Top 3 Ways to Reduce Your Homeowner’s Insurance

Originally posted 2009-01-26 09:24:21. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The premium for home owner’s insurance is influenced by your credit and the replacement cost for the home.  Since your home owner’s insurance can be part of your mortgage payment it is important to know ways to decrease the premium to lower your  mortgage payment.   There are three ways to decrease you home owner’s insurance:

• Since it may take some time to improve your credit, a reduction in replacement cost is one way to decrease your home owner’s insurance.  Some insurance company can decrease your replacement cost to 80% of the replacement cost.  For instance, if the replacement cost is $100,000 it can be decreased to 80,000 as long as it is enough to pay off the mortgage and help you start over if the home is total loss.  Incidentally, this is not recommended for a long term solution to the increase in mortgage or insurance premium.
• Another way to decrease your premium is to increase your deductible.  Remember on homeowner’s insurance you do not pay the deductible before a claim is paid it is simply deduct from the claim.
• Still yet another way is to decrease your liability coverage.

There is an often overlook way to combat an increase in premium that is to find out what your home owner’s insurance when it is three months before your one year anniversary of the purchase of your home.  Your insurance agent should have your renewal premium amount.   If it is more than one hundred over your previous year premium shop for new insurance by calling other companies and get quotes or ask for the above changes to your present premium.

Lawsuit.com – The Online Law Firm

Originally posted 2009-04-24 14:27:34. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Have you heard of www.lawsuit.com?  If you haven’t, you should check it out.  www.lawsuit.com not only evaluates ongoing lawsuits, but it gives updated news on topics that affect consumer safety and puts public awareness at the forefront for consumer on issues like mesothelima. 

Mesothelima is a cancer that is caused by exposure to abestos.  It is a concern for anyone that has work in a factory that was built in the early 1800 to 1980.  For more details and list of common symptoms of mesothelima visit www.lawsuit.com.

The most unique and important feature that lawsuit.com provides is  a directory of attorneys.  The attorneys are required to provide videos for the consumer to review about the attorney’s specialty.   These videos are especially useful so that the consumer can get insight in to the symptoms that he or she is experiencing are related to medication or work related injury or exposure. 

Remember to use www.legaldocs.com/legaldir/ListingIndex.aspx to search for your next attorney.  If you are in need of inexpensive legal forms visit www.legaldocs.com.

Land Trust is a Good Option for Investors in This Market

Originally posted 2009-01-29 14:53:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

There was a great post at www.whataboutloans.com on the advantages of a land trust.  The post goes on to list advantages to the land trust to include:

• ease of control
• ease of transfer
• privacy of ownership

The article further defines the parties that own and use the trust and their roles in the transaction of a trust in relation to the purchase of real estate. 

Another key advantage to the trust that the article depicts is that the “beneficial interest in a trust is considered to be personal property, not real property. Therefore you can assign your beneficial interest in a trust to another party without a formal closing.”

Remember due to recent changes to Fannie Mae’s financing criteria investors need to reconsider how they take ownership of their new investor property.   Those changes are affecting investors who want to refinance the properties in their portfolio and have those properties under the entity, limited liability corporation (LLC). 

Freddie Mac backs many of the conforming loans on the secondary market, so any changes in the rules is very important and should be headline news; hence, this news release. 

The land trust is the best solution to combat this issue. 

History Behind a Midwest Town

Originally posted 2009-01-11 10:37:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Did you know that an industy or company could develop a community or city?  In most of the Midwest this was a common practice, hence the development of the community of East Chicago, Indiana.

The city has a history of being described as the “Twin Cities”.  This description was due to the city being divided into as east and west sides by the citizens at the time of inception.  The east side was known as Indiana Harbor and the west side was known as Sunnyside.

East side was comprised of Inland Steel and several other industries, and the west side was comprised of 140th Street North, south of Columbus Drive, west of Alder Street, and east of Cline Avenue.

The city grew and it 1920 had a population of approximately 36,000.  It was in 1920, that the section of Sunnyside was developed as a new community in Indiana Harbor.    This new community was comprised of 100 duxplexes that still stand today.   The homes were owned and rented to Inland Steel employees.   The rent was reasonable, so there was always a waiting list.

As times and financing changed, so did the ownership of the development, in 1963 the Purdue Calumet Development Foundation took over operation of the development.  The Development decided to sale the duplexes in 1969 with Inland employees getting first choice on the purchase of the homes.

With the sale of most of the homes, there was a need to develop more homes in the area.  In 1970, 38 homes were built.  With another eight homes being added to Evergreen Estates in 1974.

With the growth of Inland Street, the company committed to renovating the 100 duplexes in 1971.  This renovation was named the largest renovation in Midwest history.  The homes received many upgrades at the time to include upgrades to the plumbing, electrical wiring, and heating.

In those days, the companies were involved in your life to make your life better on and off the job.  I think that we may be headed by to those times.  Remember history has a habit of repeating itself.

What is Foreclosure?

Originally posted 2009-02-11 11:04:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Foreclosure takes place when the deed is foreclosed through court action. It takes court action to <a href=”www.taylorbrownrealestatetalks.com”>foreclosure</a> on a home. 

 

The borrower uses his or her home as security or collateral for a mortgage. If the lender does not pay as agreed the lender can accelerate the mortgage and then places a lien on the property. Along those same lines, however, when the borrower pays off the loan, the lender gives the borrower a satisfaction of mortgage. The satisfaction of mortgage removes the lien on the property.

 

The <a href=”www.taylorbrownrealestatetalks.com”>foreclosure</a> progress begins with the lender’s attorney filing a summons and a complaint to the borrower and any other parties that may have rights in the property.  A trial is held, but once the borrower is notified the borrower has twenty days to respond to the complaint.  The borrower can challenge the lender on the foreclosure lawsuit.  If the borrower challenges the foreclosure, the court has 40 days to respond back to the borrower.  Each challenge must be related to the mortgage <a href=”www.taylorbrownrealestatetalks.com”>foreclosure</a>.  This process can go back and forth between the lender and the borrower as long as the borrower finds something incorrect information in the complaint. This, of course, slows the <a href=”www.taylorbrownrealestatetalks.com”>foreclosure</a> proceedings because it must be hear in court.  By virtue of the back and forth of this procedure many homeowners can stay in their homes for months often years after they have stopped paying their mortgage.

 

Dare to Dream in Northwest Indiana

Originally posted 2009-08-28 14:59:10. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana Northwest invites citizens of Indiana to dare to dream by attending a “friendly conversation” meeting with leaderships of several communities.

The meetings will be held on:

• August 18 at the Library Conference Center of the Indiana University Northwest from 8 am to 10am
• September 17 at Purdue Academic Learning Center in Crown Point from 8am to 10am
• September 29 at Lost Marsh Golf Course in Hammond from 8am to 10am

Bring any and all questions, comments, and suggestions to the meetings because the objective of these meetings is to “promote communication, cooperation, and collaboration among leadership to improve the quality of life for all citizens.”

To reserve your seat for the event call LaShung Willis at 219 980 7704.

What to do If Your Home Has Mold and Mildew?

Originally posted 2009-02-03 10:33:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The recent storms in the area may have your wondering what may be growing behind my drywall? OR It may have you wondering why is my sinus acting up?  Well, it may be mold.

Take this survey, http://www.care2.com/greenliving/quiz-home-growing-mold.html to determine if that is the case.

Once you determine if it is mold.  Now, what you may be wondering? 

The steps for removing mold are:

•  eliminate the source of the moisture. 
• dry the wet area to include removing drywall because mold or moisture may be on wall and insulation behind drywall
• dispose of contaminated materials

Once all the contaminated material have been removed and the area is dry, you are ready to begin the process of getting rid of the mold. 

• Protect yourself from the mold.  Mold can cause respiratory problems, so make sure you wear rubber gloves, eye googles, a paper suit and a filter dust mask.
• Clean all surfaces that came in contact with the mold.  You must disinfect them.  A great disinfectant is 1/2 cups of bleach per gallon of water.  Then, allow the solution to dry on the surface.  Remember to vent the area that you are cleaning by opening windows.   Never mix bleach and ammonia because it can create toxic fumes. 

If your home had moisture or mold issues and you are trying to sell it.  I recommend that you disclose those issues on your seller disclosure and if you did anything to fix the problem disclose that as well.  Keep all receipts showing the repairs that were may as a result of the problem.

Great News Investors, You Can Finance 10 Properties Again

Originally posted 2009-02-16 08:15:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

On March 1, 2009, <a href=”www.taylorbrownrealestatetalks.com”>real estate investors</a> can once again own and finance up to 10 individual properties.  There are restriction reversal, though. 

The restrictions are as follows:

You must have:

1. 720 credit score
2. 25% downpayment for a 1-unit (30% for a 2-4 unit)
3. No mortgage delinquencies in the last 12 months
4. 6 months of reserves for each investment property

Fannie Mae determine that investors can “play a key role in the housing recovery”.   The change of heart came as a result of foreclosure auctions not going as well as hope due to real estate investors not having cash were limited in the number of properties they could own. 

This decision once again allows investors the capital needed to grow their portofolio and create  wealth through their passive income with real estate investing.   Contact us at Taylor-Brown Real Estate and take a look at the real estate investment properties that have a positive cash flow.   Call  219 803 4489 or email Serena at snorbrown@yahoo.com for details.

Today’s special is 16 short sale properties all under $15K with 13 that are occupied with paying tenants.  There is a 17th property, but it is for $25K.  It, too, is occupied with a tentant paying 858 a month.  

Are the Reforms Governor Daniels Proposed Going to Affect You?

Originally posted 2009-01-06 14:07:38. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Indiana general assembly will be in session soon.  Governor Daniels is planning to outline several proposed reforms.  Will these reforms affect you? Let’s examine.

Below are the outline of the proposed reforms:

• Governor Daniels is proposing replacing the county commissioner with one county executive.
• Governor Daniels is proposing combining election cycles to reduce spending.
• Governor Daniels is proposing making several now elected positions appointed positions.  Those positions include the county assessor, surveyor, coroner, and treasurer.
• Governor Daniels is proposing reducing the health care department.
• Governor Daniels is proposing consolidating smaller school districts into larger ones.
• Governor Daniels is proposing consolidating the local library to a county library.

The proposals that Governor Daniels are outlining in this session of the Indiana General Assembly is according to a Ball State University study estimated to save the state $630 million dollars.  While I happy that the Governor is attempting to save the state money, I have to wonder if there safeguards in place for all the changes that he propose.

Let’s examine each proposal seperately. 

Proposed one has to do with the county commissioners being consolidated into one executive commissioners.  The concerned here is will there be equal representation for all cities and/or all citizens in the county.   Needless to say, there is no safeguard under this proposal for the equal representation of all areas of the county.  Will there be a vote or speaker for each city or town on all issues or will there be one person who decides what is good for the whole with out hearing the whole opinion?

Proposed two is about combining election cycles.  I think this is a good idea.

Proposal three is about appointing not electing certain position to include the county assessor, surveyor, coroner, and treasurer.  I feel this to is a good idea if the people who are appointed to these position are qualified for the position.  I do feel that if this is approved there needs to be an outline of the qualification of the person appointed to these positions. 

Proposal four is about the health care departments.  According to the proposal some areas have too many health care departments.    Once again, there is no safeguard in this proposal for transportation for the low income and elder to the facility that will remain open. 

Proposal five is about consolidating smaller school districts into larger ones.  There is no safeguard in this proposal for equal funding for all schools in the new combine districts.   

 Proposal six is about consolidating the local libraries into a county district library.  I think this would be a good idea if all libraries remain open and equal funding is available to all.

I am sure the officials have their collectively hands full, but it is definitely time to bring Indiana’s government from the Dark Ages.  It is time to reform.  It is time to make changes because the future of the state depends on it.

Everywhere People Are Saving Money With Gardening

Originally posted 2009-06-10 05:00:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Have you considered a garden to cut cost?  In these economic times, we may need to go back to the basics.  One of those basic is growing your own vegetables. 

When I was a little girl, my mom and dad always had a garden.  We would plant cucumbers, squash, greens, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, corn, etc.  My least favorites, of course, were the squash and eggplant.  I enjoyed canning, cooking, and especially growing the food.

As a child, I would marvel over what a little labor, water, love, and God could do to make a meal for myself and my family.

As the seed would sprout into a plant and evidently food, I had the unpleasant chore of weeding the garden, though, to help with the harvest.    However, it was not so unpleasant when I would sign while I did it. 

My mom would tell us stories about the amazing harvest she had and the fun she had with her dad in the garden, so we would get excited about sharing the same experience. 

Another thing that mom taught us is that watering the plants can be inexpensive, too.  All you have to do is get some buckets and catch the rain water coming off of your house or recycle your rinse water when washing clothes.

So if you are looking for a meaningful, inexpensive, fun way to spend time with your children try gardening.  You will be surprised at the rewards.

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