The Deb Ward Team

10 Step Checklist For When It’s Time To Move

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10 Step Checklist For When It’s Time To MoveYou sold your home and now it’s time to move. There’s lots to do and not a lot of time to do it. Having a checklist with a timeline would be helpful. So here is one that could help.

60 days out and the contract has been signed and the process started. Whether or not it’s a sure thing, start your moving plans. Here are some things to do:

Call moving companies and get quotes for your move. Check things like Better Business Bureau and whether they are bonded and do in home assessments before offering their quote.

Check into whether your homeowners insurance will insure your expensive items. It not, find out how to insure them.

This means go through everything: closets, old boxes, basement, attic, etc. and decide what is moving and what is being trashed or donated. Use up food and supplies and only replace exactly what you need. Make a list, and document it with video on your cell phone, of your household items and their condition. It could come in handy if things are damaged in the move, or if you have a dispute with the moving company. Don’t expect it, but better safe than sorry.

In your moving notebook, be sure to keep a folder for receipts. Moving expenses are tax deductible. Also, if you have kids, call their current schools for records and their future schools for what is necessary to register your kids.

30 days out and the inspections are all done. Settlement is scheduled. Now you should:

  1. Check with the movers to verify details.
  2. Call and make arrangements to disconnect utilities at your current home. Call to schedule connections at your new home.
  3. Start packing. Pack items that you won’t need for the next month. Mark boxes as to where they should go in the new house and keep a list of what is in each box.
  4. Go online to the U.S. Post Office and file a change of address.
  5. Check about banking. If your bank has branches in your new town, let them know about the move. If not, look into switching your banking to a new one.
  6. Give your new address to friends and family, insurance company, doctors and specialists, cell phone company, credit card companies, and magazine and newspaper subscriptions.
  7. Make sure your important papers file is up to date and with you. Don’t pack it. Same with valuables like jewelry.

One week until settlement and time to get it in gear:

  1. Pack up everything you don’t need for the next week. Again, keep a list of what is in boxes and label them.
  2. Dispose of paint, oil, and weed killers. Drain fuel out of mowers. Discard propane tanks from grills.
  3. Gather keys and garage openers, any alarm codes and put them in one place so you can give them to the new owners.

Make a moving day survival kit with everything you’ll need when you get to your new home. Include toilet paper, snacks, bottled water, dishes, toiletries, towels, a few days’ worth of clothes. It’s possible that the movers could be delayed so you don’t want to be caught with nothing in your new home.

Moving Day!

Grab your moving day kit. Clean your now empty old home.

Before you leave it for the last time, check to be sure you have things like your cell phone and if you have pets pack food for them for a few days. Go to settlement.

Move!

Should You “Stretch” To Buy A Better Home

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All of the experts these days say that you shouldn’t even consider going over your budget, even a little, when buying a home. For a lot of people that’s a good piece of advice. But not everyone or every time. Sometimes you should “stretch” to buy a better home. So why and when is this a good idea?

Here’s why

Should You "Stretch" To Buy A Better HomeFirst stretching your budget a bit will get you a home in a better location. That can be very important if you are worried about things like crime, resale value or proximity to a job.

Saving wear and tear on a $20,000+ car for an extra $10,000.00 should be a no brainer. Saving the worry about break-ins, muggings or worse should be a no brainer. Getting more than you purchased your home or ensuring higher equity should be a no brainer.

Stretching for better amenities should also be a no brainer. Again, spending about $10,000 more to get the kitchen or bath you want now instead of spending $30,000-$60,000 or more later should be a no brainer.

So when is it a good idea?

Well that depends on you, but if you’re a newly married couple that is planning for a family, stretching to get into a better school district would be a good reason to stretch.

Getting a starter home in a better neighborhood for the resale value would mean it is a good time to stretch.

One caveat, be super careful about the financing and do your due diligence. If you’re going to try to stretch, be sure you can afford it now and in the foreseeable future.

The Top Two Reasons People Gave For Not Buying A Home Right Now

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Now would seem like the time to buy a home, but there are some people that aren’t. They are giving two reasons for not buying a home at the moment, most of them younger or first time buyers. The biggest reason was student debt. The second biggest was inability to sell their current home. Both are big hurdles and for some a complete wall around home ownership.

Survey

The Top Two Reasons People Gave For Not Buying A Home Right NowA survey done by the National Association of Realtors and American Student Assistance, SALTTM found that millennials fell into this category. They polled student debt holders who were current in their payments and had varying amounts of debt from college, either public or private. The survey found some interesting things.

Student debt

First, 71% of those polled that were non-homeowners, in other words prospective first time home buyers, felt that their student debt was a key factor in them not buying a home. 31% of those polled who were homeowners currently said that their home buying hurdle is their inability to sell their current home.

Delay home ownership

Of those polled who either haven’t purchased a home yet, or currently owned a home, 52% said that either reason; student debt or inability to sell; would put their plans to buy a home, or sell and buy another home, off for at least 5 years, if not more. 1 in 5 expected those reasons to delay their new purchase at least 3-5 years.

You know who that also impacts?

Their parents. Almost half of the respondents, 46%, lived with mom and/or dad. Some paid rent to their parents, some didn’t. 42% said that their student debt was the reason they moved back in after college and delayed getting their own place since then.

There are ways to work around those two reasons

For those currently in a home they own, trying a different pricing or updating could be the answer. For those first time buyers, there are programs out there that can help with procuring a home loan, despite student debt. There are also programs to help restructure student debt and lower payments.

Talk to your Realtor today about how to get yourself in a home.

Why We Can’t Tell You If It’s a “Good” Neighborhood |Clearwater Realtor Tips

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You know you’ve wanted to ask it when you last house hunted. That question was on the tip of your tongue with each house you walked through. The question? So is this house in a good neighborhood? If you did ask it, you know that you didn’t get an answer, or at least a straight one. There’s a reason why they didn’t tell you.

The Fair Housing Act

The most important reason is that your Realtor can’t tell you whether it is not. If they do they will be violating
Why We Can't Tell You If It’s a "Good" Neighborhood |Clearwater Realtor Tipsthe Fair Housing Act. That law, which was enacted to make sure landlords don’t discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability or family status, keeps Realtors from making statements that characterize a neighborhood as good or bad. The law actually prohibits any real estate professional from steering you, as a buyer, toward or away from a particular neighborhood if that steering is based on a basis of discrimination.

What will violate the act?

Even an innocuous comment like “this neighborhood is perfect for singles” would violate the Act. How? It would imply to people with children or older/elderly people may not stay interested in a home because they pick up on the implication that it isn’t “for them” because they aren’t a young single and the neighborhood caters to young singles. Even answering questions about crime or schools can be a problem. Someone may interpret an answer about crime statistics or bad schools as racially motivated.

So what do you, as a buyer, do?

You want to live in certain areas with similar people to your lifestyle, or you are worried about schools for your kids, but you can’t ask knowing your Realtor won’t be able to answer you? Well, you can do some of the leg work on your own.

For instance, you want to live in a neighborhood with great schools, largely Christian, conservative neighborhood. So you will need to call the local churches and political groups for their demographic information. Check with the State Board of Education for school statistics.

Then narrow to the neighborhoods that apply and go there to see if it is a good neighborhood. Talk to people who live there. Ask them questions. Go during election season and see whose signs are in which yards. People are usually rather forthcoming about where they live. Just don’t be obnoxious with your questions!

Then ask your Realtor to show you listings in those neighborhoods!

What Airports Are Close To Clearwater?

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Planning a trip to Clearwater, Florida? Planning a move there and want to tell friends and family how best to come visit? Well, there are two airports close by: Tampa International Airport and St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport. Both are within 20 miles and both bring the beach close as can be!

Tampa International Airport

Tampa International Airport (TPA) is an airport that has daily international and domestic flights to and from Tampa, Florida and the surrounding communities. It is 18 miles from Clearwater. It’s a public airport that services 18 airlines and is a hub for one (Silver Airways). The airlines it services are Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Eagle, British Airways, Cayman Airways, Copa Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Edelweiss Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Lufthansa, Silver Airways, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, United Airlines, WestJet. It also serves 80 non-stop destinations, including international service to the Bahamas, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Panama, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and to destinations throughout the Caribbean.

St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport

The airport closest to Clearwater is St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (PIE). It has domestic flights with low cost carriers. PIE is a focus city for Las Vegas-based carrier Allegiant Air and also services Sun Country Airlines and Sunwing Airlines. This is because it’s a less busy airport than Tampa International Airport. It’s also why it’s a great airport to fly into. Low cost airfare and less crowds to navigate on your way out. Not to mention it’s closer to your destination.

So why drive when you can easily fly!

Coffee Pot Bayou In St. Petersburg Florida

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Coffee Pot Bayou in St. Petersburg, Florida is a great place to visit if you like homes with character and the sight of endangered animals.

Manatees

One of the things that Coffee Pot Bayou is famous for is the fact that manatees winter there. In the Coffee Pot Bayou In St. Petersburg Floridacolder winter months the Gulf gets too chilly for the manatees so they move inland where the waters are more shallow and warmer. Mothers and babies hang out and the locals adopt them as their own. As spring gets closer males and females court and mate before moving back down to the Gulf for the warmer months.

Watching the wildlife

Along with the manatees you can also see Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets, Green Herons, and Laughing Gulls. Add in a few Red-ear slider turtles, a dolphin or two and watching the wildlife is fun for locals and visitors alike. Once manatees were deemed a protected species, Coffee Pot Bayou became a lot more popular due to their winter swimming grounds.

2-mile walking/biking path

Coffee Pot Bayou, which is part of St. Petersburg, has a broad sidewalk that is part of a 2-mile walking/biking path that extends from downtown St. Petersburg and follows the edge of Tampa Bay before entering Coffee Pot Bayou.

It’s well lit and a safe place to amble along and watch the wildlife. There are fantastic views of flora and fauna, comfortable benches for resting, access to a small beach off of North Shores Park, and even places to fish.

So if you’re staying in St. Petersburg or the Tampa area in the winter, head on over to Coffee Pot Bayou and enjoy the views.

If you are shopping for a St. Pete home, give The Deb Ward Team, St. Petersburg Realtors, a call today! 727-410-0336

The Deb Ward Team

Keller Williams Realty
30522 U.S. Highway 19 N, #107
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
Phone: 727-410-0336
Fax: 727-474-9069
Email: info@DeborahWard.com
The Deb Ward Team at Keller Williams Realty specializes in all of Pinellas County, Florida including: Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Dunedin, St. Petersburg, and the Gulf Beaches from Clearwater Beach down to St. Pete Beach serving buyers and sellers with a focus that is rarely found in the real estate world!