So you have just purchased a brand new Staten Island home and you are packing up your things and preparing to move in? Make the move easier by getting rid of any unnecessary stuff and clutter that has collected at your old home.

Let’s face it, we all have a surprising amount of stuff that we don’t really use or need. Why spend the time packing these extraneous possessions, pay to have them transported and spend time unpacking them just so they can sit in your new storage cupboards or garage collecting dust? De-cluttering before a move will save you a lot of valuable time and money and the less stuff you have the more space you can enjoy in your new home.

However, getting rid of stuff can sometimes be an emotional and difficult process. Here are some…

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Anyone would be shocked and feel violated after coming home to a ransacked house. Burglars look for specific things when choosing a home to break into, and many homeowners are basically inviting criminals through the front door. Below are five ways you can avoid drawing the eyes of thieves and actively deter your home from becoming a target.

1.   Beware of selling to strangers.

If you’re wanting to sell items on Craigslist or another internet-based classified ad website, then ensure you conduct your transactions outside of the home. These forums are the perfect place for burglars to make appointments to basically rob you.

2. Don’t tweet about it.

Not all of your friends have the most virtuous acquaintances. If you advertise on social media…

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Being self-employed can sometimes make it trickier to secure a mortgage on your Staten Island property. However, it is not impossible.

One of the main reasons that being self-employed works against you when securing a mortgage is if you have a lack of proof of income in the form of tax records. If you are not an employee somewhere, you will not have a regular paystub that allows you to prove your earnings. You will likely receive your income from a number of different sources which can be difficult to track. Also, your freelance income or the profits from your small business will fluctuate over the years, making it even more difficult for the mortgage lender to assess.

This is why keeping your personal tax returns up to date and filed on time will…

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When it comes to buying their first Staten Island home, many people are unaware of the basic facts of how their mortgage works. A survey by Zillow indicated that more than one third of potential first time homebuyers don’t understand the most fundamental details about their mortgages. This lack of understanding could cost you thousands of dollars, so make sure that you understand your mortgage before you make a serious financial commitment.

Here are a few of the important things that many people don’t know about mortgages and how they work:

Mortgage Rates Can Vary Depending on the Day

Did you know that mortgage rates can change daily? Simply by monitoring the changes in these rates, you could enjoy the benefit of saving a lot of money. Even a…

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Imagine walking into your Staten Island home and turning off the alarm, locking your doors, opening the windows and starting your coffee maker, all with a few taps of your finger on your smart phone? What if you had a home security camera that you could monitor from anywhere and a motion sensor that would send you an email when your kids come home from school? What if you could open your blinds or unlock your home for a visitor, even from halfway around the world?

The technology that powers our home security systems is getting more and more sophisticated and in the future, our homes will be more responsive than we could ever imagine. Rather than a simple line of defense that keeps out burglars, it will be a completely integrated and custom designed…

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The best way to approach the sale of your Staten Island home is to be completely emotionally detached and to handle the sale like any other business transaction. However, this can be difficult to do. A home holds a lot of memories and you will likely have a strong emotional connection to it. These feelings will make you highly biased, can cause you to ignore your home’s flaws and will skew your perception of what the home is worth. It can also make it difficult to make the move on a sale, even when you have a reasonable offer.

Put Away Personal Affects

When you are getting prepared to sell your home, pack up all of your family photographs and put away any personal mementos. Not only will this make the house more appealing when you are showing it to…

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You have found a home and are ready to apply for financing. Your pre-approval amount comes back not as high as you would have expected and at an interest rate significantly above what your friends just got on their loan. This could be because you have an average to poor credit score.

Mortgage lenders base their interest rates on many things, but your credit score plays a large part. Anything between 720 and 850 will typically get you better interest rates. A mediocre score is usually between 660 and 719, and a low score is 659 and under. If you have a lower score than you’d like, below are a few traits for you to follow of people who receive high financial marks.

They don’t max out their cards.

It’s better to keep a low revolving balance on a few…

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