As we start fresh every year, I try to share my list of resolutions to get your finances in order and help you buy a house. The real estate market hasn’t had much good news for the past few years, and mortgage lenders have gotten even tighter with their lending regulations. This isn’t a particularly [...]
Most people don’t enjoy paying for homeowner’s insurance—that is, until they have a claim. Where I live, in the Northeast, we had brutal weather over the past year and cause to be thankful for insurance. We had severe flooding from rainstorms, an earthquake and a hurricane in one week, and snow in the fall, and [...]
The arrival of winter means we’re bundling up in coats, hats, and scarves, but is your house ready for low temperatures? Here are some easy weatherproofing and winterizing strategies. Add these tips to your winter home maintenance checklist to help keep your home toasty warm and to lower your gas bill. Inspect and maintain home [...]
Set it and forget it? Homeowners insurance is not that easy. Your insurance portfolio is more like maintaining a car—you need to regularly change your oil or periodically get a tune-up. Similarly, life changes could require tweaks to your insurance policy. Updating your homeowners insurance coverage The personal property coverage, or contents coverage, for a [...]
My clients have survived the Malibu fires, the subsequent mudslides and floods, the Rodney King riots, and several earthquakes—and that’s just here in California. Others have experienced Hurricane Katrina and other equally devastating storms and floods. Why start out a blog about organizing paperwork by telling you about disasters? Because we spent months trying to [...]
When you’re selling your home and the closing date is looming, the last phone call you want to take is the one from your buyer informing you that the appraisal for his or her loan has come in below the sale price—and asking if you would consider taking less money. Getting this far with the [...]
As we enter the worst part of winter here in the Northeast, I’m seeing many of my neighbors take ski trips or escape to warmer weather. However, as a homeowners insurance broker, I always try to warn my friends and clients of some considerations that need to be made when leaving the house for any extended [...]
If you’re going to be out on the road, auto insurance is a requirement. However, with the recent economic downturn, people have had to make some tough choices in their budgets and changes to their spending habits. Unfortunately, important expenses—like insurance—may sometimes get cut. What happens if you get into an accident with someone who [...]
“Buy low and sell high” goes the old adage. Home prices and mortgage interest rates may never be this low again, so why aren’t more people thinking about buying a home? Ask the professionals who are supposed to know the answer and you’ll get someone else to blame. Realtors fault lenders for making it too [...]
One of the editors in our office recently bought her first condo, and while I enjoyed walking her through the process of buying a home, I had to give her some advice along the way. While she was excited to find the perfect place and was eager to move in and start decorating her new [...]
