Fewer Americans are heading south to warmer temperatures than they did prior to the 
recession, according to a new study by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. Researchers evaluated three years’ worth of data to reveal this new trend in the U.S. migration patterns.
Due to factors like the slowly-recovering housing market and a weakened employment picture, Americans are fonder of staying put rather than moving south. Although states such as Nevada, Arizona and Florida have had fewer residents enter their state since the beginning of the recession, experts say this decline will soon start to level off. State such as Massachusetts, California and New York, states whose residents had been packing up and moving, are now seeing far fewer declines in population throughout colder months.
For example, Florida had a net migration gain of 209,000 in 2005, but a loss of 30,000 in 2009, according to the study. On the other hand, New York had a net loss of 71,000 migrants in 2009, a drastic shift from the 170,000 migrants it lost in 2005. Likewise, California saw its loss of migrants shrink to 71,000 in 2009 from 201,000 in 2005.
It used to be that if you weren’t married or living with someone, the idea of purchasing a home was considered a bit outlandish, however, more of today’s home buyers are single than ever before.
According to the National Association of REALTORS, in 2010, unmarried women made up 20% of all home buyers and single men comprised 12%. Savvy men and women understand that now is one of the best times to buy a home and they can probably get a price that won’t stop them from enjoying their single lifestyle. These buyers may be just starting out and still envision getting married and having kids some day; some may be divorced and are looking to start fresh; still others may see it as an investment that will pay off down the line.
In her book, Buying a Home When You’re Single, Donna Albrecht walks through all the steps that take place when searching for a home, getting pre-qualified, finding an agent, and struggling though escrow.
“Before anyone buys a home — single or not — they need to consider what they want their future to look like,” Albrecht says. “If kids are a big hope, buying a studio condo could be a mistake. Going the other route and buying a five-bedroom place may not be the best idea either.”
Purchasing a smaller home, say with two bedrooms or less, has a number of advantages for a single buyer. The lower purchase price will likely net you a mortgage payment that is lower than rent and you will save on utilities, maintenance and cleaning costs. You will also have fewer rooms to furnish and decorate.
Another important point to consider is that it could be easier to sell when you are ready to move on. Single buyers know that their circumstances may change so they want to be prepared, so making sure that the home can be sold or rented out is often a key interest to this group.
Single parents are more inclined to buy a home to give their children a more stable environment and the chance of a great school system. According to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Statistics State of the Nation’s Housing report, the nation’s 4.5 million single parents have greater space needs and must worry more about safety and school quality when choosing homes than households without children.
Since there is only one name and one person responsible for buying the property, a person’s credit score and ability to meet all payments is more important to single buyers. The FHA even offers a special loan for single mothers that can help reduce mortgage costs.
Mortgage experts recommend that a monthly mortgage for home buyers with one income should not exceed 28% of a borrower’s pre-tax monthly income.
By Keith Loria
In these tough economic times, most of us have already found ways to save a little money — from eating out less often to shopping at discount stores to driving no more than necessary. Here are ten surefire ways to improve your bottom line over the long haul:
- Slash the incidentals — Read your credit card statement carefully, being on the lookout for ongoing monthly fees you can eliminate — like club memberships, subscriptions and that daily stop for high-priced coffee.
- Pay yourself first — Start saving as through it were a monthly bill, dumping five or 10% of each paycheck into savings before you start writing out your checks.
- Make the payment wisely — Put that money into an interest-bearing online savings account or mutual fund — and make the payment automatic.
- Pay ahead on your mortgage — It may be tough, but adding even an extra $25 to your monthly mortgage payment can make a surprising difference in paying off the mortgage early and saving thousands of dollars over the period of the loan.
- Shed credit card debt — Use credit cards as sparingly as possible and pay for any balances monthly. If you are already in debt, ask the card issuer for a lower rate or transfer the balance to a lower interest card.
- Say goodbye to late fees — If it seems your credit card bill is always due before you get your paycheck, call the card company and ask to have your due date changed.
- Get the better of your “addictions” — Whether it is designer coffee every morning or cigarettes with their walloping “sin tax,” do your best to wean yourself and you’ll save more in the bargain.
- Analyze workday expenses — Brown bag it instead of eating lunch in restaurants. If possible, commute by carpool or public transportation. Avoid extra fees for same-day dry cleaning service. Where else can you save?
- Review your estate plan — If you don’t already have one, get a will or living trust — and review it every year. These are vital regardless of marital or family status and could help save measurably when the time comes.
Sources: MSNBC, Bankrate.com, the New York Times Home Finance Center, Kiplinger’s Persona Finance Magazine.
For some people, a warm glass of milk or cup of chamomile tea is soothing bedtime ritual. 
But what the human body really wants to do with the onset of sleep is to cool down. That’s why cooler temperatures are just what the doctor ordered when it comes to getting the best rest.
“A cool environment in your bedroom is one of the most important factors contributing to good rest,” says Dan Schecter, creator of SleepBetter.org. “Individuals vary, of course, but the consensus is the best sleeping environment is between 60 and 68 degrees.”
Research shows that temperatures above 75 degrees or below 54 degrees can disrupt sleep. It’s not surprising that the arrival of cooler weather causes many people to want to hunker down on chilly mornings.
The following tips can help you make the most of your sleep:
- Make sure your bedding is appropriate to the season; think about whether your sheets, blankets and pillows give you the right support and warmth.
- You don’t have to pile on heavy blankets; modern fibers and comforters can keep you warm without a lot of weight.
- When appropriate, open the windows and turn down the thermostat (you’ll save money too).
- If you’re waking up in the morning with aches and stiffness, maybe your mattress is not providing you with the correct lumbar support.
- If fall and winter sleeping leave you with a sore throat and dry nose, consider whether a humidifier might help.
Source: SleepBetter.org
From Renter to Homeowner: HSA Home Warranty provides peace of mind to R.E.N.T. participants
Realty Embracing New Technology, or R.E.N.T. (myrents.com), is leading the way to homeownership by providing a turn-key solution for success in the evolving real estate market via an efficient and proven rental process. Brian Herron and Meghan Ferguson, two of the principals responsible for establishing R.E.N.T., believe that in the next few years, the number of individuals opting to rent versus buy a home in the United States could approach 40%.
Their recent partnership with HSA Home Warranty is an added advantage for R.E.N.T. participants, offering peace of ind when it comes to the property’s systems and appliances. “I have always used HSA Home Warranty when working with my short sale clients and I use the program myself,” says REALTOR Holly Maloney, a partner with R.E.N.T.
The belief that many of today’s renters will eventually convert or return to homeownership led to the customization of the R.E.N.T concept. This rapidly-growing program serves those individuals today and in the future, once they are ready to establish (or re-establish) their own permanent roots.
As the economy began to slow down, Herron and Ferguson found it increasingly difficult to get properties sold and mortgages written, so they decided to open a leasing program, and that’s when the R.E.N.T. process came to fruition. Instead of simply focusing on becoming property managers, they went one step further and put a follow-up system in place that serves to incubate renters and eventually convert them into traditional real estate clients.
The R.E.N.T. system quickly gained a reputation for it’s comprehensive marketing and sales platform, which includes a robust management system that flow rental clients for up to three years, aiming to eventually convert them to traditional sales.
Working with HSA provides R.E.N.T. clients peace of mind and helps ensure that individuals with tight financial constraints don’t leave themselves exposed to a huge expense if they experience a mechanical or appliance failure.
For over 26 years, HSA has offered comprehensive home warranty plans to homeowners across the country, adding valuable protection and convenience to their clients. Now HSA offers this same level of service and peace of mind to R.E.N.T. participants.
“If a problem arises with a system covered by the HSA home warranty, the tenant can simply call the 800 number that they were provided — someone can be reached 24/7,” says Maloney. During the course of the rental experience, R.E.N.T. representatives will continue to follow up with any clients who may have chosen to forego the home warranty, giving them the chance to change their mind at any point.
“Not only does HSA provide the best warranty out there, they are also quick when it comes to adapting to the changing market and taking advantage of new technology as it becomes available,” says Maloney.
The R.E.N.T. system is currently available in parts of Ohio and Central Pennsylvania, Detroit, Chicago and Nashville, and will be launched in New Jersey in early November.
For more information, visit www.onlinehsa.com.
According to a Thomson Reuters article, Recovery will elude the troubled U.S. housing market in the near-term as stringent standards to qualify for mortgages and a lack of jobs discourage Americans from buying homes, a survey showed on Tuesday.
The Hanley Wood’s maiden survey of homeowners and renters found no sense of urgency among Americans to buy a home even though they still believed in home ownership and the importance of the housing market to the economy.
“We thought people would be soured after watching home values fall, but instead we found the typical American still places high value on home ownership,” said Frank Anton, chief executive officer of Hanley Wood, a media and data research company.
The survey covered about 3,000 home owners and renters and was conducted in the final week of June. More than 68 percent of respondents believed now was a good time to buy a house. One in five home owners and a third of renters would like to buy a house over the next two years. Their aspirations, however, are tempered by the harsh realities of the mortgage market, uneasiness about job security, employment opportunities and the general direction of both the housing market and the overall economy.
“As long as buyers are uncertain about what’s happening in the economy and where house prices are headed, they are going to be slow to move. There is no urging the market, ” said Kent Colton, a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, and who conducted the survey.
There is a ray of hope on the horizon. The worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930′s has led to a surge in the number of Americans moving in with family and friends. Colton sees this so-called doubling-up as a source of future demand for housing should the economy start creating jobs at a more robust pace. More than one third of owners and about a quarter of renter households are doubling-up. This confirms the trend found by the government’s census.
“It means you have up to 2 million people that are part of what can be easily considered a pent-up demand when the time changes,” Colton told Reuters.
Stringent underwriting standards for mortgages as well as requirements for hefty down-payments are pushing housing beyond the reach of Americans, even though home prices are cheap and mortgage rates are at record low levels.
Banks and other mortgage providers are tightening their lending practices after lax underwriting standards caused the collapse of the housing market four years ago. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernake on Tuesday lamented the inability of prospective buyers to get home loans. The U.S. central bank last month announced it would sell $400 billion in short-term Treasury securities and invest them into longer-dated ones to try to put downward pressure on borrowing costs over a longer period.
“The Fed has done a lot to try and bring mortgage rates down. But that’s not effective if people can’t get mortgage loans,” Bernake told lawmakers. About 65 percent of renters said they could afford a deposit of only 5 percent or less.
It’s no secret that green housing is a trend on the rise. For years no, homeowners have been making green renovations, and buyers are on the look-out for eco-friendly homes. As a result, many lenders are offering larger loans, or discounts, to buyers who are making eco-conscious improvements to their homes.
The reasoning behind the incentives offered to eco-friendly buyers is relatively simple. When a home is energy-efficient, it has lower utility bills. the money saved from the bills can be counted as income, so buyers are able to qualify for a larger loan in order to increase home efficiency.
Wondering if your green improvement can qualify you for a green loan? Ask yourself if your eco-friendly fix-up will lower your energy bills. If not, then you probably don’t qualify.
If you think you can apply for an energy efficient mortgage, you need a special report to measure your home’s efficiency, called a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) report. An inspector will come out and evaluate your home, rating your efficiency from 1 to 100.
If you think you qualify for an energy efficient discount program or loan, talk to your bank for details. There are quite a few different programs to look into, depending on your state, your bank, and more. The simplest programs are offered to buyers interested in purchasing a green home, and include a credit or deduction based on the requirements their new home meets.
You can also look into programs offered by Fannie Mae and the Federal Housing Administration, who incorporate the cost of energy improvements into the cost of your loan, a more complex process. The qualify for this type of FHA mortgage, a buyer must do a number of things, including making a small down-payment, making cost-effective home improvements, and spending more than five percent of the purchase price for energy-efficient improvements.
Squirrel-proof feeders and baffles are the easiest way to deter squirrels, but it takes a 
coordinated effort to be successful. Even then, success is dependent on how resourceful the squirrels are.
It is costly and frustrating to feed squirrels that play havoc on bird feeders. As we all know, squirrels have this amazing way to get into and trash feeders due to persistence and ingenuity. Don’t let your bird feeder become a squirrel feeder. To prevent this, try the following:
- Locate bird feeders so squirrels can’t leap on the feeder. For example, away from the roof or gutter of the house, a tree, off the deck, wires — they can leap 10 feet and navigate along a cable wire effortlessly as well as climb bricks. They can leap 10 feet horizontally, jump vertically five feet and can drop 10 feet.
- Put red/cayenne pepper in your bird feed. It won’t hurt the birds but it will deter the squirrels. Don’t touch your eyes until you wash your hands.
- Use safflower seeds, nyjer/thistle seed and natural or hot pepper suet which are not favorites of squirrels. Tub nyjer bird feeders are also less attractive to squirrels.
- Explore the various types of squirrel proof feeders. Tube feeders enclosed in wire cages can be effective especially with nyjer seed that allows songbirds access while keeping squirrels at bay.
- Consider weight activated feeders that close the feeding ports when the squirrel lands. They are metal, and weather and squirrel resistant and may be pole mounted or hung.
- Battery operated squirrel-proof feeders that flip, dip, tip and whip squirrels off your feeder. These are effective and generally more expensive.
- Baffles can be effective for feeders placed on a pole at least six feet from the ground. A 18″ baffle or a torpedo battle, should be placed 1 1/2 feed below the feeder. If you have a hanging feeder, mount the baffle on the top, which also protects the seed from rain or snow. However, make sure with a top mounted baffle that the only way the squirrel can reach the feeder is from above and they can’t leap from the side or from below. There are also 22″ baffles for 4 X 4 post mounted feeders. Some bird feeders come with baffles build in.
- Suspend a feeder on a wire between your house and a tree, or between two trees at least 12 feet off the ground with PVC pipe at each end. The PVC pipe will act as a baffle.
- Feed your birds seed in small doses. The squirrels come, eat their fill and then are less likely to come back frequently. Of course, this works only if you have a few squirrels. If you have more than a few, they can camp out on your feeder. It’s not squirrel proof but can reduce your seed loss to squirrels.
- Buy a squirrel feeder and place it away from the bird feeder. Hopefully, it will distract the squirrels allowing the birds to eat at their feeder.
Source: USABirdSupply.com
Homeowners can help their families and guests to get in the holiday spirit without going 
through the hassles of hanging outside lights. With easy holiday decorations for the entryway and windows, this is the ideal time of year to show off a home’s exterior.
Hanging Door Decorations:
- Design a heart-shaped wreath with miniature pine cones and dye them a brilliant shade of red.
- Mount an evergreen wreath or swag with glass ornaments or silver bells.
- Create a wreath with magnolia leaves and fresh fruit such as pears, apples and pomegranates.
- For a coastal home, consider a wreath of woven sea grass with sea shells or a brightly painted life preserver with lights and decorative glass floats.
- If your door doesn’t merit all the attention, consider wrapping it in bright paper with a large bow or framing it in lights.
- Hang a set of sleigh bells on the door knob, which will give a festive jingle every time guests pass through.
Accessorizing Your Doorway:
- Frame your entryway with a garland and lights. Add bows or pine cones for more decorative detail.
- Place pots or urns planted with seasonal greenery, poinsettias and lights on either side of the doorway.
- Put out a welcome mat designed with holiday accents.
- Hang matching wreaths in all of the windows.
Window No-No’s:
- Never put nails or screws in a vinyl window frame to hold up decorative lights or holiday wreaths. Also, do not glue, staple or tape lights to a window frame.
- Do not place lit candles on a window sill, not the edge or sash.
- Never decorate windows with anything that could impede opening your windows quickly, in case you need to use the window as an escape route during an emergency. For example, don’t wrap garland ropes or artificial pine branches around the window hardware.
- Do not place real pine branches or cones on the window frames or sill. Fresh pine sap could leave nasty stains after the holiday season is over. Realistic, artificial pine is usually available at craft stores around the holidays.
- Although tempting, do not spray “fake snow” fro aerosol cans on your windows. The “snow” residue can be hard to remove after the holidays and can hamper the operation of your window if it sticks into the sash or hardware.
Santa – Approved Window Decorating Tips:
- Affix suction cups on the window glass to hang glass ornaments, plastic snowflakes or glass icicles so that light can come through the windows to enhance the decorations.
- Swags of garland or evergreen wreaths outside the home may be put up best by affixing to the siding of the house and not to windows themselves.
- Bay and bow windows are the ideal location to position a Christmas tree for maximum viewing, from both the interior and the exterior of the home.
- Make your curtain rods work during the holidays. Remove the curtains and hang ornaments from the existing rods on different lengths of fishing line or colorful curling ribbon.
- No curtain rods? Just add some inexpensive tension curtain rods to the top or middle section of your windows. Hang decorations from the rods with fishing line or garland. decorate the rods themselves with holiday ribbon or fabric.
- Encourage children to help decorate the windows with static cling holiday window stickers. the peel-and-stick temporary decorations are ideal for putting your home in the holidays spirit.
Get into the spirit of the holidays while protecting your home at the same time. With these easy tips, you can forego the hassle of stringing a plethora o awkward, tangled lights and opt for simpler, yet dazzling alternatives.
Source: www.thermatru.com
As temperatures drop, it’s time for homeowners to inspect their windows and doors to prepare for winter. Many times, old or dated windows and doors and responsible for a majority of lost heat, which eventually adds up to a lot of hard-earned cash. In order to conserve energy and save on monthly bills, checking up on your home’s windows and doors would make a huge difference. In fact, now is an ideal time of year to really evaluate if your home is suffering from energy loss.
Before we experience even colder temperatures, replacing windows and doors is a cost-effective solution to helping achieve greater energy-efficiency for a home. the first step in preparing your home for winter is conducting an inspection to check for potential maintenance issues. Tips for checking your windows and doors include:
- Inspect the interior and exterior finishes around windows and doors for signs of paint flaking and peeling.
- Look at the weather stripping around all doors and windows. Re-attach any loose portions and replace portions that are ripped or torn.
- Moisture and condensation between panes of insulting glass can occur when the seal between the panes of glass fails. This fogging may be a sign that a replacement is needed.
- Look for signs of air leakage. Improperly installed windows or doors that permit air leakage can decrease energy efficiency.
For more information visit www.pellaomaha.com
