Help for Your Thanksgiving To-Do-List

It seems like each holiday season, we can barely get through with Halloween when Thanksgiving is upon us.  Many of us will go out of town to visit family and friends and others of us will be welcoming those family members and friends into our homes.  Therefore, it’s important to make sure they feel comfortable and welcome when they come to visit. 

If you’re like most homeowners, you have a Thanksgiving to-do-list a mile long.  So, I’d like to extend my advice on getting your home ready for your visitors this Thanksgiving holiday in a timely and orderly fashion.  Once these tasks are finished, you will be able to glide around and be the cool host that you are.

Access What You Need to Do

Decide what projects you want to take on around the house.  Will it be a major sprucing up, a one room makeover, holiday decorating or a good fall cleaning?

Determine How Long Each Project Will Take

Depending on the project or projects you decide to take on, the length will vary.  You should carefully consider how much time you have and how much time you want to spend on the project.  Don’t dilly-dally around.  Make each moment count, especially if you are on a time crunch.

Schedule Your Time

Once you have determined how long the project will take and how much time you are willing to spend on it, get a calendar and make yourself a schedule of which days you will work on your projects.

What Materials Do You Need

Make a list of the materials that you will need for your project.  Check your list for items that you already have around the house.  This way you are only purchasing what is absolutely necessary and you can stay within a budget, if needed.

Look for Sales

If you are on a budget, keep an eye out for sales on home improvement items such as paint, carpet remnants, spackling, picture framing, cleaners, upholstery, furniture, etc.

Final Touchups

For last minute touchups that really make a house shine, you should clean all the windows and glass doors, clean your baseboards, add fresh flowers, make sure all the dishes are clean on the day your guests are expected to arrive and set out some potpourri for a nice fresh scent.

For more great holiday tips and advice, visit the DIY website.  They have some really great money saving ideas for everyone.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday season ~ Realtor® Liz Miller  

Using Your Home’s Equity for Retirement

When it comes to retirement, we plan and plan and still have questions.  One of the top questions for homeowners when it comes to retirement is what should we do about the equity in our home?  Therefore, I thought it important to cover that in my current blog since there’s not a lot of information about it.

The equity that you have in your home represents a large part of your wealth.  For married couples, your non-financial assets represent about 70% of your combined assets. 

There are many financial planning programs available.  However, many of them lack the ability to figure out what role housing wealth should play in your retirement.  When it comes to middle class Americans, housing wealth should play an extremely important part in financing their retirement.  But, it doesn’t seem to be a primary consideration when they begin planning.  Thus, there is a void of housing wealth in financial planning programs.

When it comes to homeowners who have 70% of their wealth tied up in their equity, there are a number of options for them to use that money for their retirement needs. 

Here is a list of some of the options you have to unlock the equity in your home:

* Sell and downsize to a smaller home.  This frees up funds for to invest or for an annuity purchase.

* Pay off the mortgage, if possible, to reduce overall expenses.

* Secure a home equity loan or secondary mortgage on the home.

* Sell your home.  Invest the proceeds and then rent.

* Rent out extra rooms.

* Get a reverse mortgage.

* Keep the house mortgage free and let its value serve as an emergency fund if needed.

* Rent out your primary residence and live elsewhere at a lower cost.

Not every one of these options will be viable for one’s retirement plan, but they are presented to help retirees use the equity in their home when it’s time for retirement.  In the meantime, researchers are working on new financial planning models that will include a way for homeowners to incorporate housing wealth in their retirement plan.

Just Call Realtor® Liz Miller for all Your Lake Havasu City Real Estate Needs

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