Search Results for: blog buying a house as a couple

Saving Money on a New House

One of the easiest ways to save on a mortgage is by making a substantial down payment. The larger your down payment, the less you will have to pay on a monthly basis. In most cases, home buyers are required to cough up at least 20 percent of a home loan in order to avoid Private Mortgage Insurance. Whereas it would be wonderful if we could all put down 20 to 30 percent of our dream home’s total price, many potential buyers struggle to come up with even half that. Fortunately, for many first-time homebuyers, down payment assistance is available. … Continue reading →

January Check In: New Year’s Resolutions in Housekeeping

It’s the end of January, which means checking in to see how you are doing with your New Year’s Resolutions. Not everyone includes housekeeping in their list of things to change but this blog might get you thinking about it. The biggest thing I had on my mind for the year 2012 was to cook more often for my family. I am happy to say that I have adopted a meal plan that is really working. It feels so good to accomplish something. But at the same time, I know that I need to address other areas in my home, … Continue reading →

Around the House Ways to Save Money

If you want to save money, there is no need for elaborate schemes and calculations. Instead, practice some simple strategies around your home, and you’ll start coming out ahead at the end of the month. In the Laundry Room Today’s washing machines and detergents are super powerful. You can use a lot less of them then you might be used to. I usually measure out a small load of detergent when I am doing a super sized load. For every day laundry (meaning no one went wallowing in the mud), that is all it takes to keep everything clean and … Continue reading →

Is Your House Killing Your Marriage?

Is where you live making life more difficult for your marriage? That’s something that occurred to me and obviously to others too like architect Michelle McSharry.In the article yesterday about Australian Fathers, Michelle McSharry suggested two factors are making life harder for couples. One is the size of homes and gardens which is contributing to a high housework load. It’s an interesting fact of modern society that houses are getting larger while the size of families in them is shrinking. Most houses no longer include grandparents or extended family as they once did. It is usually only the husband, wife … Continue reading →

Moving House

Moving house, I heard recently on the radio, can be as stressful as divorce or the death of a spouse. It can be a time of emotional upheavals, depending on how long you have been in the one place and how attached to it you are. But it doesn’t have to be a stressful experience. It can be a good opportunity to take stock in your life and in your marriage. We have moved a lot of in our marriage, the last being just over two years ago. It didn’t quite go according to our plan and there were times … Continue reading →

What Husbands and Wive Look for When Buying a House

Now is a good time to buy, especially if you’re buying a first home. Interest rates are down and so are house prices. Before you do, look over your list of requirements. Husbands often tend to want a double garage and perhaps room for a workshop. If it’s a house that’s been built a few years, the husband will look at the condition of walls, ceilings and whether there are any water marks, guttering, drainage etc. Always go and look at the house again when it is raining. This will show up any faults or areas where the water tends … Continue reading →

Buying a House as a Couple

Whether you are buying your first house as a married couple or you’re further along the track, given the current economic climate it is more important than ever that you know what you’re doing. One of the first things when looking for a house is to look at your budget and what you can afford. Know what you can reasonably repay and don’t over commit yourself, so that if something goes wrong and you have sudden medical expenses etc, that you are left tying to figure out how to pay the mortgage. Over committing finances puts too much strain and … Continue reading →

Have Married Couples Got It Wrong?

For married couples the age of having children has gone up dramatically. These days many couples are leaving it later, till their thirties before even considering having children. In the push to have it all and make sure they buy a house and get the house all set up, before having children, as many are doing, are they doing their offspring a disservice? Recent reports conducted in the USA and in Australia claim that children of older fathers have a lower IQ. And it seems that the older the father is, the lower his child will score in intelligence tests, … Continue reading →

Star Updates: Trump NOT Buying McMahon’s House

If you thought that Donald Trump’s recent bid to buy TV star Ed McMahon’s Beverly Hills mansion was part of a massive publicity stunt… you might be right. A couple of weeks ago the real estate mogul turned TV host offered to lend a hand to McMahon as he fought off the threat of foreclosure on his $5.75 million six-bedroom home. The Donald’s move, which at the time seemed benevolent, made headlines around the country. Many expressed admiration for the Trumpster and his goodwill gesture of buying McMahon’s property and leasing it back to the 85-year-old celeb. But, now word … Continue reading →

5 Things to Do to Sell Your House Fast! (Continued)

We are continuing in our discussion about the top five things to do to sell your house fast. In the last article, we talked about pricing and creating curb appeal. Now we’ll move on to the last three things to do. Make sure to check out the last thing. It is something that not many people think about doing, but it could make all of the differerence in the world. 3. Clean and stage your home. You want to wow buyers when they enter your house. I don’t know how many times I’ve looked at homes that were dirt, cluttered … Continue reading →