All posts by Jonathan Clark

Jon Clark is an Internet Marketing Consultant, Entrepreneur and current editor of the Facebook Marketing Blog. Jon loves coffee, sports and NY. You can follow him on Twitter @jonleeclark or circle him on Google+.

Moving

Why do people move? [infographic]

June 1, 2012 Jonathan Clark

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This infographic shows data from 2009-2010 about why people moved. It shows that people moved for the following reasons: Job change, a better home, a more affordable home, family changes, and just American mobility. It shows that the number of people who move for a better home is on the decline, but the number of people who move to more affordable homes is on the rise. The “American Mobility” section shows that metropolitan population is on the decline, while the number of those who choose the suburbs is going up. It also displays the top 10 state-to-state moves in 2010. 6.7 million people moved to a different state. California to Texas is number one, New York to Florida is number two, and Florida go Georgia is number three. The data was taken from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Association of Realtors.

Chris P. designed this infographic for Barrett Moving & Storage, top-quality household movers with locations in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis.

Uncategorized

Staged and Sold: Sell Your Home Like a Pro

May 31, 2012 Jonathan Clark

What’s the point of staging your home when you are trying to find a buyer? Staging doesn’t change the neighborhood, the construction or the square footage of your home. How much of a difference can a few minor touch ups really make? It turns out that if you want to sell your home quickly and get more for it, staging can make a huge difference. Check out My Move’s newest infographic “Staged and Sold: Sell Your Home like a Pro” to learn more.

My Move’s infographic explores the costs of staging your home and how much of a difference staging really makes. Finally, My Move offers the “5 Keys to Staging like a Pro.” These 5 adjustments to your home will not only help you to sell faster, but they may also entice a buyer to spend more on your home than you ever expected. Visit MyMove.com to learn more about staging your home today.

If you are getting ready to sell your home visit mymove.com for tips, guides and more helpful infographics to help you sell your home and get paid fast!

Apartment

Tips for the First Time Renters

May 30, 2012 Jonathan Clark

So you have made your mind, now you will do it, you will finally move in the first apartment. You are dreaming of this moment your whole life. You know what furniture you want, and what color walls will be, all details about the first major party WAIT! Prior to you get very comfortable with the new found freedom, beware. It is the real life and some late rent payments will damage your credit highly. Have the huge party & the police may come. Ensure your first experience on your own is the good one & take advice from, maybe, some people who have learned in a hard way.

Budget

Experts suggest, while you are searching for the place, rent must be not over 25 to 30% of the annual wages. Though you may fall in love with 2 bedroom luxury apartment in downtown high rise, you will probably not afford this. The eviction may mar your credit rank report and is seen as the big black “X” for other potential landlords. So, take a close look at the income after taxes & subtract all your expenses. Include household supplies, food, cell, phone, car insurance, car payment, credit card bills, parking fees, cleaners, clothing, internet, gas, school loans, healthcare, and entertainment. So, what you have actually left is what you can afford for the new place. Remember that this total may have to include rent & any extra services, like water, electricity, natural gas, garbage pickup and cable if it isn’t included in rent. Ensure to ask the landlord to give in writing what is actually covered in the rent & what is not.

Think About Deposits

Not just will you want to afford the deposit on apartment itself however you may also have to pay the fee for having your electricity to turned on, cable started, phone hooked up, etc. Security deposit is often equal to a month’s rent and other deposits may range from $25 – $100. In case, you are moving in middle of a month you might need to pay for remainder of that particularly month’s rent and first full month’s rent prior to you are allowed to move. Again, ensure that you are planning ahead of time prior to you sign a lease & move in.

Make use of credit cards in complete moderation

Let us face this, we have heard many times from many people we must take all the credit cards & shred them. And nothing good may come to have this around. In case, you do not have any money, then don’t spend money. WRONG! To have credit cards & pay off all your debt in the reasonable period of time can just strengthen the credit report. To establish credit, you require credit. We have to be real, there are one time in everybody’s life when you want, and I mean, want, the credit card. So, don’t worry about using this. When you use the credit cards, ensure you pay the debt down & avoid carrying the balance for more than 3 months.

Apartment

How to Find Right Apartment Without Any Stress

May 28, 2012 Jonathan Clark

The apartment hunting is the stressful experience, with the good reason. Not just it may need much of the time, however process will leave you feeling totally disappointed, frustrated, desperate and overwhelmed. For an apartment search to be very effective, you have to try best to keep the stress out of picture. Luckily, this is not as difficult as it sounds. So, here are some tips for helping you to find right apartment without any stress:

Know what you actually want

Prior to you venture out to look at the apartments, take your time to choose on what you actually want in the apartment and ask yourself questions like:

How much of closet space I need?
How many bedrooms & bathrooms I need?
How important is the location?
How important is the size?
Will I require place to park my car, or building where the people who visit will easily park the cars? Do I want to keep bike in my building?
Are any of the features – like crown molding, good view, updated kitchen, and built in shelves very important?
Do I want building, which allows pets?
What amenities are very important to me? Is it important to have doorman, laundry in building or on floor, and fitness center?

When you ask yourself the questions, choose what are your limits? For instance, if you want to live in walking distance on where you are working or going to school, then look at the map or have a walk around that area so that you will decide how far away you will look. Think about if there are acceptable choices for meeting your requirements. For instance, say you want lots of storage space. The building, which gives the basement storage area to every tenant would be perfect, however it might not be essential. In case, you do not want to access the stuff very often, renting this space in the close by self storage facility may do a trick.

Stay focused & don’t get totally discouraged

While you begin feeling frustrated and discouraged with your apartment hunt, don’t despair! Be focused & keep eye on a prize. Keep in mind how excited you were while you started the search, try and visualize how happy you are when you find a right place. Lots of apartment seekers get discouraged while they find out what they think is right apartment just to lose out to somebody who actually beat them with the earlier deposit. In case it happens to you, then tell yourself it was not meant to be, and keep at it.

Set realistic goals & expectations

It is difficult to find the tenants who will tell you they found the right apartment without any effort. Never expect anything very different for the search, and you will not get disappointed. In this way, suppose you find the apartment instantly, great. If not, you can just take in stride & know it’s the matter of time till you reach the goal.

Apartment

How to Find a Roommate You May Actually Want to Room With

May 26, 2012 Jonathan Clark

Some people who do not want to rent the apartment alone are not very sure how you can find the roommate they will live with. Also, there are many compelling reasons to want to stay with the roommate. The roommate will give the companionship (you will never come home to empty apartment), convenience (you will have somebody to look for your place, and mail while you are away), and savings (you will split rent & utilities). But, in case, you are not very careful, the roommates will make problems. Lots of apartment dwellers have the roommates, however not everybody is very lucky to have the good roommate. Suppose you are very happy with the roommate, and then let others to know how the paths crossed. Do you know the roommate well prior to you signed a lease? What tips will you give renters that are looking to share the apartment with other person?

Luckily, you may prevent any problems by taking some action prior to you even start the apartment search. So, here are a few resources & smart tips for helping you to find the roommate you may stay with:

Choosing Whether You Want the Roommate

Before you go on looking for perfect roommate, first you have to choose whether having the roommate is what you want. Also, there are the solid reasons to stay with roommates; however there are strong arguments to live alone.

Finding Right Roommate

Lots of people who do not want to rent the apartment alone are not sure how they can find the right roommate they will stay with. In return for effort and time, you will ensure that sharing the apartment with other person turns out being the positive & satisfying experience for you & your roommate.

Roommate Who Stops To Pay Rent

While you split rent with the roommate, you are both liable for getting full amount of rent to the landlord on right time. Even though you are paying your share every month, but your roommate’s nonpayment can put your tenancy on risk as well. Because the tenant is on a hook for the roommate’s portion of total monthly rent and one tenant’s bad financial habits will lead to both the tenants’ evictions.

Meeting and Screening the Potential Roommates

When you have found one or two candidate, it is time to determine in case, any of the people will make the good roommate for you. Here is what you want to focus on so you can handle screening process successfully and productively:

How to Have Effective and Safe Roommate Candidate Meetings
Want to Know About the Roommate Candidate? Just Ask!
Roommate Compatibility And Roommate Likeability

Financial Planning With the Roommate

Prior to you sign the lease with your roommate, you have to ensure that you see on the financial issues. Most significantly, you should choose how much you can contribute to rent as well as utilities, or how much you can budget toward some other apartment costs, and after that put all in writing. You will want to consider issues like renter’s insurance.

Moving

Moving with Pets: How to Keep Your Furry Companions Infographic

May 18, 2012 Jonathan Clark

In the United States we really love our pets. From the moment they enter our homes we treat them like they are our children. We feed them, cuddle with them and often even dress them (but who knows how they feel about that?) Unfortunately, many landlords and condo associations don’t allow pets and, sadly, that leaves many cats and dogs out in the cold.

Too many people are forced to abandon their pets when they move to a new home. We asked our readers if they were able to take their pets with them the last time that they moved. We learned that many movers are forced to leave their pets at shelters because their new landlord doesn’t allow cats and dogs, their new roommates are allergic or their new apartment isn’t a good home for an animal.

My Move created this infographic to ask pet lovers to take the pledge never to abandon their pets, no matter where their new home may be.

Do you know a pet lover? Share this infographic with them now!

Visit MyMove.com for tips, customizable checklists and hand-picked deals to make moving with pets more rewarding and less stressful or check out these pet friendly apartments!

Uncategorized

What is the No Fee Apartment?

May 15, 2012 Jonathan Clark

No Fee Apartments

Why will I need to pay the fee to find the apartment? It is one of most common questions that we hear from the people who have never lived in any city where the broker fees are the commonplace. Information below can explain fee and no fee apartments, and why not all the no fee apartments are made equal, how can you get best deal on the rental apartments in metro area.

What is the Broker Fee or How Much It Is?

One of most common lures that are used in real estate lists, one you can see in each kind of media, is a promise of the no fee apartments. And in these cases, that just means you do not need to pay the broker’s fee to sign the lease. Practice of using the broker for finding the rental apartment isn’t very common in this business, thus it is not surprising in case, you have never heard about it. And this market is an only place where it is usual for a tenant (and not landlord) paying for broker’s services while you sign the lease. Brokers generally charge 8.5% – 17% of annual rent on the apartment at a time of lease signing, thus finding the no fee apartment will potentially save you plenty of dollars. The broker fees generally tend to be much higher than in outer boroughs. The “inexpensive” $1500 apartment generally has the fee of $2700 that tenant should pay to broker! The no fee apartment lists are great, obviously, being careful: term will mean 2 different things.

Watch for Any Hidden Costs with “No Fee” Apartment

That sounds counter intuitive, however many of no fee apartments you see advertised on internet or in newspaper are obtained through the broker. Does it mean these brokers, or brokerage firm, with its overhead, have determined to work free, out of a few altruistic urge to help the stressed out apartment hunters? No, obviously not. The real estate brokers charge the fee for services that generally consists of finding and alerting you to or showing you the apartments, and helping you with the paperwork as well as acting as the liaison between you & apartment’s owner. That is how they actually stay in the business, by charging the fee for services. This is fair, since you cannot expect them work for free.

The brokers can as well give the “no fee” apartments, however that means the building’s owner is to pay the fee and not you. In case, owner is paying a fee, the owner often adds these fees into the rental costs, and give less concessions. Often, you may get the better deal on “no fee” apartment while you talk to owner straight, than while you go through the broker. Money the owner isn’t paying to broker for “no fee” apartment can in place get applied to extra month of the free rent, and reduced rent to you. Always make sure to ask in case they manage the property and have exclusive rights of leasing it.

Buying a Home

Tips For Using A Home Inspector

April 7, 2012 Jonathan Clark

Home Inspection Tips

The home inspection is a very important step in purchasing a house. It is easy to become blinded by the bright, sunny windows and the open kitchen with the modern appliances; however, there are important structural details that must be inspected and deemed safe in order to ensure that the purchase of this home is truly a good investment. The results of your home inspection may give you the peace of mind to go ahead with the purchase; it may raise a few concerns that must be addressed by the seller before moving forward; or it may give you the heads-up that the best course of action is to walk away. With a decision of this import riding on your home inspection, you should know a few important details when scheduling your inspection.

Include Your Home Inspection In Preliminary Paperwork

It is important to let the seller know upfront that you plan to use a certified home inspector and that the sale is contingent on the inspection being free of any substantial problems with the property. If it is written into the sales contract, there are no surprises and you cannot be held contractually to purchasing the property if there are major issues that must be addressed.

Who Pays?

The home inspection is ordered and paid for by the buyer. Of course, it is a risk because the outcome might be that you do not buy the house, and the cost of that inspection becomes a sunk cost. On the other hand, the risk of purchasing a home without having an inspection done is much higher.

Finding A Home Inspector

Your realtor is a great resource for finding a reliable home inspector. Be sure to get your referrals from your realtor and not the realtor working with the seller. It is nice to think that everyone involved in your home purchase is operating with integrity, but you would be taking a risk using a home inspector who is recommended by a realtor whose primary goal is to sell the house in question. You may also visit ashi.org, the website for the American Society of Home Inspectors for a listing of certified inspectors.

Set Time Line Upfront

When you talk with potential home inspectors, be very clear about the time line you expect to have adhered to. A professional will tell you if he or she cannot meet that time line. One important key is the type of report they will generate. A hand written report may take days to complete, while a digital report can be generated online and viewed quickly, sometimes within 24 hours of the inspection.

Know What You Are Looking For

Even before you hire a home inspector, it is wise to have a checklist of items that will be inspected. You can find a great all inclusive look at closing.com. This will help guide you through your inspection report, and will give you legitimate questions to ask if you cannot find the answers in the report you have received.

Buying a Home

Additional Things To Evaluate When Looking For A New House

April 2, 2012 Jonathan Clark

Evaluate Your New Home’s Efficiency

When you sit down to write out your wish list for your new home, it will probably include things like a big kitchen, three bedrooms, a finished basement, and a deck. It is easy to fall in love with a house with big, open rooms, newly painted walls, and a pristine lawn. However, it is very important that you look past the beautiful facade and keep your eyes open for some less glamorous details. If you allow yourself to choose a house based on the visuals, you could find your decision costing you dearly down the road.

The Furnace

As you are admiring the elegant chair molding and the beautiful door walls, do not forget to find out how old the furnace is and when it was last inspected and serviced. An old or faulty furnace will not stand out when you tour the home, but it is a detail that can cost you a great deal of money within the first few years of home ownership if you do not handle this detail before the sale. If the furnace is old, you can take this into account when you make your offer.

The Windows

The classic look of wood frames around the windows may give the home character, but it could also be a sign that the windows have not been replaced with modern thermal windows. Older windows will cost a fortune in energy bills because they allow far more in air leakage than new vinyl replacement windows. If your dream home still has older windows, you may want to keep looking or consider the cost of replacement windows when making an offer on the house.

The Roof

It can be difficult to assess the condition of the roof from the ground. Even if it leaks, there may be no evidence anywhere besides the attic. It is important to know how hold the roof is and to ensure that there is no damage, leaking, or sagging. Also, you will want to know if there is more than one roof on the house. In other words, you want to find out if the owners have placed a new roof on top of the old one. If there is more than one roof, or the current roof is over five years old, you will want to consider the cost of a new roof in the offer you make on the house, and you will want to have the home inspected for water damage before moving forward.

Be Suspicious

If there is any room in the home with a new floor or newly painted walls, be sure to pay extra attention to that area. Sellers may choose to put down a new floor or put up a fresh coat of paint to mask water damage or structural issues. Of course, this is not always the case, but certainly you will want to call your home inspector’s attention to those areas. Buying a home with mold, a rotting foundation, or damaged walls can cause headaches and a huge financial loss in the long run.

Buying a Home

How To Choose a New Home Builder for Your Next Home

March 31, 2012 Jonathan Clark

What to Consider When Choosing a Home Builder

It is quite likely that if you have made the decision to build a new home, you are about to embark on a brand new experience. Without ever having done anything like this before, it is easy to fall into any number of common pitfalls when looking for the right builder. These mistakes can be costly and can lead to regrets that could last for years to come. However, this can be avoided if you follow a few important tips before choosing a new construction home builder.

Check With The Better Business Bureau

Once you have narrowed your search to a few builders, be sure to check them out with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB website makes this very easy to do, and if there have been major problems reported by consumers in the past about one or more of the builders you are considering, you will find out about it here. The ratings are easy to find and spelled out so they are easily understood.

Read The Online Forums

Another great resource, although not as objective as the Better Business Bureau, is blogs and forums found on line. If you want to know what other consumers think of a given builder, just run a search online, using Google or Bing or another similar search engine. You will find forums, blogs, and chat rooms, where other consumers will share their experiences. It is important to note that often those who are happy with their experiences are less likely to post their thoughts and comments, so this may give you a skewed image of the builder in question.

Ask Around

Word of mouth is sometimes one of the best resources you can tap into. Talk to your friends, neighbors, and family members about experiences they have had and those their friends have had. Few people will give a dishonest reference to someone they know personally, so if your friend or neighbor recommends a builder, it is usually a solid, reliable reference.

Interview The Builders

Once you have chosen a few builders based on their model homes, their reputations, and other criteria, it is time to learn a little more. Be sure to ask them if they pay their own closing costs; not all builders do, and you may find yourself with bigger bills than you expected. You should also find out exactly how many amenities that you saw in their model home will be included in the home they will build for you. Often model homes are full of extras, and the dream house you think you commissioned only includes some of the details you loved in the model.

Finally, be sure to ask for a home warranty. Reputable builders will offer a one, or sometimes two-year warranty on everything in the house. It is dangerous, however, to assume that the warranty exists, and without it, you could rack up some huge expenses in the first year if the water heater leaks or there is a problem with the wiring. Covering these details upfront will protect you from losing money down the line.

Budget

Think About Deposits

Make use of credit cards in complete moderation

Know what you actually want

Stay focused & don’t get totally discouraged

Set realistic goals & expectations

Choosing Whether You Want the Roommate

Finding Right Roommate

Roommate Who Stops To Pay Rent

Meeting and Screening the Potential Roommates

Financial Planning With the Roommate

No Fee Apartments

What is the Broker Fee or How Much It Is?

Watch for Any Hidden Costs with “No Fee” Apartment

Home Inspection Tips

Include Your Home Inspection In Preliminary Paperwork

Who Pays?

Finding A Home Inspector

Set Time Line Upfront

Know What You Are Looking For

Evaluate Your New Home’s Efficiency

The Furnace

The Windows

The Roof

Be Suspicious

What to Consider When Choosing a Home Builder

Check With The Better Business Bureau

Read The Online Forums

Ask Around

Interview The Builders

Information and Reviews of California Apartments