The American Dream - Homeownership - Townhomes

 There are nice reasons to own a townhome.  As I mentioned that you will have CC&R's to follow, but the nice thing is that an HOA (Home Owner Association) might and usually will hire a management company to maintain the exterior of the property that the HOA will recognize a community related. The grass and trees,  snow removal (if you live in a state where its snows), the roof and siding can be community items and will be maintained by the management company. Nice!!!! So, no mowing the lawn. YEA!!!!! (Oh, you will pay monthly dues for this service).

The American Dream - Home ownership - Townhomes

 Rental license -

 As I mentioned in my last post my rental townhome in Maplewood, Minnesota is now in the scope of the City of Maplewood and I now have to spend my weekend making sure I (my property) meet the requirements of the city and then report this to the HOA (Home Owner's Association)  Once I go through this laundry list of demands and pay my fee and pass the inspection, the management company will want a copy too or they can demand that I stop renting the property.

See you tomorrow.

The American Dream - Homeownership - rentals and the city they might be in

 Rental License - 

Well, after 4 years of owning a townhouse in the City of Maplewood, MN, I now have to have an inspection of my property and pay $200.00 for a rental license.  This includes an inspection to make sure that the list of close to 50 items meets the city's standards.

I'll includes those items tomorrow.

See you then.

Home ownership - Townhouses - HOA documents

 

Home Owner Association -

Declaration of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions also know as (CC&Rs)

In order to be a good home owner in a townhouse community a set of documents known as CC&Rs - Declaration of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions . These documents  inform you as to how the community will function. This could include: where you park your car, to where you let your pet poop (if you are allowed to have one).

More on CC&Rs tomorrow.

TERMS - realtors need to know - week 30

 

Home ownership - Townhouses

  So let's talk about townhouses, continued from the previous post

When you are a home owner a townhome, please know that you will have rules to follow per your home ownership board.  This could cover the plants you have planted in the "common" areas to the where your car is parked.  Make sure you receive a copy of the governing documents of the community.

Let's talk more tomorrow.

D

The American Dream - Home Ownership - Townhomes

 So let's talk about townhouses.

As a townhouse/townhome will have at least one wall that is shared with another homeowner. With this type of structure you will find restrictions that may not be found in the single family home structure and community.  You will find that townhouses are communities that usually have an association, which is a board of townhouse owners, who determines the actions that can take place in the community.  The board may choose to hire a management company to oversee the exterior structure and grounds of the townhouses.

More on townhouses tomorrow.

The American Dream - Homeownership - inheriting a home/property

 QUESTION - 

Should I sell it or should I keep it and rent it out"  Good question!!

If you sell it you will have taxes to pay on the sell of it.

Otherwise, I would look at the funding you have in order to maintain the property and the type of property it is.

If it is a single family home (SFR) (properties that do not share a common wall, you will have the weekly maintenance of lawn care. And depending where you are located you may have snow to clear during the autumn, winter and even spring months.   If you rent this property you could write these maintenance items into the renter's contract. Do know that your city could also request or require that you become a registered landlord with them and charge you a license fee, which is usually annual fee.  This can occur with townhouses and condos as well.

So let's talk about townhouses and what is expected in my next post.

The American Dream - Home ownership - Inheriting a home/propoerty

 Now that the home/property is clearly mine, what should I do?

After you have spoken with an attorney/lawyer and you have found that you are the legal recipient of  a home/property you may chose to keep it or sell it.  

If you keep it do you plan to live in it?  If you live in it your responsibility is to maintain it,  this means up keep and tax payments.

Should I sell it or should I keep it and rent it out"  Good question!!

Let's talk about home ownership tomorrow.

See you then,

D

TERMS realtors know - weeks 14 - 29

 

The American Dream - home ownership - inheriting a property

Inheriting a home property -

QUESTION - 

So what should we do with this gift given to us???

I would highly recommend that you contact an estate lawyer to give you the correct direction to take as you may have family members that may be included in this gift.

QUESTION-

Now that the home/property is clearly mine, what should I do?

Let's talk more about that tomorrow.

See you then

Ther American Dream - Home ownership - Inheriting a home

 As I mentioned in yesterday's post - "inheritance" of a home would be today's topic

1. Inheritance - this one is pretty straight forward - someone leaves you a house (in their will) when they die.

Per the American English Dictionary - "inheritance" means - 
"C : the acquisition of a possession, condition, or trait from past generations."

Basic definition - someone passes something on to you.  It could be a family member or even a friend.  So what should we do with this gift given to us???

More on the subject tomorrow.

 

See you then. :-)

The American Dream - Home ownership

 Let's start where? Home - "Home is where the heart is.", said thousands of years ago by Gaius Plinius Secundus.  Yes home is where it starts. Be it owned by someone called a landlord or your parents.  It's the building that can keep you safe, educate you and even make you rich.

The United States Housing and Urban Development (https://www.hud.gov/topics/buying_a_home) walks you through steps to become a homeowner, but what does it truly mean to be a home owner and how many way can you become one? 

1. Inheritance - this one is pretty straight forward - someone leaves you a house (in their will) when they die.

2. Purchase - There is more than one reason to do so.

    A. To live in as your primary residence

    B. Purchase as an investment

We'll talk about inheritance in the next post.

A new day - all about real estate

 After being too sick to go to an IGNITE training at my marketplace, I decided to drop $47.00 on an all day webinar by Dean Graziosi and Tony Robbins about providing your knowledge to others.  I kept asking myself for the past 2 days "What is it that I know that anyone else would want to know?"  Well it finally came to me that real estate is what I have spent the last 6 years involving myself in.  Each day I journal to focus my desire to improve my life in all areas - health, love, professional and financial.  So it came to me at 4pm today (July 17, 2021) after another dizzy spell attack hit me and kept me from being able to drive my car to an open house to find a condo for a colleague of mine.

So today I are launching "All about real estate" I'll talk about non profit organizations that help first time home buyers realize their dreams of home ownership to the hedge funds that focus on real estate.  On the first Sunday of 2021 I started texting everyone in my cellphone about "TERMS" that realtor need to know.

So in order to bring you current I will start from week 1.  Here we go.