Real Estate Blogs Of The Carolina's

Leverage is an investment term that describes the use of borrowed funds to control an asset; sometimes referred to as using other people's money.  Borrowed funds can affect the investment in your home positively. For instance, if you had a $100,000 rental property, collected the rents and paid the expenses and had $10,000 left, you would earn a 10% return (divide the $10,000 by the $100,000.)  With no loan on the property, there is no leverage. If you decided to get an 80% mortgage at 8%, you would owe an additional $6,400 in expenses leaving you only $3,600 net.  However, your return would grow to 18% because your investment is now $20,000 in cash (divide the $3,600 by $20,000.) Leverage, the use of borrowed funds, causes the return to increase in this example.  While, most people associate leverage with rental properties, it also applies to a home.  The larger the mortgage, the more leverage you have.  A FHA mortgage with a 3.5% down payment has more leverage than an 80% lo

Checking for Water Leaks Aside from standing water in your yard or water running out from under a sink, the first indication that you might have a water leak comes from a larger than normal water bill.  Before calling a leak specialist or a plumber, there is a simple diagnostic you can perform. Go through your home and make certain that all the faucets are turned off and that the toilets have indeed stopped filling the reserve.  Then, go to the water meter and make a mark on the lens where the dial is currently.  If there is water in the meter box, the meter itself could be leaking. If the meter is still turning, the leak is between the meter and the house. By inspecting the area between the meter and the house, you can look for soft, muddy areas or grass that is greener than the rest of the yard. One of the hardest places to isolate a leak is in a swimming pool.  If you have an automatic filler, like in a toilet, you'll need to turn it off.  Mark the water line on the wa

Building Equity Owning a home is the first step to building equity.  Tenants build equity but not for themselves; they build it for the owners. Equity is the difference in the value of the home and what is owed on the home.  There are two dynamics that cause this to grow: appreciation and principal reduction. As the home increases in value, it is said to appreciate.  Various authorities will annualize an appreciation rate based on average sales prices from one year to the next.  Since appreciation is based on supply and demand as well as economic conditions, it will not be the same year after year. If you looked at a ten to twelve-year period, some would be higher than others and there may even be some individual years that it is flat or even declined.  For the most part, values tend to appreciate over time. Most mortgages are amortized which means that a portion of the payment each month is applied to the principal in order to pay off the loan by the end of the term.  A $300,0