Monday, July 9, 2007

Buying a home in arizona

After considering a variety of economic, social and financial issues, the time may be right for buying a home in Arizona.

After considering a variety of economic, social and financial issues, deciding the time is right to buy a home in Arizona may be the conclusion. Common reasons to purchase a home include: property ownership status, financial investment, scheduled savings through equity, stable housing costs, increased property value, tax breaks, increased living space, choice of stable neighborhoods and schools, opportunity to live in an architectural environment of choice.

Shopping for the new home can be an exciting and emotional time, search to find that perfect home in the right location for the right price. Whether buying a first home or a third rental property, the process of buying a home in Arizona remains the same. Though the options may vary from one home buyer to another, the tips, advice and information here will benefit anyone considering the purchase of a home in Arizona.

There are six basic steps to buying a home in Arizona. Almost every home buyer today will need a mortgage in one form or another, few can afford to pay in cash. The first step in buying a home in Arizona, pre-qualifying for a home loan, is a relatively painless process. There are several areas to explore and a loan officer can help lay the groundwork for buying a home. Consider what types of mortgage options are available. When looking at available loan programs, it is important to look at the short term and the long term effects of a mortgage. For example, when planning to live in a home for only a few years, it may not make sense to apply for a 30-year fixed rate loan if it is possible to qualify for a lower interest rate on an adjustable rate mortgage.

Compile a list of all assets and sources of income to buy the home, be honest and thorough with financial officers. Lenders are frugal with their money and will calculate a maximum loan amount based on the likelihood that it can be repaid. Down payment requirements vary with each mortgage. For first time buyers it may be as low as 5% of the value of the home, a 10% down payment is common. Any down payment less the 20% will result in a mandatory carriage of mortgage insurance on the loan and adds an average of $60 to monthly payments. Mortgage insurance pays off the balance of money owed on the house to the lender if the owner dies, but in most cases, premiums for life insurance are better spent.

Next, find a real estate agent. The success of buying a home lies not in the home itself, but in the agent chosen as a representative to negotiate on the buyer’s behalf. Ask for recommendations from experienced home buyers. A respected real estate agent will walk the buyer through the transactions. Beware of agents that practice a form of buyer’s representation called “dual agency.” Their position requires neutrality instead of looking out for the buyer’s best interests. In some cases, buying directly from the seller may be more productive than through an agent. However, be well-inform on all Arizona laws for purchase and sale of homes. Do not depend on experience from what other states allow. Laws vary from state to state. Finally, remember that the decision to buy a house has many effects that may be positive, or negative. Weigh the consequences of buying a new home in Arizona before deciding.

Thirdly, finding a home may not be as simple as it sounds. To avoid “after the purchase” headaches know exactly what to look for when buying a home. It is important to know the options and limitations that exist. Driving through neighborhoods during the day and at night will reveal the membership of each area. Is the population young or old? The appearance of some cars will expose the presence of noisy teenagers and small children unattended in play may be something to be avoided. Visit open houses on Sundays to get the overall view of a community. Take notes on what is desirable and what is not.

A home represents a variety of functions for the inhabitants. The right mix of “needs” and “wants” may be difficult to match with the qualifying criteria of the loan. A successful new home-owner will have long pondered these questions, “What am I looking for in a neighborhood or house style. “What advantage and disadvantages of the home for the price I can afford?”

Once a home has been identified for purchase, deciding on a mortgage is the next step. Terms and requirements vary among lenders. Study options carefully to determine the best mortgage value in the short and the long-term. Normally a loan officer has assisted in exploring options, and is a good source of advice. A firm lender commitment will lead to a search of title records and confirm that there are no liens against the property that could affect processing a clean title. The property’s value, then, is determined through a state required appraisal. Negotiating a purchase contract that outlines the terms and conditions of the buyer’s offer, including items such as a sales price, any seller paid closing costs, the inclusion of any personal property like a washer and dryer, etc., finalizes paper work.

Although hiring a professional home inspector before closing on property is not required by law in Arizona, taking time to view the property with the seller is important. It is an opportunity to fully explore the home. Sellers are required by law to reveal any major defects in the structure of the home, such as roof leaks, termites, faulty wiring, etc. Any other items that may be of concern can be checked on by a home inspector or other appropriate professionals. It is also crucial to understand all your options when addressing any repair issues. If carpet is noticeably worn, will the buyer seller or the buyer pay the cost? Broken tiles and blinds should be replaced by the seller.

Though the fifth step in buying an Arizona home, closing, may take place months after a purchase agreement is made, the signing of all final paperwork is the main activity. The papers list the amount being borrowed, the monthly house payment, and the deed of trust which shows the ownership of the property. A stack of other related paperwork that is needed to finalize the transaction may seem time-consuming, but once signed, allows possession to keys of the property and the home buying process moves into its final stage, moving.


http://ksks.essortment.com/buyinghomeariz_ttju.htm

Tips and advice: buying a home in Colorado

The best thing about moving to Colorado is that you’ll be close to so many beautiful sites and history. This article gives insights and tips in making the move run smoothly.

When you are looking at homes, whether for purchasing or for dreaming, you want to know details about any home you are interested in. To do this you can find a realtor to show you homes or you can utilize the Internet and browse the MLS listings in the area that you are looking in. MLS simply stands for Multiple Listing Service.

Reading an MLS listing is not as difficult as it may appear. At first glance some listings might seem to be written in some form of top secret coding. Rest assured that this is not the case. For the most part all MLS listings will contain the same basic information about any home but some will include extra information. Below is a breakdown of what is covered in most listings and descriptions of abbreviations that are commonly used.

Most all of the listings will have at least one color picture, in the upper left corner of the listing, of the home for buyers to look at. Some listings will have more than one and others will have virtual inside and/or outside tours available. If the listing is new there may not be any pictures as it may take a few days to get suitable photos. To the right of the picture there will be the very basic details covering price, bedrooms (sometimes total rooms), bathrooms, city, county, zip code, style of the house, year it was built and square footage. There may be a ‘status’ listed that tells whether the house is actively for sale, pending sale, sold, etc…

Below the picture and the basic details will be more information. The MLS number of the listing which makes it possible for any realtor to bring up the information on that particular home. As long as the realtor has access to the MLS data base they will have access to all of the listings. Keeping this number handy makes finding a particular listing easy.

There will also be descriptions of type of listing (residential, commercial, etc), area or sub-division it is in, acreage of land, dimensions of lot, public school zone, levels (one story, two story), garage, number of fireplaces and type(s) of heating/cooling. Some descriptions may be left blank if the number is 0 or if it is unknown.

There is usually a section for remarks from the realtor selling it. Below the remarks section will be a final section for features or amenities. These include any ‘perks’ in the home such as ceiling fans, dishwasher and decks or patios.

Some abbreviations you will find in MLS listings are:

SF Detached - Single family detached dwelling.

Attachd - Two or more homes attached via common wall

Condo - Condominium

Housebt - Houseboat

In-Park - Manufactured House on rental property

Partown - Timeshare

Resid - Residence

Dbl-Wde - Double wide mobile home

Sin-Wde - Single wide mobile home

Towhhse - Townhouse

Manufhs - Manufactured house

This is a short list of some of the more common abbreviations and there very well may be other abbreviations in the MLS listings you are looking at. If you have troubles understanding any of them you can call any realtor or real estate office and ask what the abbreviation stands for. Most offices will be happy to help.

Do not let the seemingly secret code of MLS listings keep you from searching for either your next home or your dream home. Learn the basics, ask the questions and search till your heart is content.


http://www.essortment.com/career/homebuyersguid_sysp.htm

irock BLiNG MP3 / CD / FM Player

The Ceremony

Everytime I receive a package with review items in it, I like to perform a tribal style dance around my desk. Okay, I am lying, my desk is in the corner so I couldn't do that if I wanted to. However, I do open the package! When I got this player, it came in an unpadded Fedex envelope that looked like it had been dropped on a dirty sidewalk and run over by a small child on their tricycle. Luckily, the player was left unscathed but I would like to see it shipped in at least a padded envelope in the future. When I opened the envelope I found an attractive package with an attractive player displayed inside. The package has plenty information regarding the product's features on both the front and back, which is always nice. Time to rip open the pretty package and find out what's inside!

Once you open the package you will find inside the following items:
Bling MP3/CD/FM Player
Remote Control with FM tuner and belt clip
High Fidelity stereo earphones
AC/DC power adapter
2 AA batteries
User's Manual.


Manual

I would like to start by complimenting irock on their excellent owner's manual. This player has a lot of features and to get the most out of it I would most definitely recommend reading it. I will not go into depth on how to use this player because the manual covers everything. If you have any questions regarding MP3s and how to create a MP3 CD, you may also consult the manual. As for obtaining the MP3s, there are several options. The easiest way to get MP3s is via file sharing networks such as Kazaa, but you can also copy a CD to your computer and turn the WMA files into MP3 files by using WMA to MP3 conversion utilities that can be found online.


Play Modes

This player boasts 3 play modes: CD, MP3, and FM. This may lead you to believe that you can use standard CDs, digitally store MP3s, and listen to the radio... but this is not the case. To listen to MP3s, you need to burn them on a CD. An option to store MP3s on the device would have been a great addition, but the price would have to increase dramatically to accomodate a physical drive being integrated. I must say, however, that this device performed flawlessly in all modes. The CDs played back as expected and the FM mode was a lot better than I would have expected from a device without an antenna. All of the radio stations I tuned in to were crystal clear, with the exception of 1 that wasn't so clear, with an ever so slight bit of static. But overall, the FM mode is great.

While you are using a CD mode, there are also 6 playback modes:
Normal: Plays all tracks on entire CD once, then stops. This is the default playback mode.
Repeat 1: Repeats the current track displayed on the LCD, continuously.
Repeat Album: Repeats all of the tracks within the current album (directory), continuously.
Repeat All: Repeats all of the songs on the entire CD, continuously.
Intro: Plays the first 10 seconds of each track on the entire CD, then stops.
Random: Randomly plays all of the tracks on the entire CD, then stops.


Features

Another plus for the irock BLiNG is its stylish good looks and massive feature-set. The player has a 4 line LCD display that scrolls song title, album name, kHz, kbps, and also shows play mode, battery level, directory number, track number, song length, and visual EQ. The remote also has an LCD display but it only says CD or displays the FM station you are on. There are also the standard player features such as the HOLD toggle switch which lets you prevent unwanted button presses. The remote lets you control almost everything on the player with one hand and is designed to be ergonomic so that you can hold it in your hand comfortably and easily push the different buttons. The remote is needed if you want to use the FM mode, but if you will only be using this to listen to CDs, you may decide not to use the remote. The remote also has a small optional clip that you can use to attach to your belt, shirt, etc. if you want to.


Headphones

The BLiNG player is also packaged with a pair of ear buds. These headphones are some of the best earbuds I have ever used. The tone range with these headphones is amazing, high pitches are crystal clear and deep roaring bass kicks make your ears tingle. These earbuds are also very stylish like the rest of the player, and are extremely comfortable with padding around the bud. You could probably purchase better headphones seperately, but why? The quality of these headphones are so great that I couldn't warrant purchasing $80 headphones to replace them, there wouldn't be an amazing difference anyway because these earbuds are truly exceptional.


Note: I tested this player with several different music genres including songs from: George Acosta (Techno), Papa Roach (Rock), KORN (Rock), Daniel Beddingfield (Pop), Eminem (HipHop), LinkinPark (Rock), Craig David (Pop), Tupac (HipHop), Tatu (Pop), Slipknot (Rock), and more... Every single song I played sounded crystal clear and every tone could be heard, these headphones are absolutely amazing.

Equalizer

This player also has a digital equalizer that lets you choose one of six presets: BASS, FLAT, CLASSIC, JAZZ, ROCK, and POP. The setting you choose has a great impact on the music you are listening to. My personal preference is usually to leave it on the BASS preset because I listen to a lot of techno and hiphop with plenty of bass. However, depending on your music preference, you will want to select the appropriate preset. For music with lots of Saxophone, etc. you will want to use JAZZ, for songs with a lot of electric guitar and drums you will want to use ROCK, and for those who like orhcestra type music with pianos and violins and the like, you will likely want to use CLASSIC. The setting you have the player on will drastically change the way you listen to your songs. A techno song just doesn't sound the same with the JAZZ or CLASSIC setting, you need to find the appropriate settings for your songs, it will make a huge difference and you will enjoy the player much more if you don't just leave it on one setting for all types of music.

Rechargeability

Another item included with this player is a pair of AA rechargeable batteries. These batteries can last up to nine hours and take ~7-8 hours to fully recharge. I was very pleased that these batteries were included, because usually electronic devices only come with standard batteries.


Skip Protection

One word sums up the skip protection on this device: 'wow.' A lot of players out there boast a 60 second skip protection that doesn't hold up with a vigorous shaking. This player, however, sports a 120 second ESP that actually works. I decided to test the skip protection while playing an MP3 CD, and after several minutes of shaking and smacking the device, I could not get it to skip, not even once. I started to get a bit frustrated, even yelling at the player: "Damn you BLiNG, its been 200 seconds, skip already!" I then realized this was a good thing and was no longer frustrated. In all seriousness, the BLiNG player has the best skip protection I have seen, I literally could not get it to skip.

Conclusion

Overall this was an amazing product. I expected little from this player, but instead got a feature-packed player with excellent headphones, included rechargeable batteries, and amazing skip protection. If you are looking for a player that can play standard CDs, MP3s, and FM radio, I would most definitely recommend the irock BLiNG and I give it TheTechLounge Recommended award. Kudos to irock for an amazing product.

Pros

Very stylish
Packed with features
Remote
Excellent headphones included
Rechargeable batteries included
Excellent skip protection

Cons

Can't store MP3s on the device
Need remote to use FM mode


http://www.thetechlounge.com/article/31/irock+BLiNG+MP3+CD+FM+Player/