Awesome Tips To Help You Save For A Down Payment On Your New Home!

Over the past 10 years or so the amount of money needed for a down payment on a house has fluctuated from 20% to 0%, back to 20% and everywhere in between and now people are looking to put down even more money when they buy a Advice on saving for a house down paymenthome.  The economic downturn has made people realize that being debt free relieves a lot of stress and takes a huge weight off your shoulders allowing you to live more comfortably.  Paying for a house with cash seems impossible but more and more people are waiting longer and saving more to put down as much as they can 30, 40, and even 50% or more to avoid the major issues that many homeowners experienced just a few short years ago.

Saving up for a house seems overwhelming to most but if you break it up into bite size pieces or baby steps it really is doable and when you see that first 10% in your account it will put a lot of wind in your sails to continue the course of saving.

The first thing you should do would be to get out of as much of your debt as possible. This includes credit cards, car payments, student loans, and anything else that forces you to shell out hundreds of dollars of your hard earned income each month.  It may seem stupid but take that $300 dollars a month for a car, add $175 for the student loans and another $250 for credit cards this grand total $725 dollars a month.  If you are the average American and you bought a car that was $30,000 and pay upwards of $400 a month in car payments you should consider moving down into a car you could pay cash for to free the money up or at least trade in for a less expensive car that includes less expensive monthly payments!

There are a number of other things besides reducing your debt that can free up extra cash to help you save for a home. Things like your morning Starbucks, Friday night pizza, Saturday night drinks, and going out to eat or even that $130 cable bill.  All of these items add up very quickly but keep in mind you are setting a goal to PURCHASE A HOME, this should keep you motivated and skimping on these things now will pay off in the long run. But don’t worry, you aren’t giving up these things forever. Once you buy your home you can add these little luxuries back into your budget.  From the famous talk radio host Dave Ramsey would say “If you live like no one else, later you can live like no one else”.

Another good kick starter to your down payment fund is a garage sale or Ebay sale.  If you look around your house there are probably things you haven’t touched in years like those mountain bikes in the garage, electronics sitting in your entertainment center or maybe even something larger like a motorcycle or jet ski.  My advice would be to go through all of your stuff you can part ways with and put a price on them.  You will be surprised at how much money you can make with a little effort and a Saturday sale. You could potentially bring in $1000 or $1500 or more to go towards your home fund.  Keep in mind once you are in your new home and you put a large down payment your mortgage payments will be much lower and making it easier to afford some of the items you sold down the road! We went over the easy stuff…now it is the time to roll up your sleeves and get serious about saving.

At this point you have gotten rid of the debt, sold almost everything except for the neighborhood cat and you have a surplus of money being saved but you want more.   This is the prime time to get a second job!  Sure you can’t possibly find another 40 hours a week but what about another 20 hours only a few nights a week bartending or serving tables?  It sounds crazy but another potential few hundred dollars a week could really expedite the saving process and even cut that 3 year savings plan way down.  Just keep in mind none of this is permanent; you are making sacrifices for a short period of time to achieve a huge goal.  In the end it will be all worth it.

To put things into perspective it is most useful to place these items on paper, make a monthly budget with your savings on the top. You can even create a chart that you color  in as you hit your milestones…Make it fun! You can hang this chart onto your refrigerator or somewhere you can look at it every day and celebrate when you reach different goals.  Without digging too deep you will find hundreds of dollars a month on things that can be eliminated and directed towards your house fund.

If you have any additional saving tips that we missed add them in the comments section of this post!

If you enjoyed reading this post you will find the main Mover’s Atlas site even more Interesting! There you can discover important information about what surrounds your current or future Florida home, give it a look: Mover’s Atlas.

7 Expert Tips on Decorating Your New Home

Moving into a new house is an exciting and even liberating experience, providing you with an opportunity to start anew. After you’ve edited and purged many of your old furnishings, art and decor pieces that may have suited your old house, how to decorate a new homeit’s time to come up with some new ideas that will turn your new home into an inviting and welcoming one. Here are 7 tips to assist you when decorating your new home:

1 – Use Warm Colors

It’s no secret that the use of color can provide a distinct feel and aura to a space, and evoke specific moods and emotions in those who are surrounded by them. The colors you choose for your home are essential to creating the feeling of being “home”. Of course, depending on your personal tastes, certain colors may be more appealing to you than others. But to achieve the feeling of a cozy, welcoming space, warmer tones, like browns, oranges and reds work quite well at making a home seem more inviting. Other bold colors can always be used with accent pieces, such as throw pillows, flowers and lamp shades.

2 – Texture Makes a Difference

One of the easiest tricks to creating a welcoming space in your new home is to make use of texture. Surrounding yourself with things that are nice to the touch is a simple decor trick to employ, making a room feel less rigid and more comfy and cozy. Hand-scraped wood furniture, textured wallpaper, fluffy carpets and velvet throw pillows can all be easily integrated into a room and make it stylish and cozy at the same time.

3 – Create an Accent Wall

Once a great decor secret, incorporating an “accent wall” in your new home has become a well-known way to incorporate bold color, texture or pattern without overwhelming a space. If you have a particular liking for electric blue, for example, you can infuse that hue into your space by painting just one wall in this vibrant color. One wall in this color – or any other bold colour or pattern – is enough, and is usually as much as most people have tolerance for. Not only that, but changing just one accent wall is a lot quicker and easier to change if you start getting tired of the color and want to change it some time down the road.

4 – Add a Back Splash in Your Kitchen

You’d be amazed at what a difference adding a few tiles to a small section under your cabinets can make in a kitchen. You can really create drama and style to your kitchen with a back splash, that can be created with any number of tiles, including ceramic, porcelain, glass, or even a combination of these. Considering the small space that back splashes usually cover, such a update in a kitchen is usually quite affordable.

5 – Mix and Match Your Bedding

Unlike old decor rules, you don’t have to be too matchy-matchy when it comes to decorating your home. The mix and match nature of various patterns and textures in a room, as well as the combination of old textiles and more modern fabrics, can make a room feel ‘home-y’ while still maintaining a level of style and sophistication.

6 – “Float” Your Furniture

Walls in a living rooms aren’t necessarily meant to have furniture lined right up against them. Floating your furniture away from the walls can help to create a more intimate setting. If you’re uncomfortable with the backs of sofas facing out, place a console table in the back to conceal any imperfections and add a sense of style. You don’t have to just keep the furniture parallel from the walls – consider positioning them on an angle for a little more of a dynamic look.

7 – Dress Up Your Hallways with Persian Runners

The addition of a narrow, long Persian runner can instantly add vibrance to an otherwise dark and dingy hallway. If you can’t bring yourself to getting an authentic one, you can always find imitation runners that can help add some decor to your hallway.

Employing any one of the above tips into your new home can help make the place yours, and extract some of your own personality to the space. Of course, you can always enlist the help of a professional interior decorator to create a stylish interior to your new home for you. By counting on their expertise and creativity, your new house can be transformed into a space you’ll truly be proud to call home!

If you enjoyed reading this post you will find the main Mover’s Atlas site even more Interesting! There you can discover important information about what surrounds your current or future Florida home, give it a look: Mover’s Atlas.

How to Determine What House You Can Afford

When searching for a house, we often let our emotions get in the way and throw all logic out the window but we should always ask ourselves, “Can I actually afford this house” before we rush into signing any important documents. How to calculate how much I can afford on a new house

So how can you determine and measure the affordability factor? It all depends on how much you are willing to pay up front (down payment), how much you want to pay for your mortgage on a monthly basis, and of course, your total income. Other factors to consider are any big expenses such as university costs, student loans, medical bills, or your monthly savings account or retirement contributions. You must also factor in your monthly expenses such as credit card bills, car payments or any other expenses that may get in the way.

Your credit rating will come into play as well as this will determine how much you will be able to take out in loans for your mortgage so be sure to spend some time paying off as many debts as possible and increasing your credit score before looking for that perfect new home.

Now as far as actually calculating the affordability numerically, I could bore you with financial details and minutia or I can make it very simple for you. Go online and search for an affordability calculator. Many websites including cnn.com, msn.com and many real estate agent websites have a free online form where you plug in certain numbers and figures to determine the affordability of a home you are interested in.  They will ask about your income and any expenses you may have as well as other factors to quickly calculate this.

As a general rule, the debt to income ratio (how much you owe divided by how much you make) must not surpass 36% and housing payment to income ratio (housing payment per month divided by income per month) must be about 28% but of course, it varies from website to website. Using pre-determined formulas and percentages, these calculators will do the math for you while asking you very simple and direct financial questions. It’s as simple as plugging in the numbers and clicking a button. It’s quick, easy and convenient.

Once you determine exactly how much you can afford to spend on your house and for your monthly mortgage payments then you can begin searching for your perfect new home! Once you have narrowed your home search down to your top few contenders make sure to research the neighborhoods, communities and surrounding areas of each home on MoversAtlas! This is an important step that many first time and experienced home buyers overlook. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of your individual home but the surrounding area is almost just as important as the home itself!

If you enjoyed reading this post you will find the main Mover’s Atlas site even more Interesting! There you can discover important information about what surrounds your current or future Florida home, give it a look: Mover’s Atlas.