Award Winning Parade Home

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Location: South on Maple Grove, West on Lake Hazel, North on Snowdrift Ave into community
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Insurance Tips for Homeowners

Finding a policy that will protect your property

By David Ng

One of the most crucial parts of the homeownership process that people tend to overlook or dismiss is attaining home owner insurance. You may not even get service from your mortgage company until you have proper insurance, so start investigating insurance policy options now. Consider these homeowner’s insurance tips to help you.

• Finding the right insurance for homeowners begins with consulting a representative to determine general insurability and the best rate for your policy.
• Investigate the best way to raise the deductible and lower annual payments.
• Seek discounts by installing alarm systems.
• Finally, compare differing policies to make sure that you are getting the best deal.

Figure out your needs

Your insurance agent determines the type of insurance for homeowners by going through a series of questions. Prepare yourself to disclose the home location, how old the house is, the year of installation for plumbing and electricity, what the roof is made of, the square footage of the house, and how many insurance claims have been made during the previous five years.

Replacement Coverage Cost indicates a percentage of additional coverage over the insured amount. This means that the insurance organization protects the homeowner from having to pay added costs to rebuild the house in case of a fire or other damage.

If you take out home owner insurance for 200 percent, you get double the coverage. Liability coverage protects you against claims from bodily injury or property damage to other people. While having up to one million dollars in liability coverage is possible, it is more common to have $300,000 in liability coverage.

Depending on location, to raise it to $500,000 can run you about $20 more per year. If you have property of higher value, an umbrella policy for house insurance can give you an additional $1,000,000 in liability coverage with a premium of between $300 and $500 per year, depending on location.

Raise the deductible

Save money by raising your deductible and lowering your annual premiums. The downside to this is having to incur smaller costs yourself, such as broken windows or damage from leaks. Most mortgage companies do not let you go higher than a $1000 deductible.

You can most likely attain a discount from your insurance company starting at a $500 deductible. The discount augments as the deductible increases.

Seek discounts

You may be able to attain a discount of 10% or more by applying for multiple insurance policies – that is, health insurance and car insurance – within the same company.

Homeowners can lower their annual premiums between 5 and 10 percent by installing smoke alarms and other alarm systems, such as a burglar alarm connected directly to a police station and fire alarm that reports to a fire station.

You will need to submit proof of these to your insurance company. Consult your insurance agent to find out how many credits for which you are eligible.

Compare policies

Compare other insurance policies to your own every year to make sure you continue to get the best rates. Notice any changes in your situation that could possibly lower the premiums of your current policy. You may have recently installed alarm systems that could lower your premium.

Notify the insurance company and submit receipts to raise the chance of getting a lower premium. Your insurance rate can benefit from changes in your environment. If an additional new fire hydrant has been erected on your block, this could lower your premium as well.

Use Internet resources

Continue educating yourself by seeking more homeowner’s insurance tips online and learn how to get the best rates. You can save time and money – what more could you ask for?

Article from http://www.realtor.com

Final Week!

It’s the final week of the Canyon County Parade of Homes!

Click here for more information!

Canyon County Parade of Homes

Entertainer’s Dream!

3423 Salcombe, Meridian, Idaho

This home is meant for entertaining. Open floor plan with large kitchen with all the amenities you will ever need. Huge pantry or work station.Built in Refrigerator and Freezer. Large covered patio for entertaining and great yard for the whole family. Large master suite with walk-in shower and large closet.If you have toys this is the house for you.Over 4 car capability.If you have an RV,boat,or work trailer you will have plenty of room.To many amenities to list so please call for the run down.

View the listing here.

 

New Home on the Golf Course!

1716 Colchester, Eagle, Idaho

You don’t want to miss this home!  This is the only new construction on a golf course in the valley.  This home is over 3000 sqft and has beautiful views of the fairway.  This home is loaded with amenities and the quality that Tradewinds has always offered.  Over a 1/3 of an acre you will have one of the largest lots on the course.  You will be able to entertain from inside or out.  Home features 3 beds, 2 baths, office, formal dinning & a large master suite with his and her closets.  Something for everyone in this home!

View the listing here.

Checklist Before You Buy

Finding a home that you can see yourself in for the next five to twenty-five years is a great feeling. Don’t let that feeling cloud your judgment and leave you with unexpected issues after the closing.

Here are a few things to consider before you buy:

1. Talk to a lender. It’s important to choose a lender who you are comfortable with. We have many fine local lenders and I can recommend a few if you do not already have one. Your lender will help you understand what your total monthly home cost will be. Total monthly payments will include your monthly mortgage payment, any possible homeowner association fees, utilities, taxes and insurance. Make sure the total cost fits in your budget.
2. Evaluate possible repairs or immediate improvements. In your purchase negotiation you may decide to ask the seller to repair them. If the seller agrees to repair or improve any item of the home, be sure to incorporate that into your sales contract.
3. Hire a local expert who understands the area to do your home inspections. Consider attending the home inspection.
4. Become familiar with all the vital systems that connect to the house (electrical, plumbing, heating, sewer, and water.)
5. For example, there are many different types of heating systems, and public sewer and water systems are very different than having your town well and septic system. Investigate each of these systems.
6. Get to know the neighborhood. Drive around and get a feel for what it would be like to own a property in the area. Be sure and investigate the Homeowner’s Association.
7. Know the local political landscape. Are there any issues that you should know about? Make sure that you understand how utilities, schools, and public services are funded.
8. Ask for a utility history. Confirm that your budget will match what your new home is going to cost on a monthly basis.
9. Research the Treasure Valley area to understand its economy, climate, and other variables that will be part of your long-term life style.

If you’re considering a move, or hear that any family, friends, neighbors or colleagues are, please feel free to contact me.

Parade of Homes – Spring 2012

Here we go everyone!  It’s Parade of Homes month and time to get out and see a ton of great new homes.  The parade started May 5th and runs through the 20th.  I’ve attached a link to the Parade of Homes virtual magazine.  Get out and support your local businesses!

Parade of Homes Virtual Magazine

I represent Ninety Degrees Construction.  We are number 34 and are located in Cedar Ridge Subdivision.  Cedar Ridge is loated just west of Maple Grove on Lake Hazel.  I don’t think you will find a better value in the Parade.  This home is over 2500 SQFT and has something for everyone in the family.  3 large bedrooms are upstairs with the theater room.  Downstairs is nice and open with a large great room and kitchen area and an office.  The kitchen will make any cook happy.  It has double ovens, 5 burner gas range and a huge center island.  All of Ninety Degree’s homes come standard with granite countertops and custom cabinets.  We can build this home with all of this for $259,900 or $219,900 on your own lot.  You won’t find a better deal.

2609 Terrace Way, Boise, Idaho

Don’t miss this great opportunity to live on top of the hill. This home is over 3600 Sqft & has just received new kitchen cabinets,granite counter tops,stainless steel appliances,new bathrooms,hardwood floors,exterior paint,& added a 4th bedroom. This home offers several living areas up or down & you have amazing views from the covered patio.It offers something for everyone in the family. It is in a great neighborhood & is close to everything downtown Boise has to offer & in a great school district.

Get more information here!

Housing Market May Be on The Rise At Last

By ALEJANDRO LAZO

The housing market’s long, cold winter may finally be heading into a springtime thaw.

New data show price declines easing in big cities, sales of new homes improving nationally and foreclosures in California dropping to levels not seen since before the start of the credit crunch nearly five years ago.

The easing of foreclosures is seen as key by many economists, since the glut of these properties being sold at a discount has been a significant drag on home prices.

“The foreclosure market is turning into a drought, not a wave, and that has resulted in a lack of inventory,” said Sean O’Toole, chief executive of ForeclosureRadar.com. “If it continues, it will likely mean that we’ve either seen a bottom – or have passed a bottom – in prices because of limited supply and still strong demand.”

Home prices remain depressed from their peak in 2007, when the median-priced home in Southern California sold for $505,000. The median price last month was $280,000.

The economy overall has been improving, however, with unemployment, retail sales, corporate profits and other measures showing steady if unspectacular gains. Housing has been one of the last holdouts, but analysts note that prices have stabilized and sales volume has been gaining.

“What are important are sales and inventory, and those are pointing in the right direction,” said Christopher Thornberg, a principal at Beacon Economics who was one of the early callers of the housing crash. “I would say that by the end of the year, they should translate into better prices.”

Thornberg added, “The recovery is here.”

Notices of default, the first step in the foreclosure process, fell to 56,258 statewide in the first three months of the year, a 17.6 percent drop from the same period last year, DataQuick of San Diego reported Tuesday. That was the fewest number of default notices filed since the second quarter of 2007.

Banks still retain many foreclosed properties on their books, and some analysts have predicted that housing prices could weaken again if lenders dump these properties into the recovering market. But O’Toole and other analysts see that long-feared “second wave” as increasingly unlikely, pointing out that the banks would be acting against their own interests by undercutting prices through a fire sale.

“A few years back, there were some breathtakingly negative forecasts making the rounds regarding the foreclosure problem,” DataQuick President John Walsh said. “It’s not necessarily playing out the way some pundits thought.”

Low interest rates and the availability of bargain-priced properties are drawing more buyers into the market.

Bobbie Dunlap, 61, an office manager, said she recently bought a bank-owned home for $225,000 that she intends to fix up and rent out. The South Gate, Calif., resident had to raise her price to beat competing bids on the two-bedroom property in nearby Bellflower. She hopes that the rental income from the investment will provide her with a financial cushion when she stops working.

“It is in pretty good shape, but it still needs some extra work, of course,” Dunlap said.

Maryam Javadi of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., is hopeful that buyers will take the plunge this spring. She recently listed her 2,074-square-foot house at $950,000, and about 40 people showed up Sunday to check out the four-bedroom property, which has canyon views and sits near the end of a quiet cul-de-sac.

“Some people have been back to see it two or three times already,” Javadi said.

Betting on the rebound, investors made up a record share of buyers in Southern California during the first two months of the year, according to DataQuick. As more foreclosed homes in hard-hit neighborhoods are filled with renters, an increasing number of everyday buyers will grow interested in owning, said Ivy Zelman, chief executive of Zelman & Associates, a New York housing research firm.

“This is not a robust recovery, but I feel confident that we are not sitting here lingering,” said Zelman, who predicts that home prices will end the year up about 1 percent. “There really is more meat to the bone.”

Several factors continue to hold back a major turnaround in housing, including a weak job market, tight mortgage lending standards and the huge number of homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, leaving them essentially stuck in their properties. And the absence of a major housing recovery is likely to hold back the broader economy.

“Housing generates a ton of jobs and income. However, I don’t think the housing recovery is going to be nearly as robust this time as it has been in prior cycles,” said Christopher Low, chief economist for FTN Financial. “The bubble started with froth in local markets and then spread out to a national level; the recovery is going to come in local markets and eventually spread and become a national phenomenon.”

Other new housing data also point to a fledgling recovery.

The real estate website Zillow estimated that home values in Los Angeles hit a bottom in the first quarter as the median price flattened from February to March; several communities posted price increases, including Compton, Manhattan Beach and Santa Monica. Zillow’s is among several recent predictions that certain markets have put the worst behind them.

New-home sales nationally fell 7.1 percent in March from the previous month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, but that was partly because it revised February sales figures up significantly. Even though the figure for March was the lowest since November, overall sales of new homes are up about 16 percent for the first three months of the year compared with 2011, the department said. The report helped boost the Dow Jones industrial average 74.39 points to 13,001.56.

That improvement means that new-home sales will probably be stronger than last year’s, which were the worst on record.

One of the most widely watched measures on home values, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index of 20 U.S. cities, showed price declines moderating from January to February. Prices fell 0.8 percent from January to February, and were down 3.5 percent from February 2011. Los Angeles fell 0.8 percent in February from the previous month, while San Francisco was down 0.7 percent. San Diego was slightly positive, up 0.2 percent from January.

Many economists brushed off the decline as the Case-Shiller numbers capture the traditionally slow months of January and December, as well as February, because they average three months’ worth of data. The index’s year-over-year decline in home values has also been steadily shrinking in recent months.

(Times staff writer Lauren Beale contributed to this report.)

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/04/24/2090742/housing-market-may-be-on-rise.html#storylink=cpy