortable . There’s no better feeling than a warm floor on a cold day, especially when you first get out of the shower. No one enjoys stepping on cold tile, so bathrooms are particularly popular options for heated flooring. Saves you money in the long term . Since radiant floor heating warms from the floor up, you’ll be able to set your thermostat at a lower temperature to feel just as warm. Quie...

  More people grill in July, June & August than any other months and correspondingly, there are more injuries, as well as fires, due to grilling accidents in those months. Even though Labor Day is in September, we still need to be aware of safety. Close to 20,000 patients per year visit the emergency room due to injuries involving grills.  Approximately half of the injuries involving grills are thermal burns.  If you are around fire, there's a chance of getting burned.  About 2/3 of American households own at least one outdoor barbecue, grill or smoker.  Interestingly, gas grills contribute to more fires than charcoal grills.  In addition, there are over 10,600 home fires started by grills each year. While grilling is associated with celebrations, good food, fun and friends, it is important to make sure that accidents don't interrupt your activities.  Only use BBQ grills outdoors and in ventilated areas Place the grill away from...

More people grill in July, June & August than any other months and correspondingly, there are more injuries, as well as fires, due to grilling accidents in those months. Even though Labor Day is in September, we still need to be aware of safety. Close to 20,000 patients per year visit the emergency room due to injuries involving grills.   Approximately half of the injuries involving grills are thermal burns.   If you are around fire, there's a chance of getting burned.   About 2/3 of American households own at least one outdoor barbecue, grill or smoker.   Interestingly, gas grills contribute to more fires than charcoal grills.   In addition, there are over 10,600 home fires started by grills each year. While grilling is associated with celebrations, good food, fun and friends, it is important to make sure that accidents don't interrupt your activities.   Only use BBQ grills outdoors and in ventilated areas Place the grill away from ...

  Forbearances have stayed well under the rate experts initially forecasted. Let's connect if you have questions about your options.

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties How to Childproof Your House Children are often oblivious to the many dangers around them. Accidents in the home are a leading cause of injury and death among children. Here are a few ways to childproof your home and keep your little one safe. Potential Hazards Look at your home from a baby’s or toddler’s perspective. Ask yourself: What would catch my eye if I were low to the ground? Look for those things that your child would reach for, pull down, play with or put in their mouth. When babies are learning to walk, they grab furniture and bookcases for support. Many injuries and deaths occur each year when young children pull on furniture or televisions and the objects fall on top of them. Secure heavy objects to the walls to prevent this. Keep dressers and filing cabinets closed when you’re not using them. Cover sharp corners on furniture to prevent injuries if your child falls. Us...

If you were considering putting your home up for sale in time for the 2020 spring market you could be forgiven for deciding that this was just not your year. For sellers in markets across the country, the ensuing shutdowns put a damper on their plans, causing them to delay listing their homes for the foreseeable future. Now, however, the real estate market has held steady and many new listings stay on the market for just a few days or, in some cases, hours. Here are just a few of the reasons that there has really never been a better time to put your home on the market in order to take advantage of this unique opportunity. Low inventory Even before the first days of 2020 and the COVID-related shutdowns that followed, record low inventory was being anticipated in markets all over the country. In fact, for years now municipalities have been struggling with housing shortages. Tight markets have been driving up prices, making it difficult for first-time homebuyers and lower-income buyers to...

  With so much extra time being spent at home, your family may be putting bigger demands on your house than it can handle. Let's connect to find the perfect home that's able to meet your needs.

Forbearance is a temporary postponement of mortgage payments.   The lender can grant this option to a borrower instead of forcing the property into foreclosure.   The CARES Act provides protections for homeowners with mortgages that are federally or Government Sponsored Enterprise backed or funded such as FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A mortgage holder should contact the lender to explain the temporary difficulty they are having making payments and ask for relief under forbearance or other options.   Once the lender grants approval, it is important for the borrower to get the terms of the forbearance agreement in writing to be clear about when the payments will resume and how the missed payments will be recovered. Generally speaking, homeowners in a forbearance plan will not incur late fees and it should not adversely affect their credit.   Unfortunately, borrowers must be vigilant to see that the lender is protecting them from delinquent credit mark...

During the first major stay-at-home event that most of us have experienced in this country, a pool can give you and your family enjoyable recreation without leaving the home.   For those without a pool, the NPD group reports that the Covid-19 pandemic has increased pool building by 161% this year. When your children are small, pools become a magnet for not only your children but their friends as well.   It can also be a great place for the summer holidays, Memorial Day, 4 th of July and Labor Day.   Any day during the summer, especially on the weekends, can be an opportunity to enjoy the pool, cook outside and bask in the sun. Some of you may have even made the transition from your children enjoying the pool to your grandchildren.   Usually, there is an interim where you may have wished that your home didn't have a pool so you would not have the maintenance and required upkeep.   Then, the new generation of family starts using it regularly and again, you a...

  If you were considering putting your home up for sale in time for the 2020 spring market you could be forgiven for deciding that this was just not your year. For sellers in markets across the country, the ensuing shutdowns put a damper on their plans, causing them to delay listing their homes for the foreseeable future. Now, however, the real estate market has held steady and many new listings stay on the market for just a few days or, in some cases, hours. Here are just a few of the reasons that there has really never been a better time to put your home on the market in order to take advantage of this unique opportunity. Low inventory Even before the first days of 2020 and the COVID-related shutdowns that followed, record low inventory was being anticipated in markets all over the country. In fact, for years now municipalities have been struggling with housing shortages. Tight markets have been driving up prices, making it difficult for first-time homebuyers and lower-income buy...

  Things are moving quickly in today's real estate market, but the numbers are looking good for both buyers and sellers. Let's connect to make sure you have what you need to achieve your housing goals this year.

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties Fraud Alerts: How They Can Help You Victims of identity theft or fraud may feel they don’t have many options to protect themselves. An easy stopgap, however, is to place a fraud alert on your credit report. A fraud alert can be placed fairly simply. Contact one of the three major credit bureaus to ask that they place a fraud alert on your credit report, giving potential lenders and creditors notice that someone may be trying to fraudulently use your identity to apply for credit. The three main credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion—the one that you report the problem to will notify the others. It alerts them that they should do more thorough vetting, including calling to check if you’re really at a store trying to take out new credit, and verifying your identity before extending credit in your name. Two Types Available An initial fraud alert lasts 90 days, after which ...

Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties What to Know Before Applying for a Student Credit Card Building good credit takes time, and it can be a few years before college students or graduates have a good enough credit score to get a credit card or loans at low interest rates. A student credit card can help as a college student’s first credit card, though it does come with some conditions. First, a student will have to do more than attend college. They’ll need some type of income, and without any credit history, a card may be difficult to be approved for. One way to get around this is to get a secured credit card, which requires a cash deposit of anywhere from $300 to $5,000 as collateral. The deposit will be paid to the card issuer if you don’t pay your bill. Secured cards may have high activation fees, as well as annual fees. Some secured cards allow customers to move to unsecured cards, which simply means that you won’t have ...

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties How a No-Spend Month Can Solve Your Cash Flow Problems Nearly half of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, and 61 percent don’t have enough money to cover six months of expenses, according to a GoBankingRates  survey . This trend of working to cover only day-to-day expenses can lead to the worst financial mistake of your life—not having an emergency fund. Without one, you could be forced to go into debt to pay for emergency medical care, a broken car that you rely on to get to work, a busted water heater, the loss of your job or any other unexpected emergency. Sooner or later, something will pop up. A no-spend month could help solve that problem so that you’re not part of the 19 percent of Americans who don’t have any money in an emergency fund, or the 31 percent who don’t have at least $500 set aside for emergencies. The first goal for an emergency fund should be to acc...