What is Real Estate

Writen by Mercedes Hayes

The Log home industry has matured these last many years, but there is still a lot of confusion about how much a log home costs. Naturally, everyone wants to know the cost of the log package; however, the budgeting only starts here. If you are shopping for a milled log package (as opposed to hand-crafted, which is a totally different category), the difference between one manufacturer's price and another is minimal when compared to the total cost of the structure. Here are some reasons why:

Other materials. The logs themselves only form a portion of the material costs of the home. Once the log walls are erected, you still have to worry about a floor, a roof, the windows, the doors, the plumbing, the kitchen... the list goes on and on. Some manufacturers quote a "weathered-in shell" which includes the logs, the windows and roof - all the elements that enclose the building (protecting the house against the weather). Other manufacturers only quote the log package, and leave it to the contractor to provide the other materials locally. When pricing a log package, make sure you are comparing "apples to apples".

From our experience, the price of the Logs only constituted approximately 1/5 of the total price of the finished structure. As for the rest... it's a high-end custom home, and like any custom home, your cost is limited by your imagination - and your budget. You decide whether to use hardwood floors or carpet, marble counters or formica, a metal roof or asphalt shingles. No log home company will offer these products to you. Unlike a Development contractor who offers you a limited selection, you choose everything yourself, from doorknobs to toilets. Once you start factoring in all these items, you will discover that there isn't a whole lot of difference between a log home any another home - except for the exterior walls.

Local price differences. We built our log home in New Jersey, which tends to be a lot more expensive overall than much of the rest of the country. The same house in Tennessee would cost considerably less in lumber and other materials. Also consider that labor costs vary wildly as well. A very big part of your budget will cover the labor, because this home will be built entirely by hand. Your contractor may not have to peel or notch the logs, but he will still be placing the logs one at at time, making sure the walls are plumb, drilling holes for the wiring, cutting settling gaps above the windows and doors, possibly fitting the roof frame one board at a time. Your builder is the most critical part of the project, and it's not necessarily a good idea to go with the cheapest quote. Do you really want him to cut corners to stay within a low quote?

Design features of the house. The most dramatic log homes have roof lines that point in all directions, dormers that grace the front, vaulted ceilings in the great rooms. But remember that every new angle you add to the roof adds exponentially to the cost of the project. If you need to keep costs down, think about a simple roof line with not too many angles.

Also, the old adage remains especially true with log homes: it's much cheaper to go up than go out. If you want a rambling one-story ranch house, you will have a bigger foundation cost, a bigger roof to consider, and lots more labor. If you build more stories and a smaller foundation, even though you will have to invest in a staircase the savings are considerable.

So what is the bottom line? A basic budgeting cost in the Northeast US would be $140-$150 per square foot for a milled log home; this is about the equivalent of a high-end custom stick-frame house. This does not include the land, the well, the septic, the driveway, etc. It does include the basement, the kitchen, the plumbing, etc. This is the turnkey budget for the house only. You can certainly do less if you give up a lot of amenities, but I wouldn't advise a starting budget of any less than $130 per sq. ft. You may find yourself running out of money way too soon, and that would be a terrible shame.

Mercedes Hayes is a Hiawatha Log Home dealer and also a Realtor in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She designed her own log home which was featured in the 2004 Floor Plan Guide of Log Home Living magazine. You can learn more about log homes by visiting http://www.JerseyLogHomes.com.

Writen by Jimmy Sturo

Denver streets are lined with beautiful homes for sale. There are charming little retreats, family homes, vacation homes, vast country estates and small cabins. Whatever your preference, there's Denver real estate property perfect for you and your family.

Denver communities

Denver Metro has about 42 municipalities and 7 counties with several neighboring mountain and valley districts. Each of these areas offers a unique living experience. The city of Denver has more than twenty exceptional neighborhoods. There are also beautiful real estate properties in the surrounding Englewood, Lakewood, Arvada, Broomfield, Greenwood Village, Centennial, Littleton, Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock, Parker, Thornton, Wheatridge, Aurora, Lafayette, Brighton, Boulder, Superior, Westminster, Northglenn, Golden, Cherry Hills Village and Evergreen to name just a few.

Denver's population is very diverse, with a healthy mix of singles, families and senior citizens. This is why Denver has facilities for everybody – restaurants that cater to all ages and tastes, different churches representing different faiths and different recreational facilities. Denver also has a bustling nightlife and plenty of casinos. You'll never run out of places to go to when you feel like having fun.

Remember that the cost comparisons, infrastructures, amenities and available properties vary in different areas, so do your research before deciding what area to buy real estate in.

New real estate projects across Denver

Real estate is booming in Denver, and more and more real estate developments are being built. Aside from the many existing properties in the Denver area, there is also a very active market for new properties. The population in Denver is ever-growing, so developers are offering new projects for all kinds of buyers. You can choose to have your home constructed instead of buying existing Denver real estate properties . This way, you can get involved in just about every aspect of your home's look and feel.

Denver Real Estate provides detailed information on Denver Real Estate, Denver Colorado Real Estate, Denver Real Estate Agents, Denver Real Estate For Sale and more. Denver Real Estate is affiliated with Bend Oregon Real Estate.

Writen by Mark Donovan

For most of my adult life I had thought about someday building my Dream Home. Several years ago I finally got the chance. I had purchased a lake front lot with a small cottage on it. My initial intention was to use the property "as is", and someday raze the old cottage and build a new home in its place. After a couple of weekends in the musty old camp I came to the conclusion that I needed to speed up my timetable.

Part of the dream in building my own home was to act as the General Contractor and to personally supply a great deal of sweat equity. I accomplished both of these goals, however it was not easy. There were many roadblocks and bends in the road along the way. In the subsequent parts of this chronology, I will review my experiences in hopes that others may gain from my experiences.

Determining the Home Style and Size

After making the decision to raze the cottage and build a new home, I had to first determine what type and size of home to build. My lot was limited in size and required careful planning to ensure that I would meet all of the setbacks governed by the town I lived in. Although I had these concerns, I decided to forgo the Architect route. I deemed it too expensive and probably not necessary for the style of home I wanted to build. Instead I picked up a handful of Home Plan magazines and surfed the internet for home designs. I also picked up an inexpensive software package for designing homes and floorplans. After a week of reviewing home plans, I found one that met most of my requirements in terms of a floorplan. The footprint was smaller than I wanted, but I concluded that I could redraw the floor plan accordingly using my newly purchased Home Design Software Package.

The Home Design Software package was not as simple to use as the instruction manual implied, however after a couple of weeks I had a floorplan with all the dimensional information.

Assuming the role as the General Contractor

As I had indicated earlier, one of my goals was to assume the role as General Contractor on this project. I quickly learned that banks frown upon lending construction mortgages to everyday homeowners and to folks who have little professional building experience. I got around this issue by deciding not to use the banks for financing. However, from what I learned later, it may have been possible for me to assume a construction mortgage if I had quit my day job and applied for the loan as a "full time General Contractor". Indeed, I would have needed to complete a full proposal to the bank with all costs and subcontractors identified, but this is necessary anyways.

As the General Contractor I developed a build schedule and task list. Some of the top items included: Identifying subcontractors, pulling permits, and having a septic design approved.

Carefully Pick your Sub-Contractors

Identifying the right subcontractors is the most important task a General Contractor performs. Poor selection of subcontractors can lead to delays in schedules, cost overruns, poor workmanship and strife between the various subcontractors on the job. Prior to hiring subcontractors, it is important to visit their current jobsites. Review their work on existing jobsites and mingle with the other subs to judge the working relationship. In addition get two or three reference checks on the subcontractors. If there are poor workmanship, personality issues, or references move on. Do not settle for second rate subs, even if it means slipping your schedule or costs goals, as you will more than likely suffer even larger schedule slips or higher costs by hiring the wrong people.

Pulling Permits

Once you have selected and hired your excavator, chief framer, and foundation company, review with them your plans. Make sure you walk the site with them, and carefully stake out the house footprint, paying careful attention to lot setbacks, septic tanks, leach fields and well location. Once all are agreed upon with the house plans and the location of the home, contact the building inspector and review with him/her your plans. You will need to submit a very thorough package to the building inspector prior to getting approval. There are frequently town and state forms that need to be filled out regarding wetlands, and home thermal analysis. In addition, detailed engineering drawings of the proposed home may be required. In my case the Framer was able to assist in developing additional sketches of the house plan to ensure structural compliance to local, state and federal building codes. If I had used the initial home plans I had obtained, those would have been sufficient. I also could have contacted an architect with my selected plans to provide additional details, however it was not necessary in my case.

After about a week and several hundred dollars later I had the permit to build a new home.

Septic Design

My home required its own septic system on site. As a result, I required a septic design and an associated permit for the new home. I recommend pursuing this as early as possible in any new home project as this can take up to 2-3 months to complete as both town and state approvals are required, not to mention site and engineering work.

Without knowing exactly where the septic system and tank will reside, it may be difficult to locate the exact position of the home and in many cases the building inspector may not approve the building permit until the septic design permit has been obtained. I was fortunate in that the property already had a small septic system on the lot, so the building inspector gave me approval. I was at financial risk, however, in the event the new septic design was not approved or needed to be repositioned from the proposed location. Fortunately that was not the case and I was able to move forward on razing the cottage and beginning site work.

To Be Continued ….

In Part 2 of "Building Your Dream House", I will cover razing an existing building, performing site prep work, and pouring foundation walls. Stay tuned……………

me_donovan@comcast.net
http://homeadditionplus.com
http://homeaddition.blogspot.com

Over the past 20+ years Mr. Donovan has been involved with building homes and additions to homes. His projects have included: building a vacation home, building additions and garages on to existing homes, and finishing unfinished homes. Mr. Donovan's formal education and profession has been as an Electrical Engineer and Marketing Manager.

Writen by Steven Gillman

Be a slumlord? Okay, I got your attention, now the truth. I really don't recommend that anyone endanger their renters with unsafe housing. Much of what people call slumlording though, is simply providing reasonable housing for those with low incomes. It is of benefit to the renter AND the landlord.

Why Do People Rent Dumps?

People rent not-so-nice places because they can afford to. A house that needs paint, has old rusty hinges on the doors, and a dirt driveway - this is a house that cost less to buy, and therefore can be rented for less. Anything major that the landlord does to improve it will result in higher rents, and possibly drive the renter away.

In fact, this often happens. A few years ago my own town enacted its first rental regulations. The fifteen pages of new rules included many non-safety-related requirements, like a minimum of windows, to allow natural lighting, bedroom square-footage requirements, and no peeling paint.

These things are done in the name of low income renters, and yet the result is always the same: higher rent. With that and the regulations against mobiles homes, low income families are moving further away from town and jobs. I mention all this to let you know that if you offer an ugly, but safe and affordable rental, you are providing a real service.

Why Invest In Low Income Housing?

If a nice two bedroom house in a small town costs $130,000 and rents for $800, an old mobile home on a lot will probably cost $45,000 and rent for $500. Notice that the house costs almost three times as much, but the rent you get isn't even doubled. This means the mobile gives you MORE CASH FLOW. That is why old houses and mobile homes (on land) are such good investments.

It's important to note that you'll have more risk and management problems with low income housing. Repairs come up more often, and rent will be late more often, on average. This is why you deserve a higher rate of return. Otherwise, who would want to provide low-cost rentals?

Treat your renters well, and make your places safe. Do these things, and you can enjoy a good return on your investment - even if some want to call you a slumlord.

Steve Gillman has invested real estate for years. To learn more, and to see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

Writen by Gary Woods

Looking at Homes and Estates and Planned Unit Developments for 2005 in Summerland versus 2004, let's look at some of the numbers and see.

In 2004 15 single family dwellings changed hands. Compare that to 2005 when 13 properties moved. This translates to a decrease of about -15% in the number of properties sold. An interesting number but not where near what happened in Carpinteria.

So what about the List price of these properties? In 2004 the Median List price which is the one right in the middle of those 14 properties went on the market for $1,295,000 and in 2005 the Median List price was $1,655,000 for a 27% increase in one year. For 2004 the Average price was $1,619,466 but in 2005 it went to $1,742,384 a 7% increase. This is an interesting phenomenon where the average list price and median list price are percentage wise so much different. It looks like in '04 there were fewer expensive properties listed whereas in '05 most of the properties have come in at about the same list price.

Okay, the list prices were up in 2005 but what about the actual Sold Prices? The Median Sold price for 2004 was $1,259,375 and in 2005 it went to $1,600,000 for a 27% right at the percentage increase of Median List Price. The average price also increased greatly with 2004 coming in at $1,533,778 and 2005 showing up at $1,664,384 for an 8.5% increase slightly in front of the 7% increase in the Average List price.

So, sales are down about 15% but the Median Sales price continues to surge up 27% for the area.

Digging deeper into the numbers we find some other interesting developments. In 2004 16 properties came on the market but in 2005 32 came on. So double the amount of properties came on the market in 2005, but fewer sold. So what happened to all of those properties that didn't sell?

Well, in '05 5 got withdrawn as opposed to 4 for '04. 5 Cancelled in '05 vs. 0 for '04, and 9 expired in '05 as opposed to 6 in '05. Currently in the Summerland Real Estate just like the Carpinteria market we've got an increased expectation on the part of sellers that their house is going to sell for a lot of money. Then if the property doesn't sell they withdraw or let the listing expire.

So what happened in the Condo market? Just like single family homes the number of sales in the Condo market was down in 2005. In '04 there were 5 properties that sold and in '05 there were 3. That translates to a -40% decrease in homes that sold, an even greater number than single family dwellings. But when dealing with such small numbers percentages mean less than when you have a larger sample.

So what about the list prices? In 2004 the Median List price was $819,000, but in 2005 it went to $995,000 for a 21% increase. And the Average List price went from $798,100 to $998,333 for a 25% increase.

Okay, so the List Price went up. What about the sales price? In 2004 the Median Sales price was $549,000 and in 2005 it was $658,500 for a 20% increase. Not a bad return on your investment. And the Average Sales price went from $616,751 in 2004 to $665,848 in 2004 for an 8% increase.

Again, let's look a little deeper at the numbers. 4 Condos came on the market in Summerland Real Estate in '05 vs.7 for '04. 1 got withdraw in '05 as opposed to 0 in '04. 1 cancelled in '05 vs. 1 in '04 and 1 expired in '05 vs. 0 in '04.

So just like single family homes the number of sales was down '05 vs.'04 but the sales price was up about 20%. I guess the real question is what does that mean for the future? Well, all the economic blocks are still in a line. We've got a pretty low inventory of homes to sell, but there are a substantial number of people looking to get into the market. Combine that will still very low interest rates and things look pretty good. If you've got a piece of paradise I'd hold on to it, if you're looking to buy in the Summerland area I'd recommend sooner rather than later.

Well that's about it for Summerland Real Estate...

Gary Woods is a Real Estate Broker in Santa Barbara California and is the Computer Trainer for the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors. You can hear him on Radio 1290 AM Mondays from 9-10AM in Santa Barbara

Writen by Nick Hunter

Home Inspection is one of those businesses where the majority of the people who look to get involved will work for themselves.

Career and business

Training for on-the-job work is a major part of beginning a successful Home Inspection Career, but understanding how a business works can be just as important. Be sure to develop a business plan, have adequate capital, and use a good accountant! As with any self owned business, you will want to develop referrals, have relationships with real estate attorneys, brokers and banks. I know when I bought my home, one of the things I asked our real estate attorney was "Do you know a good home inspector?". An established home inspector does not rely on advertising. He or she relies on word of mouth and referrals from people in the industry.

A home inspector is a vital part of real estate business today. Proper inspection of a home prior to a completed transaction is necessary. It is a cyclical business (moves with the market) to real estate, but the best thing is - it is not price sensitive. If the Real Estate market declines, but transactions continue - the home inspector still gets his jobs.

Training

Proper home inspection training is very important. We are dealing with properties, buyers and sellers of large amounts of money AND most the important factor - Safety!

Home Inspectors will examine electrical systems, wires, outlets, frayed connections. Not being properly trained in this area can be very dangerous. Not just for you, but for the new owner that may be unprepared for faulty or aged electrical trouble for instance. Other areas include: Plumbing and piping, exterior trouble spots like rotting or compromised framing, plywood and roof trouble.

Home Inspectors must be schooled and trained in identifying potential health hazards such as asbestos tiles and shingles, mold in the walls or under carpeting and floors and lead. Appliances like dishwashers, washing machines and dryers are also examined. It is the inspectors ultimate responsibility to complete an accurate and very detailed report of the homes condition.

You can begin training on how to become a Home Inspector in your state by taking courses which can be delivered online. There are no public educational or school pre-requirements, so people that are looking for a career change do not have to worry about prior experience. However, having some experience in house repair is a big plus. The training will be easier. Search out books to read more before you decide this is a career for you.

Conclusion

Training and building a career in Home Inspection is a wonderful opportunity to help people, run your own business and see the results of your work. However, as with any job - you need to have a passion for it. Don't just do it for the money.

Nick Hunter is the President of American Investment Training (AIT) and contributes to http://www.propertytrainingcourse.com, an online resource for real estate course learning.

Writen by Ernani Uchoa

Foreclosed homes can be a great way to enjoy a great home or terrific investment for many people. While it is a myth that you can always buy foreclosed homes for pennies on the dollar, you can still find very good bargains, with some foreclosed homes selling for as much as 10-40% off the market value of the foreclosed home.

Where Do Foreclosed Homes for Sale Come From?

Foreclosed homes are usually the result of unemployment, divorce, or death.

When these things occur to the average homeowner, if he is not prepared, he may get so behind in mortgage payments that the lender decides to foreclose the property in order to get their money back. Then the lender takes over legal possession of the foreclosed home, has it appraised and puts it up for sale.

The problem is that there are so many foreclosed homes on the market, appraisals are hasty and under-appraisal is common. The professionals in charge of appraisals may have to appraise dozens of foreclosed homes in a day, so mistakes occur frequently. In order to ensure that you get the best deals on foreclosed homes for sale, therefore, it is very important that you do your research well. You will likely find some foreclosed homes that have been over-appraised. However, if you keep looking, you will likely find foreclosed homes that are under-appraised and are being sold for far less than the market value. These under-appraised foreclosed homes can be a great investment.

What Are the Benefits of Foreclosed Homes?

For investors and homebuyers, foreclosed homes:

• Are a great way to buy homes. Foreclosed homes often allow you to buy a more costly or valuable home than you could otherwise afford.

• Are great way to build equity. Since foreclosed homes may be sold under market value and in some cases and require some minor repairs, you can build equity very quickly on them.

• They are fast and inexpensive to buy. Government agencies generally pay the real estate agent's commission on government foreclosed homes, saving you on closing costs. In addition, the occupants of foreclosed homes are almost always already gone, allowing you to move in right away.

Whether you want to buy a foreclosed home to live in or to invest through reselling, foreclosed homes are simply an untapped gold mine. If you want to see all that foreclosed homes can do for you, ForeclosureDeals.com has the largest database of the freshest foreclosed homes for sale listings across the nation. With experts standing by to answer questions and a free full access seven-day membership trial, you can find the home of your dreams.

Ernani Uchoa is the Author of http://www.foreclosuredeals.com, leading source of foreclosed homes on the web. Keep informed with up to date foreclosures information visting our foreclosed homes blog.