Seal the Deal With a Letter

After all the house hunting, after applying for a mortgage, and after figuring out how much you want to spend on a house, you know what can make the difference and convince the current owners to accept your bid?

A letter.

That’s right. Even in this age of high-tech, a hand-written letter explaining why you want to live in a home can actually convince people to sell to you as opposed to someone else; even if the other person’s bid is slightly higher. So here’s how to put pen to paper and write a perfect note to the people who are selling the house you want to live in.

Make it Personal 
Tell the current owners a little about yourself. If you’re a young couple starting out, write about how this house is the perfect place for you to start your life together. If you have kids, tell them how much you love the neighborhood and school district. And if you’re a retiree, write about how you look forward to spending special time with your grandchildren there.

Mention the House Itself 
Think about the things in the home that you truly love, the aspects that made you say, “I want this house.” Maybe the kitchen window leads to a beautiful view you want to enjoy as you drink your morning coffee. Or perhaps there’s a swing set or pool you picture your kids playing in. If the home has a beautiful garden, tell them you look forward to keeping it beautiful and thriving, they’ll appreciate knowing that their years of hard work will be built upon.

Praise the Neighborhood 
While looking for your dream home, you’ve done your research into the neighborhood. Tell the current owners how much you love their town and mention specific parks, shops, or attractions. Perhaps they suggested a restaurant to you. If you went there, tell them how much you liked it and look forward to enjoying many meals there.

Most importantly, be sincere. The more honest and heartfelt your letter is, the more effective it will be.

February 2020 - Luxury Market Report for North America

February 2020 - Luxury Market Report for Placer County

February 2020 - Luxury Market Report for the Sacramento area

How to Save for Property Taxes

A property tax bill is easy enough to get. Local governments typically assess property tax and send homeowners a bill in the mail. Paying the tax, and saving for it, are the hard parts.

The amount of the tax is largely based on where the property is and how much it’s worth. They can easily be thousands of dollars and can usually be paid in two installments over one year. 

There are a few ways to save for the average property tax bill in the U.S. One of the easiest is to spread the payment out over 12 months with your monthly mortgage payment. This is called an escrow account, where the money is held and automatically paid to your tax collector. Homeowners insurance payments can also be paid into an escrow account, and by paying both bills on time, you’ll avoid penalties. 

One possible drawback to this is that if you’re not paying enough to your lender to cover the entire property tax bill, the financial institution will still pay your tax bill in full on your behalf and send you a notice of the shortfall. You may be required to pay it all at once, or the shortfall amount may be spread over the next year. Some banks may charge interest and fees to do this. 

If the opposite happens and too much money is collected in the escrow account for taxes, the bank may send you a refund or lower your tax payment for the coming year. 

Another option is to set up a separate savings account yourself and deposit money for your property taxes automatically each month. This allows you to keep your money as long as possible until the taxes are due and collect interest on your money before paying the bill. 

If you’d rather avoid that step, but still want to make monthly payments, some cities allow homeowners to pay their property taxes monthly so that they aren’t faced with one large bill. 

You could set up a pre-authorized payment to your municipality to deduct money from your bank account on a set day each month. It then holds the money and pays your property tax bill on the due date. 

However you decide to save money to pay property taxes, be sure to pay the bill on time. If you don’t, it could result in payment penalties. In the worst-case scenario, a lien could be placed on your home if you don’t pay your property taxes. 

Why Stay-at-Home Parents Should Have Life Insurance

Stay-at-home parents contribute a lot to their families—more than $160,000 annually, according to one estimate. But since their work at home doesn’t come in the form of actual dollars going into a bank account, it can be difficult to see their value. 

It can also be difficult to justify buying life insurance for someone who doesn’t have an income. Since life insurance is generally meant to replace the income that one partner contributes to a household, why do they need it if they have no income to replace? 

The answer lies in the fact that their household contributions would be missed, and someone else might have to be paid to do that work. Non-employed married moms spend 3.8 hours each day on household activities and 4.2 hours on childcare, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Those numbers can vary, however, and an online calculator such as the one created by salary.com can help stay-at-home parents find a comparable wage for the hours they work at home. The calculator allows users to input the number of hours spent on housework, child care, home maintenance, cooking, driving and other tasks. Overtime pay is also considered. 

A term life insurance policy may be a good choice for parents who stay at home and take care of their children. As the name implies, the policy is good for a “term,” such as 20 years, and will pay off if the insured dies during that time. That can be enough time to cover caring for the children and sending them to college. Or, a parent may return to the workforce earlier, requiring a shorter policy.

Life insurance coverage is often reviewed during major lifestyle changes. These include a child’s birth, buying a new home, getting a raise at work or starting a new job. All can require increasing life insurance coverage, with the most expensive need being a lost salary, followed by a home mortgage. Without one income to help pay a mortgage, life insurance can fill that gap. 

Even after children leave home, non-working spouses may still want to have life insurance. Not only will the unpaid work they do at home have to be replaced, but there may be funeral costs and other things a surviving spouse may have to deal with. 

Ultimately, that’s what life insurance is for—to take care of your loved ones after you’re gone.