Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties Signs That Your House Might Have an Electrical Problem A problem with the electrical wiring, an outlet, or the circuit breaker or fuse box in your home needs to be taken seriously. An unaddressed electrical issue could spark a fire that could engulf your entire house and put your family’s lives in danger. Circuit Breaker or Fuse Box Trips Repeatedly A circuit breaker or fuse box is designed to stop the flow of electricity to the house to prevent the circuit from overloading and causing a fire. If the unit trips frequently, especially when you use a particular outlet, the circuit may be overloaded. Call an electrician. Lights Dim or Flicker Light fixtures use less electricity than other appliances. If lights dim or flicker, it’s probably because a major appliance is using so much energy that the circuit cannot handle both it and the lights. Ask an electrician to wire the lights to another...

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties Wood Floor Alternatives Worth a Second Look Wood floors are a top choice for modern homeowners. Proponents believe they offer warmth as well as elegance, but they do require care to maintain their luster and are costly. Fortunately, say flooring exerts, technology makes it easy to achieve the look and feel of wood flooring without the need for special care—and at a far lower cost. Check out the look and feel of these alternatives at local flooring or big box stores. (If you don’t plan to do it yourself, factor in $30 to $45 an hour for professional installation): Bamboo Bamboo flooring is an eco-friendly alternative to hardwood that is easy to clean, shrugs off wear and tear, and results in a similar look. Available in vertical, horizontal or strand-woven varieties, it will cost $2 to $5 per square foot. Engineered Wood Designed to handle moisture and wear, engineered wood flooring...

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties How Much Money Should You Have in Your Emergency Fund? An illness, injury, broken appliance, car accident or job loss can occur at any time. Having enough savings to cover three to six months’ worth of expenses can help you avoid losing your home or going deep into debt to make ends meet. Savings Strategies It’s easy to set a vague savings goal, but you won’t build up an adequate emergency fund unless you make a consistent effort. Look at your income and expenses and set a savings goal that is both ambitious and realistic. Some people have funds automatically transferred to a savings account each time they get paid, while others wait until the end of the month and transfer what they can. The problem with the second approach is that if you aren’t disciplined, you might overspend during the month, have nothing left to contribute to your emergency fund, promise yourself that you will ...

For many people, their home is their largest asset and their best performing investment.   The equity in a home is the difference in what it is worth and what is owed.   Two dynamics, appreciation and unpaid balance, work in concert to make homeowner's equity grow. It can be said that you appreciate the fact that your home is your best financial investment.   It is also ironic that the appreciation, the increase in value, is what causes it to be your best financial investment. In a one-year period, the increase in value divided by the beginning value will determine the rate of appreciation for the year.   News stories and articles, frequently, report statistics on appreciation for the month, the year or longer. In many cases, a national appreciation is mentioned but the local appreciation is more reflective of an individual property. The National Association of REALTORS® reports " The median existing-home price 2  for all housing types in June was $363...

It has been said that more money has been lost due to indecisions than ever was due to making the wrong decisions.   Many times, the larger the decision, the more likely procrastination comes into play and doing nothing will cost something.   Buying a home is certainly one of the biggest decisions people make.   Careful consideration and planning are necessary steps leading to a prudent decision.   Considering today's market that includes a global pandemic, financial volatility, and rapidly rising home prices, it is understandable that many people thinking about a home purchase are in a wait and see posture. However, there is a cost connected to waiting and it may be a lot more than you think.   The recent Home Price Expectation Survey 2021 Quarter two estimated appreciation rates will average just under 5% annual for the next five years.   It expects prices to increase by 8% in the next one year.   Being a renter or even putting off moving to a ...

Stepped-up basis is an incredible benefit to people who inherit property.   Not only do they receive the property itself, the basis or cost value of the property becomes the fair market value at the time of the decedent's death.   This avoids recognizing the gain between the decedent's cost and what it is worth when it is inherited. If a person had purchased a home for $100,000 and 20-years later when they died, it was worth $500,000, there would be a potential gain in the property of $400,000.   However, because of a tax provision called step-up tax basis, the person inheriting the property will have a basis of the fair market value at the time of death. The recipient could sell the property for $500,000 and have no taxable gain on the sale. A formal appraisal is the most reliable and defensible estimate of fair market value at the time of the decedent's death.   There will be a fee of several hundred dollars for the appraisal.   Another alternative is to...

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties How to Freeze Your Credit for Free To stop a criminal from using your personal information to open a credit card in your name, start by preventing lenders from checking your credit unless you first unfreeze your information. Even if you have poor credit—or are low on savings—protecting your credit from identity theft by taking advantage of a free credit freeze is a good idea. Thieves can steal your personal information (i.e., Social Security number, driver’s license number and birth date) and create new identities to fraudulently get loans and open credit card accounts in your name. A credit freeze prevents lenders from checking your credit in order to open a new account. So, if a criminal has your personal information and tries to open a credit card in your name, a credit freeze will stop the lender from checking your credit. If you have a credit freeze in place, you must remove i...

The question is "financially speaking, are you better off owning than renting in the long term?" Renting a home has advantages.   It is usually a short-term commitment from year to year and the landlord is responsible for the repairs. Owning a home with today's low mortgage rates, the total house payment could easily be less than what the rent would be on a comparable home.   Once you assume ownership, you will have the responsibility of the repairs and possibly, a homeowner's association fee. Many times, an initial benefit of owing a home includes the ability to deduct property taxes and qualified interest on the mortgage.   With the increase of the standard deduction and a limit of $10,000 on state and local taxes, it is estimated that 90% of homeowners do not itemize their deductions to consider property tax and mortgage interest.   This comparison will not consider them. There are two very significant benefits that contribute to a home being an excellent ...