Rent vs.Buy

For 10 years, I worked in Property Management in Lawrence, KS.  If you have rented an apartment or townhome during the past decade here in town, chances are, we've met!

I truly loved working with people who were looking for a home to rent.  Discovering their needs, touring a variety of floorplans and locations, listening to their concerns and wants and finding a place where they could be happy~these were the moments that made me tick!  And I think I was good at my job.  I hope, anyway :)

Every year in January, we would begin the process of asking our current residents if they were considering a lease renewal for the upcoming lease term.  In Lawrence, leases generally begin and end in August to revolve around the college schedule.  It might seem like January is awfully early to start asking people their plans for the following August...but in a college town, it's a reality.  Although I don't posses the reports to give you exact numbers, I would venture to guess that most years, about 50% of our communities would renew their lease with us.  Often we would lose residents because they were moving out of state or leaving college or had lost roommates.  Some people were just ready for a change.  I was supposed to combat any objections to not re-signing a lease.  That was my job.  And honestly, I truly hoped and wanted people to stay because I wanted to give them a positive experience in their rental home.  The one objection that I never wanted to attempt to overcome was when they were leaving because they were purchasing a home.  I was happy for them!

This year, I'm working from the other side of the fence.  I'd like you to consider NOT renewing your lease and buy your own home!

This is such a big decision and I would be honored to be a part of the process with you and for you.

If your lease ends in July or August...NOW is the time to start the process of purchasing.  I know it seems early...but I know your landlord is asking you to renew your lease, too!

Getting pre-approved for your home loan is your very first and probably most important step.  You'll want to know your price range before you seriously start looking at houses.  Don't forget:  you can always look at homes that are below your loan approval amount.  In fact...I encourage it!  Just because you are approved for $150,000 doesn't mean you have to spend that amount!!

Talk to your bank or ask your friends and family about their lender experiences.  You can also ask me about local lenders.  I've worked with and met several right here in Lawrence and in KC.  They are super nice people and will work hard to get you quick answers.  Don't be nervous or intimidated because they are there to help you.

After you are pre-approved, let's get together to talk about your ultimate goal:  finding your perfect home.  We'll work together to find and tour homes.  It'll be fun!  I promise!!

Today is Februrary 15, 2015.  If you think you are serious about buying a home this year, now is the time to decide just how serious you are.

That way you can start talking to lenders about your loan on March 1st.

Then we can start your search by April 1st!

You'll want to close your purchase as early as June or mid-July.  Right now, most deals take about 45 days from offer to closing date.

And then~

Contact me in any way that you're most comfortable-

call me  785-207-0142

text me  785-207-0142

email me  haslerheather@gmail.com

facebook  HeatherHaslerHomesForSale

We can meet up anytime!

Here are some links that talk about buying vs. renting your home:

http://www.newtopias.com/millennials-700000-mistake/


http://www.millersamuel.com/press/should-you-buy-or-should-you-rent-in-2015/

Use a mortgage calculator for some preliminary number cruching:

http://www.heatherhaslerhomesforsale.com/#!useful-tools/c9gb

Thanks for reading and don't forget you can connect with me on social media, too!

  

https://www.facebook.com/heatherhaslerhomesforsale

https://www.pinterest.com/heatherhasler/heather-hasler-homes-for-sale/

http://instagram.com/heatherhasler/

Smaller Home Happiness

A friend shared a link to a story that piqued my interest.  It was about why people should consider a smaller home.

It listed 12 reasons why people might be happier in a smaller home and she listed reason #8 as one that was important to her.  I love it when people don't spell things out because it forces me to read the entire article.

I grew up in a small town in Nebraska in a small house.  Many of my friends lived in much larger homes and it never crossed my mind why my family did not.

Our house had a living room that was a decent size, a small-ish kitchen that, looking back, I think my mother despised.  We barely had room for a table in there!  There was just one long countertop that went across one wall and had the sink in the middle.

There were 2 small bedrooms and 1 tiny full bathroom on the main level.

From the kitchen, there were stairs that led to the big unfinished basement.

My baby brother and I shared a bedroom on the main level until I was in junior high and then my parents created a room for me in the basement.  I loved that room!  Dad made a folding pegboard wall to section off space for me and it was awesome!

The house was on a huge corner lot and had a driveway in the front yard and a detached garage in the back on the alley (remember alleys?!?)

The driveway had peonies on 2 sides.  If I close my eyes, I can see them and smell them like I'm 8 years old sitting next to them on a sunny spring day.

My parents moved out of that house when I was in my early 20s.  It was a bigger and newer house, but it was never my home.  They later moved to a bigger city in Nebraska and built a beautiful home that they love.  

But for me, home will always be that little house on the corner.  It might have been barely 1,000 square feet.  Can you imagine raising 2 kids in that house with only 1 bathroom?  And parking your car in a driveway in a harsh snowy Nebraska winter?

That house was full of life and love.  It's the house where my parents brought home my little brother.  It's the house where we all sat around a little round kitchen table to eat the meals that my mother cooked with love.  We had family holiday celebrations with the whole extended family in that little space.  My neighborhood friends would come over to play baseball and kickball in our big yard that had perfect landmarks for the bases...driveway for home base, front porch for first base, and trees for second and third.  

Remember that kitchen that I'm sure my mother hated?  One of my favorite childhood memories is of her having me lay down on the kitchen counter so she could wash my hair in the sink.  I remember looking up at her while she was gently rubbing shampoo into my hair and thinking she was so pretty.  

Those moments are what I think made our home.  My memories aren't about how big my bedroom was or the finishes in the bathroom.  They are about spending time as a family inside that house.

So when you're thinking about buying a home; don't feel obligated to purchase a large home that may not be what you really need.  Don't be afraid to look at smaller houses!

Consider these 12 reasons why you’ll actually be happier in a smaller house:

1. Easier to maintain. Anyone who has owned a house knows the amount of time, energy, and effort to maintain it. All things being equal, a smaller home requires less of your time, energy, and effort to accomplish that task.
2. Less time spent cleaning. And that should be reason enough…
3. Less expensive. Smaller homes are less expensive to purchase and less expensive to keep (insurance, taxes, heating, cooling, electricity, etc.).
4. Less debt and less risk. Dozens of on-line calculators will help you determine “how much house you can afford.” These formulas are based on net income, savings, current debt, and monthly mortgage payments. They are also based on the premise that we should spend “28% of our net income on our monthly mortgage payments.” But if we can be more financially stable and happier by only spending 15%… then why would we ever choose to spend 28?
5. Mentally Freeing. As is the case with all of our possessions, the more we own, the more they own us. And the more stuff we own, the more mental energy is held hostage by them. The same is absolutely true with our largest, most valuable asset. Buy small and free your mind.
6. Less environmental impact. A smaller home requires less resources to build and less resources to maintain. And that benefits all of us.
7. More time. Many of the benefits above (less cleaning, less maintaining, mental freedom) result in the freeing up of our schedule to pursue the things in life that really matter – whatever you want that to be.
8. Encourages family bonding. A smaller home results in more social interaction among the members of the family. And while this may be the reason that some people purchase bigger homes, I think just the opposite should be true.
9. Forces you to remove baggage. Moving into a smaller home forces you to intentionally pare down your belongings.
10. Less temptation to accumulate. If you don’t have any room in your house for that new treadmill, you’ll be less tempted to buy it in the first place (no offense to those of you who own a treadmill… and actually use it).
11. Less decorating. While some people love the idea of choosing wall color, carpet color, furniture, window treatments, decorations, and light fixtures for dozens of rooms, I don’t.
12. Wider market to sell. By its very definition, a smaller, more affordable house is affordable to a larger percentage of the population than a more expensive, less affordable one.

Read the whole article here.

Amy Rubin Flett

Buy it for your own home on Etsy.

Some interesting reads:

A 700 square foot home.

Solve 7 problems by owning less.

And one to for listening:

A family of 7 in 700 square feet.

If you'd like to talk about starting your search for a new home, contact me anytime.  There are houses of all shapes, sizes and prices listed right now in Lawrence, KS!  Let's look at them together!

Heather Hasler Homes For Sale

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I'm a REALTOR®

Not every Real Estate Agent is a REALTOR®...
I am a REALTOR®!

A REALTOR® must adhere high standards.

I'm proud to be a REALTOR® and a member of the Kansas Association of REALTORS® 

and the Lawrence Board of REALTORS®

This article talks about the difference between a REALTOR® and a Real Estate Agent.

I think it's important to note that all REALTORS® have completed a Course of Ethics.

The National Association of REALTORS® was formed in 1908 and has over one million members.

1. REALTORS® subscribe to a strict code of ethics and are expected to maintain a higher level of knowledge of the process of buying and selling real estate. An independent survey reports that almost 85 percent of home buyers would use the same REALTOR® again.

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You might wonder if using someone who is a REALTOR® costs more during your transaction.

It does not!  

Contact me if you have questions.  I'm happy to help!

Heather Hasler Homes for Sale

haslerheather@gmail.com

785-207-0142 cell

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