Real Estate - Tips

Real Estate properties and insurance - Tips
Most people do not know that HOME BUYERs can actually interview a Real Estate Agent or Realtor. Of course, there are certain questions that you want to ask, in order to make sure you're working with the right Agent.

Before you even call a realtor or agent, check the following list for your own safety.

Things to know about the Neighborhood

• Check for Crime Rate.
• Sex offenders.
• Drive by at different times (to make sure there're no surprises afterwards).
• Look at environment (Trees - the bigger they're the Older neighborhood is).
• Call Police Dept. for the record of the neighborhood.

Questions to ask your realtor:

• Do you do Real Estate Full-time or Part-time?
• Are you a Realtor or Agent? (the difference between a realtor and agent is below)
• How many transactions have you closed last year?
• How many transactions you are working with?
• How many listings do you have?
• How long ago did you close last deal?
• Do you know about First Time Home Buyer Program? (if you're 1st time home buyer only)
• Can you show me the record of past transactions?

Since many people assume that Realtor and Real Estate Agents are the same thing, here is the correct definition by their job/duty:

• Realtor: belongs to an area (county/state) has access to full listings.
• RE Agent: is licensed to SELL properties, DO NOT have access to listings.

You can also call the local Association of Realtors to verify the realtor or agent that you're working with.

Home Owner Association (HOA)HOA fee is applied mainly for condos, which almost plays a role of insurance up to certain percent of coverage (usually covers only exterior part i.e. walls). So if you are buying a condo, you want to make sure what is the HOA fee and what does it cover.

Ask a Realtor/Agent to meet with the HOA president.

Here what you want to know about Condo and HOAs:

• How much is my personal property covered for? (clothes, toys, guns etc.)
• What types of losses are my personal property against?
• What are the limits in my policy? (electronics and cash)
• How much building coverage is covered on my policy?
• How much is covered under the loss assessment part of the policy?
• Does this policy contain replacement cost? (will the stolen thigns will be replaced?)
• How much liability protection do I have?
• What is my being deductible? (The HIGHER deductible, the LOWER premium)
• What are my discounts?
• Do you offer Umbrella Policies? (will it cover cars etc.)
• Where the HOA money is going?
• Can HOA be Financed? 
• Are there any pending "court decision" (suing) HOA or vise verse.
• What does HOA cover?

If you are buying Insurance for HOME:

• What is my replacement cost for my home?
• What cost per square footage is used to rebuild my home?
• What types of losses is my home covered against?
• What are the limits in my policy? (electronics and cash)
• What is my being deductible? (The HIGHER deductible, the LOWER premium)
• Does this policy contain replacement cost? (will the stolen things will be replaced?)
• How much liability protection do I have?
• What are my discounts?
• Do you offer Umbrella Policies? (will it cover cars etc.)

Buckets of Money

Retirement Workshop/Planning, Buckets of Money Seminar by Ray Lucia
Here I will share my insight of what I have learned from attending Ray Lucia's "Retirement Workshop," combined with my own research regarding the subject. This page is solely suggests for retirement planning and how best you can allocate your money/asset for better returns.

• It is better to invest in Multi-Family Real Estate (Apartment complex) rather than Residential Properties, because if the tenant in a Residential Property moves out, the house becomes 100% vacant until new tenant is found; where in a Multi-Family properties the vacancy percentage will be much lower.

• Variable Annuity - a variable annuity is a contract between you and an insurance company, under which the insurer agrees to make periodic payments to you, beginning either immediately or at some future date. You purchase a variable annuity contract by making either a single purchase payment or a series of purchase payments. For more info click here

• T-Bills - is a government debt issued by the United States Department of the Treasury through the Bureau of the Public Debt. Treasury securities are the debt financing instruments of the United States Federal government, and they are often referred to simply as Treasuries. There are four types of marketable treasury securities: Treasury bills, Treasury notes, Treasury bonds, and Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS). For more info click here

• There are two "good times" investment in Bonds:

• As you near the retirement age, Bonds are preferred, since they are not as volatile as stocks or equities, and have lower risk.
• During economic recession, since equity market(s) tend to go down, investors seek "safe" investments, which is Bonds market.
• Not to mention, DO NOT forget to sell your bonds before recovery (before the Federal Reserve starts to raise the interest rates, as the interest rates go up - the value of Bonds go down, and vice verse).

• Perhaps you have heard or read it many times, but DO NOT forget to diversify your portfolio, especially now that we are in a "Global economy." Consider these securities in your retirement portfolio:

• Annuity/Variable Annuity
• Bonds/Government, Corporate etc.
• REITs
• Stocks

• Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) and Reverse DCA.

• DCA - invest the same amount each month during the accumulation phase. When prices are high, you can buy fewer shares; when prices are low, you can buy more shares. Over time, assuming the market grows over the long term, and assuming that you retire at a market high, the average share price might be lower than if the investor tried to time the market and invest 100% of their money all at once.

• Reverse DCA - can produce the opposite effect as Dollar Cost Averaging, and potentially increase the risk to a portfolio running out of money before the investor’s needs run out (i.e., death), especially during a bear market at the wrong time.

• Always match your assets with liabilities - meaning live within your means and make sure you have the money to spend not credit.

Credit Score (FICO)

Understand your Credit Score (FICO)
There are several simple tips that if someone adapts these habits, they can succeed in managing their personal finance and establish an excellent credit score.

• What makes up your credit score?

• 35% - Payment History
• 30% - Debt
• 15% - Life/Length of Credit History
• 10% - New Credit
• 10% - Types of Credit Used

• Always make your payments on time (this will save you money on your interest as well).
• Try to pay-off your credit in full per cycle.
• Try to make more than the minimum amount due.
• Stay within your credit limit. In order to establish excellent credit score, try to use only 10% of your credit availability per card. There is a misconception of using 10% of your total credit limit, but applying 10% per card has a different positive impact, because each lender monitors your credit history separately.

• i.e. if you have a credit card with $1,000 limit, spend only maximum of $100 (10%) on that card per billing cycle.
• To stay on top of your credit card charges, setup alerts to remind you of your credit availability. Take advantage of available tools that your credit card provider(s) offer.
• Review your interest rates and annual fees on a regular basis.
• Review your credit report annually. Free annual credit report can be obtained here: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp