Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties 7 Ways to Pay for Your Child's College Education As a parent, you’ve undoubtedly thought about your child’s college education—no matter what their current age is. And if you’re planning on paying their way, or at least helping them out, cost is certainly a factor. Unless you’ve got a huge sum of cash to plunk down when it’s time to pay, chances are you’ll need to find multiple ways to fund your child’s education. Here are seven options to consider: FAFSA Whether you or your child is paying, begin by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), even if you don’t think you’ll qualify for any aid. The form allows you to receive financial aid such as federal grants, work-study grants, work-study opportunities, student loans and even some state- and school-based aid. Some colleges award this money on a first-come, first-serve basis, so it’s important to fill it out ...

In the Boy Scouts, a certification, called a Totin' Chip, is required for scouts to carry, and use woods tools like a knife, axe and a saw.   They must read and understand the use and safety rules from the scout handbooks and demonstrate the proper handling, care, and use of each. No such certification is required for homeowners but there are a lot of good reasons why it should be self-imposed.   Making minor repairs is part of the responsibility of owning a home that will save both time and money. A homeowner will certainly appreciate the need for such training the first time a call is made to a service company to fix their air conditioner that suddenly quit cooling.   When the repairman arrives, he has a checklist which includes verifying the unit is getting electricity.   If not, they go to the electrical panel to see if a breaker has been thrown. It can be very humbling and expensive to have to pay a service fee to have a repairman flip a breaker to get you...

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties How to Spot an Investment Scam Before It's Too Late If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And when it comes to money, these words may be hard to remember if someone is offering a financial return that sounds too good to pass up. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), some of these types of investment fraud are called Ponzi schemes, where new money pays off early-stage investors to create the false appearance that investors are profiting from a legitimate business. Without a constant flow of money from new investors, Ponzi schemes eventually collapse. If someone approaches you with an investment, here are some red flags to be aware of: High rate of return that’s guaranteed with little or no risk.  Every investment has some degree of risk, and those with higher returns typically involve more risk. There is no such thing as a “guaranteed” rate...

A successful home sale, considered by many owners, is to maximize their proceeds in the shortest time with the least inconveniences.   Just because it is a seller's market doesn't mean that homeowners can shortcut some of the steps that make it happen and they certainly need to avoid commonly made mistakes. Pricing too high Low inventory and high demand have contributed to the rising prices of homes.   NAR reports that the median sales price is up 17.8% in the past year and CoreLogic recently released data that July set new record growth of 18% year over year.   This might give sellers a false sense of security about overpricing their home Pricing a home too high initially can limit activity, attract the wrong buyers and ultimately, cause the home to realize a lower price than optimum.   There is an interesting dynamic that takes place when there is a shortage of homes to show, and a new home hits the market.   Buyers, who have been in the market but not p...

A well-known professional home stager, recently, decided to sell the 4,000+ square foot home which she lived in with her husband.   It was certainly well maintained and by most standards, could have gone on the market immediately.   However, she still went through a full staging effort before she listed the home. The work included painting inside and out especially, changing the kitchen cabinets from gray to white.   The carpet was replaced along with a few dated light fixtures.   They stained the fence and added minor landscaping to make it look fresh and inviting.   They removed personal items from the home that might be distracting and replaced some furniture that was too large and might have limited a buyer's imagination. The home looked, smelled, and was clean.   It had great drive-up appeal.   Each room looked like it belonged in a magazine and the professional photos let potential buyers see the home before they visited it in person.   ...

A Seller's equity in their home is the difference between what the home is worth and what they owe.   At any point in time, it is an estimation because value is a very subjective term.   If the seller thinks the home is worth more than an actual buyer will pay for it, the estimated equity is too high.   If a buyer is willing to pay more than the seller believes the home is worth, the estimated equity is too low. A true determination of equity becomes more objective when the home is sold, and the value is solidified by the sales price.   This value is determined by negotiations between a seller and buyer and eliminate speculation and conjecture because money and title are being exchanged. The equity being defined above is more accurately referred to as Gross Equity.   After the ordinary and necessary expenses connected with the sale of a property are deducted from the sales price, along with any mortgage balance and/or liens, the proceeds are referred to as N...