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Selling Property? Read This First

March 23rd, 2017 Posted in Money Tips, Property Investment
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Selling Property? Read This First - house for sale image

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Selling a property isn’t quite as simple as a lot of people make out. It can be a complex and daunting task. After all, there’s a good reason why so many people hire outside help during the process!

If you’ve decided to sell a property, be it the home you’re living in currently or another property, then guides like this are pretty essential. Read on to make sure the process is smooth and gives you the best return. These are the things you must take into consideration.

The reason

Why are you selling the home? This may dictate how you’re going to sell it. You need to consider how fast you need to sell it and how much you need to sell it for. Let’s say you’re an investor. If you have the time on your side, then you can afford to wait to ensure you get the best price possible.

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Now let’s say you’re a family who are looking to move home. This, of course, is very different and even more sensitive. You’ll want to sell the place fairly quickly. But you need the best price you can get so you can afford the best house possible for your move! All this is to highlight that the reason for selling a property will determine how you go about the sale – and what results you should expect.

Getting the word out

Most people will choose to work with real estate agents in order to get the marketing done correctly for their house sale. But it’s not a process you should be completely divorced from. There are several steps you can take in order to be more proactive.

For example, writing up an in-depth introduction and description of the property will be appreciated by many customers. Using floor plans software to provide detailed floor plans along with the listing will help give people a clearer vision of the house. And you can even use social media to help advertise the property you’re trying to sell. The more proactive you get during this process, the more you may end up getting out of it!

Selling Property? Read This First - open house image

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Value

This can be the most sensitive part of this process. Some would say it’s the simplest; it can’t be that hard to find out the home’s monetary value, right? Well, don’t jump to any conclusions. Do your best to get to a close estimate. You should do this from a few angles. Getting a valuation by a professional home value assessor is the obvious and best step, but you can also judge the value by other means. If possible, find out the values of some of the other homes in your neighborhood. Check out crime rates and the proximity from valuable amenities, too.

Let’s say you want a good mix of a fast sale and a good price. Try this popular (but slightly risky!) tactic: find out the value, then take 15% or so off that price. It should be a tasty-looking price that brings all the potential buyers to the yard, much like the famed milkshake of Kelis. The desired outcome? These people bidding against each other. This results in the value increasing to the original value, and perhaps even further.

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Save The Pennies Now For Your Children’s Future

March 21st, 2017 Posted in Money Tips
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All of us try to save as much money as we can, whether that be on the smaller things or the bigger things. When it comes to any aspect of saving money we look for the cheapest deals and the best promotions in order for us to live well, but to live frugally. With bills we will do research on the cheapest yet most reputable utility providers, with food shopping we will scout out what promotions and money saving offers supermarkets local to us have got on, and when we decide to socialise or go out for the day with the family we will, again, do research on the best offers and savings that are available. Our financial situation is something which is very important to everyone – a bad situation can lead to detrimental effects whereas a good situation needs to be tended to, nurtured and looked after so that we keep on top of our good financial state.

Save The Pennies Now For Your Children's Future - jar of pennies image

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The state of our finances does not just affect us personally, though. If we have children then our finances can be paramount in our thoughts and actions, as we may want to save money and put some aside to help our children in the future. Every bit of spare cash that you have left over could be put into a savings account to benefit your children. If you were to put £5 a week, over the course of a year that adds up to £240. If you were to save this amount of money over a period of, say, 10 years that would add up to £2,400. And that is a nice amount of money to help your child when they decide to move home, go to university, buy a car etc.

If you find yourself in a situation which seems as if you may be nearing financial trouble, then it is not a good idea to panic and stress obscenely over your situation. There are places and professional which can help you, and all you will need to do is do some research on websites such as selfcertremortgages.co.uk/bad-credit-remortgages where you will be able to seek professional help, and this could allow you to calm down and reassess your situation in a positive light.

If you feel that your finances could be better, you could also write down all of the expenditures over a month that are necessary and then write down the expenditures which are not necessary. Then, work out whether you could save money on bills such as gas and electric, whether you are buying too much food when shopping (to find this out, take a look in the freezer: is there anything in there which you had forgotten about?) and whether you are being overly generous when socialising or out with the family. Looking after your finances is extremely important not just for the state of the way we live but also with the state of our mental health. Do all you can to keep your finances in check.

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Strategies For Tackling Debt – Which Is Best?

March 14th, 2017 Posted in learning about money, Money Tips
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Strategies For Tackling Debt - debt burden image

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As any financial expert or debt advisor will tell you, the way to approach tackling your financial woes is to take a systematic approach. However, there are a few different strategies you can employ on your quest to become debt free. Some will work well for you; others may not. But how can you tell which is best for you and your finances?

Today, we’re going to go through a broad range of debt-tackling strategies and explain everything you need to know. Let’s take a closer look at some of your options, and – we hope – point you in the right direction for the strategy best for your situation.

Debt Consolidation

Most debt experts will advise you that you should never consolidate your debts – or, at the very least, be incredibly careful about doing so. However, there are some benefits in going down this route as long as you do your research and choose the right path. For example, interest-free balance transfers can switch your debts so that you don’t pay any interest at all for a set period, meaning all the repayments go towards paying the debt off. However, given that you need a good credit score to enjoy interest-free balance transfers, it’s not always an option. In this case, you might try to look for bad credit loans and consolidate that way. Bear in mind that these can be expensive, so it’s important to work out whether consolidation is worth your while. It might be the case that tackling your debts individually is a more cost-efficient tactic. If you decide that this route is better, the following strategies might help.

The Avalanche

The avalanche method is where you pay off your debts one at a time, focusing on the debt with the highest interest – or highest balance – first. Once you have paid off your highest interest debt, you move onto the next highest, and so on. Using this method is thought to be useful as your higher interest debts will, ultimately, cost you more. However, if the debt is large, it can take a significant amount of time to pay it off, and it requires you to put a lot of money towards it if you want to see quick results.

The Snowball

The debt snowball method focuses on your smallest debts first. The idea here is to get rid of your debts in a systematic way, eliminating them one by one and feeling like you are making progress. Now, let’s take a look at some of the snowball and avalanche methods in more detail.

Strategies For Tackling Debt - money strangle image

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APR Method

This method involves working out which creditor is charging you the highest annual percentage rate. You continue paying your minimum repayment to all other creditors, and put any spare money into the highest interest charger. Once you have cleared the first debt, you move onto the next – not forgetting to include your minimum repayment. As you pay off each debt, you can take the minimum payments from your old debts and add them to the next biggest debts, ‘snowballing’ your repayment amounts as you go along. By the time you start paying off your largest debts, you should have a significant sum of money set aside, and it should – in theory – take less time to clear.

Highest Balance Method

You can also consider the highest balance method to repay your debts. This strategy can work if you have a couple of big debts that seem impossible to erase. However, if you put every spare cent you have into tackling your most significant debt, it won’t take long to start seeing your results. Let’s say you have $5,000 on a credit card. If you could, for example, pay $200 a month, in a year’s time you will have whittled this down to $2,800, assuming you have managed to freeze all other interest charges. It’s a dramatic impact that has reduced your debt with that creditor by almost half.

Quick Win

When you keep getting bill after bill in the mail, debts can actually start impacting your life and wellbeing. And it’s always difficult to know where to start. There is a solution, however – go down the quick win route. Using this strategy puts your focus on eliminating your easiest debts first – the ones with the lowest number of repayments left. If there are two debts with similar end dates, tackle the one with the higher monthly payment. While this strategy might cost you more in the long-term than, say, the APR method, it will still give you a sense of momentum. And, most importantly, reduce the number of debts you have far quicker than the other strategies.

Low Balance

Similar to the quick win strategy, the small balance method involves tackling easy debts first – the ones with the least amount of money outstanding. Removing these irritating small debts gives you a sense of momentum, and you can then collate all the minimum repayment monies and use them to tackle the bigger problem areas. If you are struggling to pay off your debts, it’s a strategy worth considering as research shows it is often the most successful.

The family loan

Finally, consider borrowing money from a family member or trusted friend. There are a few reasons why this can work for both parties. First of all, let’s take a look at this strategy from your family member’s point of view. If your mom or dad has, say, money in a standard savings account, the chances are that they aren’t earning lots of interest on it. So, you could offer them a better deal over a set period of time, while still enjoying a lower interest rate than you are currently paying your creditors. This strategy is like a super-charged consolidation plan, as everyone on your side of the fence wins – and you get to pay off your creditors in one hit. It’s always worth doing this as the sooner you can repay your problem debts, the sooner you can start rebuilding your credit score and reducing the impact on your lifestyle and borrowing power.

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Start Saving on Family Transport

March 14th, 2017 Posted in learning about money, Money Tips
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When you have a family, getting everyone around can be tricky. It’s especially hard when you have babies or toddlers, who require a lot of stuff. In the car, you need to have everyone in car seats, unless they’re tall enough or old enough not to have one. And when you use public transport, keeping track of everyone can be nerve-wracking. One of the trickiest parts of family transport is the cost. Running a car can be expensive, but relying on public transport often is too. And when you go abroad, it can get costly too. If you want to reduce the costs of family transport, there are a few tricks you can use.

Look Into Family Discounts on Public Transport

Many families use public transport for both long and short journeys. You might not own a car, or you don’t want to drive in congested areas. Having the kids in the car when you’re stuck in traffic isn’t fun. You can use buses and trains and in some places trams and underground trains too. The great thing is, kids usually go free up to a certain age. Children under five are often free, while those older (usually up to 16) are often half price. There are also offers you can use to save, such as a Family and Friends Railcard, which allows up to four adults and four children to travel together.

Reduce the Costs of Running Your Car

Having a car makes things a lot easier for many families. However, with the costs of tax, insurance, petrol, and maintenance, they can get expensive. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce the cost of your car. One of the major expenses is insurance, and you can often find a better deal than the one you’re currently paying for. It’s a good idea to use a comparison tool, like the one on Money Expert’s website. You can look at different providers side by side and find the one that will work best for you. You could also reduce the cost of your car by taking good care of it, helping to reduce maintenance costs otherwise a visit to PMJ International may be required for certain spare parts.

Walk and Cycle More

Are you guilty of piling everyone into the car when you could walk or cycle somewhere instead? You might think it’s quicker to drive, but getting everyone in and out of the car could take a lot longer than walking to wherever you’re going. If it’s a short distance, a stroll could get you where you’re going in a few minutes. When it’s a bit longer, everyone could get their bike out. Little ones can go in bicycle seats or trailers attached to the back of adult bikes.

start saving on family transport - family cycling image

Image from Wikimedia

Share Rides with Others

There are several opportunities you might have to share a car with friends, family or other parents. You don’t always need to take the whole family with you when you go somewhere, so taking your half-empty car can seem silly. Perhaps you’re taking one of the kids to a birthday party, and you can team up with a classmate’s parent. Sharing trips can be useful for the school run too, or perhaps you can carpool when you go to work. There’s no need to take the car all the time if it’s just you or you only have one passenger.

Condense Your Car Trips

Another thing that could be costing you more in petrol is taking lots of little car trips. Instead of popping to the shops for ten minutes every day, why not condense everything into one trip? You can often get away with only doing one shop every fortnight, perhaps with a top-up visit to more local shops in between. If you have something you need to do that doesn’t need to be done right away, you could wait until you have another errand to run. Then you can do both at the same time, instead of making two separate trips. You can also do things on the way to doing something else, like picking up the kids.

Skip the Shopping Trips

You can also try skipping the shopping trips altogether. Online shopping will get you just about anything these days, from milk to new clothes. Shopping with the kids isn’t much fun anyway, and it’s not always easy to find time to do it without them. You can often get free delivery when you shop online, and when you do have to pay, you can get it fairly cheap. For example, if you do your food shop online, it might only cost a pound to get it delivered during a quiet time.

You can save on your family’s transport costs with some clever tricks. It’s an important part of your budget, so seeing how you can cut the expenses is essential.

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Are You Your Worst Financial Enemy?

March 10th, 2017 Posted in Money Tips
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We all have big financial goals and milestones that we want to reach. The economy may be tough and your job may not be paying as much as you’d like, but often, our worst financial enemy is ourselves. If you want to reach those goals faster, you need to be critical about the way you’re spending. Here, I’ve listed some common wasteful habits that countless people need to drop.

Staying Loyal to Brand Names

With the sheer amount of advertising that we’re bombarded with, it can be easy to believe that brand name products will always give us more for our money, without counting the cost. This is especially true when it comes to clothes shopping, which is covered more in this Yahoo finance article. The next time you do your regular grocery shop, try substituting a few brand names for more generic, affordable products. Yes, the quality may not always be what you’re used to, but you’d be surprised at some of the hidden gems you’ll find.

Regularly Changing your Oil

Are You Your Worst Financial Enemy - oil change image

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Okay, so staying on top of routine car maintenance is a good habit, and can save you a small fortune by avoiding hefty mechanic’s fees. However, if you’re changing the oil in a modern car for every 3,000 miles it clocks, you could be wasting a lot of money. This is because many of the latest cars to come out can run on synthetic oil, which can be good for 8,000 miles or more. Obviously, you should always do your research, and make sure that your car can run on longer-lasting oils and still perform well.

Drinking Bottled Spring Water

If you always make a point of getting your recommended water intake, then great! However, if you always buy bottled water from a store, rather than simply refilling a bottle with tap water, it could mean the difference between spending a few hundred pounds a year or a couple of quid. I’m pretty lucky in that my area’s tap water tastes crisp and clean. I for one can’t tell the difference between the bottles you find in a store’s fridge and the one that I fill up before I leave the house. However, even if your tap water has a twinge of chlorine to it, simply refrigerating it can make a huge difference.

Eating Out

Are You Your Worst Financial Enemy - eating out restaurant image

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I’m not saying you can never set foot in a restaurant again. After a lot of hard work, treating yourself to an exquisite meal at a great restaurant is one luxury that you should really make time for. However, eating out should never be a regular habit. If you get used to eating in your favourite restaurants every few days, it can be very hard to break the habit, and it will keep haemorrhaging money. You may not be an expert chef, but cooking good food can be much easier than you’d expect. Furthermore, when you make this one change in your dining habits, the amount you’ll save will encourage you to spend more time in the kitchen, and less looking at menus!

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