NOVEMBER 8, 2017 • Volume 12 • Issue 45
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 14, 2016 Volume 11 • Issue 37
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SEPTEMBER 7, 2016 Volume 11 • Issue 36
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• AREA DEVELOPMENT • FARM • COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL • ACREAGE 317 5th Street, Ames State of Iowa 515-233-3299 • ® licensed in the
RESIDENTIAL • ACREAGE • FARM • COMMERCIAL 515-233-3299 • AREA DEVELOPMENT • 317
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DEAR MONTY
20 percent down with a 15-year mortgage? percent down payment when they buy a home. The experts that proffer this advice confuse us. Would you advise readers to obtain a 15-year loan over a 30-year mortgage and to hold off buying until they have saved a 20 percent down payment? RICHARD MONTGOMERY
R
eader question: Choosing a 15-year loan as opposed to a 30-year term is advice we often see from financial experts or mortgage lenders. We also find information about a home buyer saving until they can make a 20
Monty’s answer: When to buy a home and how to finance it are highly dependent on a variety of personal circumstances that suggest it is questionable to advise every buyer to save a 20 percent down payment and obtain a 15-year mortgage. It indeed is “safe” advice, and there are advantages to both of these strategies, but many consumers can,
and do, safely benefit and enjoy the fruits of homeownership with a small down payment and a 30-year mortgage. Anecdotally, my bet would be the large majority of homebuyers today that obtain a mortgage put less than 20 percent down and choose a 30-year mortgage term. Times have changed As home prices have risen over the years, it could take a long time for many of us to save a 20 percent down payment. Both the U.S. mortgage regulators and mortgage lenders recognize this fact and have gradually changed their requirements by adding new products and improving
existing programs with terms that better suit today’s homebuyers. For example, one of America’s largest banks recently introduced a mortgage loan product for incomequalified homebuyers with a 3 percent down payment and no mortgage insurance required. There are specific qualifiers, like maximum income requirements, but many people will qualify for it. It is a safe bet that other lenders will follow suit with similar products. There are also mortgage terms longer than 30 years. Contact Richard Montgomery at DearMonty.com.
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Pine cones make perfect autumn door decor
Top apps for your home-improvement project
Here’s a fun activity you can do with the family: painting pine cones. First gather pine cones from the yard or buy them at a craft store. If you gathered them from outdoors, you’ll need to clean your pine cones by soaking them for 20 minutes in a sink full of warm water with a cup of vinegar. Rinse with fresh water and lay to dry for a few days on two to three layers of newspapers. Next, paint the pine cones with acrylic paints, then let dry before attaching wire rings to the tops of the pine cones with hot glue. Lastly, loop pieces of string or ribbon through the rings before attaching the whole arrangePIXABAY ment to a door hanger.
There’s an app for everything these days, including your home-improvement projects. Here are some app suggestions from technobuffalo: Thumbtack. Thumbtack makes finding a professional contractor easy. Enter your needs and you’ll receive quotes from local contractors quickly. Clutter. Use Clutter to hire professionals to remove items you don’t need now and transport them to a storage facility. They’ll also help you move them back when you’re ready. Home Design 3D. Use Home Design 3D to draw up plans for your next project in 2D or 3D. You can CLUTTER even go down to the wall colors and the furniture.
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Raise the bar(n) at home
Cleaning hardwood floors
Versatile barn doors have been popping up in homes across the country — in contemporary and rustic designs. Here are some reasons adding a barn door is an ideal winter home-improvement project, according to www.simpsondoor.com. 1. Barn doors provide the perfect seamless yet flexible transition between rooms. 2. Barn doors make an unexpected statement piece like a distinctive piece of art. 3. Barn doors are adaptable to changing style trends and have been gaining in popularity for over a decade.
If you have hardwood floors, how to clean them properly can be confusing. Fortunately, cleaning hardwood is easy with a few simple steps. According to the National Wood Flooring Association, regular maintenance includes sweeping with a soft bristle broom or dusting with a dry microfiber mop. If the floor has beveled edges, vacuum with the beater bar turned off to remove dust. Periodically, clean the floors with a professional wood floor cleaning product.
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REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, November 8, 2017 • Page RE7
Fall lawn care: By Laura Firszt Networx
W
hat does the word “autumn” bring to mind? If it conjures up pictures of yourself slaving away at lawn care tasks, maybe you need a little attitude adjustment. Take a look at these tips for simplifying your lawn care and your life. They’ll give you time for long walks through the colorful fall landscape, baking — and eating — apple pies, or cheering your heart out at a football game. 1. Buy lawn repair in a kit. Chances are good that your lawn is looking a little (or a lot!) patchy after a long, hot summer. Overseeding your lawn in the fall will fill in those unsightly bare spots. Take the easy way out by purchasing an all-in-one lawn “repair kit,” which offers a premixed blend of grass seed with fertilizer and mulch. 2. Simplify leaf clean up from your lawn. Tempted to follow Dr. Google’s advice and just let those fallen leaves lie? Beware. Too much of a good thing can not only smother your lawn, but also put you in your HOA’s bad books. Instead, gather the tools you need to make autumn leaf clean up a snap: • A large, lightweight rake will take care of basic Leaf Removal 101
• A smaller metal rake will serve to loosen remaining leaves which are stubbornly stuck in mud or grass • A leaf blower can either kick your fallen leaves to the curb … or blow them onto your garden bed to protect perennials against the ravages of winter • A leaf tarp provides the perfect surface to rake or blow the leaves onto for easy removal and disposal 3. Shred fallen leaves — it’s fast, it’s free … and even fun. Use your lawn mower to pulverize some of that pesky ol’ fall foliage. Go on. We know you want to. Then repurpose the leaf shreds as a free source of garden mulch or brown matter compost. (Don’t try this tip with wet leaves, though, unless you really want to make a soggy mess of your mower.) 4. Mulch around your trees to knock two tasks off at once. Mulching your property’s trees with those newly shredded leaves will knock out two tedious lawn care tasks in one fell swoop. The leaf mulch will keep stray weed seeds from springing up, so you won’t have to worry about weeding next to your trees. No more oh-so-carefully trimming your lawn around tree trunks, either.
5. Rent an easy-to-use aerator for an afternoon. If your lawn is planted with a cool-season grass species (such as bluegrass, fescue, or rye), bring home a lawn aerator from your local garden center one fall afternoon. Running this handy device over your grass will help achieve the healthy green lawn of your dreams. Wait till April or so to aerate warm-season grass. 6. Jumpstart next spring’s removal of lawn weeds. Wouldn’t you just love to welcome next spring with a smooth, weed-free stretch of grass? The best time to start on your project is right now. Apply an organic herbicide — like corn gluten meal (yum!) — as a spa-like lawn treatment in autumn, before daytime temperatures dip much below 60 degrees F. 7. Consider the simplest method — hire someone. When you’re short on time and energy to devote to lawn and garden maintenance, don’t struggle alone. Give yourself a break and consult with a landscaping expert. You may be surprised at the number of easy yardscape options available — they range from professional lawn care to replacing your lawn with low-maintenance ground cover or xeriscaping.
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