JULY 10, 2019 • Volume 14 • Issue 28
RE WEEKLY RESIDENTIAL • ACREAGE • FARM • COMMERCIAL • AREA DEVELOPMENT 515-233-3299 • 317 5th Street, Ames • All REALTOR® ads within are REALTORS® licensed in the State of Iowa
Always Available Online SEPTEMBER 7, 2016 Volume 11 • Issue 36
RE WEEKLY STORY
COUNTY
• AREA DEVELOPMENT • FARM • COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL • ACREAGE 317 5th Street, Ames State of Iowa 515-233-3299 • ® licensed in the ® are REALTORS All REALTOR ads within
SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 Volume 11 • Issue 37
RE WEEKLY STORY
COUNTY
m
www.AmesTrib.co
ALWAYS ONLINE
RESIDENTIAL • ACREAGE • FARM • COMMERCIAL 515-233-3299 • AREA DEVELOPMEN • 317 T
5th Street, Ames All REALTOR® ads within are REALTORS® licensed in the State of Iowa
www.StoryCountySun
.com
www.AmesTrib.com
ALWAYS ONLINE
www.StoryCou
ntySun.com
Ames at your finge
r tips!
My
Ames
EAT • SHOP • PLAY • EVENTS •LIVE DEALS
DOWNLOAD THE APP TODAY!
AmesTrib.com/realestateweekly
Online at www.AmesTrib.com/realestateweekly
Don’t see your home in the
RE WEEKLY
Then contact a Realtor® today, because you are missing out on over 37,000+ potential buyers seeing your property for sale.
DIRECT MAIL + ONLINE
AmesTrib.com/realestateweekly
Page RE2 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Realtors, do you want to reach a wider group of potential buyers? Advertise in the RE Weekly. In print and online.
Call Ali Eernisse 515-663-6956
RE WEEKLY
REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, July 10, 2019 • Page RE3
Page RE4 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, July 10, 2019
DEAR MONTY
Fixing a leaky basement can be tricky Existing basement leaks are among a homebuyer’s most concerning issues. Fixing the leak now is the best solution. Your comments suggest that you have identified the problem as a negative grade toward the foundation. While you may have accurately identified the problem, water leaks can be tricky to isolate and repair correctly. Monty’s answer:
RICHARD MONTGOMERY
R
eader question: We own a 45-year-old home in a development. We have made some significant renovations and the house is in great shape. The major problem we have is a leaky basement when it rains very hard, i.e., about one inch or more in a storm. The water causes a stream to flow into a drain in the floor. How important is it for us to do the necessary earth moving and patching to get rid of the leaks when we sell the house?
Other possibilities If your property is on a slope and there are homes higher on the hill, it is possible that the volume of water collected from higher altitudes is the chief culprit draining to your lot. Soil conditions play a role in decisions to protect your basement. Different types
of clay, rock, sand and loam affect the rate of absorption. For example, if you have clay soil water, absorption will be considerably slower than sandy soil. There are many possibilities how and why water seeps into a basement. For example, the materials utilized to build basement walls vary. Concrete, concrete block, a variety of stone and wood have been chosen to construct basement or crawl space walls. Each of them may require different solutions based on the material and soil conditions. Short gutter downspout extensions do not allow the water to travel far enough to prevent soaking the soil near the foundation wall. If you have a sump pit in the basement, and even one section of drain tile around the outside foundation has failed, water can seep into the basement.
Validate your assessment Consider seeking three basement repair and landscape contractors to inspect the grounds and basement. It is likely they will have different solutions which will result in different cost estimates. Let each of them tell you how they would repair it and why their answer is the best method. While this method is extra effort, it pales in comparison to the cost of doing the work twice. Richard Montgomery is the author of “House Money - An Insider’s Secrets to Saving Thousands When You Buy or Sell a Home.” He advocates industry reform and offers readers unbiased real estate advice. Follow him on Twitter at @ dearmonty.
REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, July 10, 2019 • Page RE5
TIPS OF THE WEEK GARDENING
FURNITURE
HOME SELLING
HACKS FOR A PRISTINE BACKYARD
OUTDOOR LIVING TRENDS
STAGING ATTRACTS BUYERS
A recent survey from the International Casual Furnishings Association suggests outdoor furniture is hotter than ever. According to the research, 83% of households have an outdoor living space, with 47% of them planning to spruce it up with at least one piece of new outdoor furniture in 2019. The latest trends include fireplaces, simulated wood looks and splashes of color, with blue being the hue most in demand.
If you’re looking to sell, here are staging tips from Think Realty:
Everyone imagines having a beautiful yard to host guests during the summer, but the shine starts to wear off when you realize you have to maintain it as well. Here are a few tips from Realtor.com about how to keep your yard pristine: • Keep your gardening tools in good working condition. • Shine your outdoor furniture for aesthetic cleanliness. • Protect your garden with household items. Stick plastic forks in the ground to stave off pets and animals, and sprinkle coffee grounds or citrus peels on your plants instead of using harmful pesticides.
• Focus on the exterior of the house; you only get one first impression, after all. • The second impression comes from the entryway, so be sure to declutter and leave the entrance to the home spotless. — More Content Now
Page RE6 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Don’t see your home in the
RE WEEKLY Then contact a Realtor® today, because you are missing out on over 39,000+ potential buyers seeing your property for sale. STORY TY COUN
PMENT ERCIAL • AREA DEVELO GE • FARM • COMM RESIDENTIAL • ACREA Street, Ames 99 • 317 5th ® licensed in the State of Iowa 515-233-32 are REALTORS ® within All REALTOR ads
RE WEEKLY
JANUARY 11, 2017 Volume 12 • Issue 2
JANUARY 4, 2017 1 Volume 12 • Issue
RE WEEKLY
STORY
RESIDENTIAL • ACREAGE • FARM 515-233-329 9 • 317 5th • COMMERCIAL • AREA DEVE LOPMENT Street, Ame ads within are s
COUNTY
All REALTOR ®
w w. A m e s Tr Online at w
ib.com/rea
lestatewee
REALTORS ®
licensed in the State of Iowa
kly
home in Don’t see your
the
RE WEEKLY
® because Realtor today, Then contact a 00+ potential out on over 39,0 you are missingO nyour l property for sale. buyers seeing i n e a t w E ww
DIRECT MAIL +
ONLIN
. A m e s Tr
lestateweekly
AmesTrib.com/rea
ib.com/r
ealestat
eweekly
DIRECT MAIL + ONLINE AmesTrib.com/realestateweekly
REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, July 10, 2019 • Page RE7
Page RE8 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Making a
DOWN PAYMENT doesn’t have to wreck your finances
By Barbara Marquand NerdWallet.com
M
aximizing a home down payment can make sense: The bigger the down payment, the lower the monthly mortgage bill and the better the chance of building equity more quickly. But putting too much down could leave you without enough cash for home maintenance — or anything else. Pinpointing the right amount involves balancing the advantages of boosting the down payment against the need to hold back money for urgent upgrades, life’s emergencies and having some fun with your new home. “There’s really no one-size-fits-all solution,” says Jason Speciner, a certified financial planner in Fort Collins, Colorado.
higher down payment may eliminate some of that expense, if not all of it. Kristin Phillips, a Tampa, Florida, psychologist and author of The Debt Shrink blog, says she and her husband, Brandon, couldn’t put down the traditional 20%, but they wanted to put down more than the minimum when they bought a home in 2013. “Ten percent was a good compromise,” she says. That kept the monthly mortgage under 25% of their income so they could live comfortably. Eventually they made extra mortgage payments to build enough equity to
Effect of a higher down payment
But the decision to do so shouldn’t be taken lightly. Borrowing from a 401(k) is particularly risky. After a job loss, the loan must be repaid by the next tax filing deadline or it’s taxed as ordinary income, with a 10% penalty if the withdrawal is taken before age 59½. Using a Roth IRA to boost a down payment is a better option, says Aaron Clarke, a certified financial planner and wealth adviser at Halpern Financial in Ashburn, Virginia. There are no taxes or penalties on withdrawals of contributions. First-time home buyers who have contributed to a Roth for at least five years can withdraw up to $10,000 of earnings on the contributions, tax- and penalty-free. But Linda Rogers, a certified financial planner and owner of Planning Within Reach in Memphis, Tennessee, says she doesn’t recommend borrowing from retirement savings. Many people are behind on saving anyway, she says, and borrowing from an IRA means losing tax-free growth.
Expect the unexpected
FREEPIK.COM
Some lenders require only 3% down for conventional home loans, which makes getting in the door easier but means assuming more debt than with higher down payments. Many borrowers ask if they should scrape together a little more, such as 5% versus 3%, says Rick Bechtel, head of U.S. residential lending at TD Bank. But that probably wouldn’t make enough difference in the monthly mortgage payment to justify doing so if it left you strapped, he says. “The need for post-closing cash is always greater, and sometimes significantly so, than people expect,” he says. But a higher down payment can make a significant difference if it means lowering or avoiding mortgage insurance. The insurance, which can involve upfront and monthly fees, protects the lender if the borrower defaults. Depending on the type of loan, making a
eliminate private mortgage insurance.
Borrow with care When deciding on down payment size, consider its effect on other aspects of your financial plan. Twenty-nine percent of homeowners ages 21 to 34 borrowed from retirement accounts to help fund down payments, according to the Bank of the West’s 2018 Millennial Study.
Thirty-four percent of recent first-time buyers say they no longer felt financially secure after buying their current home, according to NerdWallet’s 2019 Home Buyer Report, based in part on a survey of 2,029 adults by The Harris Poll for NerdWallet. To maintain security, resist draining your savings for the down payment and closing costs. Leave some for emergencies, such as a car breakdown. To minimize surprises, review the home inspector’s report and negotiate repairs with the seller before purchasing. Budget for immediate upgrades, such as fencing the yard for your dog. Include some cushion. Finally, leave some cash for fun stuff, like furniture. “You just achieved a dream,” Bechtel says. “You’re going to spend money because you’ll have rooms you didn’t have before.”