5 Ways to Buy a House or Remodel

A Step-By-Step Plan to Buy A House

Welcome to my blogger page you are reading to sam blogger never stop learning.  A national housing survey found 88 percent of Hispanics felt homeownership was a good long-term investment, with 92 percent reporting they planned to be homeowners. Jocelyn Vasquez is living proof of those statistics. At a young age, her parents instilled the belief that if you owned a home, you had achieved the American dream. That dream of homeownership carried a lot of weight for her Hispanic parents, who had immigrated from El Salvador in 1977. 

Jocelyn turned the dream into an aggressive goal for herself: "My goal, as a U.S. citizen, was to graduate college and get a house before turning 30," says Jocelyn. "And, I wanted to do it on my own. "To accomplish this, the Los Angeles, California resident made a roadmap for herself. She saved, attended college and kept her student loan debt as low as possible – all without burdening her parents. After she graduated, Jocelyn got a job as a loan officer assistant. It wasn’t until she had worked there for three years that she fully understood what was needed to qualify for a mortgage. The lightbulb went off when she realized, "I really could buy my own home someday. "That was when she got serious. Because California real estate is so expensive, Jocelyn got a second job. She earned her real estate license and worked part-time as an agent, determined to save all her commission checks for a down payment.

It took her three years to build her savings, pay off bills and get her debt-to-income (DTI) ratio low enough to qualify for a loan. (Many lenders don’t want a borrower’s debt to be greater than 45 percent of their gross income.) Once she achieved this, it was time to execute her plan. Jocelyn searched for a house that was less than $300,000 – not an easy task in the Greater Los Angeles Area. She looked at 16 homes before she found a 2-bed, 2 ? bath townhouse, with a 2-car garage for $285,000. 

                     Even though it was perfect for her, she took the weekend to think it over before making an offer. Unfortunately, her hesitancy cost her. By Sunday night, the seller had already accepted an offer. Jocelyn was devastated."I felt so discouraged, I didn’t know what to do," she admitted. "After all my hard work and determination, I couldn’t believe I had missed out on this house. But I told myself what I tell all my buyers, ‘If it’s meant to be, it will be.’ "It must have been meant to be: Five days later, Jocelyn got an alert on her phone informing her the house was back on the market – for $7,000 less. Jocelyn immediately called the seller’s agent, who told her the first buyer had backed out of the deal because his truck didn’t fit in the garage. 

                   This time, Jocelyn didn’t hesitate to offer the new asking price of $278,000. Jocelyn used conventional financing with private mortgage insurance, which allowed her to put down less than 20 percent. By saving diligently, she was able to make a five-percent down payment of $13,900. Her current monthly payment of $2,020 is exactly what she paid to rent her previous 1-bed, 1-bath, 640-sq.-ft apartment in downtown LA."This is the best investment I’ve ever made," says Jocelyn. "In the two years I’ve owned my home, its value has increased by almost 15 percent. It took a very long time, but I knew my plan would work eventually. And, I did it all on my own at age 28. My goal now is to help other Hispanic homebuyers realize the American dream of owning their own home. "For more first-time homebuyer stories, visit readynest.com. 1 According to Fannie Mae’s 2018 National Housing Survey 

After buying a new house let's get work on remodeling it.

Maybe you’ve grown just sick enough of that 1970s avocado-green kitchen to update it to something more sleek and modern. Or perhaps it’s as simple as remodeling a bathroom. Whatever the room, home renovations can test even the most patient personality through the sheer chaos and mess that are inevitable.

To get through your renovation, organizing the clutter is key. The following tips should help you stay on top of the disorder.

• Have files for everything. Paperwork should be kept in one place because it will pile up. Inexpensive file folders that are portable can help you stay structured. Create a file for all receipts, and as you post them to a budget, move them to another file labeled “posted.” Permits and papers from the city or homeowner’s association should be kept together in another folder in order to easily put your fingers on them. Just for fun, make a folder of design ideas and pictures from magazines to keep you inspired.

• Cover it up. One word: plastic. No, not credit cards. Use it to cover all heavy furniture that must stay in the room. This will prevent dust and debris from getting into the nooks and crannies and keep the finish on the furniture looking shiny.

• Keep a list. Supplies are going to run low, and no matter how good your memory, things are going to fall through the cracks if you don’t write them down. Hanging a clipboard on a nail in the area where you are working will help you to stay on point about people you need to call, or things you need to do or buy for the next day.

• Have a place for everything. If you’re doing the remodel yourself, there is going to be a certain amount of upheaval. One thing that will help reduce your stress level is keeping your tools in one place. Create a space such as a table, where all small tools are kept The larger tools can sit on the floor underneath. Also, every time you are finished with a tool, put it back in the appropriate spot.

• Contain your stress. If cigarettes or smokeless tobacco helps your stress level, try your best to keep things clean by going outside to smoke or by carrying a portable spittoon. After all, you don’t want a fresh burn mark or stain from a spill to end up on your brand-new floors. FLASR has created a unique, one-of-a-kind pocket-sized spittoon that allows users to open and shut it with just one hand, making it an ideal solution for taking your snuff, dip or chew into any room that’s being renovated. In addition, the Atlanta-based company’s spittoon, has an advanced closing mechanism, ensuring that it stays securely closed when not in use, eliminating the risk of spill and leaks often seen with cups and bottles.