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Dog House Mats and Heaters – That Time is Just About Here

March 12th, 2010 StudioFlatsLondon No comments

It’s starting to get cold in our part of the country and if you live in the West, East or Midwest, you’re probably also feeling a chill and may already be thinking about dog house mats and heaters.
Our dogs spend their nights in the house, but how about yours? If your dog sleeps in a dog house, you need to ask yourself how warm and safe it will be as the weather grows colder and colder?
Our winters are cold but generally on the mild side. And our dogs spend most nights inside. So keeping them warm is usually not an issue. But if you live in a very cold part of the world, and your dog house is not super-insulated, you should be thinking about adding a dog house mat or heater to your doghouse – to make sure your dog stays healthy and comfortable no matter the weather.
Dog house heaters
Dog house heaters come in two types. The first is heater only and is for places like Minnesota where the summers normally do not get terribly hot. The second is a heater/cooler for those areas where the winters are very cold and the summers very hot – think North Dakota or parts of Montana.
Dog house heater only
One heater I found, The Hound Heater I, is 5.5″ x 5.5″ x 5.5″) and is said to produce dry, reliable heat. When it’s zero degrees Fahrenheit outside, the dog house will stay around 40-degrees F. This manufacturer also offers a small version called the Hound Heater II. It uses a light bulb to keep the unit’s temperature at a constant 130 degrees when the outside temperature is below freezing. The manufacturer says, “The best part is, it is so safe and easy to install. It is made out of galvanized metal so it is super strong and will last for many years. The cost of Hound Heater I is $54.95 and Hound Heater II is $52.95.
Combination dog house heater/cooler
A combination heater/cooler is great for areas that are both cold in the winter and hot in the summer. There is apparently only one of these available – the portable PetCool unit. This unit looks very easy to install with 2500 BTU heating and cooling capacity. The manufacturer says that it “adjusts automatically to maintain a constant comfortable range of temperatures both as a dog house heater for winter and dog house air conditioner for summer, while also providing additional functionality as a de-humidifier lowering humidity levels 70%.”
Be forewarned that the PetCool is not cheap with a price tag of $415.95.
Heated mats and throws
If your part of the country gets cold but doesn’t get below zero for many days, then a good way to heat a dog house (and the dog) is with a heated mat or pad. The advantages of a heated pad are that it requires no maintenance, has no moving parts to get out of whack, is completely safe and can also be used in an unheated garage and basement. Most heated pads have an internal thermostat and some manufacturers offer an optional temperature control rheostat for heat adjustment.
Another alternative is to buy your dog its own heated throw or dog bed. A heated throw will cost about $73 for a large size.
The cost of a heated pad varies from $43.59 for the small size up to $66.99 for the large. A thermo throw will normally cost about $73 for the large size.
In other words, it won’t cost you an arm and a leg to keep that best friend snug and comfortable all winter.

I Need to Sell My House in the UK Fast for Cash

March 12th, 2010 StudioFlatsLondon No comments

‘I need to sell my house in the UK fast for cash!’ You’re not the only person who is thinking this. Deciding to use the equity in your home is a sound financial decision. If you have said ‘I need to sell my house in the UK fast for cash!’, then let St Genix Fast House Buyers help you. We are experts in quick property sales and we have helped people in different circumstance get the sale they need. Sometimes you need to arrange a fast cash sale so that you can achieve your goals. That might be why you say: ‘I need to sell my house in the UK fast for cash!’ We are expert and professional property buyers and have assisted many people when their financial situation becomes untenable. Here are some reasons why you might need a quick property sale.

I Need To Sell My House In The UK Fast For Cash To Prevent Repossession

Missing mortgage payments is not uncommon – hundreds of thousands of us do it every year. However, missing several payments may lead to a serious problem and you may lose your home. This is stressful and can affect your health, not to mention financal management. Quick property sales can help you avoid repossession, but many people don’t realise this when the lenders send their letters.

Talking to your lender isn’t always going to end repossession proceedings. Lenders may wish you to repay the money you owe. Selling your home is an option, but no estate agent can make promises about a sale on the open market. You may have to shell out money you can’t afford to prepare your property for sale. Don’t fall into this trap. Call St Genix Fast House Buyers. Just say: ‘I need to sell my house in the UK fast for cash’ and we will help.

I Am Ill And I Need To Sell My House Fast For Cash

Disability or illness are two more reasons why people say: ‘I need to sell my house in the UK fast for cash.’ These situations affect you personally and also wreak havoc with your finances. If you are ill for a long time, you may find it difficult to keep up with the mortgage payments. You may also have to spend money you don’t have to make your home suitable for your new situation.

Even if you say ‘I need to sell my house in the UK fast for cash’ to an estate agent, you don’t know how soon the house will sell. If you need to find the cash to fix up your home, you could be waiting for a long time. However, we are fast house sale professionals and we will be sensitive to your needs and will help as much as we can. It will take just four weeks for you to be able to plan the rest of your life. With St Genix Fast House Buyers:

Legal fees are lower

The sale is guaranteed

You won’t have to pay an estate agent

The sale will complete within four weeks.

These are just a few examples of why you might say: ‘I need to sell my house in the UK fast for cash’. It takes less than a day to get a free valuation. Call us now on 0800 316 7600.

How to Sell your House in Nine Days When There are No Buyers

March 11th, 2010 StudioFlatsLondon No comments

Do you owe more than your house is worth?

Or are you unable to make your mortgage payments?

Mortgage costs including taxes and insurance should be no more than 40% of your take-home income, at worst. Many people are paying more than this.

Your mortgage payments may feel like a crushing burden and you probably don’t know where to turn for help.

It turns out that a short sale may be the answer for you.

I want to focus on doing a short sale — that lets you sell your house, get out from under your mortgage without paying in any cash, and get out from under even if you owe more than your house is worth.

Because let’s look at your choices.

Choice #1: If you sell your house and you owe more than it is worth, you can pay your own money to make up the loss.

For example, if the buyer pays $180,000 because that is all you can get as far as an offer, and your mortgage is for $250,000, you have to pay in $70,000 cash at closing or else the deal will fall through.

Do you have that kind of cash? Many people do not have that money. And I don’t suggest you raid your 401(k) either.

So the only other option that is the least bit appealing is a mortgage short sale.

A short sale involves mortgage lender cooperation. Your mortgage company must agree to accept the buyer’s full proceeds as payment in full for your mortgage. The home loan lender lets you out of your mortgage and allows the new buyer to step in and buy your house.

You are out of the picture and you didn’t put any cash in.

The mortgage company may still decide to come after you later, to pay them for their financial loss. Each state’s laws are different but often they have two to four years to file a complaint in court and sue you for their financial losses.

You can negotiate this, sometimes, during the short sale process. They will agree not to go after you, in writing.

The mortgage lender may also report you as a deadbeat to the credit agencies. Or not. You can negotiate this too, sometimes, during the short sale.

The key element though is that by doing a short sale, you are helping your mortgage lender get out of a big problem. And that gives you room to negotiate more than you thought possible.

You see, their problem is having a non-performing mortgage loan and they do not want your house back either.

Your problem is their problem.

So you can make things a lot better if you will sell your house and get the lender to accept the short sale. The lender loses money.

But not nearly as much money as they lose if they get your house back.

Getting your house back could cost the mortgage company tens of thousands of dollars.

Banks are not that great at holding on to your house. They have to pay for fixing it up because they can’t sell a house in any condition. And they have to hold onto it while it sits on the market. Lenders typically only recover $0.68 per $1 of value on a foreclosure house if they take it back.

So why not do a short sale instead?

I have learned of the system that lets you sell your house in nine days, with no fix-up, in any market. Because it is a short sale, the lender expects to get clobbered. So they will let you sell your house for 75% – 85% of market value. That means that you can sell your house while your neighbors probably can’t because they feel they must get a higher price than you need to get.

The market value of your house is the real market value today, not the one six months or twelve months ago. A short sale can be done substantially below this real market value. And that means that it is a good deal for the buyer. And good deals are the only deals that are happening today.

Remember, in a short sale, you aren’t getting any of the proceeds yourself. All proceeds after closing costs go straight to your mortgage company. You won’t see a dime of it.

So that means that all you care about is exposing your house to the market and letting the market decide what your house is worth.

As long as you can demonstrate to the lender that the buyer is paying a fair price today (a price that can be substantially below market value), you can get the lender to say “yes” to a short sale.

And that means you can get out from under your debt and move on with your life. You can even buy another house with little or no money down, no qualifying, and bad credit.

It’s amazing what you can do if you know how.

And learn more about short sales do you owe more than your home is worth and how to buy house with little or no money down and bad credit .

Stop House Repossession With a Fast House Sale

March 11th, 2010 StudioFlatsLondon No comments

You can stop house repossession – all you need is a fast house sale. Even if lenders are attempting to take your house, this will work. It’s not unusual to ‘forget’ a mortgage payment – hundreds of thousands of us do it at least once each year. However, missing a few payments means that finances are getting out of hand. Your creditors may soon send letters threatening legal action, and this can take a toll on your personal relationships and your health. When your home is repossessed, you both lose your home and reduce your chance of getting another mortgage. You have to stop property repossession before you are kicked off the property ladder for good.

Many people don’t realise that it’s easy to stop house repossession. Ideally, you should do this before the court action starts, but even if you are about to be evicted, St Genix Fast House Buyers can help you stop house repossession. Perhaps you have been unable to agree a deal with your lender. Perhaps you didn’t face up to the letters your lender sent. Sooner or later, you will need to pay what you owe so that you don’t lose your home.

Ask St Genix To Help

We would be happy to assist you when you need to stop house repossession. It can take some time to sell your house through an estate agent, and you just don’t know if contracts will be exchanged so that you can stop property repossession. Why wait and risk losing your home? Don’t wait for an eviction order – sell your house fast, get the cash, repay what you owe and save your credit rating. We can help.

At St Genix Fast House Buyers, we buy direct and we pay cash. With our experience, we can value your home accurately and can make a fair offer. The legalities are simple and you get a guaranteed, quick sale with the following benefits:

You get the cash in a month or less

There’s no need to pay an estate agent

Legal fees are reduced

You avoid repossession

We realise that this is a stressful time for people who wish to stop house repossession. That’s why we will do all we can to help you. We’ll even go to the repossession hearing with you. When we do this for our clients, we can stop property repossession. Once you have repaid your creditors, there’s one more benefit we offer. You can rent back your home, so that you can maintain a stable environment. You get a fair market rental and freedom from further financial problems.

St Genix Fast House Buyers have expertise which we will use to stop house repossession. We will purchase any house for cash and will finish the sale within four weeks or less. We can put a value on your home within 24 hours. Call us free on 0800 316 7600 to begin.

We Buy Houses for Cash That are in Poor Condition

March 11th, 2010 StudioFlatsLondon No comments

You will be pleasantly surprised that your very ugly, poorly maintained and usually little house can easily be sold for quick cash to the investor the right – an investor who will say “we buy houses for cash in all conditions.” That’s right – there are actually now investors who buy any kind of home, even those who would generally be rejected by investor’s classics. This proves to be a great opportunity for people who want to get rid of their homes. After all, no investor will say Buy Houses For Cash that are insurance risks, but you get the idea.

What kind of houses would qualify for such a business? Investors who specialize in the purchase of these houses you would say: “we buy houses for cash which are considered too ugly to be sold” (perhaps because the original architect favored an outlandish or too trendy design for the house or the current owner was too about his home Skills and the re-establishment of the project botched), or that have not been properly maintained or have no market for them now, because Buyers seemed to support other architectural styles for their future house. Regardless of these investors makes your approach forward you saying, “We buy houses for cash!” While it is a good motivation for selling your home.

There are many reasons why people want to sell their ugly and poorly maintained homes. One reason may be that they are simply tired of the place and would like to live elsewhere. Another reason may be that they do not have enough money to make the place look better, so they prefer simply to sell. Maybe homeowners face retirement if they need a home that requires less maintenance – for example, they will perhaps sell their family home of style and the use of proceeds of Sales for the purchase of a small unit condominium comfortable that best suits their lifestyle less demanding. Others may simply recognize a good deal like this when they want to see it and take the opportunity. Regardless of these apply to you; rest assured that there are investors who will get a cash offer for your home less than desirable “because we buy houses for cash in any condition” is their credo.

Investors have the funds necessary to be able to turn your home into a Cinderella livable and comfortable house that other people want to do their own. The investor will invest in the renovation of dilapidated your home, and then calculate how much the sale price would need to be so that he can, in turn, sell them now to the attractive home-buyers who can spot a good deal when they see. The advantage for these buyers is that the investor can offer a reasonable price for them, in view of the house or property has been experienced in the past. Thus, for those who do not mind buying second-hand houses, condominium units, and real property of any kind, this is the right kind of transaction for them to enter.

When we say real estate, it is not excluded from gross parts of the earth. Instead, the land that has no properties standing on the gold mines is in fact waiting for the right prospectors to exploit their potential. When an investor said ” Buy Houses For Cash of any kind”, which is also included in the clay. Then do not hesitate to approach investors who can pay for your money in real estate, particularly if you have any needs very convincing.

Three Ways to Determine House Values

March 11th, 2010 StudioFlatsLondon No comments

Whether you’re buying or selling a home, knowing how house values are determined is in your best interest. Being able to determine house values for the homes viewed will help a buyer determine an inflated price, or a great deal. For the seller, being able to access house values of recently sold homes and knowing how house values are determined will help set an asking price that will attract buyers.
Determining House Values with a CMA
One of the easiest ways of determining the value of your house is through a Competitive Market Analysis. It’s the way that professional
Realtors and real estate agents determine a good asking price for a home that they’re representing. You can consult a Realtor, or you can use the same information and methods that they use to do your own CMA.
Visit your county’s web site and check the recent selling prices of similar homes in your neighborhood. That will give you a ballpark idea of the general house values in your community. From there, do a little research to find out just how comparable the sold properties are to your house. By adjusting the average price up or down to account for condition, improvements or other differences, you can come up with a good price for your home.
Have Your House Value Determined By a Professional Appraiser
The most accurate way to determine the value of your house is to pay for a professional appraisal. For between $200 and $300 depending on your area of the country, you can get a professional valuation for your property. While this will get you an accurate value for your house and property, it may not be the determinant for your asking price. If your house is significantly higher in value than others in your neighborhood, you may have to drop your sights a little to stay in range. If other houses in the neighborhood are significantly better than yours, you can tack on a bit to the house’s valuation to come up with an asking price.
Find House Values on the Internet
The Internet is a wonderful thing. There are a number of web sites online that will find the average selling price of houses in your area. A visit to www.housevalues.com will submit your information to a local Realtor who will contact you with an estimated value for your home.
Whichever method you use to find relative house values for homes in your selling area, you’ll need to make some adjustments to find the best selling price for your home. Specifics that you should consider are the number of rooms, number of bedrooms, size of lot, any particularly desirable traits (corner lot? end of a dead end street?) that could be a selling point, as well as any major improvements made to your home. If the homes to which you are comparing yours offer amenities that yours doesn’t, you will have to deduct some value. If yours has features that they don’t, like a recent remodel, then you can add value.
While it may sound like a complex process, determining house values is a skill that you’ll find important if you’re selling a house. It’s the best way to price your house to sell.

Sell This House On Television!

March 11th, 2010 StudioFlatsLondon No comments

Having trouble selling your house? Sell This House, a new reality show on the Arts & Entertainment Network (A&E) can help! Each Sunday evening at 5 (Eastern Time), the Sell This House team tackles a ‘problem house’ – one that’s been on the market for some time and isn’t selling. After snooping on prospective buyers who tour the house and recording their concerns, the show’s team steps in to work wonders and transform a no-sell house into a hot property.
Hosted by Tanya Memme and Roger Hazard, Sell This House features a new property each week. Memme, a former Miss World Canada, is a sassy, wisecracking hostess who helps viewers see inside the minds and hearts of both buyers and sellers. Hazard is a decorator and design maven who has designed celebrity homes and restaurants, from the outside in. Together, the pair bring the concept of ’staging’ to life – and manage to combine a great deal of entertainment for the viewer with a heaping helping of excellent advice for anyone trying to sell a house in today’s real estate markets.
Says Hazard, “People want to feel good in a home, and it doesn’t take much to create that environment.”
And that is what “staging” is all about – creating an environment that appeals to the psychology of the buyer and makes them feel good just being in your house. Sell This House capitalizes on the concept of staging, and shows viewers easy tips and tricks to help them use staging to move their own homes in a slow market.
Sell This House has featured homes in Los Angeles, Seattle, Maui, Memphis, Fort Worth, Baltimore, Austin, Chicago and about 40 other cities. The houses are selected from homes submitted by viewers. After the camera spies on prospective buyers to hear concerns about the home, decorator Hazard sets to work to transform the property that won’t sell into a property that gets snapped up in a heartbeat.
Each episode of Sell This House also features selling tips from the experts and advice on staging your own home to sell quickly in a soft real estate market. The reality decorating real estate show is sponsored by Coldwell Banker, who offer these top 10 real estate tips to both buyers and sellers.
1. Start with a plan when you purchase a home. Know whether you’re buying a short term investment or a long term home.
2. Know your credit rating.
3. Use a professional realtor to have someone on your side who knows the local market and the real estate business inside out.
4. If you’re buying – take photos to help you remember details of the houses that you view.
5. If you’re the buyer, seek out all the alternative funding opportunities. If you the seller, KNOW them. Being able to steer prospective buyers to financing that works for them can make the difference between disappointment and a sale.
6. Know the local schools. According to realtors, being in a district with good schools increases the sale value of your house. If you’re buying, choose a house in a good school district. If you’re selling, be sure to point it out!
7. Do your research into local prices so that you know you’re pricing your home in the right ballpark. An overpriced home is not likely to sell, no matter how beautiful it is.
8. Be sure to include information about local amenities in your sell this house ads. Travel routes, close to highway, good schools, within easy walking distance to stores are all great selling points.
9. Get feedback from realtors and prospective buyers who view your house. It will help you adjust your selling angle to sell more quickly.
10. Go for full disclosure. The law is very clear on what must be disclosed to prospective buyers about defects. If there are any, you’re best off being open about them.

Whole House Water Filters May Help Prevent Cancer

March 10th, 2010 StudioFlatsLondon No comments

Whole house water filters may initially be more expensive than individual units for the kitchen and other faucets around your home, but they could be worth the investment. A whole house water filter is really the only way to get clean and healthy water all over the house.You probably realize that you should not drink unfiltered tap water, because of chlorine and other chemicals. You may not realize that chlorine vapor is another health hazard. Products vary in their effectiveness, but the best whole house water filters block nearly 100% of the chlorine, so that it can never be vaporized in your home.Chlorine gas was first used as a chemical weapon in World War I. It is a respiratory irritant. Whenever you use hot water, chlorine becomes vaporized. Doctors are recommending shower water filters for their patients who have asthma, but a whole house water filter that blocks chlorine would also be effective.Another thing about chlorine is that when it is used by water treatment facilities for disinfection, several “by-products” are released into the water. They are referred to as THMs and one of them is chloroform gas. Only the best whole house water filters block THMs.Government agencies have announced that there is some level of chloroform gas in most homes in the United States. The problem that they sited was showering in chlorinated water.But, if you live just about anywhere in the United States, you have to shower in chlorinated water. Government agencies will not go so far as to recommend shower or whole house water filters, but what else can you do?Exposure to low levels of chloroform gas causes dizziness, headaches and fatigue. Chronic or long term exposure to small amounts of chloroform gas can cause damage to the liver and kidneys. A whole house water filter that blocks THMs can protect you from the dangers of chloroform exposure.The problem is that not every whole house water filter can do the job. Some that block chlorine do not block THMs. It’s illogical, since THMs are a by-product of chlorine, but it’s true, just the same.Other whole house water filters, reverse osmosis, for example, do not even block chlorine. So, you have to shop carefully and request certified performance data before you buy any whole house water filter.Probably the worst thing is that researchers believe that there is a link between certain types of cancer (rectal and breast cancer are two examples) and showering in chlorinated water. Drinking it and inhaling the chemical is a problem, but in the shower, it is absorbed through the skin. So, chlorine blocking shower filters and whole house water filters should be considered cancer preventatives.We go to many lengths to protect ourselves from the big “C”. When you consider what the right whole house water filter can do for, the cost seems unimportant. Just remember that all whole house water filters are not the same and a higher priced system is not always the most effective.

How to Buy a House

March 10th, 2010 StudioFlatsLondon No comments

There has been a lot written about the mechanics of how to buy a house. You get prequalified for a loan, then perhaps preapproved, and then you look for a home, make an offer, have inspections done and so on. Many people can help you through the process. But what if you can’t get preapproved? What if you have little income, bad credit or other serious problems that prevent you from buying a home?

Mortgage loan requirements are being toughened up again now. Once again you might even need a down payment to get a loan. A bad credit rating no longer just means paying a higher interest rate – it can actually exclude you from obtaining a mortgage loan. But there still is hope. Let’s look at how to buy a house when it doesn’t seem quite possible.

How To Buy A House With Bad Credit

To begin with, if it is a slight credit problem, you may still be able to get a traditional loan. There are several ways to do this. The first is to correct any errors on your credit report, and challenge any entries you disagree with. You have a legal right to do this. Once changes are reflected in your credit score, you may be able to apply again and get a mortgage loan.

The other way is to go to local lenders which hold their own loans. Ask around to see which ones do this. Most lenders sell the loans they make, and so these loans have to meet the requirements of the secondary market. If they keep some loans “in house” they are not necessarily bound by rules or requirements other than those they have for themselves.

You can also buy a house with another person. Many people think that this is only for married couples, but any two people can buy a home together, and the lender will look at both credit histories to determine eligibility. It can be risky to buy a house with a friend, but sometimes it works out better for both compared to renting. If you had a down payment, for example, and he had good credit, you might help each other out, and sell the home five years later to recover your down payment and the respective shares of the equity you build.

You also can look to seller financing as a way to buy when you can’t get a loan. I have seen homes sold without credit checks and with nothing down by sellers who financed the deals. The usual motivation for them to do this is to get a higher price and /or to sell a problem property, but it still can sometimes be a good opportunity for a buyer. Even if sellers don’t offer terms, if you know they own their houses free and clear you can make offers that involve making payments to them rather than getting a loan to cash them out. Make it decent offer if you want it accepted, of course.

How To Buy A House When You Have No Money

If cash is your problem, you can start by making high offers on those houses that might be sold with zero-down seller financing, as suggested above. Teaming up and buying a home with a friend who has a down payment is another possibility. There are even a few mortgage lenders out there who are still offering zero-down loans. Check around.

One way that no one seems to like much is to save the money for a down payment. This means putting off owning a home for a while, but that may be a good thing at times. For example, in some areas in 2005 it cost $600 more per month to buy a house than to rent an apartment of similar area. Suppose you could have afforded the house, but had no down payment. You could have banked the $600 you were saving by renting each month, and three years later you would have about $23,000 for a down payment. Meanwhile home prices fell.

What if your problem isn’t just a lack of cash, but also low income? Then maybe this isn’t the right time for you to buy a house. This is especially true where the cost of buying is significantly higher than the cost of renting. On the other hand, if it will cost you about the same each month to buy as to rent, try everything above to get into a home. You’ll be better off in the long run.

You might want to consider cheaper options than the usual starter homes. My first home was a mobile home on a small lot, for example. It cost less than $20,000 and I sold it for $45,000 years later. The monthly payment? $257. That certainly beat renting, and you can see that the idea some have about mobile homes not appreciating is just plain wrong (the land is where the value is, of course).

There are other ways to buy a house when your income is low and you have no money saved. If you expect your income to rise, you might look for a lease-option deal. You rent a house with an option to buy it at a set price within a set time (often a year or two). This buys you time to save money, improve your credit, and increase your income, so you can get a loan.

Buying a small lot for now is another way. Sellers of small lots may not worry about credit ratings, and they often don’t need large down payments. They know you can’t damage a piece of land as easily as a house, so they feel secure selling it with little or nothing down and they enjoy the interest they make. Your goal here is to get your finances and credit in order as you make those payments, so you can get a mortgage loan in a couple years, and put a house on the lot.

Look at all the possibilities. There is usually a way to buy a house if you keep trying.

Sell Your House as Isno Strings!

March 10th, 2010 StudioFlatsLondon No comments