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Homefront Finance – Picking the Right Painter

By The Renno Team · Comments (0)

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

Picking the Right Painter – Sept. 2011

While plenty of homeowners are happy to take on various do it yourself projects, painting the house is one many are only too happy to leave to the professionals. Painting a home is messy, time consuming and sometimes dangerous business. It also is expensive.

The key is to pick the right house painter. You want to not only ensure you are getting a good deal in terms of price, but you also want to ensure that you will get quality work from a responsible professional. The last thing you want to do is pay big money to avoid a headache only to wind up with an even bigger one.

Here are some things you want to keep in mind when house painter:

•Start asking your neighbors. Chances are there are some homeowners in your neighborhood who have recently received a new lick of paint. Ask the owners who did the job, and if they are satisfied with the work and if they would recommend their painter. (If not, your list of possible contractors just got shorter.)

•Inspect the work. If they can recommend the painter, ask your neighbors how long ago they had the work done, and look at areas like the trim, windows and doors and other places where the painters would have had to pay attention to detail. How’d they do? Also ask how old the job is. If it’s just a few months ago, it might be too early to tell if the job was truly a quality paint job, but if it is a couple years old and looking new, that might be a good painter to consider.

•Ensuring proper licensing and bonding. Many states ensure that painters be licensed as a contractor and some require that they be bonded. These are good protections for you as a consumer. Make sure the painter is insured to cover any workers that will be on the job, and protect you, the homeowner, from any liability. If the painter is not bonded, avoid paying any large up-front sums. (If the painter argues that up-front money is required to purchase supplies, consider accompanying them to the paint or home store to make the purchase.)

•Ask for references. When you finally start talking to painters, ask them for at least three references. A true professional will have good customer success stories he or she is happy to share, and customers who are willing to speak on his or her behalf. Make sure to contact those homeowners and see how they liked the work and the painter. Is the job holding up well? Can you come over and take a look at the job? How was the painter in terms of professionalism, communication, timeliness and courtesy?

•Learn about the process. Ask the painter to describe the painting process that would be used on your home. Have them walk you through it step by step. This will help you ensure you are getting quality work. Signs they will do a good job include prepping external electrical fixtures; caulking any hole or gaps; power washing; providing sufficient drying time for the wash; masking off key areas of the home exterior and surrounding areas; identifying which areas should receive trim paint as opposed to the main exterior color.

•Get a warranty. A true professional is one who will stand behind his or her work. Seek painters that offer at least a three-year warranty, so that you have some reasonable assurance that the work will hold up over time. Make sure to carefully read any limitations on the warranty (which should be clearly stated).

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Categories : 1st Time Home Buyers, Real Estate Update

Tags : FHA VA Mortgage Santa Clarita, Mortgage Lender Santa Clarita, Pacific Funding Mortgage Division, PFMD, Realtors in Santa Clarita, Realtors in Valencia, Santa Clarita Mortgage Company, The Renno Team, Valencia Mortgage Company

Homefront – Take Some Years off Your Bathroom

By The Renno Team · Comments (0)

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

Take Some Years off Your Bathroom – Sept. 2011

The bathroom is one of those areas of the house that can quickly show its age, and quickly be revived with a little TLC and elbow grease, but not a ton of money. If you’re intending to sell any time soon, don’t forget that bathrooms and kitchens tend to have the most impact on potential buyers. If you’re not ready to endure a stem-to-stern bathroom upgrade, but still want to take some years off a room that’s showing its age, there are plenty of ways to freshen things up.

Here are a few tips to whip your bathroom into shape:

•Caulk — Remove all the cracking, peeling and faded or yellowing caulking around your tub, inside your shower, around sinks and anywhere else and replace it. White and clear caulking packaged in easy-to-use dispensers is available from any hardware or home store and the look new caulking gives is immediately satisfying.

•Tile and grout — If you have tiles with white grout that are showing their age, spray the tiles with cleaner and scrub them down with a pad that won’t scratch the surface. For the grout use a cleanser with bleach to return it to its original white color.

•Shower dispensers — Create a more organized, attractive shower space easily and inexpensively by replacing worn and possibly rusting hanging shower organizers and racks with simple, elegant wall-mounted soap, shampoo and conditioner dispensers.

•Drains and traps — Take a second to remove the drain stoppers from all sinks and clean them thoroughly with a scrubbing pad to restore their shine. Unscrew the u-shaped trap from the drainpipe under the sink and clean it out. Reinstall the trap and pour some drain cleaner through the whole system to ensure it’s completely clean and chase that with some hot water. Then return the newly cleaned drain plug. Your sink will perform like new.

•Matching fixtures — Create a designer look by installing matching towel bars, toilet paper hangers, door hooks, light fixtures, drawer pullers and knobs and hinges — or items that complement each other in terms of finish and design. Your home stores will sell sets of all these items to give a unified look.

•Showerheads and faucets — If you like your current shower dispense, but it’s not functioning well, try removing the showerhead and submerging it in white vinegar for a couple hours to remove mineral deposits and restore its shine.

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Categories : 1st Time Home Buyers, Real Estate Update

Tags : FHA VA Mortgage Santa Clarita, Mortgage Lender Canyon Country, Mortgage Lender Santa Clarita, Mortgage Lender Stevenson Ranch, Mortgage Lender Valencia, Pacific Funding Mortgage Division, PFMD, Real Estate Agent Santa Clarita, Realtors in Santa Clarita, The Renno Team

Homefront Finance – Getting Out from Under Credit Card Debt

By The Renno Team · Comments (0)

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

Getting Out from Under Credit Card Debt – August 2011

While Americans are borrowing less and saving more in this difficult economy, there are still many U.S. households that are wrestling with the nagging financial problem of credit card debt. Overall U.S. credit card debt is smaller, but Americans still consumed $793 billion in revolving debt (i.e, credit cards) in May of this year alone.

Relying too heavily on credit cards can be an alarmingly easy habit to build. When your income is flowing, using a card as a simple catch-all payment method becomes a habit. This is especially true if the card carries incentives such as airline miles or other benefits that keep you using the card.

But if cash flow narrows or doesn’t keep pace with the spending on the credit card, then carrying over a balance to the next month becomes the default position for too many American households. The second your credit card balance starts showing up every month like an uninvited — and growing — guest, it is time to bring things under control. Here’s how:

1. Halt all unnecessary credit card usage. Some items, such as recurring charges for child care, might need to continue hitting your credit card, but eliminate everything else.

2. Start budgeting. In the same way that you can nickel and dime yourself into debt, you can nickel and dime yourself out of it. Outline all your recurring monthly expenses, as well as expenses you expect on a quarterly, half and annual basis. Consider other unforeseen expenses, such as car repair, and estimate averages for such expenses by looking through old receipts.

3. Narrow your budget. Now that you have your budget, how can you get lean and mean so that you can divert additional money toward paying off your credit card debt. Do you really need that sports package on your cable TV? What can you do without?

4. Do you have savings? Do you have a credit card balance? If you answered “yes” to both, then something is wrong. Compare your savings account’s interest rate to your credit card’s rate. You should notice a massive disparity between the two. While you want to maintain a certain amount of rainy day funds for the aforementioned unforeseen costs that can crop up, everything else should be diverted toward paying off your credit card.

5. Come up with a payment plan. Assuming that you still have a balance left on your card, you need to use your budget to determine how much you can pay each month to start paying down your credit card balance back to zero.

6. Unload. Now is a good time to go through your house and see what items you can get rid of. No, we’re not kidding. That unwanted exercise machine in the basement that’s doubling as a laundry drying rack could be one Craig’s List ad toward becoming debt free. If you’re serious about getting rid of credit card debt as quickly as possible, there’s no shame in unloading unwanted items to generate liquid cash you can use to pay off your debt. Whether its online classifieds or a garage sale, turn clutter into cash you can use to pay down your debt.

7. Come up with new ways to save money. If you don’t already, start clipping coupons and using Groupon and other online tools to save. Think hard about how you can take advantage of sales and any other opportunity to reduce your costs. Every penny you don’t spend is money you can use to get you one more step toward freeing yourself of your credit card debt.

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Categories : 1st Time Home Buyers

Tags : FHA VA Mortgage Santa Clarita, Mortgage Companies Santa Clarita, Mortgage Companies Valencia, Mortgage Lender Santa Clarita, Mortgage Lender Valencia, Pacific Funding Mortgage Division, PFMD, The Renno Team

Homefront – Tackling Termites

By The Renno Team · Comments (0)

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Tackling Termites – August 2011

Do you have some wood that appears dried out or rotten? That could be a sign of termite trouble. Before you go to repair or replace any wood that appears rotten, you want to make sure you don’t have termites, and if you do, you want to get rid of the pests before you do repairs.

For starters, don’t dismiss the possibility of termites out of hand. While the classic drywood termite typically lives in warm areas that do not get below freezing in winter, subterranean termites inhabit every state of the Union, and formosan termites enjoy the Southeast. So, make sure to look for these signs of termite infestation:

•The damaged wood. If some wood appears to be dried out, rotted or hollow, and you can pick at it or puncture it with a tool such as a screwdriver, that could mean termites. If it is a large section of wood, try knocking on it to see if it is not dense, as wood should be.

•The bugs themselves. Termites look like ants with longer abdomens. The flying termites you often see can either be drywood termites or subterranean termites. Drywood termites live in the wood and often infest a specific area or piece of wood, whereas subterranean termites must live in the ground.

•Piles of tiny silver wings. If there are little wings left on floors, windowsills or other flat areas near dried out or rotted-appearing wood, that could well mean termites. That said, flying ants also leave these wings behind.

•Termite poop. Otherwise known as frass, termite droppings are tiny, beige- to brown-colored pellets near a hole or crack in the damaged wood. The termites burrow into the wood, and expel their frass from the nest as they chow down on your timber.

So, you’re positive you have the critters — what do you do to get rid of them? This is a tougher question to answer, because it depends on the severity of the infestation. For instance, if you have a small piece of exterior wood trim that appears to have very localized damage, you might be able to get away with replacing just that wood. But if that wood is connected to other wood on the home, or you find signs of termites on the interior, then you could have a deeper infestation.

The way that termites are professionally treated is typically with chemical extermination, termite bait, or fumigation. There are some do-it-yourself offerings available, but given the possibility of a deep infestation, it usually makes more sense to go with professional exterminators. This can get expensive. Each of the aforementioned solutions can range as high as $2,500.

So, you want to do your homework and get bids from at least three exterminators for whom you’ve received recommendations from friends or neighbors. Make sure each is a member national or state pest control associations and guarantees its work. The termites work slow, which buys your time to do your homework and due diligence when deciding on an exterminator.

Note that some exterminators offer a contracted annual termite control service to detect and prevent any future incursions. You might want to look into this. Each year the pest control company will come to your home to inspect it for termites and abate them as needed.

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Categories : 1st Time Home Buyers, Real Estate Update

Tags : FHA VA Mortgage Santa Clarita, Mortgage Lender Santa Clarita, Pacific Funding Mortgage Division, PFMD, Santa Clarita Mortgage Company, The Renno Team, Valencia Mortgage Company

Industry Insider – Maximizing a Networking Opportunity

By The Renno Team · Comments (0)

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Maximizing a Networking Opportunity – August 2011

While you might think of Facebook and Twitter when it comes to social networking, the real venue for forging solid relationships is at face-to-face networking events. And chances are, if you are a success-oriented sales professional, you try to slate as many networking opportunities as you can.

The question is, are you making the most of the networking events that are filling up your calendar? Here are some ways you can make sure that you master the fine art of working a room:

•Walk into the room with an agenda in mind. That agenda could be to meet certain people at the meeting, develop leads, meet new people, meet with a specific prospect, or it could be a combination of different objectives. Whatever your gameplan is, stick to it.
•Your work begins well before the meeting. Start researching who will be attending the networking event and what they mean to you as a prospect. Identify key targets and start thinking about not the ways you can start conversation with them, and how you can direct that conversation to how you can help them.
•Set some goals for yourself. In the same way you might sit down and try to handle X number of sales calls in an hour, set some performance metrics for this networking meeting. How many new prospects do you want to develop? How many pre-identified targets do you want to meet with? How many business cards do you want to collect? How many do you want to distribute.
•Practice an introduction for yourself, as well as some conversation starters. The last thing you want to do is waste valuable networking time thinking of how you are going to approach someone. Instead, leverage some rehearsed ice breakers that can help you introduce yourself and get a conversation rolling.
•Keep your ears open. As you mingle you might hear snippets of conversation that apply to you. Don’t be afraid to say, “You know, I don’t want to come off rude, but I couldn’t help overhearing that you mentioned …” No one will fault you for offering your insights, expertise or witty banter on the subject. In fact, they’ll most likely appreciate it.
•Remember the key is to connect, not sell. Don’t go to the networking event expecting to close deals. You are there to make connections and lay the ground work for future business development. Trying to work a deal while networking can be considered poor form at many events, and can quickly get you uninvited. Instead, leave your connections open-ended so that you have opportunity for follow-up.
•Keep follow-up reminders. As you offer your follow-ups, maintain a system for noting all the follow-ups you will need to make so that you can quickly send them the next day, and keep your new relationships rolling.

Of course, despite all these tips, it’s easy for even the best networkers to get lost in the moment and feel a little nervous or out of place. If you find yourself feeling awkward at a networking function, don’t drift toward the door. Instead, walk up to the first available person you see, smile, look them straight in the eye, offer a handshake and introduce yourself. A simple, congenial introduction works wonders!

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Categories : 1st Time Home Buyers, Real Estate Update

Tags : FHA VA Mortgage Santa Clarita, Mortgage Lender Santa Clarita, Mortgage Lender Valencia, Pacific Funding Mortgage Division, PFMD, Real Estate Agent Santa Clarita, Realtors in Santa Clarita, The Renno Team

Homefront – Six Easy Bathroom Upgrades

By The Renno Team · Comments (0)

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Six Easy Bathroom Upgrades – July 2011

While the bathroom sees a lot of use, it doesn’t always see a lot of tender loving care. Who can blame us? Cleaning up the bathroom is an onerous chore to begin with, but after a while, a bathroom can start look a little drab and long in the tooth.

Fortunately, there are some easy upgrades that can give your bathroom a fresh, new look. In a weekend, you can put together a pretty dramatic makeover with these six techniques:

1. Match your fixtures — You can create a seamless, designer look by installing matching towel bars, toilet paper hangers, robe hooks, light fixtures faucets, drawer handles or knobs and hinges. Most manufacturers of these products offers sets of all these items. See what’s available at your local home store.

2. Caulk — Inspect all the caulking around your tub, inside your shower, around sinks for mildew creep, or dryness, cracking and peeling. Remove the bad caulking and replace with white or clear caulking.

3. Tile and grout — While removing tile and replacing with a more up-to-date material, such as stone, is the optimal option, you can breathe new life into your bathroom with a good cleaning. Spray the tiles with cleaner and scrub them down with a pad that won’t scratch the surface, and use grout cleaner with a stiff brush to freshen up the grout. Make sure to seal the grout afterward.

4. Mirrors — If you have a large, unframed mirror above your bathroom sink, consider swapping that outgo for a framed mirror for a more modern look. Or, have your existing mirror framed.

5. Designer shower heads — While rainfall showerheads mounted above are very hot right now, re-plumbing your shower can get expensive. Instead there are various options that can thread onto your existing shower pipe that approximate the effect.

6. The walls — Last but not least, don’t forget that you can greatly change the look of your bathroom with a fresh lick of paint. Having trouble deciding on a color? Consider all the upgrades you have in the queue — fixtures, mirrors, etc. — and that should help you envision a complete picture. Also, consider wall paper or a unique wall paper trim to complete the look. Add some color-coordinate towels and you have a brand new room!

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Categories : 1st Time Home Buyers

Tags : Pacific Funding Mortgage Division, Renno Team, Santa Clarita Mortgage Lender, Stevenson Ranch Mortgage Lender, Valencia Mortgage Lender

Industry Insider – Smart Business Means Educating Your Clients

By The Renno Team · Comments (0)

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Leveraging Value Marketing – July 2011

Many sales professionals face the dilemma of trying to keep marketing messages fresh while reaching out to past clients, as well as prospective customers. Simply pitching them about what you offer over and over again accomplishes little. Your customers will begin to tune them out. How do you keep you client base engaged? How do you keep the messages feeling “new?” The answer is simple: Provide value.

“Value marketing” is a concept that basically hinges on the idea of that whatever marketing material you distribute, it should offer some piece of information that they will benefit from, or be able to use in some way. If your marketing pieces offer some kind of “takeaway” for your past and future customers, you gain a few key benefits:

•You are able to market more frequently and on a more regular basis, which means you will more regularly stay at the fore of their minds.
•Your clients will associate your name with something that they value. Moreover, if your marketing materials provide truly valuable content, some might even begin to look forward to it.
•You establish a reputation as an expert resource, and a service provider who cares about his or her customers enough to regularly provide them with something useful, even when they haven’t called upon you to do so.

So, how to get started? Think of your clients and the type of information they might want. Perhaps you work in healthcare. You could offer information on diet, healthy living, prevention or physical fitness, for example. If you work in the automotive industry, you could provide information on proper vehicle maintenance, local car events, or great family road trips.

Next consider the way you will deliver your value marketing to your customer base. Obviously, email and newsletters are proven ways to deliver value marketing campaigns, but don’t stop there. Consider other media, such as blogs or social media, which let you not only communicate your marketing messages, but dialog with your customers.

Lastly, be dependable. Once you’ve committed to a value marketing campaign, there will be an expectation on the par of your customers that they will see it regularly. If you infrequently or haphazardly send your messages, your clients could draw the wrong conclusions regarding your dependability. Have a regular schedule and stick to it — you’ll be amazed at the results when you do!

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Categories : 1st Time Home Buyers

Tags : Pacific Funding Mortgage Division, Renno Team, Santa Clarita Mortgage Lender, Stevenson Ranch Mortgage Lender, Valencia Mortgage Lender

Homefront Finance – Smart Tips for Managing Your Credit

By The Renno Team · Comments (0)

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Smart Tips for Managing Your Credit June 2011

These days, many of us are finding it difficult not to fall behind on our credit card bills. It’s time to take control and properly manage your debt to reduce both high balances and interest charges. We’re all aware that a low credit score can negatively impact your finances, even more so when considering large purchase such as a home or car. Paying higher rates to borrow money can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars when compounded over the length of a typical mortgage loan.

Organize all your debts
Prepare a list of your credit card accounts along with the account number, interest rate, outstanding balance, payment due date, credit limit and the minimum payment. This will give you a clear idea about how much you owe on your accounts and help you manage your bills responsibly.

Don’t just pay the minimum
Try paying more than the minimum payment each month. The minimum payment includes mostly the interest on your account. So, if you pay only the minimum amount, the credit card company makes more interest while you lose the cash in your pocket. Moreover, it’ll take you longer to get out of debt. But paying more than the minimum reduces your balance and helps you pay off credit cards fast..

Aggressively negotiate
If you’re in financial problems or your bills are getting out of control, call the credit card company and tell them about your situation. If required, negotiate a low interest rate at which you’ll find it easier to make your credit card payments.

Alternatively, you can request a different payment plan that’s more affordable for you. As your situation improves, you can inform your creditors and have your payments raised so as to pay off your bills faster.

Plan a budget
Prepare a budget including a list of your monthly income, expenses and bill payments. The budget will help you track exactly where your money goes. You can even cut down unnecessary expenses. Use the budget worksheet in order to maintain a record of your income and expenses.

Stop spending
Do not apply for new credit cards or loans till you pay your way out of debt and bring your finances back in order. It’s difficult to pay down credit card debts when you keep accumulating new balance every month. Avoid using your cards when you’re making a purchase. Instead, use plain cash, check or debit cards to pay for a purchase.

Punctual payments
Try to make payments within the due date. You may use check or set up automatic payment plans to avoid making a late payment. Thus, you can eliminate chances of a late fee being charged on your accounts.

Save for a rainy day
Try to save a certain part of your monthly income in an emergency fund. It will relieve you from the stress of dealing with emergencies. Make arrangements for automatic deposit into your emergency fund. Start off by saving $1000 and build up an emergency fund worth 3-6 months of expenses to help you plan for emergencies such as job loss, sickness, home improvements or car repairs.

Consolidate your debts
You may transfer the balances on high interest cards to a card having a low rate and thus consolidate multiple credit cards into a single payment. In case you don’t have a low interest card, you may look out for one. If possible, you may even get a card at 0% introductory rate. However, you need to check the duration for which the introductory rate would remain at 0%. If it’s quite long, then you’ll have enough time to pay off your credit card bills at 0% rate of interest. That’ll save you good amount of dollars.

Now, when you request a balance transfer, ask your creditor if they charge a fee for the transfer. Request him to waive the fee as a one-time courtesy.