Budgeting Your Log Home: Where Do You Start?

Writen by Mercedes Hayes

The Log home industry has matured these last many years, but there is still a lot of confusion about how much a log home costs. Naturally, everyone wants to know the cost of the log package; however, the budgeting only starts here. If you are shopping for a milled log package (as opposed to hand crafted, which is a totally different category), the difference between one manufacturer’s price and another is minimal when compared to the total cost of the structure. Here are some reasons why:

Other materials. The logs themselves only form a portion of the material costs of the home. Once the log walls are erected, you still have to worry about a floor, a roof, the windows, the doors, the plumbing, the kitchen… the list goes on and on. Some manufacturers quote a “weathered in shell” which includes the logs, the windows and roof all the elements that enclose the building (protecting the house against the weather). Other manufacturers only quote the log package, and leave it to the contractor to provide the other materials locally. When pricing a log package, make sure you are comparing “apples to apples”.

From our experience, the price of the Logs only constituted approximately 1/5 of the total price of the finished structure. As for the rest… it’s a high end custom home, and like any custom home, your cost is limited by your imagination and your budget. You decide whether to use hardwood floors or carpet, marble counters or formica, a metal roof or asphalt shingles. No log home company will offer these products to you. Unlike a Development contractor who offers you a limited selection, you choose everything yourself, from doorknobs to toilets. Once you start factoring in all these items, you will discover that there isn’t a whole lot of difference between a log home any another home except for the exterior walls.

Local price differences. We built our log home in New Jersey, which tends to be a lot more expensive overall than much of the rest of the country. The same house in Tennessee would cost considerably less in lumber and other materials. Also consider that labor costs vary wildly as well. A very big part of your budget will cover the labor, because this home will be built entirely by hand. Your contractor may not have to peel or notch the logs, but he will still be placing the logs one at at time, making sure the walls are plumb, drilling holes for the wiring, cutting settling gaps above the windows and doors, possibly fitting the roof frame one board at a time. Your builder is the most critical part of the project, and it’s not necessarily a good idea to go with the cheapest quote. Do you really want him to cut corners to stay within a low quote?

Design features of the house. The most dramatic log homes have roof lines that point in all directions, dormers that grace the front, vaulted ceilings in the great rooms. But remember that every new angle you add to the roof adds exponentially to the cost of the project. If you need to keep costs down, think about a simple roof line with not too many angles.

Also, the old adage remains especially true with log homes: it’s much cheaper to go up than go out. If you want a rambling one story ranch house, you will have a bigger foundation cost, a bigger roof to consider, and lots more labor. If you build more stories and a smaller foundation, even though you will have to invest in a staircase the savings are considerable.

So what is the bottom line? A basic budgeting cost in the Northeast US would be $140 $150 per square foot for a milled log home; this is about the equivalent of a high end custom stick frame house. This does not include the land, the well, the septic, the driveway, etc. It does include the basement, the kitchen, the plumbing, etc. This is the turnkey budget for the house only. You can certainly do less if you give up a lot of amenities, but I wouldn’t advise a starting budget of any less than $130 per sq. ft. You may find yourself running out of money way too soon, and that would be a terrible shame.

Mercedes Hayes is a Hiawatha Log Home dealer and also a Realtor in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She designed her own log home which was featured in the 2004 Floor Plan Guide of Log Home Living magazine. You can learn more about log homes by visiting http://www.JerseyLogHomes.com.

Croatia: An Emerging European Real Estate Hotspot

Writen by Rhiannon Williamson

Croatia is an Eastern European success story and a country quickly developing an incredibly exciting real estate market into which foreign investment is free flowing.

Since Croatia achieved independence from the former federal independent communist state of Yugoslavia in 1991 its democratically elected government has worked tirelessly to prove to its own people and the outside world that it is committed to creating an independent and successful country.

As a result, Croatia has joined the Partnership for Peace Program with NATO, the World Trade Organisation and the European Free Trade Association and is now on track for full European Union membership by 2007. All of these facts alone stand to prove the Croatian government’s commitment to creating a competitive country with a successful market economy, and all of these facts have resulted in many major multinational companies relocating European headquarters to competitive Croatia.

Now add to this positive data the fact that Croatia is a stunningly beautiful country with 6,000 km of unspoilt coastline, a Mediterranean climate, mountains, lakes, forests and wildlife in abundance and a rapidly developing tourism industry, and hopefully you can begin to smell the potential!

As a direct result of the foreign investment flowing into Croatia in both the business and tourism sectors the country is becoming more successful, more wealthy and more desirable as a place to live, work, invest and holiday.

It is because of this perfect combination of factors that Croatia is emerging as a European real estate hotspot with demand from holiday makers for hotel and villa accommodation, demand from second home hunters looking for everything from apartments in the major towns and cities to rural retreats in the stunning Croatian countryside and demand from expatriates and international executives for houses and apartments to let.

A real estate investor looking for a secure emerging market with masses of potential for profit should consider Croatia.

For property developers there are substantial opportunities available in the tourism sector with demand for hotel accommodation outstripping supply currently. For those hoping to profit from maximum short term capital gains on real estate there’s the potential to purchase off plan properties and flip upon completion by reselling to the waiting holiday and second home market. Alternatively for those hoping to derive an income from their overseas real estate investments there’s the chance to let out units to the tourism market, the local market and also the expatriate market.

Croatia offers every real estate investor the potential they seek from their property investment.

Rhiannon Williamson writes about real estate investment in emerging markets worldwide. To read more of her guides for property investment in Croatia click here.

Bulgaria The Hype, False Urgency and Exaggerated Returns

Writen by Rachel Gawith

Did you see the episode of the BBC2 program ‘How to pay off your mortgage in 2 years’. In this episode the man of the family travelled to Bansko, Bulgaria looking for an investment property. I am not sure of how much he had to spend but he was taken to view a number of properties by an agent from an ‘un named’ agency and charged a whopping 1000 Euros for the privilege of doing so. Now this in itself should have started alarm bells ringing.

Many agencies in Bulgaria, both Bulgarian and British owned charge a viewing fee. Some charge a set fee for a day’s viewing while some charge per mile you need to drive to view properties. NOw why should you pay for the privilege of looking at properties you are considering buying. The reasoning behind this practice seems to be that there are so many time wasters just viewing properties when they have no real intention of buying anything. But how true is this? Most foreigners going to Bulgaria have at least some interest in investing in property over there as they have all been bombarded with the same hype over the last couple of years.

So this guy I mentioned above settled on a couple of properties that were of particular interest a new build apartment and a house in a village about 5 10km away from Bansko.

The guy was told by the agent that these types of houses hardly appear on the market and that the one he was interested in would be sold within a couple of weeks so he needed to find the deposit and put it down to reserve the property straight away.

To clinch the deal the agent told the guy that if he bought the property now he would make a profit of an unbelievable

Real Estate: Sell or Renovate, Which Should You Do

Writen by Andrew Hodge

Whether to Buy or Sell a home is one of the biggest decisions anyone makes and brings up the question “should I move?” To this I always ask “why do you want to move?”

I have had a surprising number of people respond with “I want to collect on the increase in value since I purchased”. They believed that they could sell their home for top dollars and buy a similar home for much less. For anyone who has not guessed already, this will not happen. All homes of a similar style, area, size and with similar features will sell for similar prices. Once you account for real estate fees and closing costs, a move can have significant expenses. So why should anyone move? The simple answer is, because they need something that the current home can not give them. The longer answer involves cost comparisons with renovating, accounting for the inconvenience of both selling a home and renovating a home and whether or not a renovation is even possible.

Move If you can not renovate

Probably the best reason to move is because you can not renovate your current home to suit your needs. Things that can not be renovated include location, more parking or space if your zoning does not allow for more, sewers and gas lines if you live in a remote location and any other feature that you want that is not available because of availability or local laws. So if you own a home on a main street, with no parking spot, no lane or area where parking may be created, and your family is growing and you have safety concerns and parking needs. You should seriously consider moving to a home on a quiet street with parking.

Move if the cost of renovating is too high

One should also consider the cost of renovating. Not all renovations will increase the value of your home. As a general rule, the higher your expenses for renovating the less value you add to your home in relation to the amount spent. So a renovation costing $200,000 may only increase the value of your home by $100,000. This is dependant on what you are doing and how you are doing it. An extreme case of this would be down sizing. You want a smaller home with less maintenance and less expenses for what ever reason. You could knock down your current home and build a little cottage, or you could move and pocket the difference in values between the two homes.

Move If you can not deal with the mess

As we all know renovating can be messy and have numerous surprises. If you do not think that you can put up with trades people tracking through your home, services being disrupted or any of the other possible inconveniences of renovations, then you should seriously consider moving.

If your current home can not easily be changed into what you want for a reasonable price that you can afford, or you do not want to deal with renovations, then moving would be a good alternative. Unless you have multiple homes you should not concentrate on making money so much as consider what kind of home and lifestyle you want to live in. If your current home does not suit you, you may want to consider moving. The choice to move or renovate is yours. Know what you are trying to accomplish, and make sure that you have all the information you need, and you will be happy that you made the best choice for you.

Andrew Hodge is a Realtor

Selling? The Cleanliness Quotient Matters to Home Buyers

Writen by Mark Nash

Some home sellers just don’t get it. They’ve upgraded their home with every whistle and bell, had an interior designer in to spruce everything up. Potential buyers though take a brisk tour with their arms folded, before you realize it the showing is over, but maybe it never began. Outside they can’t wait to wash their hands and breathe some fresh air. Dirty homes no matter how fancy are more difficult to sell.

Home sellers need to understand that marketing a home is not like living in it day to day, and you have a very limited window of time to make a good first impression from the cleanliness quotient. The cleanliness quotient can seal or kill a home. Mark Nash author of 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home cleaning tips for home sellers who want to get it right the first showing. Nash offers ways to say clean to buyers five senses.

Sense of smell rules the cleanliness quotient. No smoking inside the house from the day you decide to sell. Stale cigarette smells says yuck to buyers. Forget the exotic spices in recipes, even if you have an exhaust fan, they permeate upholstery and carpeting. Clean the litter box and bird cage every day. Many buyers are allergic to pets and in hot humid weather, overwhelming urine smells are not the right greeting or a red allergy flag for your home. If you cheat on this one, open all your windows and turn on every bathroom exhaust fan for an hour.

Buyers need to see the house not your stuff or dirt. Stepping around or over books, clothing or misplaced furniture frustrates buyers because they focus on maneuvering and not on the home. Dirt is your number one enemy on home showings. Kitchens and bathrooms should shimmer and shine. Baseboards and moldings should be clean and chip free. Hardwood and ceramic floors should glow. Clutter follows dirt on buyers top turn offs.

Sound is an often overlooked but important part of the cleaning quotient. Background noises such as barking dogs, out of sight ringing cell phones and loud neighbors are noise pollution when house hunting. Ditto busy streets, overhead planes and nearby trains. To set the right tone, play some light jazz or new age music at a low level, especially in rooms adjacent to your entry way.

A few details of the cleaning quotient.

You must pick up and de clutter every day. The mail piles, newspapers and toys need to have a place, purchase some decorative wicker baskets for catch alls. My motto is “when in doubt, throw it out (or recycle)”. If you are moving soon, will you really have the time to read all that stuff?

Wipe down the kitchen sink, bathrooms and empty waste baskets every morning. You won’t always have much notice when buyers might be touring your home, be ready. I like the new Mr. Clean (melamine) sponges, they cut the elbow grease required for daily spruce ups and work great on painted surfaces.

Buyers love natural light, make sure that your drapes are fully open, the blinds or shades work properly and your windows sparkle inside and out. Use newspaper or fresh coffee filters on windows with a vinegar and water solution, dry in opposite directions to determine which side is streaked.

Dust turns into dirt. You’ll never know in advance when Mr. or Ms. Clean will be coming through. You might have a high tolerance to dust, but now is not the time to be lax. Vacuum dust first and follow up with a micro fiber cloth. If you’re in a pinch , used dryer sheets make a great recycled duster.

Hardwood floors are a must have for homebuyers. Before you market your home take the time to thoroughly clean and polish your floors. Black tea is a green pick me up for hardwood, the tannins in tea leave a lovely shine.

You can’t hide dirty showers. Every buyer pulls back the shower curtain. Rid yourself of mold and dirty grout. I use a solution of vinegar and water, followed by toothpaste for those hard to remove stains. Don’t forget to wash the shower curtain liner, throw it in the washer with some towels and line dry.

Buyers always peek inside refrigerators. Make the time to give your appliances a good cleaning, because if they’re included buyers will inspect them. Old food, gummy spills and moldy condiments don’t sell homes. My dishwasher takes everything from the stove top grates to the vegetable drawer in the fridge and even the lint filter from the dryer.

Change furnace and air conditioner filters. This is often ignored but many buyers and home inspectors see dirty filters as a sign of an under maintained home. Clean the blade tops on ceiling fans too, I’ve see too many rainstorms of dust bunnies from dirty ones in unused rooms.

Clean light switch plates, door knobs and kitchen cabinet hardware often. These are the number one places that all buyers interact with on showings, if they keep running into dirty ones, it could be their over all take away.

Don’t be afraid of hiring some cleaning help. It can be over whelming with all you have to do to get your home ready to sell. Consider hiring a professional team for a top to bottom cleansing. Once you have everything up to the same clean quotient, it will be easier to maintain.

Mark Nash’s fourth real estate book, “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home” (2005), and working as a real estate broker in Chicago are the foundation for his consumer centric real estate perspective which has been featured on ABC TV, CBS The Early Show, Bloomberg TV, CNN TV, Chicago Sun Times & Tribune, Fidelity Investor’s Weekly, Dow Jones Market Watch, HGTVpro.com, MSNBC.com, The New York Times, Realty Times, Universal Press Syndicate and USA Today.

Refinance Mortgage Leads

Writen by Jay Walker

Mortgage leads are the vital constituent for the successful marketing operation in the mortgaging business. Some of the common home mortgage leads are refinance mortgage leads, home mortgage refinance, home improvement leads and more. Mortgage leads can yield gain only when it is updated and well qualified. Fixed interest rate with fixed monthly payments and adjustable interest rates with changing monthly payments are the basic mortgages classifications.

Refinance mortgage is the process by which a borrower acquires second or a fresh mortgage on the same old property and pays down the old loan in addition to the new loan. A refinance mortgage leads help those people who refinance a mortgage by tending to get a lower rate of interest and payments or to take cash out of their home equity.

Experienced refinance mortgage brokers and mortgage refinance lenders realize that to be profitable they must always be working with perfect and qualified refinance mortgage leads to generate a standard move of new customers. A home mortgage lead will allow you to get your best prospects for any of your residential mortgage products and services.

One can replace the existing mortgage with a brand new mortgage loan by refinancing the old mortgage through mortgage refinance leads. Acquiring a lower rate of interest on the mortgage principal balance is the very familiar reason for refinancing an existing first or second mortgage. A mortgage refinance lead can help you to save your money by refinancing, by providing refinance quotes freely and numerously from mortgage lenders for your business. A refinance lead can find you the markets best refinance rates and terms by searching the national database of mortgage lenders as soon you fill your form.

A home mortgage is a finance service secured by a first lien on real estate on which there is located a structure which is principally designed for residential use by one to four families. A home mortgage refinance must be designed not only for the sake of getting mortgage insurance but also to find a lower rate than your current loan to eliminate mortgage insurance. Reducing your rated more than just the cost of your monthly mortgage insurance payment alone will be the ideal situation for your home mortgage refinance.

A mortgage refinance lead can reduce your monthly payments and hence put more money into your pocket every month. They can lock a very low rate of fixed interest and speed up your debt repayment process. Mortgage refinancing can be a great way to lower monthly mortgage payments. Mortgage refinance lead provides security of a fixed rate with their adjustable rate loan which reduces the rate of interest payable.

A mortgage refinance leads help in consolidating your first and second mortgage in to single low repayment. With the help of home mortgage refinance lead, you can avoid splitting out cash and still manage to safe a minimum rate by increasing the points and closing costs to your new mortgage. A home mortgage lead can also help the customers to remove tax liens.

Refinance mortgage lead helps freelancers to find the customers who are ready to decide about home improvement requirements. A freelancer can focus on contacting individuals interested in refinance mortgage services but not on spending energy and time running down dead end sales avenues with a list of potential clients. Refinance mortgage for home improvement leads can be tracked through internet which is a valuable tool in researching unique types of services in marketing process.

Follow refinance mortgage leads diligently to provide your company or home with great future opportunities. With little bit of patience and research over the net, both customer as well as mortgage lead generators could benefit. Choose the best option of refinance mortgage loan relevant to your need and enjoy the good life!

Jay Walker is a freelance author in the finance sector. You can find more information about Mortgage Leads at http://www.nrleads.com and http://www.dotloan.com

Purchasing Real Time Mortgage Leads

Writen by Jay Conners

If you are a loan officer or mortgage broker, you may have played around with the idea of purchasing mortgage leads.

You, like many loan officers in the mortgage industry, may be a little skeptical when it comes to buying mortgage leads from a mortgage lead company.

You probably have heard all the horror stories from people in the industry that have been burned or have lost their money.

Some of this may be true. However, sometimes it has a lot to do with the lead itself and the company it has been purchased from.

For instance, a lot of lead companies purchase their leads in bulk from third party companies, than turn around and sell them to loan officers at a profit.

This is what is known as recycling leads or selling junk leads. These leads have been sold countless times and have gone through the hands of many loan officers before it reached your desk.

The chances of closing a lead like this are slim to none.

This is a very good reason to consider purchasing “real time” leads.

Real time leads are leads that are delivered to your doorstep literally seconds after the consumer submits it through an on line streamline process.

With real time leads you won’t have people hanging up on you, disconnected numbers, or people saying things such as “I did that months ago.”

One tip I can give you . . .

Call the lead company you are considering doing business with. Speak with someone in customer service and find out where the leads are coming from and how they will be delivered.

If the lead company does not own and operate the sites they obtain their leads from, than keep going until you find one that does.

Remember, if you are not happy with the answers you receive from customer service, than chances are, you will not be happy with the leads they send you.

Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of http://www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

Florida Mobile Homes: A Purchase Guide

Writen by Matt Morrison

If you are interested in purchasing one of the many Florida mobile homes that are currently for sale, you should be sure you know what to look for in a mobile home purchase. A mobile home can be a great way to own property of your own without the excessive costs of traditional housing. However, knowing what to look for in buying Florida mobile homes is essential to protecting your financial interests.

One of the first things you should know before you purchase any one of the Florida Mobile homes you are considering is that you need to be aware of both the exterior facets and the interior facets of whatever mobile home purchase you make. Buying a mobile home is more than just the features you can see on the inside and out. You want a mobile home that will last a lifetime. As a result, you need to choose one that has been built out of solid construction materials to keep you and the occupants of your mobile home safe. Durable homes will last much longer and will make you a happier mobile home owner in the long run.

Another thing you need to consider before purchasing one of the many Florida mobile homes on the market is the location. Are you planning to purchase one of the many Florida mobile homes that are already located on a lot you can purchase for additional money? If so, be sure to factor in the cost of the lot to your budget projections. If you intend to purchase a home without a lot, don’t forget that you will also need to find the perfect lot to fit your new Florida mobile home. You need to check zoning requirements for the lot you purchase to make sure that mobile homes are allowed in the area. Moreover, you will need to make sure the home will fit on your new lot. The cost of the lot as well as the cost of any water, sewer, or gas hookup fees should also factor into your budget for purchasing your mobile home.

When you get ready to make your purchase choice from the many Florida mobile homes, consult with several banks to get the best deal on the mobile home loan. It is important to keep in mind that many banks don’t have mortgage options for mobile homes, so checking around might be essential to your mobile home mortgage.

There are many factors when you decide to purchase one of the many Florida mobile homes available on the market today. Taking all of those factors into consideration will help ensure a smooth purchase process.

Matt Morrison is a regular author for Florida South Homes and California Real Estate Pierce

Is Real Estate the New 401(k) for Retirees?

Writen by Russ Whitney

Hitting the traditional retirement age of 65 does not necessarily mean you are ready to retireat least, not financially. Social Security benefits alone are simply not enough for most people to live on, corporate pensions are rapidly disappearing, and even people who have done some retirement planning are finding it necessary to continue working well into their late 60s and even 70s. Two thirds of baby boomers polled in a recent survey said the cost of living is too high today to truly retire and never work again. And it seems they are right: According to the U. S. Department of Labor, nearly 1 million people age 75 and older are working at least part time.

Savvy boomers are growing their nest eggs before and after retirement by investing in real estate. In fact, by providing people with a relatively safe way to invest and generate cash flow well into their golden years, real estate functioned essentially as a retirement plan before such plans became part of the U.S. tax code. Of course, actual plans such as 401(k)s allow you to defer taxes, but real estate investing also provides you with a number of tax saving strategies. My point is this: If you want a comfortable retirement, real estate can help you get it.

Let’s return for a moment to the 401(k) model. If you happen to work for a company that offers this type of retirement savings plan (and not everyone does), you’ll make your contributions (which may or may not be matched by your employer) and have some limited options as to how the money will be invested. In general, you canbut don’t have tostart withdrawing funds at age 59

Fort Lauderdale Residential Real Estate

Writen by Kevin Stith

Nothing can be more brilliantly beautiful and convenient then having your own space in Fort Lauderdale. Fort Lauderdale, located in the Florida’s urban area, is also known as the “Venice of America.” It has a wonderful beachside location, clubs, bars and a lively party ambience. Having your own home in a place like this is wonderful.

The city center and entertainment area has seen remarkable growth, with add ons of new hotels, high rise condominiums, boutiques, galleries, and fine restaurants. The city also offers a variety of housing options, which include commercial, roof space style, villas, suites, town homes, and single family homes. Apart from these, many homes are located on the waterfront with scenic views of the ocean.

Homes can be found in all price ranges. Fort Lauderdale has all one can long for in the city. Fort Lauderdale is also a center of fine dining, fashion and entertainment. The city also has colleges and universities to cover your educational needs. It also offers entertainment and recreation for you and your family. The city not only offers you an exceptionally rich quality of life, but its rich culture and history makes it a perfect place to own a property. The climate is also favorable, with cool ocean breezes all year round that makes it ‘The Best’. So next time you want to invest in for a property, you know Fort Lauderdale is the best place to do as it gives you the best of nature, leisure and culture all in all best of all worlds.

Fort Lauderdale provides detailed information on Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale Residential Real Estate, Fort Lauderdale Airport, Fort Lauderdale Bail Bonds and more. Fort Lauderdale is affiliated with Swim with Dolphins in Hawaii .