It's That Time of Year!

The geese are practicing their flying formation and the crisp bite of fall is in the air; here are some recommendations to prepare your home  for the changing season.

1) Tune up your furnace to ensure that it is running efficiently; check ducts for any disconnects or crimping and consider investing in a programmable thermostat for efficiency.

2) Evaluate the physical condition of your home. Replace worn roof shingles and check flashings. Clean out gutters; run water through them to ensure that they are not clogged. Determine if adding insulation to your attic and/or crawl space would be beneficial. Wrap any unprotected pipes. Caulk all siding cracks and fill gaps. Replace old weather stripping.

3) Pay attention to your foundation; rake away all debris and seal up entry points. Secure crawlspace entrances to avoid unwanted residents.

4) Remember your chimney; inspect it inside and out. Replace the missing or damaged cap which keeps out foreign objects and prevents rain from mixing with the ash, causing damage to the interior of the fireplace.

5) Prepare an emergency kit; buy indoor candles and matches and place utility phone numbers in an accessible location. Store bottled water and some non perishable food-including pet food for your four legged family member. Practice your evacuation plan.

6) Locate your fire extinguishers and replace them if they don't work. Lastly, test your house alarms. Fall is a great time to routinely change all smoke detector batteries.

Prepping and Staging a House

Every seller wants her home to sell fast and bring top dollar. Does that sound good to you? Well, it's not luck that makes that happen. It's careful planning and knowing how to professionally spruce up your home that will send home buyers scurrying for their checkbooks. Here is how to prep a house and turn it into an irresistible and marketable home.


Here's How:
1. Disassociate Yourself With Your Home.

• Say to yourself, "This is not my home; it is a house -- a product to be sold much like a box of cereal on the grocery store shelf.
• Make the mental decision to "let go" of your emotions and focus on the fact that soon this house will no longer be yours.
• Picture yourself handing over the keys and envelopes containing appliance warranties to the new owners!
• Say goodbye to every room.

• Don't look backwards -- look toward the future.


2. De-Personalize.

Pack up those personal photographs and family heirlooms. Buyers can't see past personal artifacts, and you don't want them to be distracted. You want buyers to imagine their own photos on the walls, and they can't do that if yours are there! You don't want to make any buyer ask, "I wonder what kind of people live in this home?" You want buyers to say, "I can see myself living here."


3. De-Clutter!

People collect an amazing quantity of junk. Consider this: if you haven't used it in over a year, you probably don't need it.

• If you don't need it, why not donate it or throw it away?

• Remove all books from bookcases.

• Pack up those knickknacks.

• Clean off everything on kitchen counters.

• Put essential items used daily in a small box that can be stored in a closet when not in use.

• Think of this process as a head-start on the packing you will eventually need to do anyway.


4. Rearrange Bedroom Closets and Kitchen Cabinets.

Buyers love to snoop and will open closet and cabinet doors. Think of the message it sends if items fall out! Now imagine what a buyer believes about you if she sees everything organized. It says you probably take good care of the rest of the house as well. This means:

• Alphabetize spice jars.

• Neatly stack dishes.

• Turn coffee cup handles facing the same way.

• Hang shirts together, buttoned and facing the same direction.

•Line up shoes.


5. Rent a Storage Unit.

Almost every home shows better with less furniture. Remove pieces of furniture that block or hamper paths and walkways and put them in storage. Since your bookcases are now empty, store them. Remove extra leaves from your dining room table to make the room appear larger. Leave just enough furniture in each room to showcase the room's purpose and plenty of room to move around. You don't want buyers scratching their heads and saying, "What is this room used for?"


6. Remove/Replace Favorite Items.

If you want to take window coverings, built-in appliances or fixtures with you, remove them now. If the chandelier in the dining room once belonged to your great grandmother, take it down. If a buyer never sees it, she won't want it. Once you tell a buyer she can't have an item, she will covet it, and it could blow your deal. Pack those items and replace them, if necessary.


7. Make Minor Repairs

• Replace cracked floor or counter tiles.

• Patch holes in walls.

• Fix leaky faucets.

• Fix doors that don't close properly and kitchen drawers that jam.

• Consider painting your walls neutral colors, especially if you have grown accustomed to purple or pink walls.

(Don't give buyers any reason to remember your home as "the house with the orange bathroom.")

• Replace burned-out light bulbs.

• If you've considered replacing a worn bedspread, do so now!


8. Make the House Sparkle!

• Wash windows inside and out.

• Rent a pressure washer and spray down sidewalks and exterior.

• Clean out cobwebs.

• Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks.

• Polish chrome faucets and mirrors.

• Clean out the refrigerator.

• Vacuum daily.

• Wax floors.

• Dust furniture, ceiling fan blades and light fixtures.

• Bleach dingy grout.

• Replace worn rugs.

• Hang up fresh towels.

• Bathroom towels look great fastened with ribbon and bows.

• Clean and air out any musty smelling areas. Odors are a no-no.


9. Scrutinize.

• Go outside and open your front door. Stand there. Do you want to go inside? Does the house welcome you?

• Linger in the doorway of every single room and imagine how your house will look to a buyer.

• Examine carefully how furniture is arranged and move pieces around until it makes sense.

• Make sure window coverings hang level.

• Tune in to the room's statement and its emotional pull. Does it have impact and pizzazz?

• Does it look like nobody lives in this house? You're almost finished.


10. Check Curb Appeal.

If a buyer won't get out of her agent's car because she doesn't like the exterior of your home, you'll never get her inside.

• Keep the sidewalks cleared.

• Mow the lawn.

• Paint faded window trim.

• Plant yellow flowers or group flower pots together. Yellow evokes a buying emotion. Marigolds are inexpensive.

• Trim your bushes.

• Make sure visitors can clearly read your house number.

Should you Buy or Should you Rent? -- A Military Perspective

The first thing that should be stated up front is that financially, a military family is almost always better off getting into base housing. If you can report to your new duty station and move right into base housing, so much the better. The reason for this is that the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) for each community is set so that the military member has to pay some portion of their housing and utility costs. By living in base housing, 100% of these costs are covered by the government.



However, at most military bases, base housing has a backlog and you cannot get into it immediately. To maintain a no waiting list policy would require that there is always empty housing available and such excess housing is expensive to the government. So should the military member forced to live on the economy buy or rent? This article alone cannot give you the answer to that question but hopefully it will raise some questions that, once answered, will lead you to making a better decision.



The biggest financial advantage to buying a house is the tax breaks that are associated with home ownership. The taxes and interest are tax deductible each year that you own your home. In addition, any home improvements that you make can be written off when you sell your home. Furthermore, if you keep your home as a rental when you leave, not only can you deduct repairs and other expenses each year, you can also depreciate your house (take the value of your house-- not the land or the appliances inside-- and divide by 27.5. This number comes off your taxable income). The best part about all of this is that you are buying a house and all of the tax breaks with tax-free money (since your housing allowance is tax-free). If you rent instead, then all of these tax breaks go to your landlord.



There are other financial advantages to home ownership in the military. The first is that you can generally buy a bigger home than you can rent for the same money. This is because you do not need to make a profit while a landlord does. The second advantage is that if you are in a military town that your career will keep bringing you back to, you only have to go through these hassles once.



There are disadvantages with buying a home of course. The first is the up front cost. These are high enough that the general rule of thumb is that you must own a home for two years or more to break even over what it costs to rent. Obviously, if you are on an 18 month assignment at a base you will most likely not be reassigned to, then the advantages of buying a home are not likely to be worth the costs. Even if you are likely to return, there are added risks. If the house doesn't rent for one or two months, that is cash out of your pocket and you are unable to deduct it from your taxes. You can lessen this risk by using a property manager, but of course they charge money. Other potential costs include the cost of repairs if a tenant damages your property. While these can be recovered, the process can be tedious.



If you will not be keeping your house past your assignment, then you must think about resale value. Obviously your real estate agent can give you the best advice for your particular area, but some general rules are:



(A) Buy what others will want to buy, i.e. a good school district, enough bedrooms and bathrooms (usually no less than 3 bedrooms/2 bathrooms)-- just because you may not have children does not mean the people you try to sell towon't



(B) Buy the smaller house in a large house area, not vice versa



A risk of special note in military towns is that the future will probably bring more base closings. A base closing in a big city may not impact the local housing market, but in a smaller city or town, the impact on home prices can be devastating. In the past, the military has helped out with some of these costs, but you will not be made whole. Unfortunately for smaller military towns, the whole purpose of closing bases is to eliminate smaller bases. In a larger town, you may be able to mitigate the risk by buying property away from the vicinity of the base.



To recap, the basic questions that you must ask before buying are:



•Am I unwilling to wait for base housing to become available?

•Do I have the up front money to buy a house?

•Can I get the financing to buy a home?

•Is this assignment longer than two years?

•If this assignment is less than two years, do I anticipate my next assignment will be in this town/area?

•If this assignment is less than two years, do I expect to return to the area?

•Is this base likely to remain open? (smaller base= more likely to close)

•Would this base's closing have a MINOR impact on the local housing market?

•Am I willing to put up with the headaches of being a landlord?

•Can I afford a property manager to manage my house as a rental?

•Can I pay the mortgage without a tenant for a month or two on my income?

•Can I afford to pay for an empty house while repairs are going on?

•Can I find the kind of house that will keep its resale value?

•Do I have to buy a house to be able to afford the space I need?

The more "NO" answers one gives to the above questions, the more one should try to rent the house or apartment that one needs. Again, this does not mean that these are all of the questions you should consider, but rather this is a general guideline. We should also caution that this article only evaluates the financial aspect of buying versus renting. Indeed, too much is made of home ownership as an "investment" in our society. In the end, it is not an investment, it is your home! The perfect home in the perfect neighborhood is often worth much more than the actual costs of living in it.



Good Luck!