Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

Most homeowners have insurance on their home that additionally, gives them coverage on their personal property.   That is the first level of peace of mind to know that it is available to you if there is an unfortunate need for it from a burglary, fire, or some other insured circumstance. Personal property is handled slightly different than real property.   The claims adjustor could start by asking you for a list of the things lost.   You are allowed to reconstruct it but there is a distinct possibility that you'll forget things, sometimes for months or years after the claim was settled. An interesting exercise would be for you to visualize two rooms, possibly, the kitchen and main living area.   Without being in the room, create a list of all the personal items in plain sight and those in the closets and cabinets.   When you're through with the list, go into each room to check to see what kind of things were not on your list and what the value of those items...

Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties Avoid These Common Mistakes When Arranging Living Room Furniture As any homeowner knows, the living room is a major focal point of the home. From family gatherings throughout the year to sitting back and watching TV together at the end of a long week, the living room is often a home’s social center for family and friends alike. That being said, furniture placement can distract from such gatherings, affecting the comfort and functionality of the room. Here are some mistakes to avoid when it comes to arranging your living room furniture: Forgetting the focal wall. A focal wall is the first place the eye comes to rest when entering a room. While not every living room has a focal wall, if yours does, you don’t want to pass it up. Set up the furniture so that most of the seating is facing or angled toward the wall you’ve pegged as the focal wall. A fireplace, mounted TV or picture window are ...

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties Refi Options for Those With Low Credit Scores If you want to get a second mortgage so you can make renovations to your home, it can be difficult if you have poor credit. A second mortgage can use a home’s equity as collateral for a second home loan, allowing up to 80 percent of a home’s value to be borrowed. However, getting a second mortgage through a home equity loan or line of credit can be difficult if you don’t have a credit score of 680 or better. While high home equity will make a second mortgage less risky and may compensate for poor credit, there are other options: Cash-Out Refinance Instead of getting an additional loan on your home, the cash you need is refinanced into one loan with one payment. Even if you have bad credit, a cash-out refi is less risky for the lender because it doesn’t involve a second loan. With a second mortgage, the second lender is second in line to...

Some homeowners feel like they may as well throw a dart against the wall to decide whether to move or not.   Other people might invoke a process attributed to Benjamin Franklin.   Supposedly, to evaluate the options and bring clarity to the choice, this American founding father would list all the reasons for and against the decision on a sheet of paper.   After reducing it to writing, the choice would appear either by obvious majority or practicality. Buying a home is an emotional decision but selling a home can be also.   Separating the rationale from the emotion can make decisions seem obvious but they may still not be crystal clear. There is an inventory shortage that caused prices to rise and market time to shorten.   In many active markets there is less than 30-days' supply of homes for sale which is half of what was available a year ago.   This will make it easier to sell and maximize the proceeds from your current home. 69% of economists who pa...

In cooking, "mise en place" describes having all your ingredients measured, cut, peeled, sliced, grated, as well as bowls, utensils and pans ready to use before you begin cooking.   The advantage is to inventory the ingredients and recognize if you have everything you need.   You are less likely to leave out an ingredient or step because it is "set up" and ready to use. The same technique works well in the homebuying process, especially in today's highly competitive environment where multiple offers are normal and bidding wars are commonplace. Check your credit ... not only does credit determine if you will get a mortgage, but it will also determine the interest rate you'll pay.   The best rates are for the borrowers with the best credit; lower credit scores mean higher rates because of additional risk to the lender.   Free copies are available from all three major credit bureaus at www.AnnualCreditReport.com . Determine your budget ... knowing your ...

With mortgage rates below 4% since May 2019, you would think that most people would have already refinanced but according to a recent Lending Tree survey, 49% of homeowners say they are considering a mortgage refinance in the next year.  The report estimated that over a third of homeowners are have mortgages above 4% and 11% didn't know what their rate was. Slightly more than a third of the people surveyed regretted missing the opportunity to refinance in 2020 when rates did hit their historical low.   Homeowners should not beat themselves up on this issue because the only way to know to tell that it hit bottom is after it has started going up again.   The current rates are very favorable to borrowers and some economists believe that when inflation is factored in, the rates are close to zero effectively. While there are nine specific reasons people choose to refinance their homes, two are among the most prevalent: to lower the payment or take cash out of the equit...

With at least 40% less homes on the market currently than there were a year ago, serious buyers have probably experienced the disappointment of losing a home they wanted to buy from increased competition.   Today's buyers are looking for ways to improve their odds of being the best contract without having to use the purchase price as their only tool. Buyers should reconsider, rethink, and re-evaluate their "must have" features and amenities.   It is probably unrealistic in a normal market to think you can have the perfect home at the price you want but in today's market it is less possible.   List the things you must have and the things you would like to have and prioritize them.   Try to identify the critical from the convenient. The next step is to put together your "home" team.   You are the captain of this process, but it is essential to have a strong first officer and that is your real estate agent.   This professional will oversee the process, adv...