Written by Per Merriam Webster….Definition of Labor Day: A day set aside for special recognition of working people celebrated in the US and Canada as a legal holiday the fist Monday in September. At this challenging time, many working class people have been suffering reduced work schedule or been out of work all together while others have been called upon to work more deemed essential for maintaining daily living. Here at ByOwner.com we 
wish to celebrate all our “Laborers”…Farmers, Police, Firefighters, Hospitality Workers, Retail and Grocery Workers, Doctors, Nurses, Hospital Workers, Dentists and their Workers, Teachers, Restaurant Owners and Workers, Janitors and Maintenance Workers, Nursing Home Workers ….Workers, Workers, Workers!!!! You have earned our respect and our wish that you take the time to enjoy a very relaxing Labor Day Holiday!!
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HAPPY LABOR DAY AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK!
Time to Build Your Dream Home?
Have you been wondering if you should build your dream home? Based on current interest rates and recent national stats, the answer to that question may be a huge YES! Of course, you can’t make the total decision based on market but if you have your credit in order and the funds to make it happen, you might want to explore all your options. Mortgage rates are at an all time low so that may also help you in your decision making process. Remember, waiting and waiting for the exact right time may cause you to miss out on the exact right time!
Factors to Consider:
1) Are you in a financial position to build? Keep in mind that costs typically go well beyond the initial estimate from a builder as you add your personal choices re: floors, tiles, carpets, lighting, etc.
2) Are you prepared for the process…emotional and financial of building a home? You might want to talk with people you know who have gone thru the building process to gauge your own ability to do so without “going crazy”. An architect I knew once said, “Building a home will either draw you closer or tear you apart”. Seems extreme but often true.
3) Have you done your own homework on the kind of home you want…can afford….the location you want to build in and the cost of living there? If not, this is a very important FIRST step to building.
4) It’s important to research your architect and/or builder. Don’t just contact referrals they give you to talk with…of course those will be their ‘happy’ customers. Search out homes that were built by them and get honest and thorough feedback. Also check with the city you’re building in to see how many if any complaints or compliments they’ve had re: builders in town.
The point is, just because the interest rates are low does not mean it’s the right time for you to build but it could be. Be diligent. Be thorough. Be honest with yourself about your goals and finances. Then decide with confidence so you can move forward with joy about what’s to come. That joy will override all the challenges!
Bathtub Update that Upgrades your Bath
It used to be that if you wanted a free standing tub in your bath, you pretty much were looking at Victorian style clawfoot tubs. These are certainly gorgeous and add an elegance to your room BUT for many people the style just doesn’t blend with the rest of their more modern styled home so have simply gone the traditional route or eliminated their tub option all together. For those people, there are now many options available from the simplest model available for under $1000 to extravagant styles that can cost upwards of $10000 but rival the best 5 star luxury hotel. No matter which route you go, a free standing tub updates and upgrades your Bath all by itself!
Amazing Housing Market Improvements!
With the Coronavirus pandemic came an almost dead stop to the real estate industry caused by fear of the future regarding jobs, health, the drop in consumer confidence and the stock market. BUT just as suddenly as things turned to chaos, the housing market, enhanced by historically low mortgage interest rates, has actually become a welcome high point among many still uncertain lows.
After an almost stagnant spring, home sales rebounded in May and June. New construction rose to 16.6% in May and then continued to rise to over 17% in June. Pending home sales showed the highest one month gain since the NAR (National Association of Realtors) started tracking numbers almost 20 years ago rising an amazing 44.3% in May.
Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, this is good…no great news!!
Historic Low Interest Rates!!
This month, August 2020, Fannie Mae has announced historically low interest rates:
30 yr. mortgages 2.88%
15 yr mortgages 2.44%
With the pandemic still coursing the world, this has been a challenging time for many with regard to buying or selling a home. With this new announcement, if you’ve been considering selling, this is a great time to take that step. Inventory is low and demand by those who are in a position to buy is high. If you’ve been thinking about buying and have the ability to do so this is an amazing opportunity for you. With rates so low, you can qualify for more home or perhaps if you haven’t been able to qualify before, now you will have options.
Yes, for many this is a scary time, but an old proverb says, “If you have an advantage offered you, take advantage!”
The Virtual Tour and Drone Photography Advantage
During this uncertain and challenging time, many sellers still want or need to sell their homes and qualified buyers want to take advantage of the amazingly low interest rates. BUT for some, the idea of showing their home or walking through a home causes them some concerns.
One way to help reduce the stress for both seller and buyer is by taking advantage of Virtual Tour and Drone photography. As a seller, offering a Virtual Tour of your home gives your potential buyer the opportunity to virtually not only view your home’s benefits but also get a realistic sense of the traffic flow, spaciousness and dynamics that aren’t always attainable from still photos. If you have a dynamic outdoor living area or have amazing views to offer, Drone photography provides an aerial view in stills and virtual options to allow your prospective buyers to get a full sense of what your home offers them.
Yes, using professional photography including Virtual Tours and/or Drone options will be an added cost to you as a seller. BUT the benefits, especially in these times of uncertainty of how to deal with showing and viewing homes, will far outweigh the cost and may bring you more potential buyers and offers, giving you your best price and profit.
BuyOwner.com offers you professional photography options so don’t hesitate to contact our Marketing Consultants to see how this advantage can bring you faster and better results!
VIRTUAL STAGING! Lower Cost & Optimum Results!
So your home is vacant but the cost of having someone come in and stage your home is prohibitive for you. So what can you do? Virtual Staging!! This is a cost effective alternative to having a “stager” come into your home, create a plan, bring in furniture, have a crew set it all up and then have to do so again to pick it up when your home has sold. Those cost can run into the thousands or tens of thousands depending on the size and grandeur of your home. Virtual Staging takes advantage of new and evolving technology to allow potential buyers to view your home online, fully staged and then if they choose, to walk through physically to get a sense of the vacant space for their own furnishings.
At this time, during the Covid-19 pandemic, many people have chosen to not go to homes personally until they have completely walked through online. As good as photographer may be, still photos are the least effective when people are online shopping because they often do not adequately show the depth or dimensions of your rooms. Being able to see furniture in the photos gives people a better sense of flow and space.
There are many options and prices available to you so rather than just take a company’s word for their quality, make sure and shop around. A simple search titled “Virtual Staging” will yield numerous results so relax, take your time and be diligent. Ask for addresses of homes they have staged that you can view online instead of what they’re showing you on their website. Look at the real effects they’ve created and not just what a commercial web designer may have built into their website.
As always, buyer beware. Then once you’ve done your due diligence and had your home virtually staged, get ready for buyers to be ringing your bell!
Is Your Land Yours? Survey Disputes!
What do you do when your neighbor claims part of your land belongs to them AND they have a survey to “prove” it? Can the county record change the boundary of an decades old existing boundary because of this new survey? This happens more often than you might think and if it happens to you, here are a few things, quoted from “Quora Digest”, that you can do to help resolve the situation.
(1) Ask for a copy of the survey being quoted. IS it by a licensed land surveyor? Or some other surveyor?
(2) Get the county/parish/boroughs tax assessors plat (map) which should have the lot description from the original survey. Locate the benchmark used to identify the map basis.
(3) Look at your title search or other documents to identify any easements.
(4) Locate the physical property line markers, sometimes this is a buried pipe, sometimes it is a arrow or mark on the curb. Typically ground marks trump maps.
Once you have these documents you should be able to figure out the truth of the situation.
I have a second home on a steep hill in coastal California in an area with lots of magnetic abnormalities due to iron rich deposits. A neighbor had our property lines surveyed and noted that the hill had slumped over 8′ since the 80 year old prior survey.
The hill has slumped (as hills do in California), but 8′ is a lot of slump! So I checked his survey against the original. Both were done by licensed surveyors (so far so good) but they used different benchmarks (wait a sec).
The original survey used a benchmark located using a magnetic compass survey line to a nearby hill top benchmark. The new survey used a highly accurate GPS based location. No attempt was made by the modern surveyor to locate the original benchmark.
A subsequent survey by the local water district did. Guess what. The original location point is 7′ or so off of the GPS location. Local magnetic fields distorted the original survey….
The key is if you’re confident that your survey is correct and you’ve been paying taxes on that land for several years, you should not just give in and agree. New doesn’t always mean right!
Ceiling Fans are the Energy Efficient Way to Cool/Heat Your Home & Save $$$!
Did you know that the simple and fairly inexpensive process of installing ceiling fans will not only create more energy efficiency but will also save you $$$ on your utility bills! With even the lower end fans including remote operation, cooling your home and fattening your bank account is as easy as click click click!
Q: Can I use a ceiling fan instead of air-conditioning?
A: Not only can you, there are many benefits to doing so.
- Ceiling fans are quiet. You don’t hear anything when you turn it on or off, or even when it is running constantly.
- Ceiling fans save energy. They only use 50-75 watts of power. That is the same as a light bulb and less than one-tenth of the power it takes to run a medium-sized air conditioner.
- Ceiling fans save money. Running a fan costs considerably less per month than running an air conditioner. Plus so many also have lights that you can add more lighting, including dimmer type, to your room for style and savings.
Q: How are ceiling fans beneficial in the summer?
A: Although a ceiling fan will not lower the temperature in your home, it will make a room feel cooler. When you open doors and windows, warm air is circulated from inside the room to the outside of your home. This action can make you feel up to eight degrees cooler! Inside tip: During the summer, run your ceiling fan in a counter-clockwise direction for maximum efficiency to lower electricity costs and to conserve energy.
Q: What kind of ceiling fan should I buy?
A: Energy Star fans are a good choice and boast being fifty percent more efficient than conventional fans!
Q: What size ceiling fan should I buy?
A: It is a grave mistake to install a huge fan in a big room or a tiny fan in a large room. Not only will it look awkward, but you might not get enough airflow.
- Large rooms (15-by-15+): Use a fan with a blade span of 50 – 56 inches.
- Medium rooms (12-by-12): Use a fan with a blade span of 42 – 44 inches.
- Small rooms (8-by-8): Use a fan with a blade span of 32 inches.
Q: Where should I install a ceiling fan?
A: You should install ceiling fans in the rooms that get the most use. Once you choose the rooms, you should hang your ceiling fan in the center of the room, 10 to 12 inches below the ceiling. If the blades are too close to the ceiling, the air will not circulate.
NOTE: A great often overlooked benefit of ceiling fans is that by reversing the blade direction in the winter, you can help your furnace also be more energy efficient as well and keep your home comfortable while saving money!! In addition, there are so many beautiful styles, now you don’t have to sacrifice style for comfort. Overall a good home purchase!
COVID-19 SCAMS & YOUR CREDIT
This is a reprint of an article on the “Equifax.com” website regarding protecting yourself during this challenging time from scams and financial predators trying to take advantage of people’s stress, vulnerabilities, confusion and fear. Taking the time to read this could save you and those you love even more frustration now and as you pursue buying a home in the future.
“COVID + Credit: New Scams Put Identity at Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Reading time: 10 minutes
Federal, state and city governments have taken steps to provide financial help to Americans during the Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, some bad actors have used the recently relaxed eligibility requirements for state and federal aid to unleash new scams, stealing the identities of the people who most need help.
Watch out for these new scams making the rounds during the Covid-19 pandemic:
Covid-19 Scam #1: Stolen Federal Stimulus Payments
Federal stimulus payments have proven to be an easy target for scam artists. In April, as part of an effort to get checks to those in need, the Internal Revenue Service launched a portal to assist in funds distribution. Through this tool, eligible persons who did not file taxes in 2018 or 2019 are able to enter basic identifying information so the government can more easily distribute their stimulus payments.
Per IRS guidelines, users have been asked to provide a range of personal information, including:
- Full name, current mailing address and an email address
- Date of birth and valid Social Security number
- Bank account number, type of account and routing number, if you have one
- Identity Protection Personal Identification Number (IP PIN) if you received one from the IRS earlier this year
- Driver’s license or state-issued ID, if you have one
- For each qualifying child: name, Social Security number or Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number (ATIN) and their relationship to you or your spouse
Though the relatively simple data requirements are helpful for many Americans, the limited and basic nature of the information makes it easier for scam artists to claim checks that do not rightfully belong to them. Basic personal information can be stolen in a variety of ways, including through data breaches, fake websites asking for personal information, scam calls and phishing emails, all intended to trick unsuspecting Americans just trying to keep up with a deluge of important information.
Covid-19 Scam #2: Scam Artists Impersonating Government Agencies
It’s difficult to know who is really behind the email or phone call you’ve just received. In fact, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has reported a rise in fake emails purporting to be from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or other organizations claiming to offer information on the Coronavirus.
The FBI warns not to click links or open attachments from senders you do not recognize, as those actions can unlock malware and allow scammers to either steal personal information or lock your computer and demand payment. Consumers should also be wary of visiting websites or using apps claiming to track Covid-19 cases worldwide, as criminals are using these portals as a way to deliver malware to phones and personal computers.
Covid-19 Scam #3: Delivery Scams
If you’re older or immunocompromised or if you’re taking care of someone who is, you may need to have items like groceries or necessary medications delivered to your door. Ordering from a trusted source online is a safe way to go, but beware if someone you don’t know well offers to help.
Some scammers may offer to purchase and deliver your supplies but never return with the promised items while taking off with your money. As a general rule, it’s safer to ask for help from a friend or family member or to use a trusted delivery service.
Covid-19 Scam #4: Waylaid Donations
Donating to aid organizations such as your local food bank or hospital can help make a difference during the pandemic, but make sure your money is going where you intend it to. Sadly, the FBI has noted an increase in phishing emails that ask consumers to make donations to local hospitals and charities, or to access Covid-19 testing kits, cures or vaccines that are fake.
Protect yourself by researching your charity of choice before opening your pocketbook. Don’t make a donation in cash, by gift card or by wiring money, as these are common ways scammers ask for money. Verify legitimate charities at givewell.org or charitynavigator.org and visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website for more information on how to avoid donation scams. Never click on any links or download any information from an email sent by someone you don’t know personally.
Covid-19 Scam #5: Fake Zoom Invitations
Bad actors have started preying on those working remotely by sending fake Zoom invitations to bogus online meetings in an attempt to steal passwords. Pay attention to the wording of the messages you receive. If someone “demands your presence” or threatens to terminate you if you don’t attend, chances are it’s a scam. Make sure any video conference invitations you accept are coming from someone you know at your organization.
If you do click the link in a bogus message, you’ll generally be directed to a webpage that looks similar to a legitimate Zoom meeting screen but, in reality, is a page designed to get you to input your email password. Carefully review any messages sent from unfamiliar accounts and the webpages of any links you open. Be sure to reach out to your employer for clarification if you sense something is suspicious about a Zoom invitation you’ve received.
Covid-19 Scam #6: Bogus Offers for Vaccinations and Home Test Kits
Currently, there is no federally approved vaccine or home test for the Coronavirus, but that hasn’t stopped scammers from peddling their goods to worried Americans. If you’re concerned you may have contracted the virus, contact your doctor and ask about testing availability in your area. To help better protect your identity, never share your medical information, Social Security number or health insurance details.
How to Better Protect Your Identity from Covid-19 Scams
While you can never guarantee that your identity will be fully protected, here are five steps you can take right now to ensure your identity is better protected:
- Frequently check your savings, checking, credit card and other key financial accounts for unauthorized charges or withdrawals.
One of the best ways to help better protect your identity is to make sure you’re constantly up to date on the status of your financial accounts. Even setting aside five minutes per week to review every charge or withdrawal can make a difference in swiftly recognizing a threat to your identity. For your bank and credit card accounts, sign up for email or text notifications with your financial services providers, so you’ll get an instant notification if a charge is made. - Contact your bank as soon as you notice any suspicious activity on your account.
If you see any item prompting concern on one of your accounts, contact your bank immediately. Explain your situation and ask about your options, which may include canceling your active credit or debit cards and being reissued new ones. Talk with your bank or credit card lender for more information on the specific remedies available to you. - Frequently change your online passwords to better protect your information from data breaches.
The internet age has certainly provided many benefits amid the Covid-19 pandemic: You can now order groceries and stay in contact with friends and family while social distancing from home. However, an unintended consequence of moving secure information such as your telephone number or address to mobile apps that make life easier is that your personal information is now stored on more platforms than ever. If hackers access these systems, they could obtain your secure information without your knowledge.To combat this problem, set up strong passwords (unique to each account) that have more than eight digits and include upper and lower case letters, numbers and at least one symbol. Set a reminder to change all passwords periodically, whether that’s annually, once every six months or as frequently as you can reasonably manage.
- Remove personal information from your social media accounts.
The more information scammers can glean from simply looking at your social media accounts, the easier it may be for them to steal your identity. Start by reviewing the privacy settings for each of your accounts and update them to remove excess information if need be. To reduce the risk of someone impersonating you, keep your mailing address, email address, phone number and other personally identifying information private. - If your identity has been used to cash your stimulus check or apply for unemployment or other benefits, file a report with the relevant authorities.
Unfortunately, recent reports show that identity thieves have targeted those in the most need of financial aid during the Covid-19 pandemic. If you suspect that you have not received the aid you are eligible for because you are a victim of identity theft, contact the relevant local or federal authorities.
It’s unfortunate that bad actors are taking advantage of a pandemic to steal people’s identities, but you can take steps right now that can help better protect your information from thieves.”
