How to Teach Your Teen to Budget Like a Pro
Here are some tips from fellow parents and experts in the personal finance space to teach your teen how to budget.
The post How to Teach Your Teen to Budget Like a Pro appeared first on MintLife Blog.
Here are some tips from fellow parents and experts in the personal finance space to teach your teen how to budget.
The post How to Teach Your Teen to Budget Like a Pro appeared first on MintLife Blog.
Are you interested in learning how to start investing in rental property for beginners? Today’s interview is with Paula Pant, who in her 30s already owns seven rental homes. You may remember Paula from when I first interviewed her a couple of years ago in How This 34 Year Old Owns 7 Rental Homes. Today, […]
The post How This Woman In Her 30s Owns 7 Rental Homes appeared first on Making Sense Of Cents.
Autumn is a good time (and potentially your last chance) to review, repair and remediate any home issues that could end up breaking the bank account once winter arrives. Below weâve listed some expensive mistakes homeowners will want to avoid making every fall. Set yourself up for success by putting some time (and a little cash) aside to clean up your household act before the harsh weather sets in. Hereâs a rundown of potential financial follies to avoid in the fall: 1. Neglecting gutters â Both gutters and downspouts should be cleaned of last yearâs debris and this yearâs autumn leaves before the snow and rains arrive. Gutters clogged with leaves can lead to water invading your roof and exterior walls. Downspouts should direct water to flow away from the house, as water that isnât diverted can become a source of cracked driveways and ruined foundations (foundation repair could cost up to $11,200). In cold climates, gutters and downspouts can lead to ice dams, which can cause costly water damage to a homeâs interior. Loose gutters can also tear free from the weight of snow and ice. 2. Overlooking windows â Be sure to check out door and window frames for damage or gaps that can result in air leakage. Depending on your location, you may also want to take down your window screens and put up storm windows before the frost arrives, which can help to cut heating costs. Heat gain and loss through windows takes up 25â30 percent of residential heating and cooling energy use, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Consider adding weather stripping, double-paned or Energy Star-approved windows, caulking, or heavy curtains to prevent heated air from escaping. Not doing so can result in an increase in your energy bills, not to mention a decrease in overall comfort in your home. Caulking should be done before freezing temperatures set in, says Tom Kraeutler, host of syndicated radio show The Money Pit. 3. Ignoring the chimney â Before kindling a cozy autumn fire, have your chimney examined and repaired, if necessary. Otherwise you may be risking a home-destroying fire, chimney collapse or carbon monoxide poisoning, according to Tom Kraeutler. However, hiring the wrong chimney sweep can also be a financial disaster, he points out, so be sure to research any prospective contractorâs reviews and reputation first. 4. Not checking the roof â Ensure the roof flashing (which covers gaps on roofs and near chimneys ) is solid and wonât permit water intrusion. And are any roof shingles missing? Now is the time to check â not after your upstairs bedroom becomes a waterlogged mess, or a leaky roof ruins your drywall. According to Homeadvisor.com, the cost of repairing water damage could run up to $8,000, while roof repairs only top out at $4,000 in extreme cases. 5. Skipping sealing â Autumn is the perfect time to seal your driveway and make any needed repairs. Youâll want to do this before freezing temps hit, because afterwards sealants may not work well. In some regions, winter will also bring additional exposure from deicing agents like salt, which are âcorrosive on your driveway,â Kraeutler says, and could lead to further cracking and deterioration. He points out that driveway sealing is often a DIY job. 6. Hesitating on the HVAC â Preventative maintenance or energy-efficient upgrades will lower your heating bills, spare you expensive emergency calls, and increase your heating systemâs lifespan. And if youâre considering selling your house in fall or winter, youâll want to show off a functional heating system to buyers. 7. Procrastinating on purchases â Sure, you can pretend winter isnât going to happen (maybe if you live in sunny Southern California), but most of us need shovels, salt for deicing the sidewalk (and avoiding costly lawsuits), ice scrapers, and possibly even a snowblower. If you have a snowblower, check out these tips from Consumer Reports on how to make it winter-ready before the first snow. 8. Putting off sale prep until spring â According to Consumer Reports, a host of issues can kill an upcoming home sale, including cracks in the foundation and hidden water damage. Donât let problems start or worsen in the next six months â instead, address potential concerns proactively now, while thereâs time. 9. Falling for fall scams â Your financial security may be at risk if you open your wallet for a scam targeting homeowners, such as lending deals a contractor might offer for making autumn upgrades. If you need to pay for home maintenance, remodeling or repairs, consider instead leveraging the equity in your home with a Cash-Out Refinance. By avoiding these expensive autumn mistakes, youâll save money – which will hopefully mean having more dough for the upcoming holidays, or perhaps even a trip in the new year. Want to learn about how you might be able to access your home equity to fund money-saving home repairs or improvements? Talk to a Pennymac loan specialist to explore your options.
âTerryâ was my first hoarder client. About 50 years old, he worked as a custodian at a high school in a small town not far from where I was living at the time.
He was a genuinely nice guy and proud of his collection of washing machines from the 1940s onward. Â
Now, âcollectiblesâ to some people are pure junk to others. To Terryâs neighbors, his front and backyard, as well as the inside of his rented home had become a dangerous junkyard, complete with rats and other vermin that freely roamed the property.
The place was overflowing with, not just washing machines, but broken-down cars, airplane parts, toilets, sinks, you name it. In those years, he was known as a junkman. Today he would be called a hoarder.
He had received and ignored notices from his townâs code compliance officers to remove the items, and especially the things that made entry or exit from his home dangerous. With few window coverings, the homeâs interior was visible, piled to the ceiling with âstuff.â
His wife and children were living in dangerous conditions that Terry did not acknowledge. With the assistance of code compliance, they and their landlord arranged for a meeting at my office to work out a clean-up plan with Terry â or he would face prosecution.
I was asked to drive Terry to my office. In reality, behind my back, during our lengthy afternoon meeting, Terryâs wife â with the enthusiastic approval of the landlord â had embarked on something like an intervention. Later she told me: âI hired a disaster restoration company and told them to remove every last piece of junk from inside and outside the home. Anything of value was purchased by a scrap dealer.â
The crew did such a good job that when I drove Terry home, it took a few minutes before we could find his house!Â
I have to admit that it made me happy to see this crap gone and a bit of sanity restored to his family and the neighborhood. Terry got into therapy and did not repeat his hoarding behavior. He was lucky as there is a high relapse rate among hoarders.
But this was well before the psychology of hoarding became widely understood. Today, if the same things happened, some poor landlord â driven out of his mind by the insanity of having a hoarder as a tenant â could wind up being sued.
Once called âjunkmen,â hoarders â whom landlords and officials agree pose major risks to the health and safety of not only themselves, but their families, neighbors and communities â are viewed as suffering from various forms of mental illness. This means hoarders are generally protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
âThis is why it is so important for landlords and property managers to have proper language in their rental agreements that covers these types of tenants and scenarios,â San Diego attorney Evan Walker points out.
Rent Pro, based in Lancaster, N.Y., recommends that landlords consider adding what is called a housekeeping addendum to their rental leases in states where it is permissible. The addendum outlines the standards tenants are expected to meet, including such stipulations as:
Violating these terms will subject the tenant to eviction.
âState law requires landlords to maintain habitable dwellings, and also requires tenants to keep their units clean and sanitary, disposing of garbage properly, avoiding excessive clutter and not damaging the property or using the premises in an improper way.â Walker said. âSo, when you are on notice that the tenantâs âstuffâ is blocking exits or doorways, interferes with ventilation or sprinkler systems, and attracts pests because of improper food storage â to list just a few â this could be a hazard for other tenants, and could be considered as a violation of the rental agreement and, likely, state law.  Â
âAt this stage, contact the tenant, point out what you have seen, and politely â but firmly â indicate that if the problem isnât resolved, you may have to file an eviction suit. Be sure you can prove that you have brought these items to the tenantâs attention.â
Pasadena, Calif., property manager Jon Anthony Dolan says: âDocument everything! If the tenant will not respond appropriately and clean up the mess, you may have no choice but to evict them. So, begin preparing for the possibility now and document your correspondence with the tenant and keep detailed, chronological records. This means taking videos, photos, detailed notes which establish a record of the property’s condition. This material is critical to prove your case.â
You must be able to prove that notice to cure the tenant’s breach has been provided. Do this with a certified letter or with a letter hand-served on the tenant, and if no one comes to the door, have it posted on the front door, with photos taken. It is important to follow your state’s rules for Service of Process just to be sure you can establish giving the tenant every possible opportunity of curing the breach.
Dolan stressed the importance of understanding what you are NOT evicting them for. âYou are not evicting them because they are a hoarder, because if you use that language, it is a violation of Fair Housing laws, since mental illness is a protected class.
âIn addition to a possible violation of the rental agreement, often the hoarding behavior can be seen as a nuisance to other tenants if it substantially interferes with their use of the property. For example, filth that creates a pest infestation, and clutter in common areas can create accessibility issues for EMS personnel.â
Walker strongly recommends retaining experienced landlord-tenant counsel, âas hoarders are among the most difficult of tenants. They may be unlike any tenant you will ever have, and the risks of being sued for violating their rights are very real.â
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.