How’s Your Home Investment Doing?

The dream of home ownership is about more than just a stable place to live, exempt from the whims and decisions of landlords. For many, home ownership is a piece of the wealth building picture, essential to a future retirement or financial independence. The idea is pretty basic: You purchase a home and pay it down while hoping the value of the home increases over time. Generally speaking, this is what happens over a long enough period of time. As you go, you build what’s called “equity.”

Equity is defined as “the market value of a homeowner's unencumbered interest in their real property—that is, the sum of the home's fair market value and the outstanding balance of all liens on the property.” If you were to sell your home and pay off the balance of the mortgage (and any other debts, such as home equity credit lines or liens), the cash you would have leftover is your equity. Your “equity position” changes over time due to a variety of factors.

Don’t Miss these 5 Moving Day Tips

Moving is often listed as one of life’s most stressful events, but there are a few things you can do to make the transition easier. While you probably know some of the basic tips such as having a garage sale before you move, labeling your boxes by room, and filing “change of address” forms with everyone, there are some less-common tips which can save you time, money, and moving-day headaches.

Here are 5 often overlooked moving tips to help make your move a smooth one:

1. Measure doors at your destination and measure your large furniture. There’s no point in moving heavy, large objects if they won’t make it in the new house or condo. Find out what won’t fit and sell it before hand. You’ll save money on the move and the proceeds from the sale will help you purchase a more reasonably sized replacement piece.

Tips to Help You Choose a Great Property Manager

One of the most important decisions you can make as a real estate investor is hiring the right property manage for your investment property. The difference between a cash-flow positive property and a drag on your finances can be an experienced, professional property manager.

You should always interview more than one property management company when you’re evaluating property managers, but do you know what to look for in a property manager? If not, these tips will help put you on the right path.

1. Find certified property managers first. Consult the National Association of Residential Property Managers (http://www.narpm.org/) to seek out property managers with certifications and designations.