Ah, summer is here. The temperatures are soaring, the rain is pounding, and the sun is blazing. It’s important that you take the time to maintain your home this summer and to prepare it for the extreme heat that you could be facing. Check out our ultimate checklist of summer home maintenance tips to help you give your home some TLC. Indoor summer home maintenance: 1. Do a test of your smoke detectors and your carbon monoxide detectors. Replace the batteries if needed. 2. Get your cooling system ready. Consider getting your air-conditioning system serviced. Proper air conditioner maintenance can help your AC last longer and prevent air conditioner fires . This one is especially important for summer home maintenance since you don’t want to be stuck without air conditioning when the temperature starts climbing. 3. Dust the ceiling fan bla des and check that the fan is balanced and working properly. Attach a dryer sheet to a paint roller so you can reach easily and dust away. 5. Clean or replace your showerheads. 6. Clean bathroom drains. 7. Reverse the direction of your ceiling fans. If your fans spin counterclockwise, they’ll push the air straight down to your home will stay nice and cool. To do this, turn off the fan, wait for it to stop, and find the direction switch and check that your fans are spinning counterclockwise. 8. Clean the baseboards of your home. Use a damp cloth and wipe away all the dust and grime. 9. Check your attic and basement. In your attic, look for signs of dampness, mildew, leaks, holes in the roof, and pests. In the basement, check for leaks, pests, mold, and mildew. 10. Clean the vents of your bathroom fans. 11. Clean the dryer vent and exhaust duct. Clean out all of the dust and lint trapped in the vent and exhaust duct. Call in a professional to clean and service your washer and dryer if needed. Clothes dryers can be a fire hazard if they’re not cleaned and maintained. 12. Change the filter in the air conditioner.
1. Condition Of The House There’s nothing wrong with buying a fixer-upper, but you need to be realistic about the time and money it’ll take to make an ugly duckling shine again. After receiving a thorough inspection by a qualified professional, ask yourself how many of the repairs you can do on your own, and how many would require outside contractors. Get estimates for any major jobs that you would have to pay someone else to do. You’ll want to make sure that you fix all serious issues before anyone moves in, as an unsafe house can lead to grave consequences if tenants become hurt or sick. Calculate how long the repairs should take. If the house needs to be vacant for months while renovations take place, it may not be worth it. After all, there’s nothing more discouraging to landlords than an empty house that isn’t bringing in any income. 2. The 1% Rule Every investor has their own goals when it comes to returns, but most will agree that the income from an investment property needs to abide by the 1% rule. 3. Property Taxes You should always consider property taxes when buying an investment property. High taxes will eat into your profits, while low taxes will allow you to keep a larger amount of your rental income each month. As a general rule, expect to find higher property taxes in metropolitan areas, and lower taxes in more rural places. Some locations charge investors at a higher rate than owner-occupants, so it’s worth calling your local tax assessor to determine whether this is the case. Be sure to remember that even if you find the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood, high property taxes could make it a poor investment choice. 4. Insurance Costs Just like property taxes, insurance costs can eat into your profits, so be sure to do your due diligence. The first step is to decide what kind of coverage you want for the investment property. Do you want to pay a smaller premium each month but be faced with a higher deductible when you make a claim? Do you want to provide coverage for tenants’ personal property? Secondly, you should determine whether the area you’re interested in has higher insurance premiums due to its vulnerability to floods, sinkholes, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes or other natural disasters. If this is the case, the house may not be worth it. Once you’re ready to proceed, start comparing insurance rates. Many companies offer an online calculator, but calling a customer service number can often allow you to create a more customized policy based on your needs. 5. Neighborhood The location of a house is just as important as the house itself. You need to choose an area wisely, making sure it’s a place where tenants will want to live. The most important factor to consider is safety, making sure the neighborhood’s crime rates are not too high. Curb appeal is also a major factor, as tenants will be more eager to live on a street with well-manicured lawns and nicely painted homes. If you’re hoping to rent to families, you’ll also want to have a look at the local school district. Parents are more likely to choose areas that have well-ranked schools. Buying a home near a university can be an excellent way to enter a strong rental market, although many investors are wary of renting to partying college students. 6. Property Management Being a landlord can be a headache at times, so you should consider whether you’re willing to deal with 3 a.m. phone calls when there’s a plumbing disaster. Many investors choose to hire a property management company to take care of everything for them. Most companies charge around 10% of the monthly rent, as well as a fee for procuring tenants. Some also charge to supervise maintenance repairs from outside vendors. Some landlords believe the management fee is well worth it, while others choose to save money and deal with problems on their own. This decision is purely a personal one, but one you should carefully consider. 7. Unexpected Costs While the primary objective of purchasing an income property is to make money, you should prepare for unexpected expenses. Calculate the amount of money it would take to replace major parts of the house, including the roof, HVAC system and water heater. Throw in a sizable amount of extra cash as a cushion. Always keep that amount of money available, whether on a credit card or in a savings account.
Turning the key in a lock that no landlord has access to, reading in a hammock in your own backyard and painting your dining room bright red – what could be more exciting than making the leap from renter to first-time homeowner? Getting swept up in all the excitement is a wonderful feeling, but some first-time homeowners lose their heads and make mistakes that can jeopardize everything they’ve worked so hard to earn. Don’t be one of those people; take a few moments to ponder these seven practical concerns that will help ensure that your first home becomes the place of luxury and financial freedom you’ve anticipated. Don’t Overspend on Furniture and Remodeling You’ve just handed over a large portion of your life savings for a down payment, closing costs and moving expenses. Money is tight for most first-time homeowners. Not only are their savings depleted, their monthly expenses are often higher as well, thanks to the new expenses that come with home ownership, such as water and trash bills, and extra insurance. Everyone wants to personalize a new home and upgrade what may have been temporary apartment furniture for something nicer, but don’t go on a massive spending spree to improve everything all at once. Just as important as getting your first home is staying in it, and as nice as solid maple kitchen cabinets might be, they aren’t worth jeopardizing your new status as a homeowner. Give yourself time to adjust to the expenses of home ownership and rebuild your savings – the cabinets will still be waiting for you when you can more comfortably afford them. (For further reading, see To Rent Or Buy? The Financial Issues.) Don’t Ignore Important Maintenance Items One of the new expenses that accompanies home ownership is making repairs. There’s no landlord to call if your roof is leaking or your toilet is clogged (on the plus side, there’s also no rent increase notice taped to your door on a random Friday afternoon when you were looking forward to a nice weekend full of naps). While you should exercise restraint in purchasing the nonessentials, you shouldn’t neglect any problem that puts you in danger or could get worse over time, turning a relatively small problem into a much larger and costlier one. Hire Qualified Contractors Don’t try to save money by making improvements and repairs yourself that you aren’t qualified to make. This may seem to contradict the first point slightly, but it really doesn’t. Your home is both the place where you live and an investment, and it deserves the same level of care and attention you would give to anything else you value highly. There’s nothing wrong with painting the walls yourself, but if there’s no wiring for an electric opener in your garage, don’t cut a hole in the wall and start playing with copper. Hiring professionals to do work you don’t know how to do is the best way to keep your home in top condition and avoid injuring – or even killing – yourself. Get Help with Your Tax Return Even if you hate the thought of spending money on an accountant when you normally do your returns yourself, and even if you’re already feeling broke from buying that house, hiring an accountant to make sure you complete your return correctly and maximize your refund is a good idea. Home ownership significantly changes most people’s tax situations and the deductions they are eligible to claim. Just getting your taxes professionally done for one year can give you a template to use in future years if you want to continue doing your taxes yourself. Keep Receipts for Home Improvements When you sell your home, you can use these costs to increase your home’s basis, which can help you to maximize your tax-free earnings on the sale of your home. In 2008, you could have earned up to $250,000 tax free from the sale of your home if it was your primary residence and you had lived there for at least two of five years before you sold it. This assumes that you owned the home alone – if you owned it jointly with a spouse, you could each have gotten the $250,000 exemption. Let’s say you purchased your home for $150,000 and were able to sell it for $450,000. You’ve also made $20,000 in home improvements over the years you’ve lived in the home. If you haven’t saved your receipts, your basis in the home, or the amount you originally paid for your investment, is $150,000. You take your $250,000 exemption on the proceeds and are left with $50,000 of taxable income on the sale of your home. However, if you saved all $20,000 of your receipts, your basis would be $170,000 and you would only pay taxes on $30,000. That’s a huge savings: in this case, it would be $5,000 if your marginal tax rate is 25%. Don’t Confuse a Repair with an Improvement Unfortunately, not all home expenses are treated equally for the purpose of determining your home’s basis. The IRS considers repairs to be part and parcel of home ownership -something that preserves the home’s original value, but does not enhance its value. This may not always seem true. For example, if you bought a foreclosure and had to fix a lot of broken stuff, the home is obviously worth more after you fix those items, but the IRS doesn’t care – you did get a discount on the purchase price because of those unmade repairs, after all. It’s only improvements, like replacing the roof or adding central air conditioning, which will help decrease your future tax bill when you sell your home. For gray areas (like remodeling your bathroom because you had to bust open the wall to repair some old, failed plumbing), consult IRS Publication 530 and/or your accountant. And on a non-tax-related note, don’t trick yourself into thinking it’s OK to spend money on something because it’s a necessary “repair” when in truth it’s really a fun improvement. That isn’t good for your finances. Get Properly Insured Your mortgage lender requires you not only to purchase homeowners insurance, but also to purchase enough to fully replace the property in the event of a total loss. But that’s not the only insurance coverage you need as a homeowner. If you share your home with anyone who relies on your income to help pay the mortgage, whether it’s a girlfriend or a child, you’ll need life insurance with that person named as a beneficiary so he or she won’t lose the house if you die unexpectedly. Similarly, you’ll want to have disability-income insurance to replace your income if you become so disabled that you can’t work. Also, once you own a home, you have more to lose in the event of a lawsuit, so you’ll want to make sure you have excellent car insurance coverage. If you are self-employed as a sole proprietor, you may want to consider forming a corporation for greater legal protection of your assets. You may also want to purchase an umbrella policy that picks up where your other policies leave off. If you are found at fault in a car accident with a judgment of $1 million against you and your car insurance only covers the first $250,000, an umbrella policy can pick up the rest of the slack. These policies are usually issued in the millions. Bottom Line With the great freedom of owning your own home comes great responsibilities. You must manage your finances well enough to keep the home and maintain the home’s condition well enough to protect your investment and keep your family safe. Don’t let the excitement of being a new homeowner lead you to bad decisions or oversights that jeopardize your financial or physical security.