Painting Tips of the Pros

A successful do-it-yourself painting project takes more than the right tools and a steady hand. Follow these tips and tricks to make your walls look like they were painted by a pro.

Preparation

• Take your time. That's what the professionals do. Remember that proper prepping and cleanup can take longer than the actual painting.
• Use rubber-backed drop cloths to cover your floors. Old bed sheets and canvas cloths don't give complete protection.
• Store all hardware from outlets and switch plates in a baggie, and label with masking tape.
• When filling cracks in the baseboard with caulk, cut the tip of the tube smaller than you think it should be. Too much caulk can make a mess.
• Invest in high-quality woven roller covers. The cheap ones will leave fuzz on your wall and need to be replaced more frequently.
• To make a perfectly straight line with tape, invest in a tape machine.
• For an extra-professional touch, smooth down drywall - no matter what shape it's in - with a drywall pole sander. If your walls are plaster, gently sand the necessary areas with a dry sanding sponge.
• Don't forgo primer. A good primer will seal stains, establish an even base and ensure that the topcoat goes on smoothly.

Painting

• Don't open your paint can with a screwdriver, as it can damage the lid. Instead, use a lid opener. Many hardware stores will give these away for free when you purchase paint.
• Always stir the paint with a long wooden stick (usually available at the store for free) until all the sediment on the bottom has been mixed in.
• Use a nail to tap four small, evenly spaced holes in the lip well of a paint can. This will allow extra paint that's trapped in the rim to drip down.
• Don't submerge a brush into the paint more than one-third of the way, or you'll clog the base of the bristles, making clean up more difficult.
• Apply a coat of paint to the backside of the light switch plate in the room. After it dries, jot down all the project details - date, paint brand, name, number of gallons required, number of coats applied and any other relevant information.

Clean up

• Don't waste time cleaning if you're going to be painting the next day. Place rollers and brushes in Ziploc or plastic bags and store them in the fridge. Make sure you allow them to return to room temperature before reusing.
• If the store didn't do this for you, dab some paint on the lid to help you identify the color later. Write the name and number of the paint on the lid with a permanent marker.
• Use a screwdriver wrapped in an old t-shirt or rag to wipe the rim of the paint can clean.
• To avoid damaging the lid, don't seal the can with a hammer. Use a rubber mallet instead.
• Store cans upside down to create a tight seal around the lid. Because latex paints are water-based, keep them where they won't freeze.

5 Homebuying (or selling) Negotiation Need-to-Knows

When it comes to buying or selling your home, there’s a handful of negotiation need-to-knows that can go a long way toward protecting your best interests. Here are five essential negotiation need-to-knows for savvy home buyers and sellers:

1.  Work from a foundation of sound information. It’s essential that you amass an arsenal of information, and use that as the basis for your negotiation. You are in no position to negotiate, aggressively or otherwise, unless and until you are well acquainted with the real estate market immediately surrounding your home, including:

• what similar homes recently sold for;
• how much above or below asking do they normally sell for;
• how long do homes stay on the market, on average, compared with the home you’re buying or selling?

Not only will your agent help you understand these numbers and how they should relate to your own offer or response, your agent is also in a good position to reach out to the other agent and collect any available information about what is important to the other party: do they care more about moving quickly, getting top dollar, or certainty that the other side can close the deal?  The other agent isn’t obligated to divulge any information but often will, in the interest of facilitating a deal that addresses their client’s priorities.

2.  Approach the negotiation as a problem-solving challenge.  Today’s negotiations are really more like problem solving scenarios, when you take into account all the parties whose needs must be met for the transaction to move forward and ultimately close. Traditionally, negotiations were a two-way power struggle between the buyer and seller, based primarily on their wants and their respective bargaining leverage. But on today’s market, the bank - or banks on both sides -- often have their own guidelines and needs that impact the terms of the deal, whether it be the seller’s lender insisting on a certain price in a short sale, or the buyer’s lender refusing to lend anything above an appraisal value.

Many a buyer has thought they were scoring a great deal by scoring a bargain basement price on a short sale, only to have the seller’s bank increase in the sale price. A significant number of the deals that fall apart on today’s market do so because the home fails to appraise for the purchase price the buyer has agreed to pay.  In this context, it’s more important than ever to approach your negotiation as an exercise in problem solving, with the aim of meeting the needs of as many parties involved as possible.  If you get some of your wants met, too, you’re golden!

3.  Manage your own mindset. You probably shouldn’t even try to buy a home that you don’t strongly like, or even love. It often makes sense to hone in on a specific offer price (within the range what is reasonable for a home) based on how much you want it, or how much you’d hate to lose it - especially in a multiple offer situation, where you may only have one chance to make an offer.

With that said, be aware that when it comes to negotiating, she who is the least emotionally attached to a particular outcome usually has the greater bargaining power. The more attached you are to a particular home or a particular price point or set of terms for your home, the more likely you are to panic, freak out, throw money at the situation or cave in on important points unnecessarily when you get even the faintest sense that your desires may be at risk.

4.  Minimize time pressures.  Over the years, I have seen many buyers and sellers make very questionable offers and counteroffers based solely on the fact that they have to move by a certain deadline. Because shelter is a basic human need, the prospect of having to move out, relocating to a new job or moving to a new town without having housing in place can cause even the most nimble among us to feel  pressure.

Problem is, in the context of buying a home, moving deadlines can cost you thousands and thousands of dollars - and can even cause you to make needless compromises in terms of the actual property itself: compromises you might later seriously regret. If you are approaching a deadline for moving out or relocating, you’d do better to find a rental housing situation that will work for awhile or will work as your “Plan B” than to try to hurry your home’s purchase or sale to meet the deadline.

5.  Act and react quickly - not impulsively.  When you find ‘your’ ideal place, make an offer. When you get an offer or counteroffer), respond to it. In real estate, time is always of the essence, and prolonged hesitation often results in lost opportunities. There’s nothing wrong with sleeping on a decision overnight, especially if the ‘right’ move is unclear.  But you never know when another buyer or another property might show up on the scene and change the whole bargaining dynamic, costing you more money or wooing away your home’s buyer.

This is why it’s so important to be clear on the market data, your own budget and your own top and bottom lines from the start, so that you are positioned to act quickly, strategically and intelligently when the circumstances require it.

9 Real Estate Tax Breaks

1. Mortgage Interest Statement - IRS Form 1098. The largest real estate tax deduction on the books is the one that allows you to deduct 100% of the mortgage interest you paid - including prepaid interest or points you might have paid at close of escrow, if you bought a home last year. You should have already received in the mail a Form 1098 from your mortgage lender that reports how much that interest you paid in 2011.  If you itemize your taxes and claim a mortgage interest deduction, you must include this form with your tax form when you file.

2. Property Tax Statements.   In addition to deducting your mortgage interest, if you own a home you are eligible to deduct the property taxes you pay to your local city, county and/or state.  Ask your tax advisor to make sure you don't deduct some of the other miscellaneous expenses that some localities with the taxes they collect, like waste management and local assessments for things like street lighting, libraries and sidewalk construction.  To get this deduction right, the best practice is to have your property tax statements at hand and make sure you’re only deducting what’s allowed. If you bought your home this year, it’s highly possible that you might not even have received a property tax statement yet - if that’s the case, look to #3, below.

3.  (HUD-1) Uniform Settlement Statement.   If you bought or sold a home last year, right after closing you should have received a form called the HUD-1 Settlement Statement from escrow. This form documents numerous line items which might help you out at tax time, including prepaid interest, the prorated property taxes you paid at closing, and closing costs like original fees and discount points. Some states offer tax credits for buying a foreclosure; check with your tax pro to find out if any such credits apply to you. If so, this statement might be your ticket to lower taxes. If you can’t find your copy, you might have gotten it on a disk - and you can always email your real estate or escrow agent for a copy, as well.

4.  Moving Expense Receipts.  Moving expenses are tax deductible, if your move is closely related, both in time and in place, to the start of work at a new or changed job location and you meet the IRS’ time and distance tests. Your new home must be at least 50 miles farther from your new workplace than your old home was from your prior place of work, and you must work essentially full-time. So, if you bought or sold a home and moved in 2011, you’ll need to include receipts from expenses you incurred making the move.

5. Cancellation of Debt Statement - IRS Form 1099. Homeowners who lost a home to foreclosure, or by negotiating a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure with their lender might receive some version of Form 1099 from their lenders, charging them with income in the amount of the mortgage debt that has been cancelled. You see, if you borrow money from someone, then they cancel the debt, that money you originally borrowed becomes income in the eyes of the IRS - and income is, as you know, taxable.

6. Utility statements for home office.  For the average everyday homeowner who works at their employer’s place of business, utilities are not deductible. There is a part of your home that is “regularly and exclusively” used for business, you might be able to claim that portion of your home as a home office, and deduct some portion of your home utilities and costs of painting and repairs, as a result. Ask your tax provider about what expenses are allowable to be claimed under your home office deduction, and whether or not you should take it.

7. Income and Expense statements from rental properties.  Some of you have elevated the art of home ownership to a business!  If you are a landlord, your tax situation is more complicated than that of the average bear; you’ll need to have complete income and expense statements when you put your tax returns together. It might actually behoove you to consult with a tax professional to make sure you are appropriately depreciating the property over time and not taking deductions that will expose you to the risk of audits, as well as to begin cultivating a long-term tax strategy for your real estate portfolio.

8. Contractor receipts from energy efficient home improvements.  Under the Non-business Energy Tax Credit, homeowners who have made improvements to their homes that fall within a list of energy efficient upgrades might be eligible to claim tax credits. If, during 2011, you installed energy efficient improvements such as insulation, new dual-paned windows and furnaces, you might be eligible for a tax credit of 10% of the cost of these upgrades, up to  $500 - only $200 of which may be used to offset the cost of windows.

9. Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC).  If you own a home you bought in the last few years using a Mortgage Credit Certificate issued by a local housing authority, that Certificate may entitle you to a pretty hefty tax credit, based on a percentage of the mortgage interest you paid - on top of your mortgage interest deduction. MCCs apply as long as you live in the home and have a mortgage on it, but they only apply to defray taxes you actually owe - you can’t use them to get a refund.  In any event, your mortgage credit certificate, if you have one, is a must-have document as you start putting your tax prep plan in play.

Regardless what your tax situation is, if you own a home, it doesn't hurt to get some professional help and advice to make sure you maximize your deductions, while minimizing your exposure to audit. And you should always consult with a tax attorney or certified public accountant regarding your tax liabilities and implications when you buy, sell, short sell or lose a home to foreclosure.

5 Helpful Mobile Apps for House Hunters

The old saying that “there’s an app for that” is now true more often than not. With close to 1 million mobile applications available, it can be an overwhelming task to sort out the truly useful from those that are just useless. I’ve done some homework for you by providing a short list of mobile apps I think you’ll find useful for saving time, making smart decisions and keeping you organized while you’re off hunting for your next home.

1. Dictionary of Real Estate Terms
What it does: Translates the vast universe of real estate jargon and acronyms into plain English, putting a decoder at your fingertips for easy reference any time you need it during your house hunt or transaction. The Dictionary includes over 3,000 real estate terms, charts and graphs. You can save your searches and email terms to others.
Why it’s useful:  You will most likely hear words or terms you have never heard before- and you need to know what the terms used in your inspection, disclosure, contract and loan documents mean.
Compatability: iPhone and Android

2. House Hunter
What it does: Helps you organize your house-hunting notes and priorities so you can more easily remember and compare the homes you’ve seen. The app also helps you evaluate the homes you’ve seen by providing a scorecard that weighs features against what you’ve identified as requirements and priorities. It includes a mortgage calculator, photo storage, and a feature that allows you to share your notes with your agent, among other bells and whistles.
Why it’s useful: After you see about five to ten houses, they can all start to blend together. This app helps you keep your original priorities straight, while also keeping you mindful of what were and how the homes you see measure up against them.
Compatability: iPhone

3. SpringPad
What it does: Helps you keep track of any and every thing you want to remember in a digital notebook you can access from anywhere, on any device. You can:

• scan barcodes of home furnishings, appliances and other items you want to buy after you move
• save ideas, property addresses, online clippings from design and news sites, photos from decor mags and to do lists from your mortgage broker
• categorize all these things - and more - by house hunt, mortgage and escrow, moving, and decorating
• set reminders, share your notes with your agent or even get an email alert when the duvet you want goes on sale.

6 Remedies for Real Estate Remorse

1.  Before you get started, write out your vision of the life you want to live after you close the deal. It’s easy to get distracted once you’re in the weeds of the actual transaction, losing sight of what’s really important to you - what motivated you to start the process in the first place.  So, before you get started, put pen to paper and write out exactly what sort of lifestyle you are trying to create - financially and otherwise - by taking this path. Make sure you include your wants, needs, deal-makers and deal-breakers.

2.  Ask yourself: how does this decision make you feel? We tend to approach real estate decisions from a place of reason and logic, but sometimes that means we can reason our way right into agreeing to something because it’s easier than sorting out our differences with our mate. So, before you make a decision, weigh your alternatives and see how they make you feel.  Does the idea of living in this home, even though it’s a fixer beyond anything you expected to buy, make you feel peaceful, expansive or secure?  Does the idea of living in the gated community of your wife’s dreams make you feel constricted, anxious or burdened?

3.  Recognize hypotheticals as hallucinations. Hypotheticals, by definition, are the opposite of what is real. So living in a hypothetical world of how much you probably could have gotten the place for, or how much more you might have been able to squeeze out of the buyer if you’d bargained harder after the deal has been done is nothing but fantasy and crazy-making, all wrapped up in an efficient little depressing package. Even more crazy-making: wondering what you could have offered for that house that would have beaten the other 20 offers. If you are a buyer who has repeatedly been outbid, the wiser practice is to ask your agent to go back and pull the actual sale prices of the homes you lost after they close escrow, to give yourself a good reality check and leverage the experience to help you have a smarter, more successful house hunt going forward.

4.  Sit still before you start the demolition and remodel. One of the most common forms of remorse I’ve seen is the remorse homeowners have when they start remodeling a place too soon.  The best practice is to live in a place for a few months first, observing patterns in the natural light, traffic, noise and even how your family uses the various areas of space in the home before you start tearing walls down and turning windows into french doors.

5.  Do your own numbers first.  Homeowners who have remorse about getting in over their heads, financially, often end up in that spot because they took someone else’s word about what they could afford, rather than running their own household financials first, then telling their professionals what their maximum spend would be, monthly and otherwise.  Make sure you go into the home buying process clear on what is a sustainable range of monthly housing costs for you and your family based on the total picture of your income and expenses (including your future plans and expenses banks don’t consider, like private school tuition, travel, etc.), rather than expecting someone else to figure this out for you.

6.  Get systematic about your options for resolving the remorse. If you find yourself in a position where you’re experiencing deep remorse for having bought a particular home, it’s time to stop wallowing and start acting to improve your experience in the home. Systematically list the things that make you crazy about the place. So, make a list of the things that are causing you remorse, then get clear on all your options - and don’t limit your thinking about what those options might be. Maybe you need to plan out the fixes you need, and budget for them, for the next few years out, and start tackling one every month.  I love my home and my neighborhood, but was driven to distraction for months by the fact that I could hear the subway at night. I’d already installed dual paned windows!  My sanity and sleep have been saved by the investment of $10 every couple of months in - you guessed it - earplugs from the drug store.