You are here: Home / Archives for United States

What?s it Like to Live in a Duplex?

July 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment

 

One of the lesser known gems of real estate is the duplex. Most people have lived in a house or an apartment but by comparison, fewer people have lived in a duplex. There are many advantages to living in a duplex. There are financial rewards as well as spacial benefits to owning a duplex.

 

duplex

Image by reallyboring via Flickr

As a business opportunity, it’s a more affordable way to live when you have someone else paying half the mortgage. Purchasing a duplex and renting out just the bottom floor is an ideal way to get half your mortgage paid. A duplexis often spacious and one floor is all that is necessary if you have a small family.

 

If you are renting a duplex, you will likely have just one set of neighbors to contend with instead of various families. Renting a duplex is also good practice for home ownership as you are often expected to mow your own lawn and remove snow from your driveway in the winter time. This could also be a drawback of renting a duplex if you like apartment living where these small inconveniences are all taken care of for you.

A duplex is most likely to come with a useable back yard and shed space to store a lawnmower, extra kid’s toys, and shovels. Depending on your landlord’s rules, you can also hang a laundry line to save on the electricity it costs to run a dryer. You may also be granted permission to plant and run your own garden if renting. Owning a duplex would make sure the best of all worlds in regards to home ownership and mortgage savings.

Filed Under: Financial, Real Estate Tagged With: , ,

Moving to Portland, the Cafe Capital

March 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment

No matter what state you’re relocating from, it may take a little while to fully adapt to the unique feel that Portland, Oregon, offers its residents. Laid back and contemporary almost to a fault, this clean city is also known for its eco-consciousness. Multiple healthy exercise and culinary options round out the package. The downtown scene is young, hip, and vibrant. Coffee serving cafes line the streets, where a laid back atmosphere pervades, rather than cigarette smoke. The city is solid, but getting there is the key.

 

With luck, your relocation process involves having landed a job, which will pay for your move, or at least a substantial portion of it. Once reliable movers are retained, you can focus on the more fun aspects of the move. Those begin with taking a tour of the area in which you’ll be working and finding a nearby neighborhood that rocks your world! Once you’ve found an area that seems to have the vibe that matches your desires, you’ll want to check out the available Portland Oregon apartments. A walking tour should help in this regard, and let you get intimate with your potential future neighborhoods.

 

If in doubt, try to move close to downtown, so that you’re ensconced in the amenities and social scene. Nothing quite takes the edge off of a move to a new city like immediately building up a strong friend network. And with all the cool restaurants and clubs to explore, you’re sure to find the people you want to meet. You might even find that you gather a decent social circle in your choice of Portland Oregon apartments, which would help to make your new home feel more like an old home right away. But if nothing else, frequently check out the handful of coffee shops that end up being in your proximity—coffee is part of the lifeblood of this West Coast city!

_

Filed Under: Apartments, Model Homes Tagged With: , ,

Planning Your Perfect Home Requires Good Communication

December 30, 2010 by Leave a Comment

You probably won’t start planning your perfect home alone. Most of us take on a project as big as home building with a partner. It’s often been said that the hardest test for a marriage, or relationship, is building a home. There are so many decisions to be made! If both parties are not in agreement when the contractor begins, you can bet there will be plenty of arguments. Communication is probably the most important tool any couple can have when planning that dream palace.

Planning your perfect home usually begins as a causal conversation. It may be a young couple spending time to day dream together. It’s rare that home building is the pair’s first experience with finding a place to live. However, the communication will begin right after “I do.” In fact, that first apartment will probably have some of the features you’ll eventually put in the home you build. Talk about that with your partner. Start a “perfect home” journal and write down your ideas.

If that first living space has no redeeming qualities, then it’s certain you’ll buy accents and furniture that fit your taste. As you and your significant other discuss and decide on the perfect couch or most comfortable pillows, you’ll begin to form opinions that will help you define your collective taste. Always be open with one another about what you do and don’t like. It’s amazing how big the argument will be six months down the line because you never told your sweetheart you hate the color red.

Once your lives are settled, and money is in the bank, you’ll likely start planning your perfect home as a reality. If you’ve kept that journal and discovered each others likes and dislikes, you’ll find that home building doesn’t have to be difficult. You’ll also find that communication with your contractor will be unified, and the project will go much more smoothly.

Filed Under: Family, Home Tagged With: , ,

The i-house Revolutionizes the Manufactured Home

December 27, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Manufactured home built and ready for shippmen...
Image via Wikipedia

Clayton Homes, the largest manufactured home builder in the world introduced the i-house in 2009, and one tour of these new concept homes completely changes the way people think of the “trailer house”. Manufactured Homes have a dirty reputation, but green living has a clean one. Who would have ever thought a prefabricated house would spark a green revolution in home buying? If you’ve never seen one of these houses, it’s worth the trip to one of the few cities in the U.S. has them for sale.

Currently, there are 15 locations in the United States that are selling the i-house. Naturally, those cities are communities with large retirement populations or strong environmental cultures. They include Austin, Little Rock, Tuscon, Albuquerque, and Crestview, FL. For a complete list of dealers, visit http://claytonihouse.com. Early marketing plans included decorating the i-house with furniture and wares from IKEA. This gives this very forward thinking home a crisp look on a budget.

The final price on i-house can be staggering when compared to the cost of a traditional manufactured home, but it wasn’t Clayton’s plan to sell these houses to their traditional blue collar sales base. These homes start at $78,000 and can be upwards of $150,000 as the available features are added. These include solar panels, bamboo flooring, energy star rated appliances, and a tankless water heater. A smaller flex house can be added to the layout, and this would serve as a guest room or office.

If all features are added, the higher mortgage should pay for itself in reduced energy bills. Clayton claims that fully loaded i-houses produce an energy bill of about $28 a month. Along with solar panels, there is plenty of window coverage, and the home is built with a 2×6 frame, allowing for more insulation.

If contemporary aesthetics and green living are up your alley, this might be the perfect home or vacation home for you.

Filed Under: Home, Model Homes Tagged With: , ,

Property Taxes are Important to Consider When Buying a New Home

December 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

It’s so exciting to finally be able to purchase or build that dream home, but property taxes are very important to consider before you purchase. Many first time buyers don’t realize that there is a very important payment that has to be made every year, and that is property taxes. All states have some form of property tax, so this is an unavoidable expense.

There are certain parts of the country that just seem like the best places to live. Cities like Austin, Texas always list as one of the best. However, one could move an hour east of the that city and pay a tenth of the property taxes! In some cases, those city taxes may feel like a second mortgage. Keeping Austin as an example, some single family lots in the central part of the city may have taxes as high at $9,000 a year! That’s like paying a second mortgage!

Even though convenience may be inhibited, it may be worth the drive to find a community near a city like Austin to live in. The upside is that same house in a smaller outlier city could have greatly reduced taxes. The downsize is the commute to work, if jobs are in the city. The other downside is that once a great outer community is found, lots of people will start to migrate there, and that means traffic congestion.

Maybe that great city with high taxes is simply the only option for you. In that case, the location within the city has to be considered. You might find a similar size house, with similar qualities in a neighborhood where property taxes are less. Just know that less won’t be the same as small, surrounding towns.

Sometimes taxes are the reason people continue to rent. Although everyone wants to own a home, property taxes are a very real and very important responsibility. Definitely get educated before buying.

Filed Under: Financial, Home Tagged With: , , ,